11 May 21 – Standing Up for Moral Rights and Against Moral Wrongs

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name's Terry Barber with Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[2] We're here every week to talk about our Catholic faith and then to study the catechism of the Catholic Church.

[3] And Bishop Strickland, welcome again to another hour.

[4] Thank you, Terry.

[5] Thank you for coming.

[6] Bishop Strickland, before I get into your tweets, I've got good news.

[7] And I tell people that Texas looks like a really good place to live.

[8] There's a story about Lubbock, Texas, which I've been to many, many times to Lubbock for conferences, Biblical Studies conferences with Dr. Hahn and others.

[9] But the headline is, Lubbock, Texas becomes the largest city in the United States to pass abortion ban.

[10] And it was really a strong percentage, 62 % to 37%.

[11] Bishop Strickland, I think you can pat yourself on the back.

[12] You're a Texan, so I'd like to see more cities like that in Texas.

[13] So what are your thoughts?

[14] Did you congratulate those Texans?

[15] Absolutely.

[16] And Terry, I'm proud to say that that movement of sanctuary cities began in the Diocese of Tyler.

[17] What?

[18] In Wascombe, Texas.

[19] No kidding.

[20] Yep.

[21] Little town just right near the border with Louisiana.

[22] And there's several towns in the Diocese of Tyler that are already there, small towns.

[23] And it's great to have Lubbock, a larger town.

[24] I met with the people that.

[25] that are working on this effort.

[26] And I really said, I mean, we're all so busy, but I'd really like to blanket the 33 counties of this diocese as many of those communities as possible to say, no, we're not gonna allow unborn children to be murdered in our community.

[27] More people, and I really love the idea of this because it's it's so grassroots yeah i mean trying to get the states or trying to get the nation but one community at a time and to to really encourage people to and it's about electing locally the right kind of people that are going to stand for this and certainly in our area it wasn't i mean we're so minority catholic uh but the catholic certainly support the effort, but it was non -Catholics on the council there in Wascombe, Texas, where the very first one was established, a sanctuary city for the unborn.

[28] And it really is a movement that needs to take, you know, by storm all of our communities.

[29] I'm with you.

[30] And remind people that on the local level, we can say household by household, community by community, no, we're not going to just, you know, roll over and allow presidents or congresses or anyone to say, you know, we're going to kill children, to kill unborn children.

[31] They are children.

[32] Amen.

[33] And I've heard quotes that the President administration has the goal of making abortion available in every zip code of the nation.

[34] And that needs to be, our approach needs to be in every, because even in Tyler, we have multiple zip codes in the town this size.

[35] But we need to fight from the other direction and say zip code by zip code.

[36] No. Amen.

[37] Well said, Bishop Strickland, amen to that.

[38] A couple more more quotes because you've been very vocal regarding a COVID -19 vaccine.

[39] And now we have a, I believe he's a Catholic governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis.

[40] I believe he's Catholic from what I understand.

[41] He just signed into a bill banning schools from requiring COVID vaccinations.

[42] I personally think that took courage and I agree with him.

[43] What's your thought about that?

[44] Absolutely.

[45] I'm so glad he did.

[46] And I encourage other governor.

[47] to follow suit because whatever your thoughts on the vaccine, and we know that it's been made, I mean, it's been signed off on by many as being morally acceptable, but people still, the freedom to choose not to be vaccinated for moral reasons or for any other reasons.

[48] It's our body.

[49] And to be coerced, into receiving a vaccine, then for whatever reason, someone says they don't need or they don't want.

[50] As a nation, we need to push back against any attempts to coerce this.

[51] People need to be able to freely choose what health care they choose and what vaccinations or other medications that they were willing to introduce into their own body.

[52] It's their body, and they have to follow their own conscience.

[53] And we need to really stand for those freedoms because we let that freedom go, and more and more will go with it.

[54] So I'm very pleased with Governor DeSantis and others that are saying, no, we're not going to stand for these coer.

[55] Worse of mandates that whoever says you must be vaccinated.

[56] That's a personal choice.

[57] Well, not only you are saying that, but the Bishop of Illinois, Peoria there, he says that Notre Dame's policy that says they need to be mandating vaccinations is immoral.

[58] That's pretty strong that a bishop would say that.

[59] Well, I agree with them.

[60] I figured you would.

[61] Bishop Papraki is a good bishop.

[62] And we all need to speak up and say what's immoral.

[63] And it is it is a tragedy that a university with the name, Notre Dame, and it's Our Lady.

[64] And an university with the name of Our Lady mandating immorality is pretty bad.

[65] We need to call him on it.

[66] I'm glad Bishop Paprocki spoke up.

[67] Yeah, boy, he'll pay a price for that, I imagine.

[68] Oh, boy.

[69] But so be it.

[70] Thank you very much, Bishop.

[71] Bishop Strickland, on April 28th, you tweeted a quote regarding the present administration stating, well, basically the spokesman for the Biden administration, Jen Peroski, she dismissed on Friday Catholic concerns over fetal tissue harvesting, saying that the White House, respectfully disagrees with Catholic teachings because they want to be experimenting with babies and they feel like, yeah, the Catholic Church says no, but they're saying, well, you're wrong.

[72] We respectfully don't agree with that because we think this is an important thing to do.

[73] Why did you tweet for, yeah, tell us what your tweet was all about because you responded to that.

[74] Well, for the White House to say, we respectfully disagree with Catholic teaching, and the White House presently has, as its chief resident, a Catholic president who claims to be very committed Catholic, there's just a logical contradiction there, a White House that is respectfully disagreeing with.

[75] And that's what they said.

[76] we respectfully disagree with the teachings of the bishop, the teaching of the Catholic Church.

[77] That is not what you call a committed Catholic.

[78] And so that discrepancy, we need to just respectfully, again, I mean, they use the word respectfully.

[79] We need to respectfully call Catholics, whether the president or any other, every Catholic needs to be respectfully called to live the faith.

[80] Catholics need to decide, do I believe this or not?

[81] Do I believe what the church teaches?

[82] The catechism that we're about to review, just small portions of it, that's what the Catholic Church teaches.

[83] We've got to, as a church, begin to really call people to decide.

[84] If you don't believe in what the Catholic Church teaches, there are a lot of people that agree with you.

[85] But either be Catholic or not, I believe Jesus Christ's message is for all humanity.

[86] And thus, logically, what the Catholic Church teaches, which is Jesus Christ's message, is for all humanity.

[87] Evangelization is, as Christ said, to go out to the ends of the earth, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[88] If you believe in Jesus Christ, if you believe in everything that he's about, you're going to believe in the church that he established.

[89] So as Catholics, as believers, we've got to quit compromising.

[90] be more consistent.

[91] And for the White House to say we respectfully disagree, well, okay, then don't claim to be Catholic at least.

[92] Amen.

[93] That respectful disagreement calls them out themselves, because they're basically saying, well, we choose not to believe what the Catholic Church believes.

[94] Then by definition, you are protesting Catholic teaching, and you're not Catholic.

[95] Certainly.

[96] People have a freedom to be Catholic or not.

[97] But we really need to be more authentic with what we're saying and not say, well, I mean, there are too many leaders, too many leaders in the church state in business, who, you know, they'll say, oh, I'm Catholic, but I don't believe.

[98] this, this, this, and this, then at what point do you say, well, you're not really Catholic.

[99] You're just using a label that obviously doesn't mean very much to you because you're not embracing what the church teaches.

[100] Well said, Bishop Strickland, when we come back, we'll have more.

[101] Archbishop Cordillian up in San Francisco has something to weigh in on this topic.

[102] You're listening to the Bishop Strickland Hour on Virgin Most Power Radio.

[103] Stay with us.

[104] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[105] My name's Terry Barber with Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[106] I was just talking about tweets of Bishop Strickland, and we're talking about how we have to be truly Catholic in our approach to life in season and out.

[107] And a good friend of this show, Archbishop Cordillian, who's the Archbishop of San Francisco, put out a letter, actually his first letter.

[108] And that's called, what are the obligations of Catholic leaders on abortion and the Holy Eucharist?

[109] And Bishop Strickland, you were saying that you're proud to stand with the successor of the apostle.

[110] I want to get into this.

[111] You endorse what he said.

[112] But basically, I read the letter on the radio on the Terry and Jesse show.

[113] People want to hear the whole thing.

[114] But basically, it's not just accountability for Catholics in politics, but it's also a call at the end of the letter for conversion.

[115] yeah what are your thoughts about the archbishop i mean the archbishop went went out on a limb here because i don't hear too many bishops speaking like that and i'm glad he did i am too he's a good man um actually another tweet i actually addressed exactly that same topic that quoting the prophet Ezekiel.

[116] I hear that reading a lot at confirmations.

[117] The Lord says he will take our stony hearts and make them fleshly living hearts full of God's love and the power of the Holy Spirit.

[118] And that's what I said.

[119] Too many leaders in church and state have hardened their hearts to the truth of Jesus Christ.

[120] And we just recently celebrated.

[121] Well, in the readings, the beautiful readings from Acts, we just recently had Mass with one of the readings of the conversion of Paul.

[122] That's actually, as we know, a feast.

[123] But this reading talked about Paul's conversion.

[124] If the one who was breathing murderous threats towards the early Christians, Saul was still his name at that point in Acts, if he breathing murderous threats could be converted in heart, his hardened heart was converted by an encounter, a dramatic encounter with Jesus Christ.

[125] But by an encounter with Jesus Christ, we need to believe that the same conversion can happen to presidents, to world leaders, to church leaders that have lost their way.

[126] And we need to pray for those conversions of heart.

[127] And really, Terry, I pray for my own continuing conversion that we can never say we're there.

[128] I'm a sinner.

[129] I need to convert more and more deeply.

[130] So I'm not pointing at someone else and say, oh, you center, you need to convert.

[131] I'm pointing at myself and everyone.

[132] We all need to convert more deeply.

[133] Everyone on the planet.

[134] if we all took a step closer to Christ, the world would be a better place.

[135] And then another step, and then another step.

[136] We need to convert to the truth in hardened hearts.

[137] I'm so glad that Archbishop Corleone said that, because it is about conversion.

[138] And what I've said very often with you and with others, as pastors, that's what we're here for, to lovingly call people to convert to the truth.

[139] And whether it's Joe the garbage man or Joe the grocer or Joe the plumber or Joe the priest or Joe the salesman or Joe the president, we need to pray for conversion of heart for everyone who is living in darkness and sin.

[140] if we believe what Christ is taught, there is darkness, there is evil, like we've talked about before, the path to hell is broad.

[141] Lots of people are on that path.

[142] The path to the truth in Christ, he tells us it's a narrow gate to walk through following Jesus in his truth.

[143] But all of us can be converted to walk through that narrow gate.

[144] We need to pray for, as I mean, really, Terry, it comes down to this.

[145] We need to pray for the conversion of leaders in our nation, of leaders in Russia, of leaders in China, of leaders in Germany, of leaders in every nation.

[146] Some leaders are seeking to live in the light of Christ, but too many leaders are living in darkness and rejecting the truth of Jesus Christ, just like Pilate did in his, as he faced Jesus Christ truth incarnate.

[147] He said, what is truth?

[148] Jesus has shown us what truth is, and we need to listen to him and pray for our own conversion and the conversion of others.

[149] others before the world is more broken than it is today.

[150] Well said, I just want to bring up our Lady of Fatima, which is what Paul the 6th said, a reaffirmation of the gospel, when the lady said that souls are going to hell because no one is there to pray and make sacrifices.

[151] So I want to encourage myself.

[152] I'm encouraging the bishop, and he accepts us.

[153] I'm encouraging all of us to say, let's make reparation for these sins of the world.

[154] let's pray for sin and let's pray for ourselves but there's there's an economy of grace out there and by our prayers we affect the entire church i just wanted to share something that i was a teenager when i went to confession and a priest a salesian father told me my penance is to say in our father hail marrying a glory be for an individual in india india he says you know you don't know him but that's the mystical body we pray for everybody around the world and you know that got me thinking as a young man saying yeah you know I could be praying for people I don't even know and I know that sounds like like well don't you know that but it brought it real to me and so now I'd still here I am in my 60s and I try to do that I'm praying for people in Russia or China persecuted places in the country in the world so I think that that's important what Bishop Strickland just said Bishop Strickland you have another tweet regarding St. Catherine of Sienna.

[155] Why don't you share that?

[156] Because she, you know, she was an amazing woman.

[157] I just found out, maybe I talked about, I can't remember what show I talked about it, but she raised her mother from the dead.

[158] That's the story.

[159] It was an amazing story.

[160] So this was a woman of great faith.

[161] And you tweeted her.

[162] She's, you know, she only, what, you said, she lived 33 years, but she's a doctor of the church.

[163] She actually told the Pope in Edmund, in France.

[164] What was it?

[165] Avignon, France, to get back to Rome.

[166] And I thought, wow, she's like a Mother Angelica or something.

[167] You know, I mean, someone who's bold as a nun.

[168] So tell me, what did you tweet and why did you tweet it?

[169] Well, I just, you basically touched on the gist of it.

[170] She's a strong woman.

[171] She was only 33 years old.

[172] Oh, gosh.

[173] She was the 25th child of her parents.

[174] An amazing story.

[175] She was a mystic.

[176] Yeah.

[177] She was not formally.

[178] educated, but in the wisdom of the church, she's named a doctor of the church because her wisdom came from God.

[179] She looked at divine revelation, and she was able to see profound truth and to share that profound truth and be a strong woman who only lived for 33 years, was persecuted in her life.

[180] So she's a model for men and women.

[181] I can see.

[182] her as a heroine to strengthen me and to encourage me and to encourage all of us to be more committed to Christ and to know the supernatural power that is there in the sacraments and the teachings of God's word and in everything that we have as people of faith.

[183] I'm reading the diary of St. Faustina and St. Catherine of Siena reminded me of her, some of her encounters with Christ and her Eucharistic faith in her emphasis that, you know, the body and blood, soul and divinity present in the Eucharist is something that we as Catholics need to hold more and more deeply and more reverently and full of awe to approach the mass full of awe in the way that St. Catherine did.

[184] We've just got to be stronger in faith.

[185] And thankfully we have these wonderful people, St. Catherine and so many others that inspire us to recognize that real people like us, a young woman of 33 years, can change the world because it's not their power, but the power of Jesus Christ.

[186] Wow.

[187] But what she said in a tweet that you, I'm going to just quote it, because this is pretty powerful just to say everything what you said.

[188] She said, stop or start being brave about everything, period.

[189] okay she says drive out darkness and spread the light don't look at your weaknesses realize instead that in christ crucified you can do everything bishop strickland i have to tell you something i'm reading a book on padre peel that ignatius press is planning to release so they asked this bald -headed old man to do an endorsement because i've been i went to potty peel's canonization.

[190] I love Padre Piel.

[191] And I read, I'm not through the book, I'm halfway through, and I'm making notes, but I noticed something about Padre Pio and about what this said about crucifixion.

[192] Padre Peele had a meditation on the passion of Christ in a very profound way.

[193] He had the stigmata, as you know, the wounds of Christ.

[194] And there are only eight canonized saints in the church that were stigmatis out of the 324 that this book talks about.

[195] Father Emerith, an exorcist, is the one who wrote the book.

[196] He passed away in 2016, but he did write the book on the life of Padre Peele.

[197] But Padre Peele is saying basically the same thing that St. Catherine of Siena is saying.

[198] And it just seems like when you look at the lives of the saints, they're on the same page when it comes to spirituality.

[199] They're telling us the same thing.

[200] Follow Christ in Him crucified.

[201] And without, like Bishop Sheen says, without Good Friday, there's no Easter Sunday.

[202] So I think that, you know, in the last 60 years, my take on the idea of redemptive suffering and the crucifixion and, you know, thinking about our Lord's passion, it seems like we need to bring that back more from what the saints have told us.

[203] And would you agree that maybe that's something that we have to look stronger at in the church today?

[204] Absolutely.

[205] There's a tendency to sort of downplay the cross and the suffering of Christ.

[206] And instead, we need to really pay attention to it.

[207] And some have said the church is going through her passion as the bride of Christ right now.

[208] And I think in many ways that's true.

[209] Probably it's happened before.

[210] It was a tough time during the life of St. Catherine of Siena.

[211] We just celebrated St. Athanasius.

[212] The saying for St. Athanasius, Contramundum, against the world.

[213] And I think all believers can feel that way sometimes.

[214] Yeah, Athanasius was exiled, I think, four times.

[215] So, yeah, we haven't seen, you know, the church history.

[216] shows us one thing that we've been here before.

[217] Hey, when we come back, we're going to open up our catechism to paragraph 158 about faith seeking understanding.

[218] Why is this important?

[219] Because you have to have a good foundation to have strong faith.

[220] In my humble opinion, it's important to have this fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church, and that's why we're going to the catechism.

[221] Stay with us on the Bishop Strickland Hour on Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[222] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour, and I promised that we'd go right to the catechism, but then something hit me, and that was the St. Philip Institute.

[223] I like to promote the St. Philip Institute, because they're doing great work for the church.

[224] Bishop Strickland, can you give us an update on what's happening there?

[225] I've got it right on the screen there.

[226] Yeah, go ahead.

[227] Lots of good things, really working to reach out to the 33 counties here, and teach the truth, everything that we're talking about.

[228] Evangelize and share the catechism.

[229] And we have a great team of people that are really working on doing that in every way we can.

[230] Excellent.

[231] And it's right there, s .t. philip institute .org on our screen.

[232] So paragraph 158 of the Catholic Catechism, the Catholic Church.

[233] I'll read it, and then Bishop Strickland can give us some insights.

[234] faith seeks understanding it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the one in whom he has put his faith and to understand better what he has revealed a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith increasingly set a fire by love beautifully stated the grace of faith opens the eyes of your hearts to live an understanding of the content of revelation that is the totality of God's plan and the mysteries of faith of their connection with each other and with Christ the center of revealed mystery the same Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts so that revelation may be more and more profoundly understood good.

[235] In the words of St. Augustine, I believe in order to understand, and I understand the better to believe.

[236] Well, Bishop Strickland, that's a long paragraph, but I'll tell you, man, that could, that could, you could speak for hours on what's in there.

[237] Wow.

[238] Absolutely.

[239] It's, and it is a matter of believing.

[240] Yeah.

[241] What I've, I'm more and more encouraging people to really stop and say, what do I believe?

[242] What do I really believe?

[243] And belief is stronger than all the data that the world pays so much attention to.

[244] Because as we can see, that data can be distorted.

[245] It can be shaped in all kinds of different ways.

[246] And we really need to look at what do we believe?

[247] What do we know in the depth of our being to be the truth?

[248] You know, Mr. Strickland, that paragraph got me was that the grace of faith opens the eyes of your heart.

[249] I thought that was such a beautiful statement because I encourage everybody because I was told to do this when, you know, 40 some years ago, asked Jesus Christ for stronger faith every day.

[250] And I'm going to encourage people to do that right before the Blessed Sacrament and get the grace of being in the presence of the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus, and then it says to lively understand the contents of revelation, that is, of the totality of God's plan, and the mysteries of faith, and of their connection with each other, and with Christ, the center of revealed mystery.

[251] You know what that brings me to?

[252] Saint, well, it was Brother Andre Beset.

[253] He's now a saint up in Montreal.

[254] And I'd give the story, but I might have said it before, but it just reminds me of this paragraph and that is here's a man who they didn't think he was really smart enough to be a priest at that time so they put him as the doorman simple life it's kind of funny because he didn't have the intellectual you know wit supposedly to be a priest but i'll tell you his spiritual wit was far above those other guys and i'll give you an example how it worked during lent in their community now these are the priests who teach at notre dame and their holy cross fathers and and they're very, you know, gifted men intellectually.

[255] Well, they were at the dinner table reading from different books of meditations, and they were all on the passion, which was beautiful that they were doing it.

[256] And it was Brother Andre's time to speak.

[257] And he just gave a little meditation on the passion of Christ, but he didn't have a book in his hand.

[258] And they said, Brother Andre, that is so beautiful.

[259] Are you going to tell us, where did you get that?

[260] What book were you reading to get to that insight?

[261] we want a copy of that and he looked at his brothers and says i didn't get it from a book they said well where did you get it on my knees in front of a crucifix and i think bishop strickland that taught me that story that you know head knowledge and i i love reading but you know i'm realizing i think i need more time just zipping my lip and being in front of the presence of christ in the euchrist and then asking those questions, meditating on these mysteries of the faith, because I think I get more out of that than a lot of good books.

[262] Okay, I said it, but maybe I'm on to something, or maybe I'm just too simple to, you know, but don't you think Brother Andre had something there by meditation?

[263] Absolutely.

[264] And if we really believe who Jesus Christ is, he is truth, incarnate.

[265] And so the more we can really reflect on him and turn to him, the more we will grow in knowledge.

[266] I mean, it's St. Catherine of Siena again.

[267] There you go.

[268] She wasn't a, she didn't, as we say, you know, in the country, she didn't have book learning.

[269] I love that.

[270] But she didn't have formal education.

[271] Neither did Brother Andre.

[272] No. But they knelt at the feet of Christ.

[273] And he is the Lord of the universe.

[274] He is the font of all truth.

[275] And it makes sense.

[276] It's logical, if you think about it, that being steeped in him brings knowledge to people.

[277] And that is in no way to denigrate study and the importance of it.

[278] But again, I quote St. Thomas Aquinas so often.

[279] He wrote the suma.

[280] Yeah.

[281] He was, he was both.

[282] He was a great learned man. We still rely on so much that he methodically thought through as far as what does the revelation of God's truth really mean for us as human beings.

[283] St. Thomas Aquinas was a giant intellect, but he was also had that mystical spirit of recognizing that in comparison to the fullness of truth that is God, all of his work was straw, was nothing because that's what we've got to all more deeply learn over and over again.

[284] I know I have to learn it over and over again that the more we learn, I mean, and so instead of saying, oh, you don't need to read, Yes, we need to read, but we need to pray, and we need to bring that reading of the Word of God and of all the great texts like the Summa Theologica.

[285] Yeah.

[286] We need to bring that into our prayer and let more and more every source of truth that we can find, we need to grasp it.

[287] We need to cling to it and recognize always in the rest of our lifetimes, we could spend every waking moment.

[288] learning and praying and will never get to the bottom of the well of grace and love and beauty that is God and that as his son and that is his spirit, Father's Son and Spirit, the mystery of the Trinity.

[289] The two of us could spend the rest of our lives reflecting on that mystery.

[290] We're not going to get to the end of it, but they're beautiful insights about the Holy Spirit as the expression of the love of the father and the son and the great bond that we're reading right now in the daily readings of John's gospel.

[291] John's gospel speaks beautifully.

[292] Christ speaks often of this wondrous and mysterious relationship between the father and the son, and that relationship brings forth the spirit.

[293] Another person, love becomes personified.

[294] because it's so powerful, you know, that the saints remind us.

[295] In many ways, we who are created in the image and likeness of God, we have a vocation of delving more and more deeply into our father's life, the life of God, the Father, Son and Spirit.

[296] So it really is an inspiration to all of us, and we can look to the saints to be reminded.

[297] Like you said, Padre Pio, a stigmatist, I mean, receiving that stigmata, he reflected deeply on the suffering of Christ and also the glory of Christ and what the Eucharist, who the Eucharist is.

[298] Well, said, I love the last part where the words of St. Augustine, I believe in order to understand and I understand the better to believe.

[299] I thought of that, and you know, that is such a beautiful way of saying it.

[300] And remember, you know, asking Jesus Christ for more faith is critical in your understanding of the faith.

[301] It doesn't come.

[302] Someone told me this where they said, well, I think I'm losing my faith.

[303] I've had that people tell me that.

[304] And I say, well, tell me a little bit about yourself.

[305] And then I asked them the question.

[306] I said, do you ask Jesus Christ to strengthen your faith every day?

[307] Well, no, I don't do that.

[308] I said, well, start doing that.

[309] These were teenagers.

[310] No, age students.

[311] I was doing a seminar.

[312] And there were six little college kids.

[313] And the next year at the conference, they came up to me. And they were all excited.

[314] And they said, Mr. Marber, we did what you said to do.

[315] We asked Jesus for more faith.

[316] And we have strong faith.

[317] You know, I just thought it was so cute that, you know, something as simple as that can make a change in one's life.

[318] And I think it's true.

[319] Again, do that before the blessed sacrament where you're receiving the graces of being in the presence of Jesus Christ, body, blood, soul, and divinity.

[320] I keep saying that, and I'll tell you why, folks, that's because it's really touched me personally in a very profound way.

[321] We have our chapel 80 feet away from this studio.

[322] I get to go in there daily before shows and just talk to Jesus, like I'm talking to Bishop Strickland right now.

[323] And the graces that I receive, I know I don't deserve, but I get them.

[324] Hey, when we come back from the break, we're going to continue to work with the catechism of the Catholic Church.

[325] I want to remind everybody, there's a men's conference out here in California, and you go to Virgin Most Powerful Radio .org to sign up with it.

[326] Bishop Strickland will be giving a presentation via the computer.

[327] Jesse Romero will be there.

[328] Also, Ruben Nava, Eddie Chavez.

[329] All of the good guys are going to be there to talk about their Catholic faith as men.

[330] You want to register.

[331] You don't want the computer.

[332] Call 877 -526 -215, and I'll go to VMPR .org.

[333] We'll be right back.

[334] Stay with us.

[335] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickman Hour.

[336] We're covering the Catholic Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition.

[337] And if you should, you could probably get one by just going to a Catholic bookstore, but if you can't get one, me at 877 -526 -215 when you need one.

[338] All right.

[339] This is an interesting paragraph, 159.

[340] And I say why, because we have to think about this.

[341] Faith and science.

[342] Through faith is above reason.

[343] There can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason, since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind.

[344] God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth.

[345] It's important to know that.

[346] Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner, does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith.

[347] because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God.

[348] The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led as if it were by the hand of God in spite of himself for it is God the conserver of all things who made them what they are.

[349] Bishop Strickland, there's a lot of The theology in that paragraph was.

[350] Yeah, and it really ultimately expresses the reality that truth is one.

[351] Yeah.

[352] That, and it really calls and challenges our modern attitude where we even use the phrase, oh, that's your truth and this is my truth.

[353] That's contradicting what this is.

[354] is talking about and it's illogical really if you stop and think about it if if it's true it's true and it's and therefore whether it's truth that we come to through revelation truth that we come through through scientific investigation truth that we come to through simply being human beings living on this planet um truth when we come to truth it always leads us to God because he is truth right and it and there is only one truth it's not this multiplicity of truth that some modern ideas seem to to contemplate and it's important because we need to teach this to children we need to teach this to everyone and instead too much of what is being taught is this false idea that truth can be shaped into different things by different people and one one culture's truth or one person's truth is not the same as another's it's just it's not truth and it's not logical and it really is insidiously destructive to the human person, when we start allowing people to say, well, that's true for you, but it's not true for me, then you keep going down that road, and it erodes who we are.

[355] And it begins to harm people in very significant ways.

[356] You know, Bishop, this isn't a perfect analogy, because I don't think any analogy is perfect, but I like playing baseball.

[357] My analogy is the foul line.

[358] foul line first base and third base is very deliberate if the ball goes to the left of the foul line it's a foul ball if it goes to the right it's a fair ball now without this demarcation then anybody can hit a ball 10 feet in foul territory and say but that's true that's that's a fair ball for me but you see that's not true they can say it's true but that doesn't make it true so the analogy is god has given us like for example male and female that's who we are now we can say i want to move the foul line to the left and call it a fair of all but that's not true because that's the rules that's the way it was said now god intended a man to be made a certain way and a woman to be made a certain way for a reason but if we want to change that truth and say no for example example, I'm not a man, I'm a woman.

[359] Well, your DNA, everything shows that you're a man, not a woman.

[360] But for you to say that you're a woman, this is the danger of just moving the foul line whenever we want to move it and say, well, that's not my truth.

[361] And so I guess the point I'm trying to convey is it seems like the world we're living in right now, one of the biggest problems we have is, we don't understand who God is.

[362] That's bottom line.

[363] We just don't understand God's revelation to us so we go with our own revelation which is always going to get us into trouble absolutely so that's my take on that Bishop Strickland I think we've got time this next paragraph 160 as a good thing I read this one to be human this is about freedom of faith paragraph 160 to be human man's response to God by faith must be free and therefore nobody is to force to embrace the faith against his will.

[364] The act of faith is of its very nature a free act.

[365] God calls men to serve him in spirit and truth.

[366] Consequently, they are bound to him in conscience, but not coerced.

[367] This fact received its fullness manifestation in Jesus Christ.

[368] Indeed, Christ invited people through faith and conversion, but he never coerced them, for he bore witness to the truth but refused to use force to impose it on them on those who speak who spoke against it his kingdom grows by love with which Christ lifted up on the cross draws men to himself so the bottom line he says at the beginning to be human man's response to God by faith must be free so they have freedom is that right bishop that we have the freedom to choose God and we have the freedom to not there's no value we didn't have that yeah yeah and it it reminds us we're here a lot about freedom and liberty these days but real freedom comes down to that real freedom is the the freedom of the person to choose or not god gives it to us and for us to um coerce or manipulate so that people aren't free, then that is not of God, and it's destructive to the human individual and the human civilization.

[369] And we've certainly seen that.

[370] I mean, it's present in the world today, and it's always been present, whether it's a government or whatever sort of authority structure that is limiting people's freedom to choose.

[371] Thankfully, the way God has made us, yes, I mean, many of the saints who are martyrs demonstrate that you can, I mean, the world and worldly power can coerce us to a certain extent.

[372] I mean, they can say, you're going to die if you don't adopt this, what the state or the individual, whoever it is, is saying, you must believe this.

[373] but the freedom of conscience, the freedom internally to choose God, no matter what, or to not choose God.

[374] God leaves us free, and that's what we, that's what human civilization basically comes down to, is establishing that freedom, leaving us free to make our choices according to our relationship with God and what we believe God is calling us to do for the state or any power, whatever form it may take for a worldly power to interfere with that freedom.

[375] Thankfully, it can only go so far.

[376] And the martyrs really illustrate that for us.

[377] We just recently celebrated the multiple martyrs of England under Elizabeth I. And those martyrs were willing to die rather than to reject the truth that they came to know through Jesus Christ, their Catholic faith.

[378] And certainly, it's pretty coercive to say, I'm going to take your life if you don't deny Jesus.

[379] But they can't force a person internally the freedom is still there because it comes from God and the freedom to say okay you can take my body but you can't take my heart away from Christ and that's the the great witness of the martyrs through the ages the very first martyrs to the most recent martyrs and that's the kind of of faith that we all need to have and to rejoice in the reality that no one can take a our faith away from us.

[380] And sadly, I think we've both heard too many people that have walked away from the church or walked away from organized religion, as they say, of whatever denomination, whatever variety of organized religion, they've walked away from it because of the corruption or for whatever reasons.

[381] But that's their free choice to force people.

[382] to leave their faith, you really can't do it.

[383] And that's the beauty of what faith is really about.

[384] We can refuse and harden our hearts against the truth, but no one can invade the human heart, human conscience, and force us to quit believing.

[385] They can kill us.

[386] They can't force a person to say, I don't believe in Jesus anymore.

[387] mind control is not something that is available even to science, and hopefully even attempts at it never will be, because then you're not really forcing a person to believe something they don't, but you're destroying the person.

[388] I mean, if you destroy their ability to choose between good and evil, then you're destroying that quality that makes us human, like this says.

[389] Well, said, I think of what St. Thomas More said, Earth has no sorrow that heaven can't heal.

[390] Bishop Strickland, we're at the end of our show.

[391] Could you give our folks a blessing, please?

[392] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for all involved in this radio program and station and all who are listening.

[393] May we all seek the truth that sets us free, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[394] Amen.

[395] Thank you again, Bishop Strickland.

[396] Folks, you can listen to all the podcasts by going to vmpr .org.

[397] Not only Bishop Strickland's shows, but all the shows that we produce here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[398] May God richly bless you and your family, and we look forward to having you join us again next week, same time, same station, here at Virgin.

[399] most powerful radio God bless you have a wonderful week and enjoy the other programs that are on vmpr .org God love you