Faith Perfected by Love

FromBishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies

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Faith Perfected by Love

FromBishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies

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15 minutes

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Sep 13, 2015

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Podcast episode

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Today's second reading from the letter of James discusses the relationship between faith and love. We need a strong faith, but faith without love is lifeless so we must respond to grace and faith with acts of love.

Released:

Sep 13, 2015

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Weekly homily podcast from Bishop Robert Barron, produced by Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

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Patience, People: St. James reminds us that an essential element of the Christian life is waiting. As the farmer waits for the precious yield of the earth, so the believer waits while Christ does his mysterious work in the world. Thus we must learn the virtue of patient e... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Pray, Fast, and Give Alms: During the great season of Lent, the Church recommends three very concrete acts: prayer, fasting, and the giving of alms. These are actions that involve the body as much as the mind; and they are things that we "do." Lent is not so much a time to fuss ab... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Woe to You Pharisees: The problem with the Pharisees is not what they teach. It is that they use religion--the very thing that is meant to take us out of ourselves--as a means of aggrandizing the ego. Law, custom, practice, religious dress, titles--all of it becomes a way of ... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Life in the Spirit: Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, Pastors: In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul specifies some of the great charismatic offices, including prophets who boldly speak the word, apostles who establish churches, evangelists who draw others to Christ, and pastors who order and manage the community of ... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
The Fruits of the Spirit: In his letter to the Galatians, Paul enumerates the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the concrete results of living the life of the Trinity. These include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control. Is someone living "in Christ," or "in ... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
The Journey of the Magi: The journey of these wise men is a metaphor for the spiritual journeys that all of us must make. Like the magi, we must be attentive; we must be willing to act; we must expect opposition; we must give our best to Christ, and finally, we must be willing t... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Our God is a Community of Love: The Trinity is not simply a conundrum for theologians to puzzle over. It names the very heart of the Christian faith. Our God is a community or family of love, and we are invited, through Christ, to share in that love. by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed: For Jesus, faith is power. When we have linked ourselves to the God who fashions and governs the cosmos, we allow enormous power to flow through us for the transformation of the world. To have faith is to live in the "great soul." It is to expand the hor... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
The Feast of the Spirit: On Pentecost, the disciples heard a strong driving wind, saw tongues of flames, and then received amazing gifts of the Spirit, enabling them to proclaim and witness. The Church, throughout the centuries, has received spectacular charisms of miracle-worki... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
The Demands of Discipleship: Jesus tells his followers that those who love their mothers and fathers more than him are not worthy of him. This shocking claim is not meant to encourage hatred of one's family! It is meant to force us into a clear prioritization of values: God must be ... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Taking the Lowest Place: One of the greatest obstacles to effective mission is the attachment to honors and fame. This shrinks the soul and distracts from the only thing that matters: walking with Jesus on the path of discipleship. by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
The Disquieting Humility of God: John hesitates before baptizing the Lord, saying, "It is I who should be baptized by you." The great surprise--that we have been wrestling with for two millenia--is that God's greatness is a function of his humility, his willingness to stand shoulder to ... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Joseph the Just: One of the most popular saints in the Christian tradition is Joseph, the husband of Mary. We see in the Gospel for the fourth Sunday of Advent that Joseph is a man willing to situate the struggles and uncertainties of his life in the context of a divine ... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Jesus in the Desert: Just after his baptism, Jesus retires to the wilderness and there he faces the tempter. We enter into this experience with him, facing the same struggle. Like the Lord himself, we wrestle with the temptations to make sensual pleasure, the ego, and power ... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Jesus Yesterday, Today, and Forever!: Paul tells us that whenever we eat the body and drink the blood of the Lord, we proclaim his death until he comes. This means that the Eucharist involves a wonderful compression of time, past and future meeting dynamically in the present. When we gather ... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
The Liturgy as a Display of God's Justice: In the liturgy, we realize ourselves as the Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ. In so doing, we show forth what the whole of human society and culture ought to look like: nonviolence, forgiveness, compassion, the bearing of one another's burdens. by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
The Man Born Blind: Blindness is a great Biblical symbol of spiritual blindness, the darkening and distortion of our vision. Jesus salves and washes the blind man in John's Gospel in order to restore his sight. In the same way, he washes us (in Baptism) and salves us (in th... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
The Wheat and the Tares: One of the most mysterious and yet practically applicable of Jesus' parables is at the heart of today's Gospel. The wheat and the weeds are allowed to grow together until the harvest, just as, strangely, good and evil are allowed to exist side-by-side in... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Celibacy: An Eschatological Sign: There are celibates in the church because of what Jesus said in our Gospel for today. In the world to come, the Savior specified, people will not marry or be given in marriage but will rather be like angels, experiencing a communion so intense and comple... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
An Icon of the Church: The Old Testament story of the battle between Israel and the Amalekites is a symbolic presentation of the church. In the struggle against evil, there are fighters, pray-ers, and those who support the pray-ers. The Church is an amalgam of interdependent a... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Food for Eternal Life: On this feast of Corpus Christ, we reflect on the inexhaustibly rich theme of the Eucharist. The particular motif I pursue in this homily is that of the eucharist as food for eternal life. Eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus fits us for the r... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Peace Be With You: The risen Jesus breaks through the locked doors of our fears and brings us the Shalom (the full flourishing) that God wants for his people. Then he breathes into us the power and joy of the Holy Spirit and he sends us out to spread the good news. by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
The Risen Jesus: The risen Christ makes two basic moves: he shows his wounds and speaks a word of peace. In so doing, he reminds us of our sins and he assures us of his forgiveness. In this a new world opens up, for we know that nothing can finally separate us from the l... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Breaking Open the Coffers of Your Heart: The Three Wise Men see the sign, they move, they overcome opposition, and then they give the new-born King the best they have. Having walked this spiritual itinerary, they then "go back by a different route," for no one ever comes to Christ and goes back... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
The Steadfast Love of God: Everything in nature, culture, and the cosmos is passing away. Nothing here below finally lasts. Though certainly sobering, this is not, ultimately, bad news, for it orients us toward the one power that does last: the steadfast love of God. In the Gospel... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
The Virgin Shall Be With Child: The fourth and final Isaian image for this Advent season is the most powerful and the most mysterious: the virgin shall be with child. Never underestimate what God can do. As the angel said to Mary, "nothing is impossible with God." Even from our emptine... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
A Ransom for the Many: What does it mean to say that Jesus died for our sins? How precisely does his cross save us? The first Christians saw sin as a sort of imprisonment, like being held for ransom, and in the dying and rising of Jesus, they experienced freedom. What freed th... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
The Paralysis of Sin: God wants nothing more than for us to be fully alive. Sin cramps us, paralyzes us, prevents us from flourishing. Jesus' whole life and being is God's "yes" to human beings. So he forgives the sin of the paralytic and then invites him to walk. The glory o... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Whatsoever You Do...: Our Gospel for today is one of the most devastating texts in the New Testament. Jesus tells us that whenever we neglected to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, welcome the lonely, we failed to care for him. Dorothy Day said that eve... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
Falling in Love With God: So many of us skeptical moderns--intellectual heirs of Descartes-- identify with doubting Thomas. We too struggle with faith, ask tough questions, want proof. And to some degree, this is praiseworthy. But the trouble with systematic and persistent doubt ... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen

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Hints of the Holy Spirit: Friends, we’re getting very close to Pentecost, the great feast of the descent of the Spirit. And on this Sixth Sunday of Easter, the Church gives us three readings that are hinting at the Holy Spirit—a kind of foretaste of that descent. by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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It’s Time for Some Pruning: Friends, the Lord Jesus Christ is not a teacher from a distant age, not someone from long ago we remember fondly, not a moral exemplar; rather, he is a field of force. We don’t just listen to him or imitate him; we live in him. Our Gospel for this Fi... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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Three Qualities of a Good Shepherd: Friends, we come to the Fourth Sunday of Easter, known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Jesus says in the Gospel, “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” What is it about that image that sings to us across the ages, from t... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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Put Yourself in the Passion Narrative: Friends, we have the great privilege on Palm Sunday of reading from one of the Passion narratives, and this year, we read from the Gospel of Mark—the very first one written. But what I want to do today is something a little bit different: instead of ... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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Drinking the Blood of Christ: Friends, on this Fifth Sunday of Lent, we hear one of the most pivotal passages in the Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:31. Jeremiah knew the long Israelite history of covenant and blood sacrifice, but he prophesies, “The days are coming, says the LORD, wh... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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When Your Faith Is Put to the Test: Friends, we come now to the Second Sunday of Lent, and we’re on both dangerous and very holy ground with the first reading from the twenty-second chapter of Genesis. The ancient Israelites referred to it as the “Akedah,” which means the “binding”: Ab... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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Are Your Soul and Body at War?: Friends, we come now to the holy season of Lent. The Gospel for this First Sunday of Lent is Mark’s laconic version of the temptation of Jesus in the desert. Mark does not give us the details we find in Matthew and Luke, but we do hear this mysteriou... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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Faith Perfected by Love

Faith Perfected by Love

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies

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