A Tale of Two Trees

FromBishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies

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A Tale of Two Trees

FromBishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies

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15 minutes

Released:

Mar 7, 2010

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Podcast episode

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Today's scriptures present stories of two trees: the burning bush, that represents the reality of a soul that is receptive to God's presence, and the fig tree, which represents God's presence resisted and refused.

Released:

Mar 7, 2010

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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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
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
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 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
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
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
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 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
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
Follow Me: One of the great conversion stories in the New Testament is the account of the call of St. Matthew. Jesus summons the worldly tax-gatherer and Matthew rises from his post to follow the Lord. In the symbolic language of the Bible, this "rising" evokes the... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
15 min listen
He Has Risen: Another homily from Fr. Robert Barron and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. 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
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
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
The Heart of the Law: Another homily from Fr. Robert Barron and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. 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
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
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
The Ultimate Sacrifice: Another homily from Fr. Robert Barron and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. 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
No Cowardly Spirit: We hear this week from St. Paul's second letter to Timothy. Paul, the old warrior, is passing on to his young disciple words of advice and encouragement. He tells Timothy that he has received "no cowardly spirit," but rather a spirit of boldness and conf... 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
Called, Set Apart, Sent: Cultural commentator Robert Bellah has characterized the typical American approach to religion as individualistic and driven by the desire for personal fulfillment. But this type of religiosity is inimical to the Biblical vision. Just listen to the openi... 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
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
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
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
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 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
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

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Get to Work!: Friends, today we come to the wonderful Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. Like the disciples in our first reading, we often want to ask the Lord, “When is all of this going to come to fruition? What’s it all about? When is all of this going to make... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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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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What Happens After We Die?: Friends, this week, on the Third Sunday of Easter, we have a passage from that magnificent twenty-fourth chapter of Luke—one of the appearances of the risen Christ to the Apostles. When we’re talking about the Resurrection, we’re talking about the ce... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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Do You Struggle to Believe?: Friends, on the Second Sunday of Easter, we have the inexhaustible reading from the twentieth chapter of John—one of the accounts of the Resurrection appearances of Jesus. These are in many ways the core texts of our Christian faith, so it behooves u... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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Evidence of the Resurrection: Friends, a very happy and blessed Easter! We come to the climax of the Church’s year, the feast of feasts, the very reason for being of Christianity. Everything in Christian life centers around the Resurrection. And the Church gives us, every year, 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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Face Your Fears by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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A Tour of the Ten Commandments: Friends, on this Third Sunday of Lent, the Church asks us to look at one of the great texts in the Old Testament—namely, the Ten Commandments from the book of Exodus. Lent is a time of getting back to basics spiritually, and walking through the Ten C... 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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Reaching Out to the Lepers: Friends, this week, our Gospel is the marvelous passage from Mark about Jesus curing a leper. These moments of healing stayed so deeply in the imaginations of the first Christians. What do we make of this particular healing of a leper? Let’s look at ... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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Pray, Serve, Evangelize: Friends, the Gospel of Mark is a fascinating literary work. St. Mark seems to write in a breathless, staccato, even primitive manner, but the deeper you look, the more his Gospel appears iconic. He presents scene after scene in a very concentrated wa... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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Surrender to the Holy One: Friends, the first reading from Deuteronomy today is of signal importance. Moses, speaking to the people before they enter the Promised Land, says, “A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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Listen to the Voice of God!: Friends, though the book of Jonah is only a few pages long, there is something inexhaustible about it. It’s a biblical commonplace that God speaks to certain people and gives them missions, as he does with Jonah in our first reading. But God also spe... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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The King of All the World: Friends, we come to the wonderful Feast of the Epiphany and the great account in the Gospel of Matthew of the journey of the three magi. This marvelous, puzzling story, which has so beguiled the poets, artists, and preachers over the centuries, bears... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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Go to Joseph: Friends, we come to the wonderful Feast of the Holy Family. Over the years on this feast day, I’ve certainly preached on the dynamics of the Holy Family, on Mary, and of course on the Lord, but I don't think I’ve ever focused on St. Joseph. Well, tha... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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He Will Rule Forever: Friends, we come to the fourth and final Sunday of Advent, falling this year on the very day before Christmas. And today, the Church invites us in our readings to think about David. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Torah, the fulfillment of the temple... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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The Voice of One Crying Out in the Desert: Friends, for this Third Sunday of Advent, the Church asks us to focus on John the Baptist, who of course is one of the great Advent figures. It’s as though John stands on a kind of frontier or border: all of the human longing for God, in all its vari... by Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies
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A Tale of Two Trees

A Tale of Two Trees

Description

Titles in the series (100)

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