Word on Fire Catholic Ministries is a nonprofit global media apostolate that supports the work of Bishop Robert Barron and reaches millions of people to draw them into—or back to—the Catholic faith.

Word on Fire is evangelical; it proclaims Jesus Christ as the source of conversion and new life. Word on Fire is Catholic; it utilizes the tremendous resources of the Roman Catholic tradition—art, architecture, poetry, philosophy, theology, and the lives of the saints—in order to explain and interpret the event of Jesus Christ.

Word on Fire Catholic Ministries exists to draw people into the body of Christ, which is the Church, and thereby give them access to all the gifts that Jesus wants his people to enjoy. To be most effective in this mission, Word on Fire places an emphasis and urgency on the use of contemporary forms of media and innovative communication technologies.

Cardinal Francis George, the former Archbishop of Chicago, was in Rome for a meeting with the pope when John Paul II asked him a serious question: “What are you doing to evangelize the culture?”

Bereft of an answer, Cardinal George returned to Chicago and continued to think about how to tackle the pope’s question. He soon approached me and said, “I would like you to jump-start evangelization.” I responded, “What do you mean, Your Eminence?” He answered, “I don’t know, but I want you to do it!”

With that, we began working together on this most pressing issue of our time: How do we proclaim Christ in the culture to help draw people into—or back to—the Catholic faith?

Fast forward nearly twenty years, and the sparks of those questions and conversations have ignited the work of Word on Fire, an international apostolate that now reaches millions of people every month through videos, articles, books, podcasts, email reflections, Sunday sermons, and more.

In my view, the dramatic growth of this ministry can be attributed to three things: first and foremost, the movement of the Holy Spirit and a groundedness in prayer; second, a dedicated and tremendously talented staff; and, third, the ongoing support of our donors, without whom none of this would be possible. Quite simply, their contributions are what allow Word on Fire to exist and flourish.

The ethos of Word on Fire is to evangelize the culture using new media. That means being present to it by releasing videos on YouTube and sharing content on Twitter, right alongside all the secular mainstream noise. It means offering addresses at Google and Facebook headquarters and hosting “Ask Me Anything” sessions on Reddit. It even means diving into the toxic internet comment boxes to defend the faith and answer questions from diverse audiences.

As Word on Fire has broken into the culture, we have seen how the ministry is bearing good fruit. We receive countless comments and testimonials from those whose lives have been transformed by our work, leading them, by God’s grace, to a deeper and more authentic relationship with his Son in the Church.

Please continue to pray for me, for the work of Word on Fire, and for all those who have fallen away from the faith. May God bless you!

In Christ,