14 Feb 23 – Now, More than Ever, Spiritual Warfare Is Our Focus

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name is Terry Barber.

[2] We have a very special guest.

[3] Bishop Strickland, we've invited Mark Huck, who just won his case protecting his 12 -year -old son at an abortion clinic.

[4] It's all over the news.

[5] And Mark wanted to personally talk to you, so I asked him to come on to today's show.

[6] Mark, are you with us, my friend?

[7] I am, Brother Terry.

[8] Great to be with you.

[9] And his excellency, it's great to have this time with you today.

[10] Well, Bishop Strickland, I think if it's true, I thought you were one of the first bishops who actually communicated with Mark.

[11] Is that a fair statement saying he supported what you're doing?

[12] The bishop was first in line before my own bishop, before Joe Coffey, before Cardinal Mueller.

[13] Wow.

[14] First up.

[15] Well, Bishop Strickland, your thoughts when you heard about this case, what came to your mind?

[16] well Terry as we both know when it comes to the sanctity of the life of the unborn we've got to speak up we've got to do everything we can to convert hearts and what mark was trying to do with his son there was exactly that and for it to get twisted and he ends up going through a trial and all of this and the atrocity really and i'll use that work of how his home was invaded.

[17] It just made me angry.

[18] It was upsetting, and I felt the need to speak up.

[19] And I'm glad I was first in line, and I'm glad there were others.

[20] I didn't know that Cardinal Mueller had reached out to Mark, and I'm glad to hear those voices that joined all the pro -live voices, supporting Mark and his family and thanking him for standing up for the sanctity of life.

[21] Well, said, Mark, your thoughts also, how much did that mean to you when you had Bishop Strickland communicate directly?

[22] Were you a little surprised?

[23] In a situation that you were in, it must have been kind of rewarding for you to have one of our bishops communicate quickly to you.

[24] Wow.

[25] Well, just to hear, I have such great respect for Bishop Strickland.

[26] And I know Mark Henry, who worked alongside him.

[27] and totally informed me of the gift that he was to not only to Tyler, but to his family.

[28] So I knew the benefit of Bishop Strickland, and when I heard that he was saying mass for us and he was praying for us, it consoled my heart, right?

[29] It consoled my wife's heart.

[30] And it was within 24 hours, I think, of it all happening.

[31] So, boy, that was a great joy to all of us.

[32] So thanks again.

[33] Well, good, Mark.

[34] Well, Mark, you were at the State of the Union address, again, standing up for life after this, you know, major pro -life victory over the DOJ.

[35] Can you tell us a little bit about that experience and, you know, just give us your thoughts on that evening event?

[36] Sure.

[37] So, you know, the State of the Union is a really interesting event.

[38] It's really beautiful to see the tradition in our country where, you know, both sides of the aisle come together and we can, they can argue and they can, disagree, but, you know, peacefully do it.

[39] And so it's actually a beautiful thing to watch.

[40] Now, the words that came out, not necessarily beautiful, but it was an interesting opportunity for my wife and I. We both went down there.

[41] Congressman Scott Perry from Pennsylvania invited us, and he introduced us to a lot of congressmen and women, and they all said, I'm sorry for what happened to you.

[42] And that was a wonderful thing to hear, to hear those healing words.

[43] I'm sorry.

[44] And so, you know, we were there, and, you know, it was important for us to be there so that, you know, the congressmen and women could be encouraged, one, but also those that aren't really on board with what we're doing, but also aren't really recognizing the overreach of government and the weaponization, as they've been calling it, of the Department of Injustice, your brother Jesse Romero says.

[45] So it was a very important.

[46] So it was a important for us to be there because it brought a face, it bought stories, it bought children, it brought the reality of it to the state of the union.

[47] And they all knew that we were there.

[48] Yeah.

[49] So that was a good thing.

[50] Mark, last thing I wanted to ask you is I saw that you're definitely says that you're going to press charges for the FBI raid that terrorized your wife and children.

[51] I would imagine that that's not something that's going to go away for a long time.

[52] Tell us a little bit what your plans are for that sure so we're seeking counsel on that and we have a an interview on February 22nd with the Judiciary Committee members and and that will be the the first step towards an ultimately hopefully God willing a testimony before the oversight committee and so you know that would be the first process and then part of the process and then we move into civil rights litigation and attempting to, you know, what this is, it's discriminatory viewpoint from the government.

[53] In other words, they're looking at pro -lifers, post -Rovey Wade overturning, and they're now discriminating against those that would dare move forward in the direction that clearly the law is protecting.

[54] And so even Judge Papert in the cases, as I said, alluded to, said, go back and fix this.

[55] So we need to expose them.

[56] We need to hold them accountable.

[57] We know justice is ultimately with God.

[58] But, you know, we do need to do that for the good of our country and the good of pro -life America.

[59] I couldn't agree more with you, Mark.

[60] And, you know, I wish you the best.

[61] I want to ask Bishop Strickland if he can give you a special blessing before we let you run.

[62] Bishop Strickland, could you not only bless Mark, wife and family.

[63] I think they could use a good blessing today.

[64] Sure, absolutely.

[65] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for Mark and his wife and all of their family, all of their children, and all the families that are with Mark and his family and standing for the sanctity of life.

[66] Thankfully, we have many families doing exactly what Mark was doing with his son when all of this began.

[67] And what could have been a nightmare, and in many ways we pray that it was, is ultimately used by our Lord.

[68] and His grace to bring blessings and to bring the light of truth more fully into our lives.

[69] So we ask your blessing, Lord, for Mark, his wife, and all of the family.

[70] In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[71] Amen.

[72] Thank you so much.

[73] Yeah.

[74] Mark, thank you so much yourself for doing what you're standing for what you stand for.

[75] And I'll never forget when you interview, we did an hour interview folks last Friday with Mark.

[76] You can listen to it all on Virgin Most Powerful Radio's.

[77] website, go to the podcast for that show.

[78] I remember you saying when you were in there thinking, hey, remember what Terry said, ask Jesus Christ for more faith?

[79] So that really touched me when you said that last week.

[80] Amen, brother.

[81] I've had to do it.

[82] I guess.

[83] I do it too, brother.

[84] And it works.

[85] Yeah, and it works.

[86] And Mark, I want to commend you for continuing really what you're doing with the lawsuit, with offering testimony.

[87] It's continuing the work you were doing for standing, literally standing outside an abortion clinic for the sanctity of life and calling people and praying that hearts can be changed.

[88] There's no telling how many people you're going through this will help hopefully to bring more justice into the law enforcement and to making sure that no one else goes through what your family experienced.

[89] So I commend you for continuing the battle and not saying, well, we won the lawsuit and saying, let's go hide now.

[90] Instead, you're continuing, and I commend you for that.

[91] God bless you.

[92] Amen, thank you.

[93] And, Kerry, can I share one?

[94] Absolutely.

[95] You can share what?

[96] Just keep going, brother.

[97] Go for it.

[98] Yeah, it might warm the heart of our good bishop here.

[99] And he was praying for me. He reached out to me right before the verdict and said, I'm praying for you, and that meant so much again.

[100] But I got an email from a guy, you know, we got a lot of notes, a lot of emails.

[101] But he said, I'm a lousy Catholic, is what he said.

[102] I'm a lousy Catholic.

[103] But seeing what's happening to you is making me go back to church.

[104] I love it.

[105] I thought, that made it all worthwhile, right there.

[106] That's great.

[107] Man, you know, Mark, I always think of Our Lady of Fatima when she said, souls are going to hell because no one is there to pray and make sacrifices.

[108] And think about you.

[109] You understood redemptive suffering with what you went through.

[110] Think of the souls that were touched because of what you did.

[111] So I just commend you for that also.

[112] Brother Terry, thanks.

[113] Thanks for leading the way.

[114] Bishop Strickland, thank you for your love and support.

[115] We love you.

[116] We pray for you and your Bishop Brick.

[117] So thanks for everything you're doing.

[118] God bless your ministry.

[119] I bless you too.

[120] God love you.

[121] All right.

[122] Take care.

[123] Wow.

[124] You know, Bishop Strickland, when I hear a man like Mark talk about his faith last week when we did an hour interview and I want to encourage everybody to listen to his story and what he went through when he got arrested, I was blown away by what the details that he went through and how he related it to the passion of Christ.

[125] Wow, big time.

[126] Okay, let's move on to another little topic, Bishop Strickland.

[127] We got a couple minutes before the next break.

[128] Oh, no, actually we don't.

[129] I'm going to give a teaser.

[130] We have a teaser with Bishop Athanasius Snyder, and if you haven't heard the interviews we've done with Bishop Strickland and Bishop Snyder, just go to the podcast.

[131] But he has a quote that we're going to use when we come back from the break.

[132] wanted to add something when I was watching the Biden State of the Union and how he was wanting to codify Roe versus Wade and the LGBT Equality Act.

[133] And I thought of what John Adams said at the time our country was just starting.

[134] He said our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.

[135] It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

[136] So I think of this because we've, you know, Bishop Strickland, you constantly are holding people accountable to our faith, but even our country says that these rights don't come from the state or the government.

[137] They come from Almighty God.

[138] And I think that I pray for President Biden and Pelosi and all these Catholics, baptized Catholics, they're children of God, if you said, let's pray for their conversion, because so much good could come if they had a metanoia, a conversion, a turning around to the sanctity of life.

[139] Folks, when we come back from this break, we're going to talk about a quote from Bishop Athanasius Snyder, and I think it's great advice for all of us in the church today to follow.

[140] And I think you're going to be happy to hear this one.

[141] Stay with us, family.

[142] We're listening to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[143] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[144] And that was a great segment we just had with Mark Hulk about his stay in prison for standing up for the unborn boy what a what a what a model for all of us men people in goodwill Bishop Strickland these are tough times we're living in okay not just in the world but even in the church and Bishop Athanasius Snyder had a little advice for not just bishops not for everyone everything in the church can you give us the quote that you gave me off air because I thought it was really profound yeah I believe this was from an interview with Bishop Schneider from last fall.

[145] And it's very brief, but very significant, I believe.

[146] He says, stay in the church.

[147] Amen.

[148] Pray for the Pope, but do not obey evil commands.

[149] Keep the faith, and God will see to the rest.

[150] I believe Bishop Schneider really expresses in a pithy way, if we can say that, what we need to do.

[151] We need to keep the faith.

[152] We need to stay.

[153] strong in the church.

[154] We need to pray for Pope Francis.

[155] Amen.

[156] And we need to recognize that the greatest support for Pope Francis is to live the truth of our faith in the church that Jesus Christ established.

[157] It's a tough time for all of us.

[158] It's strange.

[159] It's confused.

[160] It's convoluted.

[161] There are many people who are totally lacking faith.

[162] And then people who claim to be faithful Catholics are committing atrocities and promoting things like abortion and same -sex marriage and contradicting the faith, even as they say that they are faithful Catholics.

[163] So I can't imagine the work and the job that Pope Francis has, and many cardinals are in opposition to the Church of Jesus Christ.

[164] the Catholic Church that Christ established.

[165] So we pray for the Pope and the greatest support we can offer him is to be strong in our faith.

[166] To know what's true, to know what is the reality of our lives.

[167] In these days, I'm sure you've noticed, Terry, in the daily readings, where just as we're getting close to the season of Lent, we're reading the book of Genesis and continuing the journey through Mark's gospel.

[168] And that, the book of Genesis really needs to be re -read by all of us.

[169] It's providential that these are the readings for daily mass in these days as we approach the season of Lent once again.

[170] Reminding us that God is the creator of all.

[171] The God is our origin.

[172] We come from God.

[173] He shaped us.

[174] He breathed life into us.

[175] we've just got to remember these fundamental truths that guide us through every day, through all the things we face in life.

[176] If we remember that, then we can live these words of Bishop Schneider.

[177] Stay in the church, pray for the Pope, but do not obey evil commands.

[178] Keep the faith and God will see to the rest.

[179] Well said, and that kind of segs right into your tweet that you just sent out regarding spiritual work.

[180] You said, now more than ever, spiritual warfare is our focus.

[181] With evil spreading in both the world and in the church, we need education on how the demons operate and many powers the church wields and presents to us to do combat effectively.

[182] So you're recommending a book called Slaying Dragons, and I don't see the publisher on it, but if you type in Slaying Dragons, I'm sure you can find that book.

[183] tell us uh did you actually read the book bishop strickman have you read it i have uh charles fran is the author yeah and uh it it i said forget the subtitle exactly but it it's what information that has come from exorcist yeah it says what exorcists see what you should know yeah and it it was very significant when i read it i read it several months ago uh -huh but it it reminds us that evil is real yeah we shouldn't as believers in jesus christ he's the lord of the good the true and the beautiful he's the lord of life he's love incarnate he's the son of god we've got nothing to fear but we need to be alert we need to be awake to the realities of temptation and sin and that's the devil's toolkit he's the father of lives satan and i mean after what we saw it Well, I didn't watch the Grammys, but I did see that video that people sent.

[184] We need to be aware of that.

[185] People were, you know, challenging me and say, you know, how dare you share this?

[186] We can't put our heads in the sand and pretend it's not there.

[187] That's right.

[188] It's being broadcast on a major network of this nation.

[189] And we need to protest that.

[190] Amen.

[191] We need to be aware of it.

[192] Certainly.

[193] I didn't watch much of it.

[194] I don't think any of us.

[195] needed to see much to see that.

[196] I mean, it was called the unholy.

[197] That's how it was introduced.

[198] So we have to be very aware that evil is real, but Christ has conquered evil.

[199] He died on the cross to destroy death and sin, and all of that is from the devil.

[200] And to point out also, the Immaculate Virgin Mary, it is her special work to help us as human.

[201] She's just a human being, full of grace by the grace of God, but she's been given the destiny and the life of the church to trample the head of Satan, the snake, the serpent.

[202] And she does that constantly, calling us from sin into the life of grace.

[203] And that's what we have to pray for conversion of hearts.

[204] Let us pray fervently that our leaders, that are saying the opposite of the Catholic faith, and too many in the church that are speaking out in contradicting our Catholic faith, contradicting the Catechism, the Word of God, and the Magistale teachings of a church of 2 ,000 years, we have to pray for conversion of hearts.

[205] Wouldn't it be wonderful to see some of the priests or their cardinals or the world leaders or the state leaders that are promoting abortion and promoting evil and talking about we've got to embrace same -sex marriage, all of these things that go contrary to the teachings of our faith, wouldn't it be marvelous to see evidence of hearts really being changed?

[206] I mean, people are converting all the time.

[207] Mark Hawke said that a man was inspired to, he had been a failed Catholic and he was inspired.

[208] to return to his faith by seeing the example of Mark.

[209] We all have to believe that we, God can use us in the same way.

[210] It's God's grace battling evil, but we've got to be aware of evil, and we've got to do what we can to say yes to the will of God and know the great power that we embrace when we say yes to God.

[211] Well said, Bishop, in Genesis 315 about Our Lady, that's what he was talking about so so biblical you know this fits right into your next tweet because your quote scripture galatians chapter 1 verse 7 to 9 you point out in this tweet some who wish to alter the gospel of christ must have confused you for even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel not in accord with the one we delivered to you let a curse be upon him.

[212] And you said strong words from St. Paul, but, you know, it applies to our time.

[213] And my thought is, and I'm only bringing this up, I just read that the Anglican Church now wants to not use the, you know, all kinds of, the, they don't want to call God Him.

[214] They want to have a neutral verb or noun to have, you know, when you describe God.

[215] And I think that it seems that not only in the Anglican other Protestant churches that we come with, but there are even people in our own church who want to change teachings that we've had for 2 ,000 years.

[216] And so it seems that you're just quoting scripture to say, don't fall for it.

[217] Well, and we have to be on our guard against these false gospels that are coming from churches like the Anglican Church, too many in the Catholic Church, and certainly people who don't even believe in the gospel and distorting things in terrible ways you've got to be alert to all of that.

[218] And I hope John Paul too was alive today.

[219] I think of two things.

[220] You quoted him last week, but I was two things.

[221] One you said, you quoted him saying, pressure for homosexual relationships to be recognized as different forms of family, which are also entitled to the right to adopt, is a violation of God's law and an ideology of evil seeking to use human rights against humanity and the family.

[222] So he's saying that's an attack on the family.

[223] But then here, the next week, you're quoting the same Pope.

[224] He seems like he's alive and well because here's what he says now.

[225] This relates to us.

[226] Only in Christ can men and women find answers to the ultimate questions that trouble them.

[227] Only in Christ, and they fully understand their deal.

[228] dignity as persons created and loved by God.

[229] Jesus Christ is the only son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

[230] I mean, see how straightforward that is, Bishop Strick?

[231] I mean, I love that you quote that because we need to hear that today.

[232] We absolutely do.

[233] Wow.

[234] As you mentioned, it reminds us that John Paul II is a canonized saint.

[235] Yes.

[236] the church certifies he's alive yeah that's right he's not just a dead figure from past history he is alive and so he his voice and the beautiful thing about the truth it is eternal it's it's with us always and so what he said that was true in his lifetime continues to be true even as he is in heaven um and that i think is something we really need to remember fall messages come and go, they fade into oblivion.

[237] The truth prevails.

[238] The truth continues.

[239] And that's what we've got to continue to joyfully proclaim and to be strong and clear.

[240] And, you know, you mentioned if John Paul II was on the planet again, I think he would be roaring like a line.

[241] Oh, he would.

[242] To say, people, I told you, you need to listen.

[243] Yeah.

[244] not listen to him but listen to the Word of God because that's what he quoted constantly the Word of God and the teachings of our Catholic faith he would roar like a lion to remind us and to wake us up as he did as he served as Pope for all of those years well said I hope we got a little minute here but this quote this last one that you just gave it quotes paragraph 2358 of the catechism regarding homosexuality you said when Pope Francis says God loves homosexual persons, he's simply quoting the catechism.

[245] Even when we are living a deeply sinful lifestyle, God loves us all more than we can fathom.

[246] It is because God loves us that he tells us to turn from sin.

[247] Sin destroys love, God hates sin.

[248] You know how I see that, Bishop Strickland?

[249] Well, you know how we say all are welcomed?

[250] Yeah, all are welcome to embrace Jesus Christ and repent of sin.

[251] That's how I see that.

[252] Absolutely.

[253] Yeah.

[254] It's a universal call to holiness.

[255] Amen.

[256] Away from sin.

[257] Well said.

[258] Well said.

[259] When we come back, we'll have some more tweets.

[260] And I just want to remind everybody, if you want to hear these shows, you can go to vmpr .org and hear all of our podcasts.

[261] We have other shows that I think are inspirational in helping you fall deep in love with Jesus Christ and his pride, the church.

[262] Stay with this family.

[263] We'll be right now.

[264] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland.

[265] We talk about martyrdom over time on this show that, you know, the saints, we celebrate different saints that have given up their life for their faith.

[266] And we had Mark Huck talk in the first segment about his suffering that he was arrested by the FBI on justly and thrown into a little prison.

[267] So these things happen.

[268] And I just got worried about a young, 16 -year -old boy, okay?

[269] from, his name is Josh Alexander, the Ontario police arrested Josh at school because why he protested boys in girls' bathrooms.

[270] And so he was out of Catholic school and he said that this is going against my Catholic faith.

[271] And this kid knows his Bible, Bishop Strickland, he quote, he said, the teenager told Lifesite news that in accordance with Catholic teaching and the Bible, believes, are ready for this, that there's only two sexes, male and female.

[272] He read that in the book of Genesis.

[273] Wow.

[274] And he said, he's going to quote in a tweet, Romans chapter 1, verse 16.

[275] He says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.

[276] And you know, Bishop Strickland, I would think if I was at a Catholic school and a young kid challenged me like that and said, this is going against my Catholic, faith.

[277] If I had any conscience, I would say, you know, the guy's right.

[278] The young man is correct.

[279] I'm going to have to think this one through a little bit more, but they didn't.

[280] And I just wanted to get your reaction to this young Josh Alexander, 16 years old, standing up for his Catholic faith.

[281] Well, it's another Mark Halk in the making.

[282] Yeah, really.

[283] Because, and I'm glad to hear these stories of a young man, very young man, 16 years old, Mark, and we need men.

[284] We need men to be strong in their families and to be strong in the church and to be strong in business and government and every aspect of society.

[285] Women have a beautiful role that is distinct from the man's role.

[286] We need to be men.

[287] women need to be women and we need to encourage that and what this young man said is exactly the truth what's very encouraging about that Terry is the truth really in many ways certainly God has revealed truth to us that we couldn't know without revelation but what that young man is talking about is also self -evident if you just look at how humanity is is structured and how the world works.

[288] Male and female, God created us.

[289] That's the way it is.

[290] We need to remember that foundational truth.

[291] We talk about fundamentals a lot.

[292] And that young man is inspiring.

[293] And it's a great reminder because I know both of us, we see so much evil and so much darkness and so much confusion that a lot of people get dragged down, just like we were talking about with that quote from Bishop Schneider, we need to keep the faith.

[294] We need to trust in the power of truth.

[295] Jesus Christ is truth incarnate.

[296] And this young man is evidence.

[297] He's only 16 years old.

[298] I mean, both of us, that's just yesterday for us.

[299] I mean, it's like, we've lived several cycles of 16 years.

[300] Yeah, really.

[301] But he's a reminder that.

[302] young minds need to be shaped in the truth.

[303] And there's so much propaganda out there.

[304] There's so much evil and sinfulness and the messages that young people are hearing.

[305] Thankfully, this young man, he's got to have a great family, not perfect, but a family that is rooted in the truth that has helped him.

[306] And he was strong enough to speak up.

[307] And we need to be strong enough to speak up.

[308] Amen.

[309] He inspired me, Bishop Strickland.

[310] You quoted your own gun.

[311] Governor Greg Abbott announced today that a statewide plan to ban TikTok, Texancy says, especially our state agencies and employees, must be protected from having sensitive information shared with the Chinese Communist Party.

[312] He said, we cannot ignore this security threat.

[313] I mean, wow.

[314] And here's what you said on your quote, thank you, Governor Abbott.

[315] Please continue to protect good citizens of Texas.

[316] We need you to combat the corruption that is running rampant in our nation.

[317] You know, Bishop Strickland, I said the same thing.

[318] Even though I didn't see it, I said, this guy seems to have a lot of common sense.

[319] I think that common in our country.

[320] Absolutely.

[321] And, you know, people accuse a tweet like that, oh, he's getting political again.

[322] But politics and the truth, it's all woven together.

[323] Yeah.

[324] Our main calling is to share the word of God.

[325] Amen.

[326] But when political structures deny the word of God, we've got to speak up.

[327] And thankfully, Governor Abbott and Governor DeSantis and a few others, not enough, but a few others do speak up.

[328] But they are, frankly, some of the strongest.

[329] They're not perfect, man. We're all sinners.

[330] We all fail at times, and all the politics gets very complicated.

[331] But we need to pray for them and pray for all of our governors.

[332] to have the truth at heart and to share that truth and to guide and govern according to the truth that God has revealed to us.

[333] That's exactly what Governor Abbott is trying to do, protecting us.

[334] I mean, it's, you know, Chinese people are loved by God.

[335] And we have to remember that.

[336] It's a beautiful culture of China, an ancient culture, but Chinese communism denies God.

[337] Exactly.

[338] And there's too much going on in China that's trying to destroy or distort the Catholic Church into making it really not the Catholic Church, just a shell of the church that they can manipulate.

[339] And so I'm glad that Governor Abbott is speaking up because there are real threats to our freedoms to live our Catholic faith.

[340] And one of those comes from communist China.

[341] You know, Bishop Strickland Well said, I think of, what took place with this major earthquake in Syria and Turkey just a couple days ago where the death toll is now at 11 ,500 people.

[342] I see a picture of a church halfway knocked down.

[343] I keep hearing stories of like a woman that just gave birth to a baby and they went and pulled a little baby out of the rubble.

[344] Mama died, but the baby is going to survive.

[345] And I think of the mystical body of Christ that we're all connected.

[346] And so I know we're going to be sending funds their way through Catholic agencies to support the families that lost their homes and their loved ones.

[347] But you put out in a tweet, you just said, amen, brothers and sisters, let us pray for the victims of the earthquake in Syria and Turkey and their families.

[348] And I say amen, and I know that already Catholic agencies are raising funds to support that mission to help those people.

[349] And I think many other countries worldwide are sending equipment in there, big tractors.

[350] I mean, to me, when these crises happen, earthquakes like this, it shows to me, and I can get your thought, but it shows the goodness of human nature saying, we need to help these people.

[351] Absolutely.

[352] Thankfully, that still happens in beautiful ways with disasters that happen.

[353] And one thing that I would point out again, we just have to be so.

[354] aware of the political agendas because a lot of the reporting has talked much more about Turkey than about Syria and both have been affected by his earthquake and we have to remember that and I'm grateful that you specifically said Syria and Turkey because even you know for political agendas Syria has been undergoing a war for many years yeah for years terrible suffering for the people there.

[355] And so, and then an earthquake on top of it.

[356] So certainly it's terrible in Turkey and in Syria for all those that have been affected by this earthquake.

[357] And thankfully, as you said, many people good -hearted do share and assist.

[358] Someone quoted today that the basic teaching of the church for social justice is to earn a good living so you can help the poor.

[359] So you don't just barely, you know, squeak by yourself, but you're able to not buy luxuries, but to help others.

[360] That's why it's a blessing to have some wealth in order to share it, not just to keep piling it up.

[361] And we need that model of real discipleship in our culture drastically, because there are too many ways that, well, many generous people.

[362] I mean, We benefit from great, generous people here in the diocese, as I'm sure every bishop can say.

[363] But we need to catechize people that it's not bad to accumulate wealth, but remembering that you've got to share that wealth and to work hard so that you can have more resources for your own family and for other families.

[364] You know, Bishop Strickland, I have a 28 -year -old son, and we were discussing that very thing.

[365] I can't believe you've brought it up.

[366] He's been very blessed in his business, and he has hundreds of families that are dependent upon him in the success of his business payroll.

[367] They feed their families because he is able to generate the business that generates work for them, and he said to me, Dad, that's my greatest joy to know that him is greatest.

[368] Because they're relying on me. I'm the one who has to generate the business so that I can make the payroll, they can pay their bills, their mortgages, their car payments, and whatever they give money away.

[369] So he says, I've been given a gift to be able to make money, but I want to give it back.

[370] And this is how he's doing it.

[371] And I thought, well, you got the message, son.

[372] So well said, Bishop Strickland.

[373] Bishop, you have a quote, again, if you always work on the fundamentals, we just said that earlier.

[374] But I like it when you just tweet something about life, about the meaning and purpose of life.

[375] You said this, the greatest adventure of human beings is to follow our Lord Jesus Christ.

[376] Boy, to the fulfillment of our destiny.

[377] Yeah, where are we going?

[378] To dwell eternally with his father and our father and in him with his spirit.

[379] Rejoiced to know him and let nothing deter you from this quest.

[380] When you stumble, I like this.

[381] Get up.

[382] Enjoy.

[383] Why enjoy?

[384] Because we can repent and get back on our feet.

[385] feet.

[386] I just have to ask you, Bishop Strickland, when I was reading this, it just seemed like the world doesn't know its meaning and purpose of life.

[387] And they're doing all kinds of crazy things from entertainment to sports.

[388] And what you just said is, this is what it's all about.

[389] Yeah, absolutely.

[390] So I thank you.

[391] We're going to take a quick break again.

[392] I'm going to try and get to the catechism.

[393] I only got a couple more tweets from the bishop, and then we'll get into some catechism, thanks.

[394] Again, you're listening to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[395] I want to thank Church Militon, LifeSight News, and other stations that are putting this on.

[396] We're growing, and thank you so much for doing that.

[397] Stay with us, family.

[398] We'll be right now.

[399] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[400] I love it when you quote other bishops in the church.

[401] I love that because it says, it gives me, oh, yeah, I know Bishop David Ricken.

[402] He's a good guy.

[403] And he's basically pointing out in a tweet.

[404] that we have to, you know, result to build a culture of life.

[405] And he basically is responding to, and I mean, I'm not trying to get political, but President Biden made this accusation that the church, some people in the church, even the Pope, which is erroneous, would support funding of abortion, federal funding of abortion.

[406] And I know the president of the bishop's conference came out and said, now that's not how it works.

[407] And now Bishop Rickin is saying, no, no, no, we have to, be defenders of life from conception to natural death.

[408] Is that the reason you quoted this tweet, Bishop Strickland?

[409] Is that it just shows some unity of our bishops?

[410] Absolutely.

[411] I was glad to hear him and certainly the new president of the USCB, Archb Bishop Brolio, made it very clear that that's simply not accurate.

[412] Sadly, President Biden says a lot of things that aren't.

[413] accurate.

[414] And I'm glad that we're speaking up and not attacking, but simply saying, this is the truth.

[415] And we as Catholic bishops are not supportive of using federal funds.

[416] We're certainly against abortion period.

[417] But using our tax dollars to fund it, absolutely not.

[418] Well, you got another bishop, Bishop Thomas Tobin up in New England.

[419] he already commented about the state of the union, he said it's fatally flawed if we're committed to support promoting and paying for abortions, a nation that destroys its own children.

[420] I like this.

[421] Has no future.

[422] Now, I mentioned that state of the union, Mr. President Biden demanding Congress to codify Roe versus Wade and pass the LGBT Equality Act in the state of the union speech, we can't let that.

[423] We can't stand by silent.

[424] So I appreciate Bishop speaking up, because I'm speaking up.

[425] And a lot of times, the things that are said really don't even make sense.

[426] They're not logical.

[427] Yeah, that's true.

[428] I mean, there was another tweet where Hillary Clinton was quoted as saying that, you know, she wanted to protect abortion for her grandkids.

[429] And I just said, you know, every aborted child is somebody's grandkids.

[430] Yeah, I like that.

[431] I like that.

[432] You know, who are you protecting it?

[433] I mean, it's just crazy.

[434] Nonsense.

[435] It's just like, you know, well, it basically is what at the root of it all is segregating out certain human beings that other certain human beings just don't deem worthy of existing.

[436] Oh, my God.

[437] And I hate to tell them, but that's God's work, not ours.

[438] Amen.

[439] Well said.

[440] Bishop Strickland, I want to get to the Catechism, the Way of Christ's Student Book.

[441] we've been using this for a couple of months going through salvation history right now and the reason I asked about doing this with you and you were the one who brought it up to me I thought well yeah we continue to teach the fundamentals because I've convinced that one of the reasons there's a lot of confusion in the church is because our flock and I'm including priests and bishops sorry to say this don't know their faith well enough because I'm giving them the benefit of the break that they didn't get good formation because seminary training wasn't the best.

[442] I mean, even in your time, you have to look and say, I need to supplement some of my formation.

[443] Absolutely.

[444] That's where we're at.

[445] So I'm going to go to page 12, question three.

[446] I love this question and answer format.

[447] Here's the question.

[448] How did God first tell humanity about the coming of his son, Jesus Christ?

[449] I love the answer.

[450] God proclaims the coming of Jesus after the first sin in what is called the proto -evangelium or the first gospel.

[451] If you've never heard this before, this is so important.

[452] Yes, God foretold to Adam and Eve that he would defeat Satan through the offspring of a woman who would redeem the world from sin.

[453] We talked about that earlier in the show about Genesis 315 and what our lady's role is.

[454] Wow.

[455] Bishop Strickland, any comment on that?

[456] because that's that's that's powerful material there wow well we've kind of repeated it a couple of times yeah this session but that's going back to the fundamentals it is the very basis of everything and that shows as you know is and i'm definitely don't claim to be a scholar of the old testament yeah but i'm trying to continue to learn and that's all we can do yeah and the old testament if we understand the sacrifices and all of that structure.

[457] I've just been reading through Exodus and that all the intricate plans for the tabernacle and all of that.

[458] All of that is building a people who are ready to welcome the Son of God, the people of Israel, the chosen people.

[459] And we inherit that salvation that God is offering.

[460] And the book of Genesis makes it very clear.

[461] where the need for salvation came from.

[462] And I think that one of the flaws that I see just in general terms, in too many voices in the church today, it's as if we don't need salvation.

[463] God loves us, and we just have to trust in that love.

[464] Absolutely, God loves us.

[465] That's the reason that he sent his son and allowed his son to die for us.

[466] I get fired up with the travesty of ignoring the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

[467] Amen.

[468] That's what we do.

[469] When we downplay the sin and say, oh, you don't really have to repent, and we just need to rewrite some of these things in scripture and rewrite the catechism.

[470] That is not why Jesus Christ died.

[471] He died and poured himself.

[472] out completely.

[473] And it's a counterfeit gospel to dilute that.

[474] It's, I mean, you keep going down that path of, oh, we don't have to worry about sin and God loves us.

[475] We eliminate the need of a Savior.

[476] Exactly.

[477] And really, in our time, we're seeing more desperately than ever the need for a Savior.

[478] Because we're still free to reject his salvation.

[479] And too many people are.

[480] And too and that is not giving them a better, more hopeful, more joyful life.

[481] Amen.

[482] Depression is up.

[483] Suicide is up.

[484] Amen.

[485] Broken families.

[486] I mean, all of the things that destroy a society are running rampant.

[487] And, you know, the father of lies, Satan is gleeful to see so much suffering.

[488] and Jesus suffered so that we don't have to suffer.

[489] And when we do suffer, his suffering brings meaning to that suffering if we embrace him.

[490] So we really have to continue to teach the truth, never condemning anyone, but always calling every one of us to a deeper conversion, to a change of heart, and to embrace an honor.

[491] the sacrifice of the Son of God, which was more complete, more total than we can even imagine, the Son of God pouring his life out for all humanity, for you and me and for every other human being who's ever lived.

[492] That's what the Son of God has done for us.

[493] And it is a desecration to ignore sin and to not do our best to conform our lives to Jesus Christ.

[494] Well, said, I think of the Salvation History series that we published back in the 1990s, Dr. Scott Hahn's class.

[495] Now, if you went to class, you'd spend thousands of dollars going to school, but we were able to publish this on audio, and it's a downloadable file, and if people want it, I would recommend you call 877 -526 -2151 and say you'd like to get that, and if you can't afford it, I'll give it to you for free.

[496] If you want to make a donation, great.

[497] But this is Dr. Scott Hahn.

[498] a 10 -hour course on salvation history that I think will be very helpful.

[499] Let's see if we can get one more question in Bishop Strickland.

[500] How does Noah point towards Jesus?

[501] Despite God's prophecy of Jesus, humanity decided not to live according to God's plan.

[502] You talked about that.

[503] And wickedness spread throughout the earth.

[504] They disobeyed his law.

[505] God commanded Noah and the righteous man to build an ark to save his family from the great flood that God would use to punish the world for its sins.

[506] Noah was obedient.

[507] He built the ark, saved his family, then God formed a covenant with Noah and his family.

[508] Likewise, here's the connection.

[509] Jesus is our leader who instituted the church as a refuge from sin, like the ark in the flood.

[510] So the church is like an ark. The flood waters that washed away evil also prefigured how the waters of baptism cleanse us from sin well this makes too much sense i like it yeah it's it really gets to the basic truth that i mean why why do we baptize children yeah because we want them to share in that saving grace that jesus christ as prefigured in noah he he saves the human family just like Noah, by the grace of God, saved his family.

[511] Well, Bishop Strickland, I want to make a little plug for the St. Philip Institute who publishes this catechism.

[512] Can you talk a little about for the new people who haven't heard about the St. Philip Institute?

[513] Yeah, the St. Philip Institute is part of the Diocese of Tyler, a great group of young, faithful Catholics that are working hard to evangelize and to catechize to do all this teaching that we've talked about and to help people be freed from evil and sin and to flourish in the truth that God has revealed to us.

[514] They're doing a great job, especially focusing on marriage and formation for marriage and also catechizing all of the family, the children, everyone.

[515] And it really is an effort that I know many are involved in with the St. Philip Institute.

[516] It's doing a great job, mainly focusing on the Diocese of Tyler, but like everything, like this catechism, it can be shared with anyone who wants to learn their faith more deeply.

[517] Before I ask for a blessing, can we repeat what Bishop Snyder said last fall?

[518] Because I think this is good marching orders for all of us, please.

[519] Well, let me, I don't have it.

[520] Get it?

[521] He said, don't leave the church, right?

[522] And he said to pray.

[523] Pray for the Pope.

[524] Of the Pope, right.

[525] Don't leave the church.

[526] Don't follow any evil orders and trusting God.

[527] There you go.

[528] That's our marching orders.

[529] All right, let's get a blessing if we could, Bishop Strickland.

[530] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for Terry and all of his crew and for all of us who seek to live your joyful truth.

[531] Guide us in your spirit.

[532] May all the saints, especially the Queen of Saints, the Immaculate Virgin Mary, intercede for us constant.

[533] and we ask your blessing for all participating in this radio program.

[534] In the name of the Father, the Son of the Holy Spirit.

[535] Amen.

[536] Thank you so much, Bishop Strickland, for taking the time to teach us about Jesus and his bride the church.

[537] If you'd like to listen to other shows of Bishop Strickland's podcast, go to vmpr .org, and there's all kinds of other shows there.

[538] Thanks again for helping us support Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[539] Our mission is this, to help people get to heaven.

[540] give it again for your support, the prayerful support and your financial support.

[541] God bless you all.