16 Jan 24 – Cardinal Sarah Backs Up Bishop Strickland

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name is Terry Barber with Virgin Most Powerful radio.

[2] Every week we have the good bishop to talk about our Catholic faith.

[3] The first half we talk about the news of the Catholic faith.

[4] And then the second half, we go right into a catechesis, which is a big word for the teachings of the faith, going back to the fundamentals, which Bishop Strickland and I personally agree wholeheartedly that there's a need to go back to the fundamental.

[5] on the faith so that people can fall deeper in love with Jesus Christ and his bride the church.

[6] Bishop Strickland, thanks for taking the time to be with us again.

[7] Thanks, Terry.

[8] I'm going to start off with the topic that I heard you do, and I mean, it's controversial, but Chris Christie, a politician, I mean, he's my age, at least, so he's been around the block, and he came out and said publicly that, you know, I'm changing my view regarding homosexuality in marriage because his understanding is that the Catholic Church through Pope Francis, which is erroneous, it's not, but that's the impression he has, is that they're more open to the blessings of same -sex, and so I'm going to change my view and say that I'm all for it, and you know, things kind of evolve.

[9] And I felt bad for him because he sounds like he doesn't know his faith well.

[10] So could you give us your comments?

[11] Because I think you did earlier on LifeSight News, but I wanted to hear it also from you on here.

[12] Yeah, well, sadly, Chris Christie just represents what I think probably a lot of the politicians will do.

[13] And other leaders in the community, whether politicians or in businesses or whatever, will just use it as an excuse to go with the flow and to say, okay, well, the church used to teach this, but the church has changed or teaching.

[14] And that doesn't happen.

[15] It's not going to happen.

[16] And that's where it's problematic that this document that has been issued creates that kind of confusion.

[17] Because especially politicians of whatever party, whatever country, really, by definitions, politicians are going to find the sort of the least controversial or the most popular stance to take.

[18] And certainly, popularity -wise, I mean, if you did a worldwide vote on the question of, is marriage between a man and a woman for life open to children, or is it all these other things?

[19] Probably, you know, the majority may very well vote the wrong way, but that's not how the truth is formulated.

[20] And that's not the job of the church.

[21] So it just troubled me that Chris Christie probably represents the, approach that a lot of politicians will take on the local level, on the state level, on the national level of, you know, suddenly they're Catholics, but well, the church is changing her teachings.

[22] And really, I mean, even in the document, there's a lot of confusion there, but this document says marriage is strictly between a man and a woman.

[23] Yeah, very clearly.

[24] But then goes on to confuse things and that when, you know, politicians and just average people are going to take the path of least resistance.

[25] Right.

[26] The easiest path in the easiest path to say, oh, anybody can marry anybody and marriage is no big deal.

[27] And, you know, sadly, that loses the beautiful gift that the sacrament of matrimony in our Catholic faith is and natural marriages for human society.

[28] Yeah.

[29] Well, sad.

[30] And I think that it needs clarity, and that's why documents need to be real clearly written and unambiguous.

[31] And I think there's a quote from St. John Paul to, I call him the Great, but that's just me. But he actually got into this conversation.

[32] And I didn't realize it until I did my homework.

[33] On June 28, 2003, in his post -senatal apostolic exhortation, he warns of this attempt.

[34] to manipulate the meaning of the word couple.

[35] He writes in Ecclesia Arupa that attempts are made to accept a definition of a couple in which difference of sex is not considered essential.

[36] He said this, the church teaches the difference of sex is necessary for a couple to be a couple.

[37] Why am I bringing this up, Bishop Strickland?

[38] It's because this latest document a week before Christmas was using the word couple and you know it's contradicting previous popes on this and I know I know one thing that and I tell people this bishop you correct me right on the air but the perennial teachings of the church what consistently has been taught of when it comes to morality you can't have it yes yesterday and no today it's got to be consistent so when I see things like this, St. John Paul making this difference, this statement, which is consistent with the church's teaching, I'm going to go with that rather than some document later that contradicts previous teachings of the church.

[39] Am I on to something or am I just crazy?

[40] No, Terry, you're on to something.

[41] And you mentioned earlier that I'm a broken record.

[42] I take that as a compliment because we need to just keep repeating the perennial truth that the church teaches.

[43] And that, and as always, John Paul II was a brilliant mind as well as a holy man. He wasn't perfect, none of us are, but he left a legacy that is tremendously important for the church.

[44] And just making the clarity that what is a couple, it's only possible between us.

[45] man and a woman to even be a couple.

[46] And that, I think, is a distinction that has certainly been lost in the past several years.

[47] It would be interesting if we could hear John Paul II's commentary on what is coming out of the Vatican right now.

[48] And I know we discuss a little bit, and I once again thanked Cardinal Sarah for a message that he put out very clear, sounding much more like John Paul II or Pope's through the ages.

[49] Yes.

[50] This is what is the truth.

[51] This is what we teach.

[52] And it does need to be repeated over and over again.

[53] And really, Terry, once again, we're reminded, Jesus Christ is truth incarnate.

[54] He is the face of truth.

[55] And to me, that's the best way for me and for all of us to really wrap our minds around the ideas that we're talking about.

[56] Truth is a person.

[57] Yes.

[58] It is a personal reality.

[59] It's not some kind of morphous cloud that changes.

[60] It's the reality of a personal God who has revealed himself.

[61] to us.

[62] I'm reminded, I think we talked about it on one of our episodes, but just briefly the point that I would highlight of a Muslim man who had a vision of Jesus Christ, what he said in that video talking about his experience was to me very significant because he said it's part of what the people that have the Muslim faith, part of what they're charged to do is to seek the way, I presume the way of truth.

[63] And what he said in that video, he's now a Christian, and he said, he didn't know that the way was a person.

[64] I think that's a beautiful reminder to all of us who know the person of Jesus Christ.

[65] Yes.

[66] the way the truth and the life that person Jesus Christ is the one we look to yes and that's what it helps me um I get confused I get concerned I I'm you know I'm no brilliant mind I don't claim to be but you don't have to be some sort of you know brilliant scholar to understand the Catholic faith you just have to know Jesus Christ he is truth incarnate and he is is revealed to us through his word and through his action, what the truth really means.

[67] We humbly look to him.

[68] And to me, that's the best context for understanding.

[69] Just like any person, we've gotten to know each other better over several years.

[70] We've talked mainly during these recordings.

[71] But I've learned a little bit about your family.

[72] I've learned something about your background, the same with me. Sure.

[73] That's what a person is.

[74] We can continue to learn more about any person.

[75] For you and your wife, you've been married, what, 50 years, 40 plus?

[76] Getting close.

[77] You're aging me. Go ahead.

[78] But you would never say, oh, I've learned all I have to know about my wife.

[79] Or that, I mean, if she changed into a different person, that would create a problem.

[80] Because a person needs to be a consistent expression of God in God's image and likeness.

[81] And certainly we develop, we grow, we go deeper, but to have a total change of Jesus Christ, and especially if we remember, yes, he's a man. fully man, but he's divine also.

[82] And God is changeless.

[83] So that's why Jesus Christ, the God man, the truth doesn't change.

[84] It's not going to.

[85] And for all of us who remain faithful to the truth, whatever storms may come, whatever confusion is cranked out from wherever, if we stay with the truth, that is what sets us free.

[86] and that's what gives us the strength to continue.

[87] And that's what guides us to our destiny of eternal life with God.

[88] Bishop Strickland, say it again, because I love hearing that.

[89] It reassures me in my faith that I'm not crazy because it's important to go back to the fundamentals, and that's what you do.

[90] When we come back, we'll have more with the Bishop Strickland Hour on Virgin Most Power Radio.

[91] Stay with us, family.

[92] We'll be back.

[93] back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[94] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[95] Indeed.

[96] Bishop Strickland, before I go to Cardinal Sirrah, I wanted to bring something up with Cardinal Mueller.

[97] He was the prefect for the Doctrine of Faith in 2009, and I'm relating it to the new prefect for the Doctor of Faith, Cardinal Fernandez.

[98] And back in 2009, there was a file.

[99] Now, this is all public.

[100] I mean, this is not something I'm bringing up as a something that's not publicly known, but it's publicly known that the Cardinal Mueller was very concerned about Cardinal Fernandez because of books that he had written that were scandalous.

[101] And I'm not going to bring them all up right now.

[102] I'm just saying everybody has heard about these.

[103] I mean, I'll just be honest with me, this is my opinion.

[104] I got it on Saturday morning of the three chapters and it's pornographic.

[105] I mean, I can't believe a priest would right like this.

[106] And so Cardinal Mueller wanted to stop anything that, any development for Cardinal Fernandez as being an archbishop.

[107] And I'm just doing out the facts.

[108] Three weeks after Pope Francis becomes the Pope, he makes him the archbishop.

[109] Cardinal Mueller said that's probably not a good idea because of X, Y, and Z. Now, I'm not in management.

[110] I'm in sales.

[111] But I try to exercise Canon 212 to let my pastors know my needs.

[112] I'm scandalized as a layman to find out that the guy that's in, you know, the, it's in charge of the doctrine of faith is a man who had written things that were scandalous.

[113] I mean, Playboy magazine, these things, I could see someone writing it for that.

[114] But it just scandalizes me. Now, again, I'm not trying to put you on the hot seat, but I'm just saying, we deserve better as a laity.

[115] Don't you agree that laity need something better than someone writing stuff like this?

[116] Absolutely.

[117] And it's so harmful to so many people, young and old, but especially young people that are just forming their understanding of their lives and their understanding of the world and to have this kind of, well, I would use the word dribble, promote it.

[118] And to have a man like Cardinal Fernandez in such a significant office.

[119] of the church, it's just the last thing we need is more confusion.

[120] Right.

[121] And frankly, this document that just came out of Rome, from what I understand, he's basically the author of it, and you can understand where that distorted, confused thinking, I mean, the roots of it are in some of these books that were published many years ago.

[122] Oh, yeah.

[123] And to me, it's interesting, from what I understand, there were a, attempts to kind of pull it from the shelves and to sort of erase it.

[124] But, and certainly, all of us can repent of making a mistake, but I haven't heard it acknowledged as a mistake.

[125] And it just, like you said, I mean, the symbolist way to say it is what you already said, Terry.

[126] The people need clarity and the beauty of the teaching of our Catholic faith.

[127] We need to go back to the basic teachings.

[128] They're beautiful.

[129] Yes, they're challenging.

[130] But the sexuality of men and women as expressed in marriage with the beauty of all of that, that's what people need to understand.

[131] And anything that even has any shade of pornographic, it's not just not helpful.

[132] It's harmful to the church and to do.

[133] too many individual people.

[134] I'll give me an example.

[135] I'm looking at a text.

[136] I give my cell and phone number out on the radio, so I'm dealing with people all day long with texts.

[137] One mom says, I'm worried about my son.

[138] He's kind of a low -information Catholic.

[139] And he says that now that the church is doing whatever they want to be doing, whatever that means, he said, everybody's going to do whatever they want to do.

[140] So I'm not committed to anything because I don't see the church saying clearly what its morals are anymore.

[141] See, that's the person we're trying to reach, Bishop Strickland.

[142] So now I'm, you know, now I'm dealing with him, but, you know, I really shouldn't have to be dealing with this.

[143] This should be clearly taught so that Hoy -Peloi, the teenager who's going through challenges in his life, and maybe it's just because he's a teenager.

[144] But he needs good example right now.

[145] He doesn't need scandal.

[146] So that's why I bring this up.

[147] The only reason is for the salvation of souls.

[148] All right, let's shift gears if we could.

[149] Cardinal Sirrah, we talked about him.

[150] I want to set the stage of who this man is.

[151] His parents are converts to the Catholic faith.

[152] And he grew up in Africa.

[153] And he also, did you know that he spent time in prison for his faith?

[154] Yeah.

[155] No, it didn't.

[156] Yeah, the communists.

[157] Yeah.

[158] In his country.

[159] And so he knows what it is to suffer for the faith.

[160] And he ends up becoming the prefect for the doctrine of the liturgy.

[161] Okay.

[162] And this is a big position.

[163] He had and he was very traditional he tried to implement the second vatican council's document on the liturgy with adorientum unfortunately when he tried to implement that the boss above him said no he wanted to have people start receiving holy communion kneeling and on the tongue and the people above said no and then what's interesting is he recently after that was relieved of his duties as the prefect.

[164] So he's had some suffering, but he wanted to comment after, what, three weeks after the document came out?

[165] You know what that tells me, Bishop Strickland?

[166] Unlike me, you know, I react right away.

[167] What is Cardinal Surrah?

[168] Three weeks praying on it.

[169] But what he comes out to say is powerful.

[170] He says that I'm growing, the growing number of bishops who have rejected fiducial supplicans stating that its purpose.

[171] He's, he says, he says, he's, he's, He says this, it proposes a heresy.

[172] Now, you didn't say that, Bishop Strickland.

[173] I'm saying Cardinal Sirrah said it, okay?

[174] So don't mix it up.

[175] I'm just giving the credit, worst credit to do.

[176] That gravely undermines the church, the body of Christ, because it's contrary to the Catholic faith and tradition.

[177] What I like about what he did, and I think it's an awesome thing, when he took scripture, here's what he said.

[178] He said this, that it undermines what the church, on natural law, first of all, and I love, we need to bring back natural law to people.

[179] That's so important.

[180] But he said that these actions are contrary to natural law.

[181] They close the sexual act to the gift of life.

[182] I mean, he's speaking so clearly.

[183] Sounds like what you've said, but okay, they do not stem from the true effective and sexual complementary of a husband and wife.

[184] They cannot be approved under any circumstances, any pastoral approach that fails to recall this objective, all right, this objective truth would be failing in the first work of mercy, which is a gift of truth.

[185] Isn't that a beautiful statement, Bishop Strickland?

[186] Yeah.

[187] Now, he also says this.

[188] He says that, he says this, that all such actions do is generate error, scandal, doubt, and disappointment.

[189] Cardinal Siraw said this, not Bishop Strickland.

[190] He says, He wrote, adding how the bishops ignore or forget Jesus' a stern warning against those who scandalize the little ones.

[191] If anyone scandalizes one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better to hang a millstone around his neck.

[192] Throw them into the depths of the sea.

[193] That's Matthew 18, verse 6.

[194] Bishop Strickland, I mean, you're a bishop.

[195] Aren't you concerned about scandal and you're being a bishop?

[196] You don't want to scandalize anybody, right?

[197] you want to be clear in what you teach absolutely that's i mean one of my goals is to avoid the millstone and even more important than that what happens to me is to avoid scandalizing and harming the faith of the little ones right little ones maybe young people maybe people that are just not well educated in their faith yeah that can take a lot of different forms but there's what I consider a grave responsibility.

[198] And it's not just a responsibility, but it's a poverty to not share the joy of the gospel.

[199] And the truth that Jesus Christ suffered, died and rose to with us.

[200] It's a poverty for humanity to say, oh, well, this is, you know, Jesus is just one of many ways, to just sort of diminish it to really a nothing burger, as I would say.

[201] I like this, you know, the teenager that you quoted really is a sharp young person.

[202] Yeah.

[203] Because it's, that's really what's being promoted is, well, you do your thing, I'll do my thing, anything goes.

[204] And that's ridiculous.

[205] And it's not Jesus Christ.

[206] It's just not the message that he gave us.

[207] Well, said, the final statement he said, and I think it's very important for it.

[208] we knew of this.

[209] He said, as such, he ruled out entering into discussion with the document.

[210] Instead, citing three sources, the Word of God, the Magisterium, and the traditional teachings of the church.

[211] I say this, Bishop Strickland, because it's nice to have clarity from someone who's high in the church.

[212] We're looking for bishops to speak out on this, and as I said, I have a about a 26 -page document of all the bishops' conferences, bishops, individual bishops who have taken issue with this.

[213] So this is something that I've not seen in my lifetime.

[214] Maybe you have, but I haven't, ever seen so many priests and bishops saying, no, no, no, we can't go along with this because it doesn't go along with the perennial teachings of the church.

[215] So I just want to say this.

[216] Let's pray for our leaders that they will confirm us in our faith.

[217] That's my take.

[218] Absolutely.

[219] Now, we're going to shift to the catechism.

[220] For those who've just toned in, I have to tell you, we're almost at a half a million views for a bishop in Africa who just did what Cardinal Ornese did.

[221] Why?

[222] Because people are interested in this, the truth.

[223] That's what sets us free.

[224] You mentioned that earlier in the first segment.

[225] So let's go back when we come back from this break to talk about the fundamentals of the faith through a catechism.

[226] Now, years, we've been doing this for a couple years now, and you had suggested this way of Christ book that the diocese of Tyler, Texas, published under the St. Philip Institute, and I'm going to assume that the books are still available, even though you're not actively the bishop of the diocese, that people can go to St. Philip Institute to pick up this catechism.

[227] It's a very basic catechism that it kind of has the same format that what I grew up with, the Baltimore Catechism, question, answer.

[228] But what I like about this Catechism is, if you want to go deeper, in the section, it has find out more.

[229] And I love it, because then you get all the paragraphs that are tied into what they're talking about in the big Catechism.

[230] And I think over the years now, I guess I'm finally convinced that I'm a weirdo because I read the entire Catechism.

[231] And most people are not going to read that Catechism, Bishop Strickland.

[232] So having a little small catechism is really the way to go for the majority of people in the church.

[233] And that's what we're going to do when we come back.

[234] Also, Bishop Strickland, can you tell us about your new YouTube channel and what you're doing with that?

[235] Yeah, Terry, just began YouTube back in Advent and have posted a few trying to keep the videos around six or seven minutes so that it's, you know, not, you know, people can watch.

[236] it in a fairly short time frame, six or seven minutes.

[237] Yeah.

[238] And just talking about so far, I've talked about some of the letters that I've written to the priest, and I've also talked about just the liturgical celebrations.

[239] Of course, with Christmas and Epiphany, there's been a lot to talk about.

[240] But we need to, I'm sure, that we'll highlight saints sometimes and just talk about the faith.

[241] And how do they go to that?

[242] How do they get to YouTube?

[243] Put your name on YouTube?

[244] Yes, Mr. Bishop Joseph Strickland.

[245] Got it.

[246] We come back.

[247] We're going to talk about the catechism, and we're going to talk about that.

[248] Stay with us.

[249] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[250] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[251] I want to set the stage here, Bishop Strickland.

[252] I'm in my late 60s now.

[253] I'm 67 years old, okay?

[254] And when I was a young person, teenager, I started a class at my house called The Life of Christ, and teenagers would come over, and we would read the catechism with the Catholic Church, and we'd study our faith.

[255] And it was amazing.

[256] We had 30, 40 people that would come.

[257] Even Richard, my engineer, remembers those days.

[258] We would study the catechism, and here I am, 45.

[259] five years later, still studying my faith.

[260] And Bishop Strickland, it's because it's what gives me my focus of knowing God.

[261] It's such a beautiful thing to study our faith.

[262] It's such an honor.

[263] I want to encourage all of our listeners right now, you know, time management.

[264] Take the time to either open up a catechism of the church and study it weekly, even if you do it on your own time, because the benefits are outstanding.

[265] I just love learning, and here I am 45 years studying my faith.

[266] And Bishop Strickland, I'll be honest with you, I'm still learning.

[267] Well, absolutely.

[268] And I really encourage that kind of lifelong learning because it reminds us who God is.

[269] God is infinite.

[270] God is beyond our imagining.

[271] And I think that one of the problems of the modern world, and there are many blessings of the modern world, the church isn't against modern, but it's against anything that becomes modern that distorts the truth.

[272] And one of the things that happens in modern times is a tendency to really think we have it all figured out.

[273] and to act as if we can find the ultimate answers.

[274] I mean, you hear about that scientifically all the time.

[275] We want to find the answer to everything.

[276] It's God.

[277] Exactly.

[278] We know the answer to everything.

[279] But ultimately, God reveals to us that we will never reach the end because God is infinite love, infinite truth, infinite beauty, and goodness.

[280] Everything that is blessed and good in creation is an expression of the infinite goodness of God.

[281] Right.

[282] And I think that the lifelong study, like we were talking about earlier, to remember that God is a personal God.

[283] Yes.

[284] Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[285] Yes.

[286] To continue for the whatever length, you're 67, I'm 65.

[287] You're a bit older than me, but we're both considered old guys by society today.

[288] But the wisdom, if we're wise, we will continue to study and learn and open our minds to know God more deeply.

[289] I mean, that's the mission that we have.

[290] And trust that what we've already learned about God is not going to change.

[291] It goes deeper.

[292] It clarifies.

[293] it gets a richer understanding but it doesn't change from oh it was no for this many years and now it's yes or vice versa well said we're taking chapter eight of the book that the St. Philip Institute published the way of the Christ I have the students book and we're on chapter eight I'm going to start at the beginning of the chapter even though we did it oh maybe six months ago this was my date here back in June but because we have a new audience and we're growing, I want to talk about the church.

[294] And I think you need to understand.

[295] And I'll start the stage.

[296] Cardinal Ratzinger wrote a book, I think the time you were ordained in 1985 called, or 84, the Ratzinger report.

[297] And he made a comment about your understanding of what the church is, the ecclesiology.

[298] It's a big word for people, but meaning what's the mission of the church?

[299] We're going to talk about that.

[300] And he said, the problem is some people look at the church like the optimist club.

[301] It's just, you know, another group.

[302] It has nothing more significant than you know, you're a Lions Club group.

[303] But that's just not the church.

[304] The church is the bride of Christ, the mystical body of Christ.

[305] The church is that.

[306] So we have the church, you know, three church triumphant, church militant, and church suffering.

[307] And this has all been worked out in the church over the centuries.

[308] And it's so beautiful.

[309] So let's get into the question here.

[310] First of all, it says, Jesus has founded a church that is one holy Catholic and apostolic the apalistic of the church holds and guarantees that one true church can pass down the teachings of Jesus, sanctify us and lead us to heaven.

[311] So the first question, what is the church?

[312] The church is essentially a communion of persons united to God and each other in Christ.

[313] The church is a complex reality that is at one visible and invisible, natural and supernatural, human and divine.

[314] They're covering this in a paragraph?

[315] Wow.

[316] The church is composed of followers of Jesus who are mystically united together as Christ's body with Jesus as the head.

[317] Did you notice they said Jesus as the head?

[318] The church is visibly united by professing the same faith.

[319] Wow.

[320] Celebrating in common the liturgy, the sacraments, and submitting to the authority of the Pope And bishops, your thoughts?

[321] Well, it's just talking about the basics of what the church is.

[322] And what I would highlight there, it is a living gathering of God's people.

[323] It's not just books on a shelf.

[324] Like you said, it's not a club that you can opt in or out of.

[325] But it's really part of the fabric of what it means to be a human being because we come from God.

[326] created in God's image and likeness.

[327] The church, I like the image that is used, the bark of Peter.

[328] Because a bark, a ship, you're either on it or you're not.

[329] You can't just say, well, I'm sort of on the bark of Peter.

[330] You're either on or not.

[331] You may not be as fully on as you would like to be, but you either on or not.

[332] And through baptism, you're on the bark of Peter.

[333] And then whether you live that or not is a different thing.

[334] But I like the idea that the church, my favorite image in these times is it's the mystical body of Christ.

[335] Right.

[336] You know, that it's a reminder that we're all part of this.

[337] Amen.

[338] Look at so many saints.

[339] So many saints were lay people.

[340] So many saints were young and died young.

[341] And the world would not measure their life as significant at all.

[342] Right.

[343] But to be a canonized saint is the most significant accomplishment, a human being, can accomplish.

[344] Because what canonized saint means is that this person has attained the goal that God is laid out.

[345] for us to attain eternal life with God.

[346] So, so good.

[347] You know, I'm reading a book.

[348] I finished it last week, the 30 -day Eucharistic Revival.

[349] Page 37 said something similar.

[350] He said, there is only one evil on the earth, only one thing which we should be filled with the dread of sin.

[351] In other words, we want to get to heaven.

[352] And that's what we have here on this network.

[353] Everything's focused about salvation.

[354] we get there.

[355] You know, you said the mystical body of Christ, the next question was what images expressed the church is, and it was the church is the people of God, the mystical body of Christ, the church is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

[356] Here's one question that is ultimately answered in canon law, the last canon.

[357] He says, what is the mission of the church?

[358] He says this.

[359] The church exists to bring all people the salvation of Jesus he offers.

[360] She, continues Jesus' mission of salvation by teaching, governing, and sanctifying.

[361] What a job description for the church.

[362] Absolutely.

[363] And the two things that I would emphasize there that really aren't emphasized the way they should be in the world today, and even in the church, there's one Savior that's Jesus Christ.

[364] Amen.

[365] And he is Savior for all humanity.

[366] Exactly.

[367] One for all.

[368] I think that simple, the two extremes, one savior, not many, not possible, one Savior, Jesus Christ, the only divine son of God incarnate among us, one Savior for all humanity for all times.

[369] So one for all.

[370] It sounds like the three musketeers, but that I think is a simple way to remember what the church is about.

[371] One Savior, there aren't many, and he is essential to be part of the church is, again, to be part of his mystical body.

[372] And you can't say, well, yeah, I want salvation, but I'm not into Jesus Christ.

[373] It's contradictory.

[374] And to be into Jesus Christ, but not willing to be changed by his truth, it's contradictory.

[375] And we hear those contradictions in the world today.

[376] You know, you'll hear people say, oh, I want to be spiritual, but I don't want to, you know, adopt a religion.

[377] I don't want to embrace Christianity, but I want to be spiritual.

[378] Then you're not really being spiritual if you're just focused on this world, on the natural, and not looking at that supernatural end that God has given us.

[379] well said when we come back we're going to ask the question about the uniqueness of the catholic church over other churches i remember the document dominus jesus in the year 2000 that was very clear and it's nice to have clarity on this issue because the truth resides fullness of truth in the catholic church and bishop strickland you can talk a little bit about that when we come back from the break also i want to remind everybody that we're going to be doing more shows than last year with Bishop Strickland.

[380] We're going to be doing two shows a week.

[381] And then I want to ask our listeners to promote these shows by sending him to their friends and family.

[382] Can you imagine having, you know, it's Bishop Strickland, but any bishop who would take the time to teach from the catechism of the Catholic Church, the fundamentals of the faith, that is so needed.

[383] That woman that I talked about, her teenage son, who she texted me about this would be perfect for them learn authentically what not Bishop Strickland's personal opinion not Terry Barber's opinion what does Holy Mother the church teach on this topic and that's what the beauty of the catechism is because it lays that out very clearly and there's no ambiguity have you noticed anything ambiguous in these writings?

[384] None.

[385] It's clear so I appreciate the St. Philip Institute putting this out when we come back we'll continue to talk about Catholic faith and the uniqueness of the faith.

[386] Stay with this family.

[387] We'll be back in the moment.

[388] And now back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[389] Welcome back, indeed.

[390] We're taking our catechism class, which is so important.

[391] Can you imagine right now, if you turn the dial and you go to all these others, where are you learning the fundamentals of the faith?

[392] This is so important.

[393] Bishop Strickland, I put you on the spot because this is fundamental.

[394] What's the uniqueness about the Catholic Church compared to other religions?

[395] It's the only one that Jesus Christ, the son of God, founded.

[396] Yep.

[397] That's it.

[398] You got it.

[399] And that's what makes it.

[400] And it's true.

[401] I'll never forget G .K. Chesterton when he converted to the Catholic faith.

[402] And they said to him, why did you become a Catholic?

[403] He said, because it's true.

[404] That the church is the bride of Christ.

[405] It's the one church that Jesus Christ founded.

[406] You talked about the importance of stories.

[407] Let me share a little story just today.

[408] I met with a parishioner here and just had a good conversation over a cup of coffee.

[409] But he shared, he's about my age, so maybe a little younger, but he shared that when he was college age or even probably high school still.

[410] He was, as he described it, he was agnostic moving toward atheism.

[411] Wow.

[412] And he went to a retreat.

[413] And, you know, they encouraged the priest at the retreat, a Catholic retreat.

[414] And the priest encouraged him to encourage the group to really open their hearts and just ask the Holy Spirit to come into their heart.

[415] he did that at one session and said felt nothing and felt like you know as a teenager he's saying see I told you there's no God there's nothing to this it's all just made up and but he it was funny because the people that had brought him to the retreat they know I mean he was honest and he said he really didn't want to be there he didn't believe in God you know but they they actually blocked his car in, so he couldn't leave.

[416] But then the next day, at the Mass, the priest invited the same thing.

[417] And he said, okay, what the heck?

[418] And he said a little prayer.

[419] And he said, I mean, he described a moment, as he said, like St. Paul's being knocked down by a flash of light.

[420] He said he was changed in an instant and became, and he knew that the Catholic Church was true.

[421] He knew there was a God.

[422] And to me that it was just a beautiful, inspiring story.

[423] And he's, like I said, so this was back in the 70s that he experienced this.

[424] And he's been a faithful Catholic ever since.

[425] He was nominally a Catholic even then.

[426] But like I said, moving toward saying denying God, but in an instant, it just touched his heart.

[427] And he said he knew that the church was true and that Jesus Christ was Lord.

[428] And many people have that experience.

[429] Yes.

[430] I think both of us have been blessed to always be Catholic, but also blessed to continue growing deeper in that faith.

[431] And that's what it's about.

[432] It's not just a lot of theories.

[433] It's not just like an academic course in theology.

[434] But it really is about a human relationship with a personal God.

[435] We're personal beings as human beings.

[436] We need that.

[437] It's interesting, the studies that I've seen, how human persons can't thrive in isolation.

[438] Right.

[439] I mean, they've actually studied.

[440] situations where for whatever reason, a child had no human interaction, and they don't develop as a human being.

[441] It's so important to a newborn child to have that interaction with you, and throughout our lives, but especially in those formative years.

[442] And I think that just tells us of who we are in talking about the purpose of the church founded by Jesus Christ is to guide every person on the path that God has created them for.

[443] That's what the purpose of the church is.

[444] Amen.

[445] You mentioned infused knowledge.

[446] That's what Father Don Calloway got when he was a non -Catholic and he knew about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist because he was at a mass and he was seeking the Lord.

[447] And I think that's the key in my opinion that if people are really open to saying well, you know what, I want to turn from my life and get better, I want meaning in my life.

[448] We all know Bishop Strickland.

[449] This is that people have a hard time living if they don't have the meaning and purpose of life.

[450] They try all kinds of things and it all fails them.

[451] Only God is going to satisfy us.

[452] And that's what you're saying and I appreciate that.

[453] Okay, let me shift gears to the next question, which is really good.

[454] And we're going to talk about how is the church one?

[455] How is the church holy?

[456] How is the church Catholic?

[457] and how is the church apostolic?

[458] These are good questions for fundamental teachings.

[459] Number one, how is the church one?

[460] The church is one in her origin, the one church founded by Jesus Christ.

[461] We talked about that.

[462] Other church communities are founded by theologians or preachers, but Jesus is the sole founder of the Catholic Church.

[463] The church holds and preserves the one true faith of Jesus Christ.

[464] The members of the church all hold the same, faith preserved by the church, the faith taught to us by the church.

[465] The church is also one in her governance.

[466] The pope and the visible head of the church governs the church as do the bishops and priests in union with him.

[467] Finally, the church is one in her worship, most particularly in the mass and the sacraments.

[468] And that's so beautifully written, Bishop Strickland.

[469] and very important to understand that what one this really means so and you see this is what so beautiful and this is why i don't want to bring controversy but we have people dressed like you who are not saying what we consider as the church the perennial teachings of the church they're going to science and saying well science says that it's okay to do this kind of sexual misconduct because what does science have to do with revealed truth.

[470] I mean, we go by God's word, we go by the teachings of the church.

[471] So thank you for that.

[472] Now, how is the church holy?

[473] We look at the church right now.

[474] Check this out because it's important.

[475] Yes, we have the humanity of the church.

[476] It's alive and well.

[477] That's what I tell people all the time.

[478] There's what the paragraph says.

[479] The church is holy because her founder, Jesus Christ, is holy.

[480] That's a great statement right there.

[481] she has a holy mission to bring people to salvation the church possesses the sacraments with which she makes people holy finally the church is holy because there is real sanctity found in her members and the saints even though there may be horrible sinners who are also members of the church the church is holy because her founder mission methods and effects.

[482] I think that's important today, especially today when we see scandal.

[483] The church is still holy.

[484] I mean, Bishop Strickland, I run into religious.

[485] I ran into one the other night, a young priest.

[486] Man, the guy is, I was so inspired to hear and preach.

[487] It was so fundamental.

[488] And I'm like, this is the future of the church.

[489] But you've run into people in the church that inspire you.

[490] Have you Have you not?

[491] Absolutely.

[492] And many of them, the laity and their commitment and their willingness to sacrifice, the, yeah, I mean, the holiness of the church, and that's what we've talked about it before.

[493] But the universal called the holiness, one thing highlighted by the documents of the Second Vatican County County.

[494] It's very important because, you know, people jokingly will say to a priest, Oh, you're the holy guy.

[495] You get to be holy for us.

[496] It doesn't really work that way.

[497] Yes.

[498] I mean, a priest is called to be holy.

[499] I mean, imagine standing at the altar and taking bread and wine and saying the words of Christ.

[500] I mean, we're challenged to be holy men as priests of Jesus Christ.

[501] But we're all sinners and that holiness is tarnished by my sin and for each of us.

[502] We're sinners.

[503] But every person, every baptized person is called to holiness.

[504] So as you're talking about what makes the church holy and what makes the church not as holy as she should be, it's up to us.

[505] I mean, what makes the church holy is the life that God has given her through her son, guided by the Holy Spirit, guiding us to the Father.

[506] but there's there is un holiness in the church too because we're sinners but I guess what I would encourage and I know people many people are disheartened but I keep repeating don't leave the church don't get disgusted with the church I mean get disgusted with your sin and the sin of others determined to be holier that's what I encourage I mean if you see a mass where people aren't as reverent as they should be, one of the best remedies, what can I do as a priest ultimately?

[507] I mean, I can admonish people and remind people and do all those things, but ultimately it's up to the individual.

[508] But probably the best thing any of us can do is to be holier ourselves.

[509] Amen.

[510] If things are, and holiness is not just some sort of a, you know, spiritualized, fake world that a lot of people act like it is.

[511] It's really going to the depths of what's true.

[512] A holy married couple is one that they're supporting each other, just like their vows.

[513] Man. Thickness and in health, for better, for worse.

[514] One of the holiest memories I have is, um, is, um, And it's various couples that I've seen through the years with one of them, like my own mother, dealing with Alzheimer's, dealing with dementia, where maybe the husband or wife is really hardly there anymore mentally.

[515] Yeah.

[516] But the holiness of that couple that I've seen where that loving spouse is there, kind, patient, being there to care for them in all kinds of ways, it's inspiring that's the holiness of the church it's goodness being lived and of course christ is the source of that because he is goodness incarnate living among us amen i had the same witness with my father and my mother my mom took care of my dad for about 18 years he had dementia and uh it was great it was a great example made me i i love my wife the way my dad loved his wife.

[517] It's just, you catch it by just being there.

[518] Bishop Strickland, thank you.

[519] Let's get a blessing if we can from you, please.

[520] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for all of us participating in this work to grow and to learn our faith more deeply.

[521] God is the example of the saints and the intercession of the blessed virtue of our name of the Father, the Son of the Holy Spirit.

[522] Amen.

[523] Thank you, Bishop Strickland we'll get we'll have you another time in the week here you're listening to the Bishop Stricklander please consider uh going to our website looking at all the other shows we have to offer especially spiritual warfare with jesus 9 -1 -1 thanks again we'll see you next week the same time thank god richly bless you and your family