The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture Bishop Robert Barron

Friends, can everything in the world be reduced to atoms bumping against each other, and chemical reactions in our brains? Or is there something more to reality than its material elements?
That’s what Brandon Vogt and I discuss on today’s “Word on Fire Show” episode, with the help of a new book by Justin Brierley, titled The Surprising Rebirth of Belief In God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again.
A listener asks, if feelings are not acts of the will, what is contrition? A feeling, an act of the will, both, or neither?
00:00 | Intro
00:58 | Word on Fire’s New Ressourcement Conference
03:10 | The problem with Materialism
07:56 | The problem with Determinism
10:57 | Consciousness and the problem it poses to Materialism
16:34 | Rationality, C.S. Lewis, and atheism
19:44 | Beauty as a path to transcendence
23:25 | Materialism’s inadequacy as a source of meaning
26:03 | The Meaning Crisis without the Highest Good
29:48 | Listener question
31:36 | New book—“Popcorn with the Pope”
Links The Surprising Rebirth of Belief In God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again by Justin Brierley Popcorn with the Pope: A Guide to the Vatican Film List by David Paul Baird, Andrew Petiprin, and Michael Ward NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!

Today, we’re excited to share with you a talk that Bishop Barron recently gave at the University of Notre Dame titled “What Makes a University Catholic?”
The talk was cosponsored by the Notre Dame Student Government, the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, the McGrath Institute for Church Life, and Campus Ministry.
Enjoy!
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!

Friends, an exciting group of psychologists, scientists, and thought leaders are rediscovering the beauty and brilliance of the Bible.
What’s causing so many of them to look at the Bible with fresh eyes? That’s what Brandon Vogt and I discuss on today’s “Word on Fire Show” episode, with the help of a new book by Justin Brierley, titled The Surprising Rebirth of Belief In God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again.
A listener asks, how can Jesus be, at the same time, a God and a human being since God’s nature and human nature have many differences?
Links The Surprising Rebirth of Belief In God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again by Justin Brierley The Golden Key and Other Fairy Tales by George MacDonald NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!

Today, we’re excited to share Fr. Robert Spitzer’s keynote talk from the 2022 Good News Conference on “The Evidence for God from Science.” Fr. Spitzer introduces a growing amount of evidence for God found in contemporary science, along with data suggesting a rising number of young scientists who are open to God.
Fr. Spitzer is the President of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith and the Spitzer Center. He has authored several books including New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy (2010) and Science at the Doorstep to God: Science and Reason in Support of God, the Soul, and Life after Death (2023).
Links 100 Great Catholic Poems edited by Sally Read NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!

Today, we’re excited to share with you the newest episode in our “Bishop Barron Presents” series. In this discussion, Bishop Barron talks with writer, filmmaker, and activist Chris Rufo.
Chris is the author of a new book titled America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything. He has directed four documentaries for PBS and is a senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute and a contributing edi­tor of the public policy magazine City Journal. His reporting and activism have inspired a presidential order, a national grassroots movement, and legislation in twenty-two states.
Sit back and take in this latest conversation in our series “Bishop Barron Presents”. Enjoy!
Links America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything by Christopher Rufo NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!
 

Today, we share a discussion between Brandon Vogt and Fr. Steve Grunow, Word on Fire’s CEO and resident Halloween expert.
Several years back, Fr. Steve wrote an article for Word on Fire’s website titled “It’s Time for Catholic to Embrace Halloween” that went viral and remains one of our most popular articles of all time.
In today’s discussion, Fr. Steve explains what Halloween is fundamentally about, whether it is of pagan origin, and what a properly Catholic celebration of Halloween looks like.
00:00 | Intro 
00:56 | Why is Halloween fascinating? 
02:11 | What is Halloween fundamentally about? 
03:10 | All Saints, All Souls, and Halloween 
05:01 | Excesses in how Halloween is sometimes celebrated 
06:36 | Is Halloween essentially a pagan holiday? 
08:33 | Is Halloween evil, a doorway to darkness? 
11:10 | Memento mori and Halloween 
12:34 | Connection between Halloween and costumes 
14:18 | “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
14:54 | Candy and Halloween 
16:31 | What would a properly Catholic celebration of Halloween look like?
Links “It’s Time for Catholics to Embrace Halloween” (Word on Fire) – Fr. Steve Grunow NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!