Editor’s note: This week we begin publishing the column “Word on Fire” by Fr. Robert Barron, founder of Word on Fire Ministries, which reaches millions of people by utilizing the tools of new media to draw people into or back to the Catholic Faith. Father Barron is the creator and host of Catholicism, a groundbreaking, award winning documentary series about the Catholic faith. The series has aired across the country on PBS and EWTN and has been seen and broadcast in parishes, universities, schools, and media outlets throughout the world. The documentary received a Christopher Award for excellence. Father Barron and Word on Fire also released the documentary Catholicism: The New Evangelization in 2013.
A classic characterization of Jesus is that he is priest, prophet, and king. As priest, he sanctifies, that is to say, he reestablishes the lost link between divinity and humanity; as prophet, he speaks and embodies the divine truth; and as king, he leads us on the right path, giving guidance to the human project.
You might say that, as priest, he is the life; as prophet, he is the truth; and as king he is the way.