10 Jan 23 – Reflections on Sacred Liturgy by Benedict XVI

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name is Terry Barber.

[2] I'm with Virgin Most Powerful radio.

[3] Please keep Bishop Strickland in your prayers.

[4] He's on bishop's retreat with the bishops of Texas.

[5] So he will not be with us today.

[6] But I thought, well, he sends me all of his tweets.

[7] I don't want you to miss him.

[8] So we're going to talk about the tweets for the week here.

[9] And also I talk a little bit about Pope Benedict the 16th.

[10] because of his passing, some of his writings, and I think that it's remarkable because so many things that Pope Benedict wrote, Bishop Strickland speaks about in his tweets and his preaching.

[11] So if I could, I know he was ordained a priest during St. John Paul II's pontificate, but I think much of the moral relativism that Benedict taught, that Pope Benedict taught that Bishop Joseph Strickland reiterates on what is on truth.

[12] So we'll go into that.

[13] But the first tweet that he sent out is at the end of the year on Holy Innocence, the Feast, December 28th.

[14] And we honor the Holy Innocence.

[15] He says during the octave of Christmas, they inspire us to work today to end abortion, the slaughter of the innocence in our own time.

[16] Sadly, the similarities are startling.

[17] Herod slaughtered babies because he feared Jesus.

[18] The powers of today fear his truth.

[19] Well, Bishop Strickland, if I asked you that question, well, they fear the truth.

[20] Why do they fear the truth?

[21] Because our Lord said it's the truth that sets us free.

[22] And it seems to me, Bishop Strickland, if you were here, I would, at probably hear you say something like, well, the truth is the only thing that matters in a sense of where we're going.

[23] What is the truth about this?

[24] Well, the truth of it is that babies are being murdered in their mother's womb.

[25] We just had the end of the year, and they said that the number one cause for death in the world is abortion.

[26] It's 60 million babies worldwide.

[27] I think that's a low number, but okay, let's call it 60 million babies murdered and their mother's womb.

[28] Something's wrong here.

[29] And then when I get a bang out of it, Bishop Strickland is when, you know, people accuse you of speaking too much about abortion.

[30] Really?

[31] 60 million babies murdered every year, and you can talk too much about stopping that?

[32] I don't think so.

[33] So I want to say thank you, Bishop Strickland, for being consistently protecting the unborn because I believe that you are spot on, and we need more bishops like you to do that.

[34] All right.

[35] Now, on December 29th, he talked about a tweet from a genie Hanneman.

[36] The tweet said, the most powerful weapon we can wield to fight evil.

[37] is not fists, verbal attacks, guns, or bombs, it is prayer.

[38] Uniting with the Creator and the sustain of every good thing to tear down the strongholds of Satan and empower His people will be our triumph.

[39] Well, Bishop Strickland says, yes, prayer puts everything in perspective and reminds us that God, our Creator, is Lord of all for all time.

[40] You know, because this day we're recording this, as the Feast of Elizabeth Ann Seton, I have to say she had an experience with prayer that converted her to the Catholic faith.

[41] I bet Bishop Strickland knows that story, and I'll just share it.

[42] When she was an Anglican for years, her husband passed away.

[43] They went to Italy to try and get some drier weather, but he didn't work.

[44] So she's had some influence with Catholic friends in Italy, and then she went back to New York, and she was still an Anglican, but she was really interested in Catholicism.

[45] So she was praying in an Anglican church, and she said, I felt empty.

[46] She thought, well, maybe I'll go over to the Catholic Church and pray there.

[47] She goes into the Catholic Church, and she got a remarkable grace, because she felt the real presence.

[48] of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

[49] And she was blown away by it.

[50] And what did she do?

[51] She said, wow, this is special.

[52] I'm going to become a Catholic because of her taking the time before our Eucharistic king.

[53] And I know Bishop Strickland always said this, spend time before the Eucharist, spend time before the Eucharist, quiet time, pray before Jesus and the Eucharist, special time.

[54] Even if our Lord isn't exposed on the ultimate.

[55] or he's in the tabernacle, spend time before our Eucharistic King.

[56] We're blessed here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio because we have our own chapel.

[57] Well, it's a couple hundred people.

[58] It's kind of like a church.

[59] It was the first Catholic church in a Covina, California for the Catholics.

[60] And it's a beautiful church, 120 years old.

[61] So we can go and pray all the time in there.

[62] Yeah, it's awesome.

[63] So I think the power of prayer is really underestimated.

[64] especially before the Eucharistic king.

[65] All right.

[66] Now we have the next tweet.

[67] And I know Bishop Strickland has a great love for St. Thomas Beckett, Bishop and martyr.

[68] And so he talked about that St. Thomas Beckett is a martyr should inspire all of us to stand up against the tyrannies of our time.

[69] And that's important.

[70] May he be inspired all priests, to clearly and joyfully preach the truth of the gospel, right?

[71] The greatest work of mercy and compassion is to ensure that the truth is proclaimed.

[72] You know, Bishop Strickland, you always talk about the truth.

[73] I can't have a podcast or a radio show without you saying, what is the truth about this?

[74] Well, Thomas A Beckett would not compromise on his capital.

[75] at faith.

[76] As a matter of fact, just to give a little story that's interesting, its biography of how he was killed, he was praying the divine office and church.

[77] Now here's a man who's head and shoulders taller than anyone at his time, and he was one tough umbra.

[78] They tried to kill him before, but he was able to defend himself when they came at him when he didn't have his back towards them.

[79] Well, this one time, four soldiers were sent to kill him.

[80] and while he was praying, he wanted to leave the church doors open, knowing that he might be inviting the adversaries to come and kill him, but he wanted people to come and pray the divine office.

[81] So there he was, pray in the office, and they clubbed him over the head, and they killed him.

[82] And what's so beautiful about this is he was able to forgive them while they were killing him.

[83] and I really thought that was powerful because you think you can't do it but you know the way the tree bends is the way it falls he must have been a very forgiving man to do that so I would encourage you to have a great devotion to St. Thomas Beckett all right the next tweet is regarding December 29th Many of you know that Bishop Strickland had prayed and respected Father Frank Pavone, who lost his priesthood, and now it's Frank Pavone.

[84] And many of you know that his father passed away, and unfortunately he couldn't even say the mass for his father's funeral.

[85] He was 90 years old.

[86] So Bishop Strickland tweeted, I encourage every priest to pray a mass for Joseph.

[87] Pavone, the father of Frank Pavone.

[88] Joseph, he said, died yesterday, December 28th.

[89] The parents of priests have a very special place in the hearts and of being able to offer Mass for our deceased parents is a great treasure for every priest.

[90] Unfortunately, at this moment, Father Frank Pavone can't do that, but you know what?

[91] One pope took his priesthood away.

[92] another pope comes in can open that door for a priesthood back for Father Frank and what I respect about Father Frank is he's willing to be patient and obey and he's not going to be hearing confessions saying mass but he's going to continue to do the pro -life work that God has given to him to do and I respect him immensely for that and so does Bishop Strickland.

[93] All right the next tweet as about the martyrs we celebrate during the octave of Christmas reminds us that Jesus is born to us so that he can model sacrificial love.

[94] He came to save us and give us life for us.

[95] Let us seek to imitate the true model of love that he offers to us.

[96] To love is to will the good of the other.

[97] That's a quote, he didn't point it out, but I'll tell you, it's a quote right from St. Thomas Aquinas.

[98] to will the good of the other how do I love people like Joe Biden Nancy Pelosi Bishop Strickland says exactly what St. Thomas says will the good of the other excuse me and this is and this is what we do and this is why true love we do even in extraordinary times I'll give you an example of true love with Pope Benedict the 16th funeral coming up the 5th of January, he wrote a statement saying that, please, I do not want Joe Biden at my funeral.

[99] And I said to myself, why would he say that?

[100] Well, I mean, some people would say, well, because they have different opinions as a Catholic, especially when it comes to Holy Communion.

[101] Well, when I come back, I'll tell you why I think he did that.

[102] It was an act of love, he was willing the good of the other with Joe Biden, President Joe Biden.

[103] How?

[104] When we come back, I'll tell you exactly what Pope Benedict did from the grave.

[105] Stay with us, family.

[106] You're listening to the Bishop Strickland Hour on Virgin Most Profferable.

[107] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[108] I gave you a little teaser.

[109] Bishop Strickland was tweeting what St. Thomas says about willing the good of the other.

[110] That's how you love someone.

[111] And when Pope Benedict died, there's a note that he requested that President Joe Biden will not attend his funeral.

[112] And I'm going to speculate on why he did that.

[113] And I'm going to say that he didn't want him to come because he most likely would want to receive Holy Communion at the mass of his funeral.

[114] And he loves him enough to say, don't do that.

[115] And I think that I'm on to something there.

[116] And I'd ask Bishop Strickland, if he was here, do you think that's an act of charity to say, don't come to my funeral because I don't want you to be practicing a sacrilege by going to Holy Communion when you are one of the number one people in the world who promote the killing of innocent life?

[117] All right, that's my take.

[118] And maybe I'm reading into it, but next week I'll double check with Bishop Strickland on that one, because that came to my mind right away when I saw that.

[119] All right, and here's the next tweet when he got the word that Pope Benedict the 16 passed away on December 31st, 9 .30 in the morning, Rome time, Bishop Strickland said, yes, indeed, God's power works quietly in this world, but it is the true and lasting power.

[120] Again and again, God's cause seems to be in its death throws, yet over and over again it proves to be the thing that truly endures and saves.

[121] That was Pope Benedict, and I like his saying, where he says, let us go forward with the Lord for the good of the church and of the world.

[122] What an attitude of gratitude.

[123] And I say, Bishop Strickland, my take on Pope Benedict is he gave a lot to the church.

[124] I know that in one of your tweets, you made a comment where you said, you know, that Pope Benedict gave us such a, he says, innumerable essay, 66 books.

[125] Wow.

[126] Three encyclicals, four exhortations, all boil down to his four last words at the hour of his death.

[127] I love you, Jesus.

[128] I find that to be really profound.

[129] So Bishop Strickland is saying, let us pray for Pope Benedict and do our best to imitate his faith.

[130] That's really important.

[131] And I would say if Bishop Strickland was here that I found out from Ignatius Press, one of the publishers of his books, they're putting a bunch of his books on sale, and the one I really would recommend is the spirit of the liturgy.

[132] I think Pope Benedict the 16th did more to communicate a reverence for the Eucharist than any pope in my lifetime, and I'm 60 -some years old.

[133] So Pope Benedict, please pray for us, and we'll pray for you.

[134] Now, Bishop Strickland also sent a tweet the following day on January 1st.

[135] says, stand firm in the faith.

[136] Do not let yourselves be confused.

[137] This was Pope Emeritus Benedict the 16th, a spiritual testament published on December 31st, 2022, the day he passed.

[138] He wrote it in 2006, but it's simply a clear message.

[139] It's an important one for our confusing times.

[140] faith and reason are not in conflict.

[141] Can I mention that one more time?

[142] Bishop Strickland, you said this so many times.

[143] Faith and reason are not in conflict.

[144] That's why I say your own bishopry is influenced a lot by Benedict XVIth because you're always talking about moral relativism.

[145] And Benedict the 16th talked a lot about that problem.

[146] And so that's something that I would encourage people to go to Ignatiuspress .com and to pick up some of Benedict's books.

[147] I think a lot of people who read his books are going to be blown away by the great mind this man had.

[148] And the thing that I liked about it, Bishop Strickland, was how he spoke in a very simple language.

[149] In other words, you don't have to have a PhD in theology to understand what he's teaching.

[150] and I really appreciate that because I consider myself a Joe Sixpack.

[151] Here's another tweet that you sent out during the first week of 2003 and last week of the Christmas season.

[152] Let us reflect on the wonder that we celebrate.

[153] God has joined us in human journey as a man born of a woman.

[154] He continues to be with us in his Eucharistic face.

[155] May this truth be our anchor in these days.

[156] times.

[157] I would say Bishop Strickland, you nailed it.

[158] Spending time before our Eucharistic king, everybody says, I'm going to give a, I'm going to have a New Year's resolution.

[159] Can I, and I, Bishop Strickland, if you were here not on retreat, I know what you'd say.

[160] If I said, what do you think of a once a week, holy hour as part of your regiment, your spiritual regimen, where you take one hour a week, quietly, sit, kneel, pray your rosary, read your Bible, just be quiet before the Eucharistic throne.

[161] That would change the church.

[162] We talk about a Eucharistic revival coming up.

[163] I am convinced, and I know you are too, Bishop Strickland, that a Eucharistic revival needs to be with our Eucharistic king.

[164] And by taking the time to be with him, that's where we're going to grow in our love for Jesus in the Eucharist.

[165] and I think about our blessed mother and I'd say it wasn't Bishop Strickland wasn't Mary the first tabernacle yeah yeah because she had Jesus in her womb for nine months and I love the quote you quoted about history and the baby said a thousand times in history a baby has become a king but only once has a king become a baby and I thought wow that is really profound I never thought of it that way but that's a good point and this is something that we should seriously consider during this time of the Christmas season and into the new year how can I be a better follower of Jesus Christ how can I make my life image his in a more profound way and I think Bishop Strickland would go back to again the Eucharist and our lady.

[166] Our lady is the, you know, she's the teacher.

[167] She can show us the way.

[168] It was God's divine will that Mary was the vessel that Christ came to us.

[169] So it makes sense that we go to Mary to go to Christ.

[170] So I think that's important.

[171] Normally halfway through, we go to the catechism of the Catholic Church teachings.

[172] But I think what I'm going to do because Bishop Strickland was such an admirer of Benedict the 16th.

[173] I'd like to take some quotes regarding the liturgy and then see if you can actually see and hear Bishop Strickland in these quotes.

[174] One quote is about a homily that was taking, took place in 2005 at a cathedral when he was becoming the Pope.

[175] And I like what he said, and this is similar to what Bishop Strickland teaches.

[176] Why?

[177] Because he's teaching the perennial teachings of the church.

[178] Here's what the Holy Father said back in 2005.

[179] And boy, do I wish this was heard today in 2003.

[180] He said, the power that Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors is, in an absolute sense, a mandate to serve.

[181] The power of the teaching in the church involves a commitment to the service of obedience to the faith.

[182] The Pope is not an absolute monarch whose thoughts and desires are law.

[183] Thank you, Holy Father.

[184] On the contrary, the Pope's ministry is a guarantee of obedience, right, to Christ and to His Holy Word.

[185] He, meaning the Pope, must not proclaim his own ideas but rather consistently bind himself and the church to obedience to God's word in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down or every form of opportunism Bishop Strickland that quote you said it in a different way but it's the same thing that we can't change the teachings of the church even if we wanted to.

[186] The Pope can't.

[187] He's not the he's the vigor of Christ not the superior of Christ and so the Holy Fathers down through the ages are to pass on the deposit of faith so if a Holy Father wanted to change some perennial teaching it's not possible and Benedict knew that And I think that the more we read about Benedict the 16th, the more we realize that a lot of our confusion in the church today is because people are getting their way into it rather than God's way.

[188] In other words, they're saying, hey, wait a minute, Hermannivete, let's look at this from a different perspective.

[189] I mean, you know, it might have been true years ago, but we, you know, we're different.

[190] We're much smarter now.

[191] or premarital sex?

[192] Well, you know, come on.

[193] This is 2023 now.

[194] We've got to realize, you know, they're going to do what they're going to do.

[195] And we want to welcome them into the church.

[196] And let's be a little compromising.

[197] No, we can't do that.

[198] And that's what Benedict has been saying throughout his pontificate.

[199] And I appreciate that because I think it gave people direction.

[200] And he also made a great point when he talks about, when we're attempted to change things because the world is saying, hey, come on, men and men can get married, women and women can get married.

[201] Come on, you've got to change here.

[202] Get updated on this.

[203] People like Father James Martin saying, hey, you know, the Bible was okay at certain points, but we know that it's not right now.

[204] You know, it was true for them 500 years ago, but, you know, we are modern now.

[205] It's not true.

[206] Romans, no, that's not true.

[207] See, that's the audacity of some leaders in our church to think that they can supersede what the Word of God is teaching and what the perennial teachings of the church have always said.

[208] And I can hear Bishop Strickland saying that, no. I mean, the Holy Father said this.

[209] The Pope knows that in his important decisions, he's bound to the great community of faith of all times.

[210] to the binding interpretations that have developed through the church's pilgrimage.

[211] Thus, his power is not being above it, but at the service of the Word of God.

[212] Can I mention that again?

[213] The Pope's teachings are at the service of the Word of God, not above it, right?

[214] It is incumbent upon Him, the Holy Father, to ensure that this Word continues to be present in its greatness and to resound in its purity so that it is not torn to pieces by the continuous changes in usage.

[215] I love what Pope Benedict said, Bishop Strickland, that it's not torn down.

[216] And I see this right now in some sections of our church where people dressed like you, especially in Germany and in Rome, are talking like, oh, yeah, we've got to get rid of this Humana Vita teaching.

[217] Come on.

[218] You know what?

[219] We've got to get with it.

[220] Homosexuals.

[221] Come on, they need love too.

[222] Let's just let them get married and get it over with.

[223] I mean, you know, we're going to lose our flock if we don't compromise when, in fact, that's just the opposite.

[224] But I think what Bishop Strickland and Pope Benedict have in common is their great love for the Word of God and the perennial teachings of the church.

[225] You're listening to the Bishop Strickland hour.

[226] Bishop Strickland's on retreat.

[227] Pray for him and all the bishops of Texas.

[228] And when we come back, we'll talk more about Bishop Strickland and Pope Benedict and how similar they are in their preaching.

[229] Stay with us.

[230] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[231] Bishop Strickland's on priest retreat with his bishops and Texas.

[232] And so we're just covering some of his tweets.

[233] And now we're going to get into some catechetical material.

[234] But before I do that, I want to remind everybody there's an evangelization conference coming up on the 14th of January with Johnny Romero and Terry Barber.

[235] That's me. And we're going to be sharing on techniques of how to share your faith with anyone.

[236] If you're out of the state, you can't get to it.

[237] You can always stream it by going to vmpr .org or registering by calling 877 -526215.

[238] You can register online, going to vmpr .org.

[239] For those who are brand new, every week we take half the show to talk about the catechism because we're aware, and Bishop Strickland has told me over and over again, the lack of catechesis is one of the big problems in the church.

[240] People don't know their faith.

[241] They don't know the Bible.

[242] They don't know their history.

[243] And so the diocese of Tyler put together a catechism called the Way of Christ.

[244] And it's the institute there, the St. Philip Institute, you can get that copy by going there.

[245] St. Philip Institute .com and it basically reminds me of like an old Baltimore Catechism question answer and so we were on chapter 3 about creation in the fall last week it says you know question what does it mean that God is the creator of heaven and earth this is important answers because it gives us a big understanding who God is so the answer to that question is God created all immaterial things and all material things.

[246] God created all things out of nothing.

[247] He did not need pre -existing things to create the heavens and the earth.

[248] Everything depends upon God in the order to exist.

[249] If God did not hold creation in existence, creation wouldn't cease to exist.

[250] nothing other than God would exist if God did not create it and hold it in his existence.

[251] I mean, think that.

[252] Think about that paragraph.

[253] Without God, nothing is, it's all disappears.

[254] People don't realize that.

[255] And think about this.

[256] If God stopped thinking about you, you would cease to exist.

[257] That's incredible.

[258] Bishop Strickland, when you think about the attributes of God, it's an old term that we used to use all the time but unfortunately in modern times young people have not heard attributes but one of them is god created everything out of nothing you know when people saw i can create things yeah you know i can create it real you know who made the dirt that you're planting you know your seeds in you didn't do that you can't make anything out of something out of nothing only god can the next question Why did God create the heavens and the earth?

[259] A reasonable question to ask.

[260] God created freely out of love, not because he had to.

[261] God does not need creation.

[262] But he created the heavens and the earth to share his infinite love and goodness.

[263] God gains nothing from creation, but creation gains everything from God.

[264] And remember, in this catechism, we have paragraphs from the big catechism that's really thick paragraph 293 and 294 is where the answer came from so if you want a more developed answer go to the catechism of the catholic church and i gave you those paragraphs 293 and 294 third question what does god teach about creation Are you kidding me?

[265] Important to know this.

[266] The church teaches that creation did not come from chaos or a chance from God.

[267] Remember this.

[268] Some people say, oh yeah, you know how a watch is built?

[269] Yeah, you know, lots of components in a watch.

[270] Can you keep throwing it up in the air until it falls just right so that all the pieces fall in the right place so that the watch can work?

[271] Not going to happen, is it?

[272] It's the same thing.

[273] There was order, and that's what we're talking about.

[274] So the church teaches that this creation did not come from a chaos or a chance, but directly from God.

[275] In his wisdom, God gave creation, order and structure, evident in the laws governing creation.

[276] All God creates is good, since it comes from God and shares in God's goodness.

[277] Further, God has ordered creation towards perfection and allows us to participate with him in perfecting creation.

[278] See, God lets us do that, and as Bishop Strickland was talking about free will last week, you know, how do these evil things come in?

[279] Because we abuse it.

[280] God gives us all these opportunities to cooperate with his will, but he will permit us to fall.

[281] because as Fulton she used to say the only value in saying yes to God is you have the freedom to say no so when you see these evil things that are going on like for example Joe Biden with killing unborn babies hey it's his free will he chose to do that nobody pushed him in the sense of saying oh you got to do this no he had freedom to say no but he said yes to killing unborn babies so that's an evil that God doesn't approve but he allows and I'm convinced Bishop Strickland that God allows a lot of stupid things to happen and he can still bring good out of it and we've seen that many times the next question what does the church teach about the creation of humanity great question God creates each human person in his image and likeness, that's right from Genesis chapter 1, 26 to 27, he does so by giving us a spiritual soul with an intellect and will, allowing us to know the truth and a will allowing us to choose the good.

[282] With our intellect and will, we can know, love, and serve God, in addition, being created in the influence, image of God means we have a dignity and should be treated with equal respect.

[283] The human person is the only creature on earth that God created for his own sake.

[284] When I read that paragraph, I could talk for an hour on that, but think about that.

[285] You ever seen those signs out in California?

[286] Hey, animals are people too?

[287] Yeah, I see them all the time.

[288] what's happened is people are mixed up I'm being nice they don't understand that God created a human person with an immortal soul that was destined to be with God for all eternity can't say that about a dog a cat or any other animal humans are on a completely different level because we were made in the image and likeness of God so we have a kingship to go to Yeah, we are children of God, heir to the kingdom of heaven.

[289] And by teaching the catechism to you and to all of us, I love reading this because it reaffirms my belief in the perennial teachings of the church about creation and about how God loves me so much that he created me and he hasn't made a duplicate, you know?

[290] Next question for today is, what does the church believe about evolution and the creation account in Genesis.

[291] Boy, that's a good question today, right?

[292] Here comes, and this is going to be the paragraph 355, 373.

[293] And on the one, no, Genesis and evolution, paragraph 159, 282, and 289.

[294] Theology and science do not contradict each other.

[295] Because here comes, God is the author of all truth.

[296] That statement needs to be read all the time.

[297] God is the author of all truth.

[298] Genesis 1 and 2 does not give a scientific account of creation.

[299] That's right.

[300] Instead, the 6 -day account in Genesis 1 is a poetic device, a type of figurative language, teaching that God is the author of creation.

[301] The inspired human authors of Genesis did not intend to teach that the world was created in six 24 -hour days.

[302] The various scientific theories about the origin of the universe do not necessarily contradict Genesis but rather complement it.

[303] So you can go right into the catechism, the paragraphs that I just mentioned, 159, 282, and 289 to develop that.

[304] So, you know, however God, the bottom line the way I explain it in a simple way is how did it how did it all come together, how did God do it, you know, we know he's the creator of all of it, how he did it, we can speculate on how he did it, but the bottom line, he did it, no one else.

[305] All right, next question.

[306] and this is an interesting question for you what was humanity like before the fall I remember asking that question when I was a teenager and here's the tragedy most people never get to that question until they're an adult and maybe 40 50 60 years old in Genesis 2 we learned that Adam and Eve are the first parents of humanity at first Adam and Eve were in the state of original justice.

[307] What's that mean?

[308] Means that they were in harmony with God.

[309] We call it the prudinatural gifts before original sin.

[310] So this is very important to understand.

[311] Most people have never heard this.

[312] But it's important to understand it.

[313] So this means that we were in harmony with God within themselves and with each other.

[314] They were in a state of original holiness, meaning that they share in God's own divine life.

[315] They were in harmony with God because he gave our first parents sanctifying grace into their soul.

[316] What is sanctifying grace?

[317] It's the life of God in us.

[318] Wow.

[319] Sanctifying grace is a special grace that allows God's life in our soul.

[320] Adam and Eve were in harmony with Him.

[321] them because God gave them the gift of integrity.

[322] When we come back, I want to talk more about the gift of integrity.

[323] You're listening to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[324] He's on vacation.

[325] He's on retreat.

[326] Pray for him.

[327] He has a great retreat.

[328] Stay with us, family.

[329] We're talking about Genesis right now.

[330] So important.

[331] We'll be back.

[332] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[333] Bishop Strickland's on retreat with the other bishops of Texas.

[334] He'll be back on Tuesday.

[335] I thought we'd just go through his catechism here that the Diocese of Tyler puts out.

[336] And we were covering something very important about Genesis 2, about Adam and Eve, and how they were in harmony with themselves because God gave them the gift of integrity.

[337] Now what is that?

[338] Well, it's the right ordering of the soul, its faculties, over the body.

[339] This was before the fall.

[340] Their intellects and wills had control over their bodily passions.

[341] Boy, wouldn't that be nice.

[342] And they were masters of themselves.

[343] Finally, Adam and Eve had harmony with each other and the rest of creation.

[344] See, this is how you didn't even think about this.

[345] I'll put it in this term.

[346] You were going to have to learn something?

[347] No. No effort was there.

[348] We call it the preternatural gifts before the fall.

[349] See, our first parents turned from God in sin.

[350] which has affected all humanity.

[351] That's where it's coming down.

[352] So now, let's talk about what is the fall.

[353] I'm going to talk about Adam and Eve's fall.

[354] Our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned against God.

[355] They sinned because they knew God's commandment and freely decided to go against it.

[356] This was the first sin.

[357] We call it original sin.

[358] By rejecting God through sin, they lost the gifts God has given to them.

[359] They fell from original.

[360] holiness and justice, resulting in discord between mankind and God, as well as among human beings and in creation.

[361] We've got to understand that because so many people don't understand original sin, and one of the things I'm going to recommend, I know Bishop Strickland would agree with this, if you have a therapist that you're going to for help, make sure the therapist is a believer, and he believes in original sin, because what I've found that many of them that don't believe in original sin don't believe in objective truth.

[362] Yeah, it's whatever feels good.

[363] That doesn't work.

[364] Now, how does Adam and Eve's first sin affect us?

[365] Great question.

[366] The consequences of original sins are passed down to all of humanity.

[367] Now you see why you have a St. Paul says, I do.

[368] what I don't want to do, and, you know, why?

[369] Because we have concupiscence.

[370] It's a big word meaning we have a tendency to want to sin, fall away.

[371] We are convinced with original sin instead of original justice and holiness.

[372] We receive our first parents' damage of our human nature, even when a baby is born.

[373] That's why we baptize them soon.

[374] We do not commit original sin.

[375] We don't.

[376] No, and he did, but we receive original sin.

[377] It's passed on to us.

[378] Because of original sin, we are born without sanctifying grace and are unable to enter heaven and to be with God.

[379] We have the tendency to sin called concupiscence, which I just mentioned, because our bodily passions rebel against our intellects and will.

[380] We experience tension with others because of discord due to original sex.

[381] See, this is explaining why some people say, why do I do this evil?

[382] I don't want to do it.

[383] I feel like I'm attracted to do this.

[384] Well, because we have to overcome our passions.

[385] And how do we overcome our passions?

[386] By giving our life to Christ.

[387] By saying, not my will, but your will.

[388] by prayer, by sacrifice.

[389] I always say that our Lady of Fatima says souls are going to hell because no one's there to pray and make sacrifices.

[390] We can pay the price for our brothers and sisters with our prayers that they'll gain that necessary grace to turn away from sin.

[391] So now, why are these evil, why are there evil in suffering?

[392] Folks, there's books written on this.

[393] I could stack them on my table here, and you wouldn't see me. That's how many books are on that topic.

[394] Evil and suffering.

[395] And I want to just give you a fuller answer because of the time we're at the last segment.

[396] Go to paragraph 309 to 314 titled Evil and Suffering.

[397] I'm going to give you a short paragraph, but the catechism gives you much more than I'm going to give you.

[398] Evil and suffering that results from evil are not caused by God.

[399] no instead human beings freely choose to sin to reject God's commandments and to do evil human beings tend to choose to sin as a consequence of original sin because all are born and to discord with God creation and even each other we tend to sin evil and suffering due to evil are the products of human sinfulness not of God's will I'll make the distinction the permissive will of God and God's will God permits us to do stupid things but he also gives us the great sacrament of penance confession right in the Bible John 20 he gave the power to his apostles to forgive sins so none of us are perfect.

[400] We're all going to fall.

[401] I always say this to Bishop Strickland.

[402] My only question is, did we get up?

[403] And this is the real question.

[404] So if it's been over a month since you've gone to confession, I would recommend having you, I would recommend having you go to confession on a regular basis.

[405] this is the new year I always put things on my calendar everybody's got Google calendars on their phone put Saturday evening confession first Saturday of each month now you're going to implement the Fatima plan about first Saturdays by going to confession praying for the Holy Father praying the rosary before the blessed sacrament all that can be done but it takes the discipline of doing it and you see what's happened in our world, and Bishop Strickland has talked about this, that we want a watered -down Catholicism today.

[406] People don't want to have a sacrifice?

[407] What for?

[408] I don't want to have to suffer.

[409] Oh, you mean inconvenience?

[410] You want me to go to Mass on a holy day?

[411] No, no, I'll just go when I feel like it.

[412] You see, this is the attitude of the world, and we have to say, no, no, no, no. We do things God's way, man's way.

[413] I had a call today from a woman who asked me a very difficult question.

[414] I get him all the time, but she said to me, you know, she's married, but she's divorced, and she's in the process of getting an annulment, and she met another man who was also divorced, and he's going to work on getting his annulment, but for many, many years, they've been seeing each other, dating each other, and things kept going up and down.

[415] They've had some real issues.

[416] And she called me and said, what's going on with spiritually?

[417] It seems like my life has just been a mess.

[418] Well, because, and I told her, you are doing something that's not what God would want, and that is you are going outside of God's law because you have to presume that when you're married and you've got a divorce, civil divorce, that until the church looks into the annulment process and says, yes, there was no marriage, then you continue to live as you are married.

[419] So that means no dating other men or women.

[420] And when I told her that, she was like, wow, I've talked to a lot of priests, nobody's told me that.

[421] And I said, well, I told you, you might not want to hear what I have to tell you, but you're dealing with spiritual warfare because you're living outside of God's will.

[422] It's all about you and your boyfriend, and you're forgetting about divine law.

[423] So that's why it's important.

[424] God gives us free will to choose.

[425] So he'll permit people to live sinful lives.

[426] But he also always provides the graces for you to say no to sin and yes to Christ.

[427] And you hear all kinds of conversion stories.

[428] I know you do.

[429] And I think that, you know, more are coming, believe me, because this is just a beginning of people seeing the nonsense out there in the world.

[430] And when you see traditional Catholicism, what we call the perennial teachings of the church that Bishop Strickland teaches, they're like, wow, I get it.

[431] So the question is, why are the evil, why is there evil in suffering?

[432] evil and suffering that results from evil are not caused by God instead human beings freely choose to sin to reject God's commandments like this woman had just said and do evil human beings tend to choose to sin as a consequence of original sin because we are all born into discord with God creation and even others we tend to sin evil and suffering are due to evil are the products of human sinfulness, not God's will.

[433] So again, God permits all this to go on.

[434] I get that, because he's not going to supersede your free will.

[435] I remember talking to a Muslim once, and they were telling him that, I said, you know, I don't know, Allah, you have no freedom to choose.

[436] You have to do this.

[437] And said, well, what happened to freedom, choosing God?

[438] What value is it if you're forced to love somebody?

[439] but you don't really love them with your free will that's not love that's slavery so I was sharing that with a Muslim woman she had never heard this term free will it's like what's that there's nothing free about God we're a slave man he's a slave master we have to obey that well no the catechism the Catholic Church you know the church is always taught that God creates us with a free will.

[440] He doesn't program us to say, you got to do this, you got to do that.

[441] He teaches through his church and through the Bible, these perennial teachings, but he allows even people in the church not to follow those perennial teachings because he doesn't supersede their free will.

[442] So when you get a bishop who says, oh yeah, the Bible's wrong about this.

[443] I'm a cardinal from Germany.

[444] Bishop Strickland writes to him because he loves him.

[445] So what does he say?

[446] No, you can't do that.

[447] That's not the perennial teachings of the church.

[448] I love you.

[449] So I'm going to tell you the truth.

[450] That, are you ready?

[451] It's wrong to do what you're doing.

[452] And hopefully they'll get that message and turn away and realize you're not doing it in spite.

[453] you're doing it because you love them just like what Pope Benedict did to Joe Biden saying don't come to my funeral I don't want you receiving Holy Communion and committing a sacrilege at my funeral mass stay home I'm going to offer my suffering for you Joe Biden and all you politicians who are hell -bent on killing unborn babies hey this is the Bishop Strickland Hour Terry Barber Bishop Strickland will be back from his retreat and I hope you enjoyed the teachings of Christ through a catechism.

[454] May God richly bless you.

[455] Remember your New Year's resolution.

[456] A holy hour once a week before our Eucharistic king.

[457] Thank God richly bless you and your family.

[458] We'll see again next week.

[459] Same time, same station.