Bishop Barron ‘Your Christianity is for the world’

On July 20, Bishop Robert Barron brought his familiar approach to theology to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The founder of Word on Fire media organization, certainly fired up the crowd of 50,000 people participating in the National Eucharistic Congress.

Opening his talk by name checking fellow speaker Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus on the streaming series “The Chosen,” Bishop Barron explained how Roumie would entertain him by performing cartoon voices of the Simpsons characters.

“Coming out of the face of Jesus is the voice of Homer Simpson, and I thought, my life has taken a weird turn,” the former bishop of Los Angeles shared.

Getting into the core of his presentation, Bishop Barron pointed out an observation from 20th century apologist Ronald Knox, who said almost all of Jesus’ commands have been dishonored – love thy enemy, bless those who curse you, for example.

“Time and again we disregard those. But strangely, Knox said, There is a command of Jesus we have over the centuries continually obeyed. And that is, ‘Do this in memory of Me,’” Bishop Barron said.

“Despite our sins, despite our failure, despite our stupidity and all of that, somehow we have known by a very deep instant that we must follow that command of the Lord. We’ve known in our hearts how indispensable the Eucharist is.”

He pointed out words that may be forgotten from Luke 22. “‘Given up for you. This is My Blood shed for you.’ What becomes really present in the Eucharist, everybody, is not the Body and Blood of Jesus sort of dumbly and objectively there. What becomes really present is Jesus’ Body given, Jesus’s Blood poured out. When we, therefore, consume the Eucharist, we become what we eat, right? We become conformed to a love unto death. We become a body given for others. We become a blood poured out on behalf of others.”

Bishop Barron, who serves the Diocese of Winona-Rochester Diocese in Minnesota, offered a challenging idea. Our Christianity is not for us or designed to make us feel better about ourselves. 

 “Your Christianity is for the world. Jesus said, ‘You are the light of the world. If you put your light under a bushel basket, it does no good. You are the salt of the earth. Therefore, you are meant to enhance what is good in the world. You’re meant to put to death what is bad in the world. But if salt loses its savor, who can make it salty again? You see the idea. Our Christianity is not for us. We eat the Body and drink the Blood of Jesus which you have been offered for the world.”

The Eucharist, he said, is not a private possession. It’s meant to conform us to Christ, Who gives His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity for the world to share.

One of the principal documents of Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium/Light of the Nations,” points out that the faithful are meant to be the bearers of the light to the world.

Looking out at the 50,000 plus people in Lucas Oil Stadium, the bishop said, “The energy in this room could change our country.” He points to the Catholic population in the U.S. “What if 70 million Catholics starting tonight, began to live their faith radically and dramatically; became Body offered, Blood poured out. We would change the country.”

Bishop Barron said he loves how Vatican II invited the laity to be more involved in the Church. He actually challenged those present.

“Vatican II wanted great Catholic lawyers, great Catholic politicians, great Catholic writers, great Catholic journalists, great Catholic parents, great Catholic educators going out into the world. Vatican II said the secular order – that’s your space. Move into it with panache and energy and intelligence and enthusiasm and become Body given, Blood poured out. We’d set the country on fire.”

Quoting or perhaps intentionally misquoting St. Catherine of Siena, Bishop Barron said, “Become the people God wants you to be, and you will set the word on fire … the world on fire.”