WOF 526: The Early Days w/ Bishop Barron & Fr. Steve (pt. 1)
The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture
Release Date: 01/26/2026
WOF 531: Social Media in Light & Darkness (pt. 3)
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. For the last two episodes, Evangelization & Culture Podcast host Tod Worner has been having a conversation with Word on Fire’s founders about social media—a phenomenon that has certainly played a prominent role in the life of our own ministry. But what about its shadow side? How might faithful Catholics engage in social media? How might the Church? How do we cultivate a rich spiritual life in this ever-unfolding...
info_outline
WOF 530: Catholic Ministry & Social Media (pt. 2)
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 our last episode, Evangelization & Culture Podcast host Tod Worner began a conversation with Word on Fire’s founders about social media, in which they explored the art and means of communication. In this next segment, we’ll continue that conversation, now examining Catholic ministry and social media. What, if anything, does social media have to do with Pope St. John Paul II? How does it fit into Word on...
info_outline
WOF 529: The Art & Means of Communication (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. Today, we’re bringing you a special episode—a conversation from our very own Evangelization & Culture Podcast, hosted by Dr. Tod Worner. Recently, Dr. Tod, as we like to call him, sat down with Word on Fire CEO Fr. Steve Grunow and Bishop Barron to talk about social media. But rather than retread the usual tropes of social media conversations, Dr. Tod hosts a richer and more intimate conversation on the topic...
info_outline
WOF 528: The Early Days w/ Bishop Barron & Fr. Steve (pt. 2)
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. As we continue this second half of a conversation from last year’s Good News Conference in Orlando with Bishop Barron and Word on Fire CEO Fr. Steve Grunow, we’ll discover the ministry’s patron saints, as well as some of the lessons that Word on Fire has learned through its years of evangelization. We’ll also take a look at Word on Fire’s plans for the future. Here to discuss these with Fr. Steve Grunow, in this...
info_outline
WOF 527: Reason and Authority (12 of 12)
The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture
The Enlightenment believed reason was its own authority. Heteronomous authority was anathema. Autonomy was the ideal. Thus, the Church's hierarchical structure was viewed as enslaving. In light of this critique, Newman offered an insightful defense of freedom and truth in the Catholic Church. Topics Covered: Consulting the faithful in matter of doctrine Conscience Reason and authority Bishops and theologians Article: Video: Read: Word on Fire Institute: NOTE: Do you like this podcast? ! Word on Fire is a...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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:...
info_outline
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:...
info_outline
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 ...
info_outline
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,...
info_outlineWelcome 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 Fire” even come from? Why, in short, did Word on Fire develop the way that it did? Here to discuss these roots with Fr. Steve Grunow, in this first half of an hour-long conversation, is Bishop Robert Barron.
Links:
- Word on Fire Institute: https://institute.wordonfire.org/
NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a Word on Fire IGNITE member! 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 join IGNITE today to become a Word on Fire insider and receive some special donor gifts for your generosity.