Libsyn Directory

WOF 508: How to Build on Conversion Momentum

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

Release Date: 09/22/2025

WOF 526: The Early Days w/ Bishop Barron & Fr. Steve (pt. 1)

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

Welcome back to the Word on Fire Show. I’m Matthew Petrusek, senior director of the Word on Fire Institute and the host of the Word on Fire Show. Thank you for joining us. In 2025, Word on Fire Catholic Ministries celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary. And in October of that same year, Bishop Barron and Word on Fire CEO Fr. Steve Grunow gave a presentation at the Good News Conference in Orlando in which the two men took a deep dive into Word on Fire’s origins. How did it begin? What were its animating principles? What were some of its earliest strategies? Where did the name “Word on...

WOF 525: The Illative Sense (11 of 12)

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

Since the mind can infer truths of which it does not have certainty, what judges the validity of an inference in concrete matters? The Illative Sense. It is the power of judging and concluding when not having apodictic certainty. Bishop Barron explores Newman's analysis of the Illative Sense, explaining why it is an essential element in religious conversion. Topics Covered: The Illative Sense The nature of certainty Formal Inference Informal Inference Read: Video: Video: Book: Word on Fire Institute: NOTE:...

WOF 524: The Dangers of Life Becoming Too Easy

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

In a recent episode of the Joe Rogan show, evolutionary biologist and public intellectual Bret Weinstein observed that two emerging features of contemporary societies, especially, though not exclusively in the West, are challenging the very meaning and purpose of human life: 1) the decoupling of human sexuality from human reproduction—defining sex primarily as recreational and 2) with the rise of AI and robotics, the real possibility that having a job will become entirely optional in the future. By secular standards, pursuing both of these goals seems entirely rational, if not laudable:...

WOF 523: The Grammar of Assent (10 of 12)

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent was Newman's most difficult work. While not a formal epistemology (theory of knowledge), Newman prompted a movement away from modern epistemology, stressing certainty that is best found in logic and mathematics, to common sense epistemology, affirming truth that is not absolutely certain. Bishop Barron explains why this epistemology is proper to religious knowledge, which includes notional and real assent. Topics Covered: Why assent is not certitude Religious Liberalism Notional and Real Assent ...

WOF 522: What’s It Like to Be a Catholic Bishop?

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

St. Pope John Paul the II memorably observed that the Catholic Church comes from the eucharist and that the eucharist, in turn, comes from priests. As Bishop Barron noted in a recent letter to his diocese, “by an inescapable logic [therefore] no priests, no Church.” We should add, however, that priests come from bishops, which expands the ecclesial logic to this: no bishops, no priests; no priests, no eucharist; no eucharist, no church. In other words, bishops not only hold an important administrative position within the Church; tracing their authority back to the apostles and,...

WOF 521: The Philosophical Habit (9 of 12)

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

Newman believed that a liberal arts education would instill a philosophical habit of mind in students, helping students reason to the foundational principles of every discipline and see how everything fits together. The philosophical habit of mind distinguishes between significance and triviality, helping society and individuals order everything to the Good. Topics Covered: Pattern recognition Sapientia Useless education is useful Advantages and disadvantages of the philosophical habit of mind Article: Video: Word on Fire Institute: ...

WOF 520: Defending Religious Freedom

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

Religious freedom, especially for Christians, is under attack across the globe, including in the West–including right here in the United States. Whether insidiously in the form of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that block Christians from employment and advancement opportunities, or, overtly, like vandalism against churches, or, in some parts of the world, murderous violence against Christians themselves, in terms of sheer numbers–and this fact is often ignored–Christians are, by far, the most persecuted religious group in the world. While defending religious freedom is...

WOF 519: The Queen of the Sciences (8 of 12)

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

Theology is the queen of the sciences. It is not just one science among many but the principal organizing science. If it is taken out of this central organizing place, something else will take its place. In this lesson, Bishop Barron helps us understand why Newman thought theology was of crucial importance in education. Topics Covered: Theology as the queen of the sciences Consequences of supplanting theology The Liberal Arts The Philosophical Habit Word on Fire Institute: NOTE: Do you like this podcast? ! Word on Fire is a...

WOF 518: What Is the Christian Way of Caring for the Poor?

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

Poverty is not only a complex problem to address economically–not to mention sociologically, psychologically, and culturally; it is also often caught up in political and ideological currents, both domestically and internationally, that run counter to a Catholic understanding of human dignity and the common good. So what, then, is the authentically Catholic way of caring for the poor? What does it mean to say that Catholicism has a preferential option for the poor? How, moreover, can the Church coherently both advocate for reducing poverty on the one hand while praising the embrace of...

WOF 517: The Idea of a University (7 of 12)

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

Newman's articulation of the nature of university education in his The Idea of a University is crucial today in that a polytechnic model has replaced classical liberal education and theology has been exiled from most institutions. Topics Covered: Why theology is a science Why secularism destroys the university Oxford ideal Read: Word on Fire Institute: NOTE: Do you like this podcast? ! Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners . . . like you! So become a part of this mission and ...

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We recently looked at some of the reasons that may be contributing to the resurgence or interest in Catholicism out in the culture. Today, we look at five suggestions on how we can preserve that momentum and hopefully increase it.

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Part 1 on The Word on Fire Show: WOF 506: Why Are So Many Young People Becoming Catholic?
Word on Fire Institute: https://institute.wordonfire.org/

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