# Strength for the Journey - Bishop Barron's Daily Sermon

An episode of [Daily Sermons With Bishop Robert Barron](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6783446284), 31 Jul 2026, 14 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73038738/strength_for_the_journey_bishop_barron_s_sunday_sermon.mp3



## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Peace be with you. Friends, were continuing our reading of
[0:02] Speaker 1: the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, all about
[0:05] Speaker 1: the Eucharists, the source and summit of the Christian life,
[0:08] Speaker 1: and we're looking at different dimensions of it. So it's
[0:11] Speaker 1: a very useful exercise to spend time with John chapter six,
[0:15] Speaker 1: especially again during this time of Eucharistic revival. Here's my
[0:20] Speaker 1: take on our reading for today. I hate traveling. I
[0:25] Speaker 1: like getting to places, so I've been because of my
[0:28] Speaker 1: work all over the world. But I've always hated traveling,
[0:32] Speaker 1: I must say, and I do a lot of it. Unfortunately.
[0:37] Speaker 1: I go back to when I was a kid. We
[0:39] Speaker 1: lived in Detroit, but we had our family was based
[0:41] Speaker 1: in Chicago, so we did a lot of car trips
[0:44] Speaker 1: when I was a little guy between Detroit and Chicago,
[0:46] Speaker 1: which is about five hours. I hated those trips, being
[0:50] Speaker 1: stuck in the car, cramped. You know, we has stop
[0:53] Speaker 1: a restaurants for bad food, and so a five hour
[0:58] Speaker 1: car trip, I hated that. I remember when I had
[1:01] Speaker 1: my first really long car trip. I was nineteen and
[1:05] Speaker 1: we were moving my life to Washington to Catholic University
[1:09] Speaker 1: where I was going, and we had to put my
[1:11] Speaker 1: clothes and all this in my stereo, remember those days,
[1:14] Speaker 1: somewhere old enough with speakers and all that. And we
[1:16] Speaker 1: piloted my dad's car, and then we drove from Chicago
[1:20] Speaker 1: to Washington, d C. Which is about a fourteen hour trip.
[1:25] Speaker 1: I think we stopped near Pittsburgh somewhere overnight and then
[1:27] Speaker 1: went on fourteen hours. I thought it would never end.
[1:32] Speaker 1: Whatever was bad about the five hour trip was now
[1:35] Speaker 1: three times worse, and I just kind of vowed, I'm out.
[1:39] Speaker 1: I will never get in a car for that long. Well,
[1:42] Speaker 1: I have across my life, so car travel. It's bad
[1:46] Speaker 1: enough air travel. When I was a little person, I
[1:51] Speaker 1: didn't fly at all. But I started flying around that
[1:54] Speaker 1: time in my life, and I have flown so often.
[1:57] Speaker 1: And don't get me started about airports and airplanes. You know,
[2:04] Speaker 1: my early years of flying, maybe i'd gone like a
[2:07] Speaker 1: three or four hour trip the most. I think once
[2:09] Speaker 1: to California from Chicago when I was in my late twenties,
[2:14] Speaker 1: and with my family, I flew for the first time
[2:17] Speaker 1: across the Atlantic Ocean to London. We did a trip
[2:20] Speaker 1: to England and Ireland with my family. Well, I had
[2:24] Speaker 1: never been on a trip that long before it was
[2:27] Speaker 1: like a May ten hour flight something like that. I
[2:31] Speaker 1: thought I was going to die. I really did. I
[2:33] Speaker 1: thought this will never end. And you know, I was
[2:37] Speaker 1: back in the economy class. I probably was in a
[2:39] Speaker 1: middle seat and cramped. I'm kind of a big guy,
[2:43] Speaker 1: so planes are difficult for me. You know, bad food,
[2:47] Speaker 1: of long lines just to get to the bathroom, and
[2:51] Speaker 1: like what we've been on the plane how long? Like
[2:53] Speaker 1: four hours and we've got six to go, are you?
[2:56] Speaker 1: It was just overwhelming the first time I ast long flights.
[3:00] Speaker 1: Well how many times since then because I was a
[3:03] Speaker 1: doctoral student in Paris, so I flew all the time
[3:06] Speaker 1: from Chicago to Paris and back many many times, so
[3:09] Speaker 1: I did kind of get used to it. But you know,
[3:13] Speaker 1: everything about it is kind of uncomfortable. Don't get me
[3:19] Speaker 1: started on COVID flying. When COVID hit, you know, I
[3:24] Speaker 1: was in California and was bisi if I had to
[3:27] Speaker 1: go to all kinds of events and meetings, all of
[3:30] Speaker 1: which seemed to be on the East coast. So COVID
[3:33] Speaker 1: travel meant get to lax and then put the mask
[3:37] Speaker 1: on all during the time in the terminal, onto the plane,
[3:42] Speaker 1: and then the whole time on the plane with the mask.
[3:45] Speaker 1: You get off the plane, you're still with the mask
[3:48] Speaker 1: in the terminal to get your baggage. So we're talking about, like,
[3:50] Speaker 1: I don't know, seven eight hours with a mask on.
[3:55] Speaker 1: And I remember during those years sometimes the flight attendants
[3:58] Speaker 1: would be like you know, prison guards, and they were
[4:02] Speaker 1: monitoring that mask. And you may lower it for a
[4:05] Speaker 1: moment while you take one bite or one sit, but
[4:08] Speaker 1: then the mask goes back on. I remember one time
[4:10] Speaker 1: during COVID I somehow managed to fall asleep on the
[4:15] Speaker 1: plane and the mask had slipped like a little bit,
[4:18] Speaker 1: and the attendant came by, I'm sound asleep, shook me
[4:21] Speaker 1: awake as she said, Sarah put the mask back on.
[4:27] Speaker 1: You know, I think too in my traveling years of hotels,
[4:33] Speaker 1: you know, once in a while you get kind of
[4:34] Speaker 1: a decent hotel, but hotels are kind of uncomfortable. You're
[4:39] Speaker 1: not home, You're in this kind of strange environment. And
[4:43] Speaker 1: I am old enough to remember some older people will
[4:46] Speaker 1: remember this with me. Remember you'd call for like room service,
[4:49] Speaker 1: and a nice person would show up with a like
[4:51] Speaker 1: a tray on wheels, and they'd bring it in your
[4:55] Speaker 1: room and a linen cloth on it and they would
[4:57] Speaker 1: set it up and you'd have like real overwear and
[5:00] Speaker 1: a napkin, and you'd have a decent dinner. Remember that,
[5:05] Speaker 1: does that exist anywhere in the world anymore? I mean
[5:08] Speaker 1: after COVID, you're lucky if there's some kid throws a
[5:11] Speaker 1: bag in your room and the food is in a
[5:12] Speaker 1: plastic container or something. Okay, you're wondering, now, why is
[5:17] Speaker 1: this bishop telling me all about his difficult travel. Well,
[5:23] Speaker 1: here's why. Teresa Ablis said, you know what this life
[5:27] Speaker 1: is like. This life is like a bad night in
[5:32] Speaker 1: a bad hotel. I've had a few those two of years.
[5:37] Speaker 1: You're in a hotel and someone next door to you
[5:38] Speaker 1: was making a lot of noise. It was music playing
[5:40] Speaker 1: or something. This life, it's like a bad night in
[5:44] Speaker 1: a bad hotel. You say, well, isn't she just an
[5:47] Speaker 1: old grump? No, what's the point she's making. It's the
[5:51] Speaker 1: point I'm trying to make in my own way. This life, everybody,
[5:58] Speaker 1: is not the life we are fining meant for. We
[6:04] Speaker 1: are on the way somewhere else. We're on a journey.
[6:13] Speaker 1: I know it's kind of a hackneyed image, but it
[6:15] Speaker 1: comes right up out of the Bible. We've left behind
[6:20] Speaker 1: the ways of sin, you know, through baptism and the
[6:25] Speaker 1: life of the church, we were left behind the ways
[6:26] Speaker 1: of sin. We're heading somewhere. We're heading toward what the
[6:35] Speaker 1: fathers call the patria of the fatherland, the homeland. We're
[6:41] Speaker 1: not there yet, though, So think you're in that car,
[6:45] Speaker 1: stuffy car. It's uncomfortable. You can't stretch your legs out,
[6:49] Speaker 1: You've got to stop every few hours to go to
[6:51] Speaker 1: some you know, messy bathroom, and the food you're eating
[6:55] Speaker 1: on the way isn't that good. But you give yourself
[6:59] Speaker 1: comfort in this sense that you say, well, I'm not
[7:01] Speaker 1: meant to stay in this car. No, no, this car
[7:06] Speaker 1: is taking me somewhere where I want to go. Think
[7:12] Speaker 1: of you know the joke about the little kids in
[7:13] Speaker 1: the car, Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Well,
[7:17] Speaker 1: they're giving voice to this very deep spiritual longing. A
[7:23] Speaker 1: lot of us, in the depth of our soul say
[7:25] Speaker 1: some version of are we there yet? Are we there yet?
[7:31] Speaker 1: How much longer? Or think of you know, when you're
[7:34] Speaker 1: on one of those transatlantic or transspecific flights. I'm uncomfortable,
[7:41] Speaker 1: I don't like it, I'm hungry, I'm bored, I'm tired,
[7:45] Speaker 1: and I can't sleep, and I walk around but then
[7:49] Speaker 1: I feel cramped again, and I don't like it. I
[7:52] Speaker 1: don't like being on this plane. I hate traveling, I know,
[7:58] Speaker 1: but you're not meant for this plan. You know. Think
[8:02] Speaker 1: of the best plane trip you ever had all time
[8:04] Speaker 1: that mine was LA to New Zealand. I was giving
[8:08] Speaker 1: a retreat to the priests of Christ Church, New Zealand.
[8:11] Speaker 1: And they flew me business class from LA to New Zealand.
[8:15] Speaker 1: And I remember getting up. They just served dinner or something,
[8:19] Speaker 1: and then the stewardess said to me, would you like
[8:22] Speaker 1: me to prepare the bed? And I know what she meant.
[8:25] Speaker 1: I mean, I knew about planes where you could recline
[8:28] Speaker 1: the seat and all that, but she said to no, no,
[8:30] Speaker 1: I'll make this bed for you. So I went to
[8:34] Speaker 1: the bathroom, I thinking I come back, and sure enough
[8:37] Speaker 1: she had turned the seat into a bed with sheets, blanket, pillow,
[8:43] Speaker 1: and I slept for six or seven hours as I
[8:46] Speaker 1: had a good night's sleep on the plane. Hey, that's
[8:49] Speaker 1: about the best plane I've ever been on.
[8:52] Speaker 2: But what if someone told me, uh huh, and you'll
[8:55] Speaker 2: live there forever. You're going to go to New Zealand
[8:58] Speaker 2: and back to La and to New zeal And, back
[9:00] Speaker 2: to La Forever I'm that plane.
[9:04] Speaker 1: I don't think i'd be too happy. It was the
[9:05] Speaker 1: best plane ever, but I don't want to live on
[9:08] Speaker 1: the plane. Well, look, everybody, it's I know it might
[9:13] Speaker 1: strike our secularest time. Is weird to say we're not
[9:18] Speaker 1: meant for this world. This world is like bad night
[9:23] Speaker 1: in a bad hotel. Or Saint Augustine a little more
[9:26] Speaker 1: positive and said, it's like we're being carried in a litter.
[9:30] Speaker 1: You know, this was in the ancient world. They would
[9:31] Speaker 1: carry people on these they kind of bear them. So
[9:34] Speaker 1: you're on this litter and you're moving through the countryside
[9:37] Speaker 1: on your way somewhere else. And Augusta said, you know,
[9:39] Speaker 1: take in the countryside, enjoy it beautiful, but don't get
[9:43] Speaker 1: caught up in it. You're not meant to be on
[9:46] Speaker 1: this litter the rest of your life. You're going somewhere.
[9:50] Speaker 1: You're on the way. I wonder, everybody, if it might
[9:54] Speaker 1: give us a certain sense of hope when we find
[9:57] Speaker 1: ourselves frustrated in this world. Things aren't working out. It's
[10:02] Speaker 1: not what I want. Yeah, there are there are nice
[10:05] Speaker 1: moments and all that, but I'm uncomfortable. You're not meant
[10:09] Speaker 1: to be comfortable in this world. It's carrying you somewhere else.
[10:15] Speaker 2: You know.
[10:15] Speaker 1: The first reading is from First Kings about Elijah and
[10:20] Speaker 1: that wonderful story of Elijah being pursued, you know, by
[10:22] Speaker 1: Queen Jessebel, and then Hee's about to give up. He's
[10:25] Speaker 1: on his journey. But I'm through, and the Angel is sent,
[10:29] Speaker 1: you know, with food and drink. No no eat, eat drink,
[10:34] Speaker 1: keep going, keep going. This life is bad night in
[10:39] Speaker 1: a bad hotel. It's like an airplane that's taken us someplace.
[10:45] Speaker 1: It's like a car. It's taken us somewhere, and it's
[10:49] Speaker 1: kind of uncomfortable. But what should we always be aware
[10:54] Speaker 1: of during the journey. You have to eat. You have
[11:00] Speaker 1: to find sustenance for yourself during the journey. That's the Eucharist.
[11:09] Speaker 1: That's the Eucharist. What keeps us going during the difficult
[11:14] Speaker 1: years of travel. The Eucharist. You know, it's compared in
[11:20] Speaker 1: the last couple of reasons we've had the last two weeks,
[11:23] Speaker 1: is compared to Manna in the desert. Same image, isn't it.
[11:27] Speaker 1: The Israelites have escaped from slavery in Egypt. But they're
[11:31] Speaker 1: not in the Promised Land yet. Where are they the desert?
[11:36] Speaker 1: They're in between. They're on the way, they're on the plane,
[11:41] Speaker 1: they're in the car. It's a bad night, a bad hotel.
[11:44] Speaker 1: They're journeying toward the true goal. What do they need?
[11:48] Speaker 1: They need mana from heaven, and beautifully, you know manna
[11:53] Speaker 1: is from this man Hu Hebrew. What is that? What
[11:58] Speaker 1: is that food that it looks like ordinary food from
[12:02] Speaker 1: this world but actually carries the power of the heavenly world.
[12:07] Speaker 1: Doesn't Jesus say, I'm the bread come down from heaven.
[12:12] Speaker 1: Your fathers ate the man in the desert, but died.
[12:14] Speaker 1: I want to give you the true Manna. Listen now,
[12:19] Speaker 1: that will sustain you during the long and often difficult
[12:25] Speaker 1: journey to eternal life. Why is this world so difficult
[12:31] Speaker 1: because you're not meant for it? Ultimately, when will this
[12:36] Speaker 1: trip be over? It will? It will through God's grace.
[12:41] Speaker 1: But eat and drink. Sustain yourself with the Manna from Heaven,
[12:48] Speaker 1: which is the Eucharist. Otherwise, the problem everybody is that
[12:52] Speaker 1: we It's like being stuck on even the best plane
[12:57] Speaker 1: in the world. But I'm just between La and New
[13:00] Speaker 1: Zealand all the time, just going back and forth. I'm
[13:02] Speaker 1: not meant for that. I'm not meant for that. No,
[13:06] Speaker 1: I meant even now to eat the bread that prepares
[13:11] Speaker 1: me for eternal life, and it gives me strength for
[13:16] Speaker 1: the journey. And God bless you.

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