30 Jul 24 – Cardinal Newman’s Advice to Today’s Church

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name is Terry Barber with Virgin Most Powerful Radio, and we get to share the gospel of Jesus Christ here every Tuesday and Wednesday here on Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[2] Bishop Strickland, thank you for doing just that.

[3] Sure, Terry.

[4] Well, we're glad to team up with you here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[5] We're going to be talking about, these are an erroneous judgment.

[6] How can people, and even Catholics, somehow think that same -sex marriage is okay or killing an unborn baby is okay?

[7] And we bring this up because we've had generations now where people haven't been formed well, and they seem to have the morals of a secular humanistic value, and they're baptized Catholics, like Joe Biden.

[8] How does that happen?

[9] And I want to know with clarity how the church sees an erroneous.

[10] judgment, not Bishop Strickland's personal opinion, not Terry Barber's personal opinion, Holy Mother the Church official teachings on the erroneous judgment.

[11] And we're going to talk a little bit about euthanasia because of a young lady in the Texas and in the state of Texas, whose mother's saying, we're going to pull the plug on her, Markle, because she's 24 years old.

[12] She's gotten a car accident, a brain injury, and hey, you know what?

[13] She goes to heaven anyway.

[14] So why not?

[15] Well, what's wrong with just with that?

[16] But before we get to all these topics, I love having Bishop Strickland read the gospel of, which would be today.

[17] Today's gospel is Matthew chapter 13, 36 to 43.

[18] It's Tuesday the 30th of July.

[19] Remember, this is the month of the precious blood.

[20] So if Bishop Strickland could read the gospel and give us a catechesis, that would be grand.

[21] A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

[22] Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house.

[23] His disciples approached him and said, Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.

[24] He said in reply, He who sows good seed is the son of man. The field is the world.

[25] The good seed, the children of the kingdom.

[26] The weeds are the children of the evil one.

[27] And the enemy who sows them is the devil.

[28] The harvest is the end of the age.

[29] and the harvesters are angels.

[30] Just since weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.

[31] The son of man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom, all who cause others to sin, and all evildoers.

[32] They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

[33] Then the righteous will show, shine like the son in the kingdom of their father.

[34] Whoever has ears ought to hear the gospel of the Lord.

[35] Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[36] Terry, to me, that just hits the bullseye on what you were just saying, just as we began, making right judgments, recognizing that there is a separation, weeds and wheat.

[37] You know, the gospel uses that image.

[38] And, you know, in another passenger, Christ instructs us not to rip up the weeds that we coexist with the weeds in the world.

[39] But we need to be the wheat of the Lord.

[40] We need to be that those good seeds that flourish in the kingdom, in the world.

[41] so this gospel really is very pertinent to what we're going to talk about for the rest of the hour because like you indicate and we we have compassion it's because we have compassion that we have to speak about these things we're not condemning anyone we're not passing judgment but people need to know that judgment will be passed and it's not like oh I speak the name of Jesus and I get a free pass into heaven.

[42] Jesus tells us we have to repent of our sins and have to live like the wheat of the kingdom.

[43] I mean, that parable really is something for us to spiritually focus on and reflect on because the weeds are strangling out the wheat in so much of the world today.

[44] I mean, that imagery, you can go with it and think about, you know, you're a man with a home, and I'm sure you've had crabgrass or whatever.

[45] And the weeds can take over.

[46] I love it.

[47] The wheat can really choke out the good plants of whatever kind, and they suck out the nutrients.

[48] I think we could spend the whole hour just using that imagery to talk about.

[49] what's happening in the world because weeds of false messages, weeds of causing others to sin.

[50] I mean, what Jesus says in that parable is so significant because he says evildoers and those who cause others to sin will be thrown into the fire.

[51] And he's not talking about a bonfire.

[52] He's talking about hell.

[53] They will be condemned and burned for eternity.

[54] because they've rejected his message.

[55] They've rejected the truth.

[56] They are seeds like any other, but they have not chosen to flourish in God's word and living the commandments and everything that Christ tells us.

[57] He tells us, if you love me, you will live my commandments.

[58] And we're hearing the opposite from people in the world and sadly in the church.

[59] leaders in the church are telling people, ignore the commandments.

[60] We're going to reshape them according to our image.

[61] People need to read just that one passage can teach us a lot if we open our hearts to it.

[62] The weeds are the children of the evil one.

[63] And the enemy who sews them is the devil.

[64] That kind of language, it's right there in the gospel.

[65] People say, oh, there's no devil.

[66] It's, you know, know, I mean, leaders of religious communities say, oh, Satan's just a concept.

[67] If you read what Jesus says, he doesn't act like it's just a concept.

[68] They're children.

[69] How are you children of a concept?

[70] It's just critical.

[71] I mean, to me, what strikes me, Terry, is just reading one passage of the gospel.

[72] It's just like so many, it's so sparking.

[73] many connections with what it means to guard the deposit of faith, to believe that there is objective truth.

[74] I mean, all of that's woven into what Jesus Christ's truth incarnate is saying in this gospel passage.

[75] We need to open our eyes.

[76] We need to read the Word of God.

[77] We need to read the Catechism of the Church, which I really applaud that you're doing it on one of your shows each week.

[78] And we look at the Catechism.

[79] We need to do that.

[80] We need to look at the truth and quit trying to reinvent it and say that we're reading the truth ourselves.

[81] I mean, we're inventing the truth ourselves.

[82] We're not.

[83] I mean, it's just striking to me how this passage really teaches us so much just in those few verses of the Gospel of Matthew.

[84] And we need to listen.

[85] Here the disciples are saying, Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.

[86] Christ explains it to them and he explains it to us.

[87] Thankfully, it's recorded in the gospel.

[88] We need to listen.

[89] We need to believe that these are the words of the Son of God.

[90] And we need to believe he's sharing an essential message with us instead of basically ignoring it and saying, we've got our own message to share.

[91] You know, Bishop Stricklander, while you were speaking, I was thinking yesterday after Holy Mass, a woman came up to me. Now, I've known this woman for many, many years, and I think five years, and she had a very beautiful testimony of coming back to the church.

[92] And she told me, I was talking about the Eucharistic Congress, and we'll talk maybe a little bit about that later.

[93] But she was saying that, you know, three years ago, when I came to your chapel for a conference, you and Jesse talked about the Holy Eucharist.

[94] as actually being the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.

[95] And she said, I never heard that before.

[96] And I went, what?

[97] Well, she said, I always heard that, you know, it's Jesus, but I always thought, in context of what I was being taught, that it was just a symbol of Jesus.

[98] And it wasn't until, and this is an interesting story, she said, when I received Holy Communion on my knees and on my tongue, the very first time, because I encouraged them to do that.

[99] I said, because if it's really Jesus, let's, would you, if Jesus Christ came into the room, Bishop Strickland, would you just stand up and say, hey, how you doing?

[100] No, you'd kneel down, I hope, I would.

[101] So why don't we do that?

[102] So she said, that's when I had the grace, kneeling down, receiving Holy Communion three years ago, and from that day on, now she comes to daily Mass, and she's a fervent woman.

[103] but I just thought for how many years she was lacking catechesis and encountering Jesus Christ in a very personal way in the Holy Eucharist and that's what I think this talks about in this gospel of today that we need to reach out and touch the people with the fullness of the faith because if they don't get it they're going to have that erroneous conscience because no one's there to teach them and this is the role of not me specifically, but of Holy Mother the Church because I think back to the canon of canon law, the last canon.

[104] Everything the church does is for the salvation of souls.

[105] And I just want to commend you as a bishop, retired bishop, that you consistently teach the deposit of faith.

[106] And nothing more.

[107] I never hear you give me your personal opinion.

[108] You're always saying, here's what Holy Mother teaches.

[109] I hear the bumper music.

[110] So when we come back, you can talk more about that gospel.

[111] if you'd like, but if not, I'd like to take a couple minutes with some of your tweets, one in particular, and then we're going to get and talk about euthanasia and much more here on the Bishop Strickland Hour on Virgin Most Power.

[112] Stay with us, family.

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

[114] Welcome back indeed.

[115] You know, Bishop Strickland, when you read the gospel each day here on the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[116] It always perks me up.

[117] I'm all fired up when you read the gospel.

[118] And the reason it fires me up is it's God's word, it's inerrant, and I need to reread this all the time because it gives me such a focus in life.

[119] And I just want to say this, because I thought of it in my holy hour this morning.

[120] I was thinking about how much time do I really spend studying my faith, reflecting on the gospel, and seeing how much wasted time I have.

[121] Like, for example, I might be surfing an internet story and I get on carried away and I'm like, that was a waste of time.

[122] And so I only expose my conscience to our listeners because we're family.

[123] Do you ever do that, folks?

[124] Why don't we structure a time just like you have an appointment for whatever you have an appointment and make an appointment every day at a certain time to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

[125] Maybe you don't reach that time because something popped up, a family emergency.

[126] I get that.

[127] But put it on the calendar that you're going to go and make a visit.

[128] You're going to study the Word of God.

[129] You're going to study your catechism.

[130] It might even be just listening to our shows because that's what we do.

[131] Maybe we can help you on that.

[132] But I just think that it's a discipline that we need to really know Jesus Christ.

[133] more deeply is by spending time and his word and catechism.

[134] And I know you agree with that, Bishop Strickland, but I just want to give it as a practical application is somehow put it on your calendar.

[135] I know for me, I'm a morning person.

[136] I got up at 4 .30 this morning.

[137] But I went to bed or about 10 o 'clock.

[138] Had a good night's sleep.

[139] And then it's quiet time for me to pray.

[140] Nobody distracts me. I don't get calls from Bishop Strickland.

[141] I don't get calls for my wife even.

[142] I can spend that quiet time.

[143] I think it's a quiet time.

[144] I think it's a quiet time.

[145] I think it's important that we set aside some time each day to really meditate on that word of God and the catechism.

[146] That's my point.

[147] All right, call me an odd ball, but that's what I think.

[148] Bishop Strickland, you tweeted something that rocked my boat.

[149] You usually do when you have the scriptures.

[150] But this is something that you tweeted this week.

[151] St. John Henry Newman, pray for us, she said.

[152] Why?

[153] Because he was insightful.

[154] He was prophetic.

[155] He's like Fulton Sheen.

[156] of an age of the 19th century.

[157] And here's what he said.

[158] I thank God that I live in a day when the enemy is outside the church and I know where he is and what he is up to.

[159] But I foresee a day, like now, when the enemy will be both outside and inside the church.

[160] And I pray for the poor, faithful who will be caught in the Christ.

[161] Crossfire.

[162] Oh, talk about that statement of Bishop Strzden, because I think you've made that same claim.

[163] Well, and I think when I tell people we need to wake up, that's part of what we need to wake up to.

[164] Yeah.

[165] That's what I said when the day I was removed as Bishop of Tyler, I said, please don't leave the church.

[166] Right.

[167] Learn your faith more deeply.

[168] And part of the reason that I said that is we've got enemies in the church.

[169] Oh, yeah.

[170] We've got prelates of the church, which is tragic to even say, but we have to know it.

[171] We have prelates in the church, bishops and priests, and bishops have the biggest responsibility.

[172] We're successors of the apostles.

[173] But we have bishops that are enemies of the church, the church that speaks of Christ and that follows.

[174] him and lives his commandments because they're trying to twist and change and shape things in the image of man instead of humbly embracing what God has revealed to us.

[175] So, and, you know, certainly the image of sheep and shepherds, I mean, the first reading from a couple of weeks ago now, it was the 16th Sunday of ordinary time from Jeremiah.

[176] Oh, boy.

[177] But he talked about woe, to the shepherds that lead the flock astray.

[178] And sadly, that's what's happening.

[179] People are being led astray by false teachings.

[180] And so what St. John Henry Newman says, enemies, we need to recognize our enemy.

[181] It's like, you know, we could spend a lot of time talking about the state of our nation, which is we need to pray hard and we need to elect.

[182] the very best leaders we can and get rid of leaders that aren't leading us well.

[183] Because there is evil in the world.

[184] It's very evident.

[185] And there are enemies, enemies to our way of life and enemies to the faith, which is the most frightening enemies, is those who want to change the church or get rid of the church.

[186] I mean, we have to acknowledge that there are many people who want the Catholic Church gone.

[187] They think it's a problem in the world.

[188] Because they don't believe in God, and the Catholic Church is an obstacle, thankfully.

[189] Yeah.

[190] You know, we can be glad that many still see the Catholic Church as an obstacle to their agenda of atheism and evil.

[191] Yeah.

[192] But there are too many within the church that aren't much of an obstacle at all.

[193] And if people aren't living the truth, sometimes it's just out of ignorance.

[194] But we can't just say, well, I didn't know.

[195] We're obligated to learn and to not be ignorant.

[196] And that's what we need to do is to pay attention to living the truth.

[197] And the thing is, Terry, I mean, I know people, for both of us, I'm sure we both have heard people say, would you please be quiet?

[198] And they say it much less politely than that.

[199] But the thing is, no, I can't be quiet.

[200] because it's the truth.

[201] But also, because it's beautiful, and it fills you with joy.

[202] It gives meaning to your life.

[203] It gives you hope.

[204] It, I mean, there's no surprise that it does all that, but because it comes from God.

[205] But neither of us, I have no fear that either of us will ever stop speaking the truth.

[206] Because it's changed our lives.

[207] Absolutely.

[208] And we know that it's the joys that we have, the hope that we have come from the truth.

[209] I'm reminded of a passage.

[210] I'm not sure of the exact quotation, but where St. Paul says, be ready to tell people the reason for your hope.

[211] Exactly.

[212] And that's what you and I do for on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, week for an hour a day and many other times.

[213] I mean, I know that's how you spend your life.

[214] And that's pretty much how I'm spending mine now.

[215] Thankfully, I don't have to worry about the administration.

[216] You still have to worry about some of that, paying the bills and all.

[217] That's true.

[218] I just go around the world proclaiming the truth and telling people the reason for my hope.

[219] There are many people that are hopeless.

[220] That's right.

[221] And we need.

[222] need to, they need the truth.

[223] And it, I mean, going back to St. John Henry Newman's quote there warn us of a time when enemies would be in the church, we don't, we don't need to hate anyone.

[224] We don't need to attack anyone.

[225] We just need to be aware.

[226] We need to be aware that you can't just presume that whatever the bishop says or whatever the priest says is the truth.

[227] You have to know the truth yourself enough.

[228] We can't just be the docile sheep.

[229] We all need to know the truth and think about it and take it to heart so that when someone says something that's not true, we know flat out that they're wrong.

[230] I mean, I'm reminded of the woman that you mentioned sounded like, I mean, she was a convert, I think, what you said.

[231] Correct.

[232] And, you know, You know, going to Mass, trying to be a good one.

[233] But she didn't know that the Eucharist is not just a symbol, not just an idea.

[234] And obviously, I mean, you know, I mean, that's really troubling.

[235] It is.

[236] You know that someone's a convert to the Catholic faith that they didn't know.

[237] I mean, you might at least be more.

[238] Or it would be more reasonable, really, that, you know, a child that just grew up in a nominally Catholic family and didn't get well catechized.

[239] But here's someone seeking the truth.

[240] Why do you go to become a Catholic except you're seeking the truth?

[241] And to leave out the real presence from that categesis, that really is criminal.

[242] That whoever's running that RCIA program or how Whatever, whatever path she took to become a Catholic, whatever Catholic she worked with, whether it's a priest or Lake Catechists or whoever, they are, they should be held accountable for the travesty of having this woman seeking the truth, becoming Catholic, and not even telling her of the great treasure of our Eucharistic Lord present at every Mass. That's tragic.

[243] Thankfully, you found out.

[244] Yes, he did.

[245] But there are too many Catholics, obviously, from what, I mean, people can, you know, elect leaders that are pro -abortion and say, oh, they should receive communion because they don't know who communion is.

[246] They don't believe themselves.

[247] And so we need to keep working.

[248] We need to keep teaching because I don't want to face God.

[249] at the end of my line, he'd say, Joe, how come you didn't tell anyone?

[250] I'm doing my best to tell them.

[251] Well, I've got to tell you, Bishop Strickland, about 15 years ago, I said to myself, what can I do for these RCIA programs that are very weak doctrinally?

[252] So what we did is we did a campaign.

[253] We have Archbishop Fulton Sheen's convert course on MP3.

[254] So it's 24 hours of teaching on the faith, the sacraments, the commandments, all there.

[255] And that's what I offered for free to any RCIA program in the United States.

[256] And I still offer that.

[257] Why?

[258] And what you just said, what am I doing to help people like that woman to know about the faith?

[259] And I can't think of a better way to say, look, all you've got to do is say, how many?

[260] You want to download it?

[261] You want a hard copy of Bishop Sheen's life is worth living, get it for all the converts.

[262] And I can guarantee you, when they have Fulton Sheen instruct them 24 hours on the faith, they're not only going to know about the Holy Eucharist, they're going to know about confession, all the sacraments, the commandments.

[263] And I have to say, I believe that's one of the greatest things we here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio have been able to offer Holy Mother the Church that is Bishop Sheen's convert course.

[264] Why?

[265] Because this is a man who brought thousands of souls into the Catholic Church over his lifetime.

[266] All right.

[267] I want to get a quote from John Vieni, and I want to get your reaction.

[268] I've not told you this.

[269] John Vieni, quote, he's the patron of priests.

[270] I've heard some people say he shouldn't be that way anymore because he's too hard on people and priests.

[271] But they're wrong.

[272] So when we come back, we'll get a quote from John Viani and much more here on the Bishop Stricklandauer on Virgin.

[273] powerful radio.

[274] Stay with us, family.

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

[276] Welcome back, indeed.

[277] I promised.

[278] St. John Viani, please pray for us.

[279] Here's a comment he made.

[280] And think about the time he lived in.

[281] The French Revolution was just ending.

[282] I mean, the persecution of the church was very, very great.

[283] And he said this.

[284] And I think it applies to 2024.

[285] He says, if you care about what people think of you, then you should not become a Catholic.

[286] I thought about that.

[287] I said, wow, that's a powerful statement to say that, yeah, if you want to put your finger out and get the wind, which way is going, be politically correct, don't even think about becoming a Catholic because I'm reading into that statement that says, being a Catholic is being contrary to the world.

[288] And Jesus told us that.

[289] So we can't be with the world.

[290] We have to be with Christ.

[291] And many times, the world, the world.

[292] And many times, the world.

[293] world is going to say, like for example, you know what, abortion, it's necessary because, you know, they're not wanted, they come up with all kinds of reasons, and we have to say, no, it's never acceptable to kill innocent life.

[294] That's contrary to the natural law, it's contrary to the gospel, and I will stand up for these unborn babies.

[295] Bishop Strickland, how do you see that comment about, if you care about what people think of you, Bishop Strickland, then maybe I'm I can apply it this way, then you shouldn't have become a bishop?

[296] Well, I totally agree with St. John Viani.

[297] And to me, it's interesting how that connects to what we were talking about before.

[298] Yeah.

[299] When, you know, being a Catholic, being true to the Catholic faith is under attack from people weaving within the church.

[300] And if you worry about who, you know, what people say.

[301] or, I mean, like St. John Viani says, if what people think of you, then you're compromising.

[302] And we see that, I mean, compromise is rampant in the church today.

[303] I mean, sadly, but, you know, and St. John Viani is the patron of parish priests, patron saint of parish priests.

[304] Every parish priest in the world needs to hear that quote from St. John.

[305] Bionni.

[306] And remember, we're supposed to be the leaders, priests and bishops are the leaders of the flock, the faithful, and helping them to not worry about what others say about us.

[307] And too many are ready to compromise for whatever reason.

[308] And if we compromise on the truth, we end up being those weeds that we were talking about in the gospel today.

[309] And that's, it really, following Jesus Christ is, it's contrary to the world.

[310] It has to be.

[311] If you look at him on a crucifix, it sort of tells you that right there.

[312] Following this guy is, you're following one rejected by the world, crucified by the world, by the religious and government authorities, the government and religious powers of his day, I mean, for exactly what St. John Viani says, they didn't like what he had to say.

[313] The world thought they got rid of him.

[314] He did die, but he came back.

[315] And it's interesting, because I was just talking with a group last night here in the Tyler area.

[316] And as we were discussing, we were looking at the catechism from Trent and just talking about the faith, good people.

[317] But a comment that somebody made reminded me of Gamaliel in Acts of the Apostles, where he says, if this is of God, no one can destroy it.

[318] If it's not of God, it will destroy itself.

[319] And what occurred to me and what I said to the group last night is we need to take the Gamaliel approach to looking at the world today, looking at the church.

[320] I mean, tragically, but we need to do it.

[321] Are there things in the church that we need to make the gamelial test?

[322] If it's of God, it will not be conquered.

[323] It will continue until the end of the age.

[324] If it's not of God, it will fall to dust.

[325] And we've seen that in the world.

[326] I mean, look at how many things have fallen to dust since the first century when Christ walked this earth.

[327] Virtually everything except the Catholic Church.

[328] But if it's in the church, but it's not of God, it will fall to dust also.

[329] And a lot of the innovations that we've lived through in our lifetime, they're destined to fall to dust because they're not of God.

[330] They're of either just the world or even of Satan.

[331] I mean, we just got to wake up to that.

[332] You made me think of another quote from Fulton Sheen.

[333] I keep quoting the saints.

[334] Why?

[335] Because the holy men and women who give us such inspiration.

[336] Fulton Sheen said, no man can look right here on a crucifix and say that sin is not serious.

[337] Nor can he say that it cannot be forgiven.

[338] By the way he suffered, he revealed the reality of sin.

[339] By the way he bore it, he shows his mercy towards sinners.

[340] You know, Bishop Strickland, it seems like we go right back to basics all the time on this show.

[341] This isn't deep, this is basic teachings of the Catholic faith.

[342] And I want to ask you to shift gears if you can.

[343] You're in the great state of Texas, big state, second most populated state in the country.

[344] And we all know about Terry Chavo, who died by euthanasia, and she was, was, you know, living, and they decided to pull the plug.

[345] Well, you've got a Markos, a woman that's 24 years old in Texas.

[346] I think it's near your neck of the woods, I think in Dallas area, from what I understand.

[347] And the mother was on video saying, you know what, we're planning her funeral.

[348] We're going to pull the plug because, you know, she's going to go to heaven anyway.

[349] So why, you know, what kind of life is she living?

[350] She wouldn't want this.

[351] and so we're going to do this.

[352] And I wanted to ask you as a bishop and priest of the Church of Christ, the Catholic faith, the seriousness of this regarding euthanasia that kill people for convenience sake, and we say your life isn't worth living, whether you're an elderly person or someone who's sick because of a car crash like her, brain injury.

[353] Tell us your thoughts about this case, Bishop Strickland.

[354] Well, I'm glad you bring it up, Terry, because we really need to speak out for this young woman who has had in a terrible car accident.

[355] She can't speak for herself, but she's very much alive.

[356] To me, it really reminds us of the sanctity of life that we're.

[357] always talking about.

[358] Certainly, it begins with conception.

[359] In those first nine months are the most perilous time for every human being in the world.

[360] That's a tragic thing to be the reality, but that's the way it is.

[361] If you can manage to be born, then you've already won the lottery.

[362] Because, you know, the child in the womb is very threatened.

[363] And they're people that want to threaten them even more.

[364] But what occurs to me is this woman, this young woman, is closer to the way she was as a newborn than, you know, as an adult.

[365] Because she can't move on her own.

[366] She can't, she can't feed herself.

[367] Right.

[368] She can't fight back and say, if you're not going to feel.

[369] feed me, I'll get some food or get water.

[370] Yep.

[371] She depends on others, just like an infant.

[372] That's right.

[373] I mean, you've had infant children, your own and then grandchildren.

[374] That's right.

[375] There's no more vulnerable human than an infant.

[376] And this young woman is more similar to an infant because of her injuries, but she's still a precious daughter of God.

[377] And she's still very much a lot.

[378] And thankfully, the church is very clear because, I mean, John Paul II helped the church wade through a lot of that as these medical technologies that have developed and, okay, where is it extraordinary and where is it not?

[379] Right.

[380] And the church teaches very clearly that giving something food and water is not extraordinary.

[381] That's right.

[382] That's just basic to sustaining life.

[383] Yep, yep.

[384] And as I've talked to a number of people about this situation already, it does bring up the Terry Schiavo tragedy.

[385] I think that was 2005.

[386] Wow, that sounds like, gosh.

[387] And it, you know, certainly reminds us of the infants that are aborted from the womb.

[388] It's the same basic principles are involved.

[389] And another very tragic element of this story, Terry, is what you said.

[390] The mother said, oh, well, you know, we're going to kill her, but, you know, it's good because she'll go to heaven.

[391] We need to help people understand that, I mean, all you have to do is read that gospel that we read today.

[392] Read the gospel and say, no, ma 'am, there are weeds and wheat.

[393] not everyone goes to heaven.

[394] And certainly, you know, if we look at the situation of this young woman, Margo, she's probably, she's not guaranteed anything, but she is probably probably in a position where it's much more likely because she's suffering a lot.

[395] I mean, we don't know where her heart and her mind is, but we pray that she is docile to God's will and spending a lot of time in prayer.

[396] I mean, there are many reasons just in basic and practical terms where when we start playing God and ending life prematurely, we need to just help people realize we are interfering with God's loving plan in ways that we have no idea.

[397] We speak of suffering souls.

[398] Maybe this young woman is a suffering soul and prematurely ending our life is a detriment of all of them.

[399] Well, said, we come back.

[400] We'll put more with the Bishop Stricklander.

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

[402] Welcome back.

[403] Indeed.

[404] We're talking about the sanctity of life.

[405] I like to end our last segment on some positive notes because last week, if you recall, we talked about the fireman who received a little baby that the mothers couldn't take care of and that little girl came back to the fire station 18 years later to thank the fireman who took her to the hospital and they got a nice parents to adopt the baby and now she's in college and it's just a great story.

[406] I'll have one more story.

[407] A young mother, shares a powerful story of how keeping her baby after she was raped, a defying Planned Parenthood.

[408] Now, this happened 10 years ago, and I'm looking at Angelica, what a great name, she shows life after this sexual assault, and her daughter turns 10 years old, and I see the pictures with her daughter, and I just think, wow, Bishop Strickland, 10 years ago, Planned Parenthood wanted her to say, get rid of that baby.

[409] You don't need that baby.

[410] It was wrong.

[411] You're a victim.

[412] And what does she do?

[413] She gives her daughter life.

[414] And then she's giving her testimony at a pro -life event saying that she's been the greatest blessing in her life.

[415] Your thoughts, Bishop Strickland.

[416] Well, it's just another great story of the blessing that life is.

[417] It doesn't mean it's easy life can be a struggle but it's still a blessing um and i think that uh these kind of situations hopefully remind us how we need to help each other yeah we need to to recognize that every life is valuable and do everything we can to support each other yeah um i think you know one thing, I mean, we talk so much about the importance of opposing abortion.

[418] Yes.

[419] And I'm glad to see that the church and others have made a lot of progress in the past several years in recognizing that absolutely we tell a woman not to abort her child, but we also are there to provide support to help.

[420] with maybe this single woman that doesn't have a job, you know, to look for all the ways that we can help.

[421] And I think in these situations of like this Margo, I hope we can look for ways for like a local parish to provide a ministry where, you know, we do a lot.

[422] My mother died from Alzheimer's.

[423] And thankfully, the Alzheimer's associations will will like give opportunities that people that are providing care to someone elderly or like Margo who was in an accident.

[424] I mean, there are people all over the world providing that kind of care.

[425] And it's hard.

[426] And we need to be compassionate toward those people.

[427] The answer is not ending someone's life because it's hard, but we do need to, in Christian charity, be there, just like we're there for the mother.

[428] that says, okay, I'm not going to kill this child.

[429] We're there to support them.

[430] We need to be there to support families that are dealing with situation like Margot's and helping them to get a break and to have some support.

[431] There are all kinds of ways and people are looking for ways that they can share their talents and help others.

[432] I think that that's one thing that I think we can see something like this and the news and help people to look with the eyes of Christ at the situation.

[433] We can't all do everything, but we can all do something.

[434] Well, I think of the situation with this young mother who decided to keep her baby after being raped.

[435] She said that I chose life the day that my daughter she just turned 10.

[436] She said that here's what happened.

[437] from Planned Parenthood spoke to my fear, but the woman from the pregnancy Pro -Life Center spoke to my fate.

[438] And she said, the woman from Planned Parenthood left me feeling hopeless, but the woman from the pregnancy center left me feeling hopeful.

[439] See, this is why these pro -life centers are incredibly important, and I don't mean to be political, but I'll just say it right now.

[440] Camilla Harris, who's wanting to be the president of the United States, once these pro -life centers stamped out.

[441] She does.

[442] It's very clear when she was here in California.

[443] She passed the law, and three years later, the Supreme Court said it was unjust because she was saying, in our pro -life centers, we need to give people the alternative to say, you can go down to Planned Parenthood and get your abortion.

[444] That's not what we Christians do.

[445] And so we fought it.

[446] And again, if she becomes the next president of the United States, she's going to push that agenda.

[447] She's very much, I mean, this is a woman who are the only vice president of the United States ever to go to Planned Parenthood and tell them they're doing great work.

[448] Now, again, I bring this up because it's coming back to what we're going to talk about tomorrow's show, the erroneous judgment.

[449] We need to judge even when we're voting in November with a Catholic mindset.

[450] How do we get a Catholic mindset?

[451] By knowing our Catholic faith.

[452] When you're ignorant of your faith, it's hard to make good judgments.

[453] So that's what I wanted to do there.

[454] And Bishop Strickland, your final thoughts on the issue of life for lay people getting involved in pro -life.

[455] And again, I'm talking about the short -born, the long -born.

[456] In other words, life in the womb and the elderly, how we have to have that consistent.

[457] ethic of life, the value of human life, whether they're 104 or in the womb.

[458] And I think that your commitment as a bishop leading us and inspiring lay people to get involved in the pro -life movement.

[459] I know they've asked you to speak at many pro -life events.

[460] And the reason you're doing that, Bishop Strickland, is because the office you hold as bishop to teach, govern, and sanctify.

[461] What good words could you give to our listeners?

[462] who are pro -life and who should be getting involved with the pro -life movement.

[463] Well, like we say, Terry, they need to speak up when they see a situation where life is threatened.

[464] They need to help young people know.

[465] Just like we were talking about the woman that was a convert that didn't know what the Eucharist is, who is the Eucharist?

[466] The same thing for many young people have never been taught that when a child is conceived, they're already a child in the womb.

[467] And the false messages of, oh, it's just tissue, many young people, and certainly not just young people, but I think one of the things we need to do is educate.

[468] Yeah.

[469] Because, you know, many young people are very into science.

[470] And the science is very clear that, you know, when a child is conceived, science will tell you, unless someone interrupts that process, this child will grow for nine months and become a newborn child that's a human being.

[471] I mean, the human being starts with conception.

[472] We need to teach that very clearly.

[473] And so education, being available to assist pregnancy centers, and praying outside Planned Parenthood clinics that are supposedly offering health care, they're just murder factories.

[474] We need to tell people this and we need to be there to support women that find themselves in difficult circumstances.

[475] Thankfully, people are doing all of that.

[476] Yeah.

[477] But we need to continue, and we need to, as you mentioned with Kamala Harris, we need to elect, we need to stop the election of people that are anti -life.

[478] Right.

[479] We need to wake up the Catholic vote because it's too many Catholics are not voting according to their faith.

[480] Well, said, I wanted to just bring up another.

[481] Bishop who's 100 years ago, he is the story of St. Manuel Gonzalez -Garcia.

[482] And I bring this up because he sounds like what you've been saying about the Eucharist.

[483] He was born in 1877, died in 1940, a little -known saint who passionately urge people to recognize the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and to never leave him abandoned in tabernacles.

[484] The bishop, auxiliary bishop, of the Archdiocese of New York, shared the story of this Spanish saint who has been called the Bishop of the abandoned tabernacles during a homily mass during the Eucharistic Congress.

[485] I thought that was marvelous to tell that story because many have been wandering in the desert of despair preoccupied by self and grumbling because they are hungry and nothing seems to satisfy.

[486] Why?

[487] Because we failed to change.

[488] We failed to tell them the truth.

[489] Worse than that, we've failed to fall on our knees in adoration, and many have been lost.

[490] What a great message.

[491] And send us to the Eucharist.

[492] He said he's an example of the patron saint of the Eucharistic Revival can show us how to move forward to make known the truth of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

[493] I'm glad that, because I didn't know about this bishop, but you know what, Bishop?

[494] God knew it.

[495] And I keep thinking that we just have to keep.

[496] preaching the fundamentals of the faith.

[497] You don't have to get into deep theology.

[498] Continue just preaching the deposit of faith.

[499] And I think that's what I like about you, and I love working with you, Bishop Strick.

[500] And over the years, I've seen consistency where you just continue to preach Christ and Him crucified, to preach about the sacred heart of Jesus, to preach about the Holy Eucharist, Our Lady.

[501] and you know really it's not brain surgery so i just want to say you know please continue doing that because the flock needs leaders like yourself because we get more inspired when we hear a bishop talk like that rather than a layperson and this bishop who's the saint manual from Mexico he's an example of just bringing us to the eucharist and i think that's something that you're passionate about and I want to thank you for that.

[502] Thank you, Terry.

[503] My final thought is when we come back tomorrow, I have the catechism of the Catholic Church.

[504] Everyone should own a copy of the catechism of the Catholic Church, like you own your copy of the Bible.

[505] So when we come back tomorrow, we'll talk about what the church has to teach about an erroneous judgment and how to make sound judgment based on scripture and the church teachings.

[506] I hear the music coming on, So that means we have to call out and ask Bishop Strickland to give us his bishop's blessing.

[507] And again, tomorrow we'll continue this conversation.

[508] So if we could get a blessing, Bishop Strickland, that'd be grand.

[509] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for all that Virgin Most Powerful Radio and all who are listening that we may continue to joyfully learn more deeply the truth you have revealed to us through your son, to know him more deeply in the Eucharist, be inspired by the saints with the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary.

[510] And we have this in the name of the Father, the Son of the Holy Spirit, amen.

[511] Thank you so much.

[512] Folks, we'll be on again tomorrow, same time, same station.

[513] Thank you so much for supporting us here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[514] And God bless you and your family.

[515] We'll see you again tomorrow.

[516] Same time, same station.