05 Mar 24 – Where Are My Brother Bishops?

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

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

[2] We're blessed to have two days a week teaching the faith with Bishop Strickland.

[3] Not his personal opinion, but what the church is always taught.

[4] And I thank you, Bishop Strickland, for doing just that.

[5] Thanks, Terry.

[6] Could you lead us in a prayer before we have the gospel, please?

[7] Sure.

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

[9] Amen.

[10] Almighty God, we thank you for.

[11] the opportunity that this Lenton journey offers us to be renewed in our faith, to rend our hearts and not our garments, but to be changed in the light your son brings into our lives each day.

[12] Help us to turn from sin and live the truth of the gospel with greater joy each day of this Lenton season.

[13] We ask your blessing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[14] Thank you, Bishop Strickland.

[15] The gospel of today is Matthew chapter 18, verse 21 to 35.

[16] You could proclaim it and then give us a little teaching on that.

[17] We'd appreciate it.

[18] The gospel according to Matthew.

[19] Peter approached Jesus and asked him, Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?

[20] As many as seven times.

[21] Jesus answered, I say to you, seven times, but 77 times.

[22] That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.

[23] When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.

[24] Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property.

[25] In payment of the debt, at that the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.

[26] Moved with compassion, the master of that servant, let him go, and forgave him the loan.

[27] When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants, who owed him a much smaller amount.

[28] he seized him and started to choke him demanding pay back what you owe falling to his knees his fellow servant begged him be patient with me and i will pay you back but he refused instead he had him put in prison until he had paid back the debt now when his fellow servants saw what had happened they were deeply disturbed and went to their master and reported the whole affair.

[29] His master summoned him and said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you your entire death because you begged me to.

[30] Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant as I had pity on you?

[31] Then in anger, his master handed him over.

[32] to the tortures until he should pay back the whole debt.

[33] So will my Heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart, the gospel of the Lord.

[34] Praise to you, Lord, Jesus Christ.

[35] Well, Terry, that this gospel passage from Matthew 18 is another perfect gospel for us to reflect on during the Linton season.

[36] I see it basically in two parts.

[37] First, it begins with Peter asking the question, how often must I forgive him?

[38] And as Peter says seven times, I can imagine St. Peter thinking, well, I'm going to really be generous and really overextend and say seven times.

[39] That's a good number.

[40] Just knowing Peter, I mean, he's beloved to me because he's so human and so real, bold, but also occasionally sort of gets knocked back because he's human, as we all are.

[41] But St. Peter, I think, is a great model and a great challenge for each of us.

[42] But when he says seven times, I have an idea, he thought that was a lot.

[43] And probably, if you think about it, in our own lives, if somebody does something, the same thing, and we're telling you something serious, and if forgiving seven times is sort of beyond counting in a sense.

[44] I mean, you say, well, I'm forgiving you once, twice, seven times, you really have to start counting.

[45] it up.

[46] So St. Peter, in human terms, is really putting it out there.

[47] And then, of course, as usual, the Lord blows him away and blows us away if we're listening.

[48] Not seven times, but 77 times.

[49] Really, and I think in using that number, the Lord is emphasizing, just keep forgiving.

[50] Don't count the number of times you're forgiven.

[51] Thankfully, and then the Lord, the second part, he turns to the image of the kingdom.

[52] We all need to be very grateful during Lent, especially as we focus on repentance, that the Lord uses that model of 77 times.

[53] Thank God.

[54] God doesn't use Peters, apparently.

[55] generous model of seven times.

[56] I have to admit, you know, with sins that I've repeated, I'd have been passed due on my account a long, long time ago, if that's the way the Lord operated.

[57] But thankfully, really, the Lord is ready to forgive us as many times as we ask forgiveness because he wants us to live as the forgiven, as those wash free of sin.

[58] That's why he gave us son to die for us and to wash us in his precious blood.

[59] So thinking a little bit about this image of the kingdom, and I can imagine both of us have had the same reaction to this story.

[60] And probably the disciples had a similar reaction.

[61] Here's the guy that goes to the king, he begs for mercy, he receives that mercy, and his great debt is forgiven.

[62] Then he turns right around and someone approaches him who owes a much smaller debt.

[63] And he says, no, you've got to pay me back.

[64] And I can imagine both of us and many of us reacting.

[65] And that, you know, that dirty rat, you know, using all kinds of language and saying, how can he's just been forgiven the huge amount, how can he not approach his brother with a forgiving heart and then if we let it soak in a bit and the Lord's point is don't we do that don't we tend to we're just talking about the generous forgiving heart that the Lord shows us in the sacred heart of his son and certainly through the Old Testament, even though his son hasn't become incarnate yet, God is always forgiving Israel, individual leaders like David or Abraham, and also the people of Israel when they turn back to idols.

[66] God's forgiveness really is limitless in the sense that it's always there.

[67] The only limit to God's forgiveness is that we tend to give up and quit.

[68] asking forgiveness because kind of like Judas, Judas, real sin, I mean, he's the betrayer, terrible sin, but God would have forgiven him if he had trusted enough to say, Lord, forgive me. If he had come back on his knees saying, Lord, forgive my betrayal, the Lord would have forgiven him.

[69] In a sense, he does when he says, forgive them, they know not what they do.

[70] But Judas refused to ask that forgiveness.

[71] The scriptures don't tell us much about that, but we know that he didn't.

[72] I mean, there's no record of him asking for forgiveness.

[73] And so that puts Judas in certainly the most precarious of positions.

[74] I mean, only God judges.

[75] We don't even judge Judas, but he's a huge warning sign for us to say, don't forgive, don't give up on the mercy of God.

[76] When you do that, you by your own free choice are placing yourself in extreme peril.

[77] And probably both of us have known people.

[78] I've known as a priest, I've certainly known people that say, you know, I'm not going back to church, I'm not going to confession, my sins are too bad, God couldn't forgive me. In having that attitude, if we stay with that attitude, we close ourselves, the mercy of God.

[79] We close that door.

[80] God doesn't, but we do.

[81] and I think for in all kinds of ways people either get disgusted with themselves or disgusted with the world and too often they do close the door to mercy by their own choice we have to continue to pray even for people with that hardened heart we go back to the image that I was reminded of this morning rend your hearts not your garments be changed at heart That's what the Lenton season is about.

[82] So this gospel, of course, is a perfect gospel for our continuing Lenton journey.

[83] Wow.

[84] When we come back, I just want to add something and ask your comment.

[85] It's just something to think about.

[86] It's a teaser.

[87] Many times we as lay people don't get challenged to repent and believe in the gospel, and therefore we don't ask for repentance.

[88] That's a problem we have.

[89] Let's talk about that when we come back.

[90] Welcome back indeed.

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

[92] Yes, welcome back indeed.

[93] Bishop Strickland, you got me fired up on the gospel of Matthew chapter 18 about forgiveness.

[94] I just want to throw something at you.

[95] And that is, as lay people, sometimes we see, especially now in my own lifetime, where guys, you know, think that if the priest doesn't condemn me about doing some action as being sinful, then it must be okay.

[96] So I'm not going to need to repent because there's no shepherd there telling me that we have to repent and believe in the gospel to live according to these Ten Commandments.

[97] But what we're hearing today in many cases, Bishop Strickland, not from you.

[98] I admit you're just giving the unadulterated truth to the gospel.

[99] But for those who don't hear that message from the clergy, it seems to us as laypeople, that's not only a scandal, but we need to pray for those prelates and those.

[100] priests who have they have a responsibility as a shepherd to confirm us in our faith so that when we are living in sin it's like when you go to confession the priest is there to give you direction but if the priest or bishop or whoever in the church isn't saying it's a sin as a layman we take that as a green light am i on to something uh i think absolutely in our lifetime there has been a a watering down of proclamation of and the sad thing is the Lord came to free us from sin and death I mean that was the purpose of his incarnation not just to hang out with us yeah to teach us beautiful things which he did not to perform some miracles but ultimately to free us from sin and death and to deny the need for that, and that's really what we're talking about, is to deny the need for God's son to be incarnate among us, to pour out his life on the cross, to rise from the dead.

[101] It renders the message of the gospel meaningless, and even deeper than that, to me, and if you can go deeper than that, The reality is, I think we tend to think of sin in terms of a bunch of rules.

[102] And if we can get away with breaking the rules, it's no big deal.

[103] Right.

[104] But sin goes to the very fabric of who we are, to the very essence of what it means to be alive, to be created in the image and likeness of God.

[105] And I think we need to recover that deep understanding of sin that many of the saints, some of them great theologians, others, mystics, the saints speak of the horror of sin.

[106] Yeah.

[107] And I was just reflecting, I'm certainly no saint, but we're all called to be working toward that.

[108] Under construction, go ahead, to be a saint.

[109] As I was praying the rosary just this week, I was.

[110] reflecting on Mary full of grace, and I prayed that Mary through her intercession and the Lord through his grace might make me more and more full of grace.

[111] That Mary is, of course, immaculately conceived, never sin, protected from sin.

[112] none of us are in that category, but in a very real sense, I think our journey, and the saints show us this.

[113] The saints continue to grow in charity, to grow in grace, to grow in the love of the Lord, all of those things that help us to turn away from sin and to perfect us.

[114] And that's the call that we share.

[115] So as we talk about sin, I know that many Catholic or non -Catholics say, oh, we talk too much about sin or these categories of sin are not that big a deal.

[116] Really, if you look at the saints, and it's challenging, it's just like the gospel we've just reflected on.

[117] Yeah.

[118] To forgive 77 times, it seems inhuman.

[119] It seems beyond us.

[120] to keep battling sin feels like it's beyond us.

[121] There's a real tendency that we hear from the Vatican these days, leaders in the church saying, oh, well, the standard's too high.

[122] It's too idealistic.

[123] I prefer to look to Christ and the saints that have followed him, and they don't speak about it being too idealistic.

[124] They speak about even some of the most saintly saints in their lifetime.

[125] Continue to do penance and to seek greater holiness.

[126] And I think they challenge us.

[127] And we can also, well, I'm not a saint.

[128] We're all called to that.

[129] We really are.

[130] And we may fall very short.

[131] But thankfully, what we've been talking about is the mercy of God that is beyond our imagining in abundance, thankfully, but we need to honor that mercy.

[132] We need to treasure the forgiving love that God offers us ultimately through his son by doing our best to pay attention to sin.

[133] And I'll confess that as in my early years as a priest, I probably didn't.

[134] I mean, I always tried to say what was true.

[135] Yeah.

[136] But I will admit that because it was the tone of the times, and I was too weak to stand up against it, but too often I didn't mention things like contraception or abortion or extramarital sexual activity, those things that make people squirm a little and say, you know, the joke I remember as a kid was you're, you know, because I'm in a very not.

[137] Catholic area, people would say, oh, preach, preacher.

[138] But then when the preacher started really getting on their, you know, stepping on toes and saying things that were making uncomfortable, oh, no, you're getting into meddling.

[139] You know, meddling.

[140] You're meddling in my life.

[141] Don't do that.

[142] But that's what preachers are called to do.

[143] And thankfully, I know many of the younger priests that I've been associated with and they're much bolder and much more willing to speak up and I mean I've worked with the marriage formation and to flat out tell the young people we've talked before on this show about the the perils of pornography and how terrible it is it's devastating for marriages and the young men and women entering into marriage need to know what a devastating thing pornography is, what a devastating thing it is when they're not chased before marriage.

[144] And I've always encouraged the couples that I worked with, even if prior to that marriage formation day or whatever they're going through, a retreat or whatever, even if they haven't been chased, to start now and to embrace chastity.

[145] And I would say, that to any couple approach marriage.

[146] And once again, it's all tied to the idea that they say, well, we don't hear the priests say that from the pulpit, so we didn't think it was that big a deal.

[147] Yeah.

[148] Well, they need to hear it from the priest.

[149] But what good Catholics, I hate to tell them, but they're not off the hook because Father didn't mention it.

[150] Right.

[151] They know it's wrong.

[152] They have to live up to the truth that they know.

[153] encourage Father for the sake of others who may not know.

[154] Father needs to mention it, but a good Catholic isn't off the hook because Father failed to mention it.

[155] Pray for Father to be clear and stronger.

[156] Amen.

[157] But also, you're called to live the truth, model it for others, and when you have the opportunity to preach at least by your example.

[158] Well, said Bishop Strickland, last week you gave a for CPAC at the Ronald Reagan dinner in the National's Capitol.

[159] And last week, you explained why you went there to preach the gospel.

[160] And that's exactly what you did.

[161] I know, I call it a historic time where a bishop, and two things you did that impressed me, not just because I know you.

[162] First of all, you were dressed like a bishop, okay?

[163] And it reminded me of what Fulton Sheen used to do when he would be on secular TV.

[164] and you knew this is what you're going to get.

[165] You're going to get the Catholic Church's position.

[166] You spoke from the heart and the mind that it was immersed in prayer.

[167] It was obviously you prayed before you gave that presentation.

[168] I've got it on our website at vmpr .org because I want people to watch it.

[169] It's on everybody's website.

[170] It's going viral.

[171] But you know what, Bishop Strickland, take this in the right way.

[172] Hey, you just preached the gospel, your duty.

[173] You did nothing more than tell the people the gospel of life, and it wasn't from a Bishop Strickland position.

[174] It was, here's what the Catholic Church teaches, and here's why, and this is something that you need to hear, and it's the way this country is going to be renewed through the kingship of Christ, and that's in the end of the story.

[175] So my question to you is, number one, what kind of response did you get at that event from the people?

[176] I know Deal Hudson, from when he, 40 years ago, I knew Deal when he was a convert from the Baptist.

[177] I know that, man. He's on fire for the Lord.

[178] What did the folks say after that presentation to you?

[179] I just want to get a response from that first.

[180] A lot of very positive response.

[181] There was applause.

[182] And afterwards, you know, people come up to you.

[183] Yeah.

[184] Even the next day, which has always been sort of a proof in the pudding to me. If someone would tell me later in the week, not just leaving Mass on Sunday, as somebody said, Father, I really appreciated that homily.

[185] I knew that they really meant it.

[186] It's sort of kind of a polite, automatic thing.

[187] Oh, great homily, Father.

[188] I don't know what you said.

[189] Yeah, tell me what I said.

[190] So the same thing with this, the next day, people were coming up and thanking me and encouraging me. And I appreciate that.

[191] Like you said here, you remind me of the gospel passage.

[192] I looked it up just recently, but I think it's in Luke's gospel.

[193] I forget which version, but the gospel passage that where Christ says, basically if you've just done your duty.

[194] Oh, yeah.

[195] Just say, no more.

[196] We're just, you know, useless servant.

[197] We've only done our duty.

[198] I just did my duty.

[199] I appreciate because really, Terry, even that, day of the Friday that I was there knowing all day long and going to different conferences and doing interviews to people during CPAC that Friday, the news was developing.

[200] Yeah.

[201] I had heard about Alabama's statement.

[202] We talked about it on our air.

[203] And I was very pleased.

[204] Yeah.

[205] But then I heard as the day was going, I heard that Canada.

[206] Trump had come out and said, oh, we need to support IVF.

[207] Oh, yeah.

[208] He's wrong on that.

[209] All the kids and wonderful.

[210] Right.

[211] And I said, well, here we go.

[212] I've got to address this.

[213] Of course you do.

[214] Or for President Trump's sake.

[215] Absolutely.

[216] Or all those who support him.

[217] I mean, I would, you know, sadly, President Biden is not for, I mean, knowing him, frankly, he might be supporting IVF, but at the same time, he's adamantly promoted abortion like we've talked about.

[218] But what I encourage people to do is let a politician that they know and want to support, help them to know what's the person.

[219] When we come back, I'm going to ask the good bishop if it would have been on the Democratic side, would he go?

[220] Stay with us.

[221] We'll be back in a moment.

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

[223] Welcome back indeed.

[224] Bishop Strickland, I gave the folks a teaser.

[225] I know your answer, but I'm going to ask it anyway.

[226] If the Democratic Party invited you to give a speech like they did at CPAC, what would your answer be?

[227] And why?

[228] Absolutely.

[229] But Terry, I'm not going to hold my breath for that invitation.

[230] No. But here's the point.

[231] You said last week that the reason you went is to be able to have an opportunity to preach the gospel to people.

[232] When they give you opportunities to do that, unless you're scheduled, you can't buy locate.

[233] You're going to say yes, right?

[234] Absolutely.

[235] I'm Catholic.

[236] Yeah.

[237] I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ.

[238] I believe deeply in him.

[239] he is the truth incarnate um so whatever political group whatever there's nobody if they genuinely wanted to hear about the truth yes that jesus christ embodies right that he's revealed to us yeah from the father and the spirit um i'm glad to share it uh i'm glad that i was invited i was a bit hesitant at first but i i knew i was supposed to be there as things unfolded.

[240] And I did my best to speak the truth.

[241] They're controversial, not well understood, very scientifically intricate issues.

[242] But really, as usual, the truth that God has revealed to us isn't, I mean, it's wondrous.

[243] It's beyond our full understanding.

[244] But it really is easy to understand that life is sacred from conception to natural death and to interfere with the sanctity of life.

[245] We're interfering with the author of life with God himself, with his plan for us and for other individuals that he says, yes, should come into existence.

[246] And to be scientifically manipulating that.

[247] And it really, we could spend the whole hour talking about just the various ways that science has gone off the track.

[248] And using the abilities that we have to do things that are immoral, that are wrong, that are contrary to God's plan, and that ultimately don't bring fulfillment and flourishing.

[249] They bring brokenness and harm and further division among the people of God.

[250] Well, said, and I just want to mention that as a layman watching that video, and I just did a show with Father Charles Murr today early in the morning, and he said he watched that twice because it was so impressive to hear, to see a bishop today speak so simply about the moral teachings of the church and to call people to that truth and to renew our country through our faith in God.

[251] And that it just was, it reminded him of what Fulton Sheen was in the 1950s when he was on secular television proclaiming the gospel and people were responding in a very positive way.

[252] So not to compare you to Archbishop Sheen, but in a sense, we need our bishops to act like bishops and not run away because, oh, no, someone might not like it.

[253] I'm going to offend somebody.

[254] I just want to say thank you because that was obviously the last thing on your mind was that you were going to offend somebody with the gospel.

[255] You proclaimed it very beautifully, and I think that anybody who's watching it, and it's hundreds of thousands of people are going to watch this video, They're going to say, wow, that's what Catholicism really teaches.

[256] And I really thank you for that because many people, I think, will get the message when they hear.

[257] I just think that grace builds on nature, as St. Thomas says.

[258] And when people hear the gospel truths, it resonates with them.

[259] And they're like, wow, this is true, what I've been doing.

[260] And the reason I bring this up, my good friend Jesse Romero for 25 years, has been my partner on the radio.

[261] Apostolic work.

[262] And I'll never forget when he told me that he heard a Scott Hahn presentation on contraception that changed his position.

[263] He was just coming back to the faith when I met him, a little before that when I met him.

[264] And he was so convinced when he heard the teachings of the church on contraception that he and his wife threw their contraceptive down the toilet and flushed it down the toilet and said never again.

[265] But their question was, why didn't the priest who married us tell us that we should be using contraception?

[266] Why did he do that?

[267] They were very young.

[268] And, you know, again, this is what happens when they're misled without the truth.

[269] And I would assume that many times priests don't want to give you the message because you're going to be upset when you give them the gospel and they're not going to like you.

[270] But that's the key, I think, in proclaiming the teachings of the church, it's not about Bishop Strickland.

[271] It's about Jesus Christ.

[272] Am I on to something?

[273] Absolutely.

[274] And really with the whole issue of in vitro fertilization, I want to emphasize that every child conceived, however that happens, is a precious treasure.

[275] Is a precious treasure.

[276] And what comes to mind for me is sometimes people say, oh, well, abortion, no, I'm against abortion, except in cases of rape.

[277] And certainly, rape is a horrible crime.

[278] It's a tragedy.

[279] But if we focus on a child being conceived, then there's a treasure there from a very devastating crime that, really does have to be addressed in justice for the woman who is, who experiences them.

[280] I think there's something analogous to think about.

[281] If we focus on the child, the child is always a treasure.

[282] Yes.

[283] And some people might say, oh, Bishop Strickland.

[284] We knew, you know, he's really not pro -life all the time.

[285] He's saying, you know, these children conceived through in vitro fertilization, that's bad or they're wrong or they're not good.

[286] Absolutely not.

[287] The children are a precious treasure.

[288] But the problem is that, and the reason the church teaches what she teaches, is because God has revealed to us of sacred these lives are.

[289] And when the, I mean, frozen embryos, what is that?

[290] Yeah.

[291] These, thankfully, the Alabama courts at this.

[292] These are human beings.

[293] Amen.

[294] These are frozen embryos that when implanted in a woman's womb, God's plan is that they become a full term child that is born into the world.

[295] And the problem with in vitro fertilization is that part of the process is the selection of some to be disposed of, to be killed, so that a few can the most robust or the one selected can be preserved.

[296] That's the problem.

[297] And beyond the question of the artificial aspect of it, that it's outside what should be the only way the children come into the world for the loving embrace of a man and woman in marriage for life, open to children.

[298] That's right.

[299] All of that that the church teaches.

[300] But I think it is important with the, hopefully the conversation about what is the truth about in vitro fertilization.

[301] Hopefully that will come about more and people will understand more fully.

[302] Because I can imagine many would be right there with many politicians.

[303] And I've heard others say, oh, yeah, in vitro fertilization, that's great.

[304] We need to support it.

[305] but we need to understand more deeply what we're talking about.

[306] And when we believe that every child is sacred, then we've got to pay attention to these technologies that don't treat every child is sacred and make us God in choosing, okay, this one's disposed of, this one gets to live.

[307] Certainly, in the natural process, when it is a child conceived in the loving and break, of a man and woman, you know, the heartbreak of spontaneous miscarriages, that's a reality that many couples have to deal with.

[308] And we need to be very compassionate to those couples.

[309] But that's part of the natural process.

[310] And that's what we have to return to is allowing nature to guide us rather than we thinking with our wonderful technologies, we can supersede nature.

[311] nature, it gets us in trouble.

[312] Yep.

[313] Well, Seth, I just want to say that what you just said, there's over a million eggs, babies that are frozen right now because of infertilization.

[314] And we are playing God.

[315] And I don't think this is my take.

[316] I think we've offended divine providence by acting and saying we're God.

[317] I just want to give one quick story, if I can, in the next two minutes.

[318] You said people have had miscarriages.

[319] Well, we've had two of them.

[320] And I'll never forget the one baby that we delivered.

[321] And the children that I had were probably about eight or ten years old.

[322] And they saw their little brother with fingers and a head and hands and feet.

[323] And my son, Joseph Fulton, decided, Daddy, let's build a coffin for the baby.

[324] And we took a cigar bar.

[325] And we took a cigar bar.

[326] This is a very personal thing It was devastating, but what we did is we did a burial for their brother in our yard and we called a priest over after we buried the baby and we had mass offered for our baby and we had him bless the grave site.

[327] But you know what?

[328] All my kids are hardcore pro -life children.

[329] Today they're adults and they will not put up with anybody saying that abortion should be legal.

[330] But I think in God's providence, he permitted that to happen, but the kids saw what a baby is in that 12 -week stage.

[331] And they'll even bring it up to them.

[332] Oh, they'll never forget that.

[333] We still have the grave site.

[334] When you come to my house, I'll show you where the grace.

[335] I like to see it.

[336] I like to pray there.

[337] Yeah, thank you.

[338] But you see, this is what's powerful about passing on the faith.

[339] The kids need to hear that it's life from conception to natural death, and that's what you're doing.

[340] When we come back, we'll talk more about our Catholic faith here on the Bishop Strickland Hour, here on Virgin Most Power.

[341] I hope this has inspired you in your life.

[342] Now back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[343] Welcome back, indeed.

[344] Bishop Strickland, you've been tweeting this week.

[345] And one of your tweets you came out and said, where are you?

[346] my brother bishops, I urge you your bishops to join his voice to the faithful Catholics who have signed this document.

[347] Do we believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ or not?

[348] Now, this is the document that says the fiducial supplicant, I think it was December 18th of last year, that document that promotes the blessing of same -sex couples that should be rescinded and just said, you know, we made a mistake and get rid of it.

[349] And it seems to me, Bishop Strickland, that more and more bishops are doing just what you said.

[350] But yes, we would like to see more.

[351] But I see, and this is, I want to ask your question, your comment.

[352] I see the African bishops as the real models for the church.

[353] And I call it a resistance that they're doing in a sense of saying, no, we can't, we cannot approve sin.

[354] And so they went to the Holy Father and said, we can't do this.

[355] And it seems to me, is that what you're asking, what the African bishops have asked?

[356] Say, we just can't do this.

[357] Absolutely.

[358] And the letter that you're referring to, many people have signed it basically saying, please rescind this.

[359] It's not according to the tradition of our faith.

[360] It's not according to the truth.

[361] And it's, it really brings harm instead of blessing.

[362] You can bless all you want.

[363] But if you're blessing sin, and that's what it comes down to, then.

[364] that's going to like we were talking about before it's taking one step further i mean it's one thing for the priest and the homilies not to mention sin but this is going even further with basically ignoring it and saying well we'll ignore your sin and just come have a blessing and we'll bless you as a couple and really not worry about how you're living your life and that's simply not what Christ called us to.

[365] So I really hope that more and more bishops will come out, respectfully.

[366] Yeah.

[367] I think we need some in our society today and in the church, we need to really rethink what real respect is.

[368] If respect is wanting the best of the other person and honoring that person, Right.

[369] The only way we can do that is to honor them in the truth.

[370] That's right.

[371] It's not respectful, ultimately, to allow politicians or church leaders or business people, anyone, to ignore the truth and establish policies contrary to the truth and say, well, oh, I respect them, so I'm not going to say anything.

[372] That's not respect.

[373] That's not respect according to what Christ calls us to.

[374] We need to encourage each other to live the truth.

[375] And so real respect is a willingness to say, brother, sister, this is wrong.

[376] You need to get back to the truth that God is revealed to us.

[377] And if more have that kind of strength, not to attack and not to be violent against anyone, either verbally or otherwise, but to simply represent the truth.

[378] and continue to challenge people to open their hearts and be changed as needed.

[379] I need to change in order to be fully in compliance with the truth.

[380] I'm a sinner.

[381] I need to constantly seek reform.

[382] That's what the Lenton season is about.

[383] But real respect for each other is to say, this isn't the truth.

[384] And respectfully, I must call you.

[385] back to the truth.

[386] Well, that's been the position of the church for this day one, that we can never compromise the truth.

[387] And that's the beauty of what we call the perennial teachings of the church, that the church has always taught us.

[388] And then that reassures the laypeople like me that, hey, I know I've got the catechism of the Catholic Church.

[389] I've got scripture.

[390] I see how they interwoven.

[391] And we know where the faith is, and we can live that faith because we have a very clear understanding.

[392] I know I quote this a lot to you, but it's a brother bishop, Bishop Robert Barron.

[393] He said this.

[394] He said, it's a sign of a corrupt church that stops thinking deeply about the truths of Christianity.

[395] A church that is against being precise about its teaching is a corrupt church.

[396] Now, I apply that today, that when we don't have clear teachings coming out of the Vatican, I'm sorry, Bishop.

[397] That, to me, is a sign that Bishop Barron's right.

[398] It's a corrupt church when we can't clearly articulate what the church is always taught, and then we put in ambiguity.

[399] To me, that's a big problem.

[400] Your thoughts, I mean, I know that's pretty much why you're not the Bishop of Tyler, because you would be clear on that.

[401] And that's just my take.

[402] Well, I think you're right, Terry, and we have to be.

[403] We have to continue to clear, proclaim the truth and and help people understand that it is I mean people often will say oh well God is love absolutely yeah that's what God has revealed to us yeah especially in the gospel of John God is love love is God amen probably really Terry in those terms the problem we have in our especially, is that people really have no idea what love is.

[404] They're so, I mean, in English, one of our handicaps is there's only one word.

[405] That's it.

[406] The love that is God is used, the same word is used for, you know, I love chocolate.

[407] I love, you know, the, the, the New York cat's, whoever.

[408] I love whoever, you know.

[409] Yeah.

[410] And that we need to, even though our language doesn't make distinctions, we still have brains and we need to make the distinctions.

[411] That's right.

[412] Their languages do.

[413] There are different kinds of love.

[414] That's right.

[415] And the real love that is God is desiring the good of the other.

[416] That's, I think, the best definition that I know of.

[417] That's St. Thomas, yeah.

[418] When we really deserve.

[419] that.

[420] If you really think about what that's saying, what that means, what is good for the other, ultimately to share God's life the way God has created us to.

[421] So anything that promotes that is love.

[422] Anything that is contradicting that or hinders us in our ultimate fulfillment, ultimate embrace of the good, then it's not love.

[423] And there are many things in today's world that masquerade is love, but they're not love at all.

[424] Well, said, when we just have a few minutes in this show, but the next Wednesday show, I want to ask you to explain, if you can, a letter to the American church that you wrote.

[425] And I don't know when it's coming out, but it should be out by the time I imagine when this show is on.

[426] And I'd like you to tell us exactly what that letter is and why you wrote it.

[427] And that's going to be on Wednesday's show.

[428] That's a TV.

[429] easier.

[430] But Bishop Strickland, to finish this hour out, you have been endorsing a, you said it's critically important at an article by Cardinal Mueller that he wrote, I think it's in first things.

[431] And I printed it out.

[432] It's here.

[433] And what exactly was that letter for?

[434] Why were you endorsing Cardinal Mueller's letter?

[435] Well, he was basically saying the same thing that this other letter we talked about earlier, just saying that this document, fiducius supplicans, is the departure from the truth, from the tradition of our faith.

[436] Okay.

[437] It needs to be corrected.

[438] And, I mean, Cardinal Mueller went so far as to at least ask the question, is this heresy?

[439] Yeah.

[440] I mean, that's a pretty strong statement from a question.

[441] cardinal.

[442] But I'm glad that he at least raised the question so it can be properly discussed among those who need to discuss that question.

[443] But whether or not it's right or wrong to me is for the people in the pews, for all of us in the church, we need to just acknowledge, okay, technically is it heretical, you know, I'll let theologians sort all that out.

[444] But it's contrary to the teachings of the church.

[445] It doesn't need to be put into practice, and that is what needs to be clear.

[446] So I appreciated Cardinal Mueller's letter.

[447] I wanted to pray also for the Holy Father.

[448] Today I got news that he's been suffering from influenza, and he made a trip to the Roman hospital for a medical checkup.

[449] As you know, his health has been fragile.

[450] He's 87 years old.

[451] And my prayer is this, that we pray for the Holy Father to confirm us in our faith as he is at his you know end of his own pontificate in the sense of he's 87 years old health being fragile that we want to pray for the vigor of Christ who is Pope Francis that again that he will confirm us in the apostolic faith because that's my understanding of what a bishop or what a bishop of Rome does is he hands on the faith to the next generation, and that's what his successors have done.

[452] So could you lead us in a prayer for the Holy Father?

[453] Sure.

[454] In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, amen.

[455] Almighty God, we pray in a special way for Pope Francis, the vicar of your son in the world today, as he is our Holy Father, the worldly leader of the church and the light your son brings.

[456] we pray for his healing and strength, and we pray for his heart to be drawn closer to the sacred heart of your son.

[457] We know that your truth is the truth that sets us free and gives us strength.

[458] We pray that the truth that you are strengthens Pope Francis in this time of illness and helps all of us to pray for him and to support him and drawing closer and closer to the truth your son lived died and rose to share with all the world with all humanity and we ask this blessing in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen wow that is beautiful we pray for all vigors of christ man what a role they play bishop strickling could you give us a little tip on your youtube channel i like to do that every show what what exactly are you doing with your youtube channel well just um six or six or seven -minute videos.

[459] I'm actually later this week going to record some more just on various topics, on issues that we're talking about.

[460] I'll probably have something to just acknowledge the talk at CPAC and the reasons that I thought it was important that I delivered the message that I did.

[461] So things like that, topical and about the liturgical life of our faith.

[462] different things, Lenton season, whatever's going on.

[463] Awesome.

[464] Could you give our listeners a little blessing also, please?

[465] Mighty God, we ask your blessing for all of us participating with Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

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

[467] Amen.

[468] Thank you, Bishop Strickland.

[469] And thank you all your supporters here.

[470] Let's support Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[471] May God richly bless you.

[472] We'll see you again tomorrow.

[473] Same time, same station.

[474] God love you.

[475] We're going to listen.