16 May 23 – Don’t Be a Pushover, Stand Up for Truth!

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name is Terry Barber, and I'm honored to spend this hour talking about the Lord Jesus Christ and his bride the church.

[2] Bishop Strickland, thanks again for taking the hour out of your schedule to be with us.

[3] Thank you, Terry.

[4] Bishop Strickland, I've got so many things that you tweeted, plus things that are going on in Texas and other parts of the world, North Dakota, and all are good things that are happening.

[5] And it seems like there's a good pushback to this woke culture that we're going.

[6] we have.

[7] And one of them is regarding Texas is planning to put chaplains in public schools in its latest move to inject Christianity.

[8] Your governor and your lieutenant governor, they're saying that this is just why we're doing it's because we know that Christianity is good for the mental health, even of our students, that if they are living a biblical world view, they will have less problems in our schools.

[9] And I just want to get your take on that, because some people think it's crossing over the line.

[10] Well, I totally agree, and we're blessed.

[11] And Terry, I'm glad you bring that up because we do need to support the good politicians, the good legislators, the good governors, those who are on the right path and doing their best.

[12] I'm sure they get discouraged just like all of us do.

[13] So we need to promote that good.

[14] And Governor Abbott, I mean, nobody's perfect, but he's working at.

[15] it and he's he really is working for some good things in Texas and you know certainly we're going to have different opinions different ideas but we've gone into a zone where just false messages are being proclaimed and things contradictory to just basic truth and we need to support any legislators anyone any church leaders any business leaders that are are really rooted in the truth that God is revealed to us.

[16] And that's what I think you say that Christianity is good for mental health.

[17] Faith, I mean, without faith, we fall apart.

[18] We really do.

[19] And sadly, we've seen that.

[20] With all these agendas that keep getting pushed by Hollywood and by politicians that are just pushing this woke agenda, where does it lead people?

[21] It leads people into darkness, into sadness, into depression.

[22] Too often to suicide leads them to think, well, drugs are the answer or some other human thing is the answer.

[23] The answer is knowing who we are and knowing we come from God.

[24] So I applaud the efforts.

[25] And I'm sure people say, oh, they're craminging religion down our throats.

[26] But it doesn't, just because there's a chaplain in the school doesn't mean that at all.

[27] It means let's support those who have faith and support those who don't, but be an awareness that we are spiritual beings, whether we like it or not.

[28] We're not just, you know, automaton's.

[29] So we need to support that.

[30] And I'm glad there are a lot of good things happening in Texas, a lot of challenges, a lot of struggles, but we have some good leadership, and we need to.

[31] to support good leadership wherever it is.

[32] Well said.

[33] In Texas, I'm telling you, here's another story that I'm coming from California.

[34] I'm like, wow, this is like a different country.

[35] I mean, in the sense of what's going on.

[36] San Antonio, I think it's the fourth largest city in America, number of people, voters overwhelmingly reject radical pro -abortion, pro -marijuana referendum.

[37] And they're saying that we hope that this defeat sends a strong message to those activists seeking to circumvent statewide laws that protect the unborn babies from abortion.

[38] So I say, here, here.

[39] Thank you very much, San Antonio, Texas.

[40] Well, I'm glad to hear that.

[41] People need to speak up.

[42] I think people who are believers and reject these things, that we've been too complacent.

[43] We need to be vigorous in rejecting anything that is not true and anything that is detrimental to human society.

[44] And we just need to stand up and say no. And the silent majority has been silent for too long and they need to speak up.

[45] I'm glad they did that in San Antonio.

[46] I hope those kind of efforts continue to be rejected across the nation and certainly in Texas.

[47] Well, it's spreading because North Dakota bans the transgender males from girls' bathrooms, the governor of North Dakota, Doug Bergum, has made it clear that we're not going to buy into this.

[48] You're biologically either a male or a female, and it doesn't change during your lifetime.

[49] So I thought, wow, these guys have PhDs in common sense.

[50] And common sense ain't that common.

[51] So thank you, the governor of North Dakota.

[52] Bishop Strickland, just a quick comment.

[53] It seems that we Christians are starting to push back on the woke culture.

[54] Anybody who's just trying to stop Christianity in general and even the government had targeted Catholic hospitals regarding the sanctuary candle.

[55] That's the candle that lights to show the significance of the Blessed Sacrament for those who aren't Catholic listening.

[56] And the Catholics pushed back to the government and said, no, we're not going to take our candles out.

[57] We've had them in for years.

[58] We're just going to continue doing what we do, and then for some strange reason, it says in the article, they decided, well, okay, we'll let you go.

[59] So what does that tell me?

[60] I mean, we got to, let me just throw this in.

[61] We got, you know, Catholic sidewalk counselors in Philadelphia and Tennessee that have been illegally arrested by the FBI for their witness in front of child extermination clinics.

[62] We call them abortion clinics, and their conviction is important, you know, now.

[63] The point I'm trying to convey is we have persecution but we need to step up and say no we're not going to acquiesce to your demands that compromise our faith and wouldn't you agree bishop strickland that we need more christians and catholics to speak up for their faith absolutely um in it it reminds me of a great talk i just heard right here in tyler by a peter greer he runs hope international good Peter Greer, he wrote a book called Mission Drift.

[64] I haven't read the book, but he described it and very significant because I think that's what we're dealing with in this great nation and in the church.

[65] We're dealing with mission drift in too many places where people have forgotten what is the basic mission of this nation?

[66] What is the basic mission of the Catholic Church?

[67] what's the basic mission of Christianity?

[68] It was very interesting, and I think it applies to everything we're talking about.

[69] And it reminds us to be on guard, to be joyful and to be clear and to be hold on to the truth and to not get all hot and bothered about it, but just to be clear.

[70] No, we're not going to take our sanctuary candles out because somebody says to.

[71] And it, I mean, that's a pretty simple thing, but in the small compromises, if people had just rolled over and said, oh, well, the government said, we've got to take them out.

[72] And then what's the next thing?

[73] And then you talk about, you know, the other end of the spectrum where it gets very serious.

[74] Yes.

[75] Where lives are being taken, lives are being destroyed, and people are protesting that.

[76] Too often, they go to jail or they get fined or they get, you know, harassed for speaking up for the sanctity of life.

[77] We've got to stop compromising.

[78] We've got to stop the mission drift.

[79] Yeah.

[80] Because one step in the wrong direction becomes the next step.

[81] And before you know it, you've forgotten what you're about.

[82] I was amazed.

[83] I'd never read this before.

[84] but the mission statement of Harvard, its original mission statement, it's ridiculous how far they've bricked it.

[85] It's been a tidal wave moving away from, because the Harvard mission statement mentions Jesus Christ.

[86] And they're so far from anything having to do with Jesus Christ.

[87] It's tragic.

[88] And it's just a good illustration of where we can all, up individually or as churches or as any organization with a mission based on the truth that Jesus Christ has revealed to us, when we compromise, we think, oh, this little compromise won't matter.

[89] And then, well, one more, it won't matter.

[90] Before you know it, you'll wake up and you're very far from that original mission.

[91] So we've all, and what this speaker, Peter Greer talked about is you've got to be on guard.

[92] Yeah.

[93] I was talking about a great organization here in Tyler that promotes the caring medical care for the working uninsured.

[94] And that's a huge population in every community.

[95] And so it was a great reminder across the board.

[96] We've got to be joyful and strong in holding fast to what the truth that Christ has shared with us.

[97] And it doesn't, as I know we're going to get into one of the Cardinal Saragic.

[98] That's right after the break, yep, tweets.

[99] Yep.

[100] But as he says, you know, nothing should cause us to let go of the truth that Christ has revealed to us.

[101] And we have to be strong.

[102] We have to be clear.

[103] And we have to simply say no to anything that contradicts the deposit of faith that we've inherited.

[104] well said in talking about cardinal sirrah when we come back from the break we're going to get a quote from him regarding our mission statement talking about mission statements he just gave it and i want to tease you to say after the break to listen to this because it is powerful i also want to mention that if you want to get more of bishop strickland's programs go to vmpr .org and you can download all the shows matter of fact you can download all the shows from other Jesus 9 -1 -1 show, the Terry and Jesse show.

[105] We've got four or five other good shows that will help you in your faith.

[106] So when we come back, we're going to talk about Cardinal Robert Sirrah's quote that really gives us, again, the mission statement to teach, govern, and sanctify to get out and get the message out about Jesus Christ and try to reach out to them about appealing to their conversion.

[107] Stay with us, family.

[108] and now back to the Bishop Strickland Hour Welcome back I decided to look up what Bishop Strickland was talking about Harvard and I found out their motto is this Truth for Christ and the Church and here's an interesting part about Harvard in the early days half of the graduates became ministers are you kidding me so it's kind of like the story of USC they were a Christian school at one time too so they've really gone off the deep end from what their original part of what their school is all about.

[109] Bishop Strickland, you, again, it's almost every week you take Cardinal Saraz quotes and use them in tweets, and I think it's awesome.

[110] Here's one, I'll read it slowly because it's very profound.

[111] He said, our future is in God's hands and not in the noisy agitation of human negotiations, even if they may appear useful.

[112] even today and this is the cash value of the he says are pastoral strategies without any demands without any appeal to what conversions without a radical return to God our paths that lead nowhere gosh what a great paragraph there they are politically correct games that cannot lead us to a crucified God our true liberator Wow.

[113] Modern man is capable of all sorts of noise, all sorts of wars, boy, is he, and so many solemn false statements in an infernal chaos because, and this is the key, he has excluded God from his life and from his battles and from his Gagarchian ambitions to transform the world for his selfish benefit alone.

[114] I mean, Bishop Strickland, all they can say is, wow.

[115] Yeah, he really says it.

[116] And, I mean, you could have, you were talking about your RCI class, people wanting to convert to the Catholic faith.

[117] It'd be a great paragraph there to just have a night studying that.

[118] Because he says so much in just a few words.

[119] He reminds us, then when we exclude God, We're done.

[120] We're sunk as individuals and as a human society.

[121] And like we were talking about the good news that we were talking about just a few moments ago, we need to just keep building that momentum more and more people coming to realize that without God, we have no future.

[122] We have no life now.

[123] It's not just about everlasting.

[124] life.

[125] It's about having the life God has created us to share right here and now.

[126] There's a reason we're part of this creation, but we're called to transform it and allow ourselves to be shaped by God instead of playing God and shaping the world according to our image.

[127] Our image is not very attractive.

[128] I'll put it this way.

[129] It doesn't have a good shelf life.

[130] If it's built on the human image, I mean, even think of, I mean, literally building things.

[131] If it's built, if architecture is anthropocentric, if it's focused on humanity, most of it gets torn down very quickly.

[132] Look at the ancient, beautiful basilicas and ancient buildings.

[133] If they're built for the glory of God, they last.

[134] If they're built for the glory of man, they go out of fashion very in a generation or less.

[135] And it's just, I think that's a great image and metaphor for what we need to do.

[136] We need to remember the lasting things, the eternal things.

[137] And being in touch with the eternal things puts us in touch with what's meaningful right here and now in the day to day.

[138] well said i couldn't agree more uh you know i've been talking about different states and governments who are doing good things i can't forget you tweeted this about the montana governor gregg jan for he signed not one not two not three not four five pro -life bills to protect babies from abortion i i think fantastic so you just send these out as tweets to give people hope because when i read these i get hope from that well it's like we're saying i try to put into practice what I'm talking about is we need to, you know, yeah, there's plenty of bad news.

[139] There are plenty evil going on, but we need to highlight the good and we need to celebrate that goodness and the good work being done by whomever, governors or whoever it is that's saying the truth in trying to transform our world in the light of Christ, in the light of truth.

[140] They don't even have to be Christians.

[141] I mean, we know Christ is truth incarnate.

[142] Many people don't know him, but they can still know the truth and be guided by it.

[143] So we need to applaud truth wherever it is.

[144] And the saints have said that, and you just quoted one saint.

[145] I didn't know much about this saint, St. Vincent Lorenz.

[146] You quoted him saying, A true Catholic is he who loves the truth revealed by God.

[147] thank you right there he's comma who loves the church the body of christ who esteems religion the catholic faith higher than any human authority talents eloquence and philosophy all this he holds in contempt and remains firm and unshakable i just think this statement is so appropriate we always are talking about truth that we need to trust and what when did this saint live i mean probably hundreds of years ago, Bishop Strickland?

[148] Yeah, I honestly don't know, but I'm sure it's not a modern saint.

[149] No, because I didn't know much about him.

[150] I'm going to look them up now.

[151] Yeah, that's great.

[152] Well, again, that inspires me the lives of the saints, and that's why there are mottoes.

[153] This was something that you tweeted, and I know this is not a politically correct thing to speak about Freemasonry, but you quoted Joshua Charles saying, Freemasonry always desires to destroy Christendom because it is based on the premise that nature needs external supernatural assistance, grace, to reach its final end, eternal life with God.

[154] That's our faith.

[155] Now, Freemasonry teaches that divinity is within accessible by the Gnostics.

[156] It is diabolical.

[157] And you made the thing and just said, yeah, amen.

[158] that all the popes from the 17th century I can give you all the quotes they have all condemned freemasonry St. Maximilian Colby was in Rome in 1917 and he saw what they were doing in the Rome at the St. Peter's Basilica and he was so inspired to start the Knights of the Immaculata as a seminarian because of what the masons did yeah so I don't you don't feel uncomfortable tweeting stuff like that because it's very controversial, Bishop Strickland.

[159] Well, the truth, it's controversial.

[160] Exactly.

[161] The truth.

[162] Amen.

[163] And I thought, I mean, what I'm no expert on Freemasonry, but in what I've read, what I understand, it really comes down to is we want to be God.

[164] Right.

[165] Humanity wants to replace God.

[166] That's the bottom line.

[167] And that's why it's so diverse.

[168] and that's why it's so anti -Catholic.

[169] It's, you know, pre -Masonry doesn't really go after other churches.

[170] No. It goes after the Catholic Church because they know that we have the truth.

[171] Not because of us, but because Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, through His Holy Spirit, has given us the truth.

[172] That's why they go after the Catholic Church, and that's why we see such a push.

[173] to take down the church in this nation and really around the world.

[174] A lot of people would love to see the Catholic Church just become part of the, you know, the dustbin of history.

[175] It's not going to happen.

[176] I hate to tell them they will not get rid of the Catholic Church.

[177] And by God's design, and I think part of what we're seeing with the break, you know, the fractures, in the church and the divisions, I think what we're seeing is God allowing the false structures, the corruptions, the institutional aspects of the church that are not pure to the message of Christ, they are collapsing and they will collapse.

[178] But the church itself, the real heart of the church, which is the mystical body of Christ, it's really not about buildings and institutions.

[179] It's about people living in relationship with the Lord of Truth, truth, truth incarnate, that is Jesus Christ.

[180] He's the heart of the church, and those who are in relationship with him, with him are part of the heart of the church.

[181] That's what Freemasonry or any of the forces in the modern world that try to eliminate the church, that's what they don't get.

[182] It's not, you know, wealth or holdings or any of those things.

[183] Certainly, we need resources in order to proclaim the gospel.

[184] But, I mean, look at what Christ is.

[185] Don't take a second tunic.

[186] Don't take anything extra.

[187] Take the message of the gospel and he'll take care of us.

[188] Maybe we're being reminded of that in the modern times in this 21st century, what the church is facing.

[189] Yeah, I think it's a purgation and a purification of the church.

[190] I couldn't agree more with you.

[191] Mr. Strickland, I love when you tweet scripture.

[192] I think any time you can quote the Bible to a flock, it's always a good thing.

[193] And you were, you know, in the acts of the apostles, we're right in that time where the daily readings are from the early church and the acts of the apostles.

[194] So basically what the early church is doing.

[195] in proclaiming the gospel.

[196] In Acts chapter 1346, you quote, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it, condemn yourselves to unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

[197] Here Paul and Barnumas remind us that we all must choose whether or not to live the truth.

[198] Free will.

[199] I mean, is that why you said, I mean, that to me challenges all of us to say, do you accept Christ, you know, his teaching or reject it?

[200] Because God's going to let you do either one.

[201] Yeah.

[202] And I really like that quote and the reason I tweeted it because it, to me, it ties in with what Cardinal Serra talked about that.

[203] It's about rejecting sin.

[204] It's about repenting of sin.

[205] It's about changing.

[206] And not, you know, just sort of say, oh, yeah, I'll embrace Jesus, but I'm not going to change.

[207] That's not what the message is.

[208] That's what Paul and Barnabas are saying, you know, everyone has the free choice.

[209] But if you choose not to embrace the challenging but life -giving truth of Christ, you can make that choice, but don't pretend you're Christian and not make the choice to change.

[210] I mean, and that's what we're hearing way too often.

[211] Even in the Catholic Church, people say, oh, well, you don't need to turn from your sinful lifestyle.

[212] We'll just decide it's not really sinful.

[213] We'll just twist the scriptures or say, oh, we've been wrong for all these centuries.

[214] That's simply not the truth.

[215] And it's about being changed daily.

[216] I mean, both of us need to be changed more and more in the image of Jesus Christ.

[217] Amen.

[218] Humbly acknowledge the ways that our failings distort that image.

[219] Well said, I want to take more time on the catechism.

[220] When we come back, we're going to break out our old catechism, the Way of Christ.

[221] It's a student's book edition.

[222] Stay with us, family.

[223] It's important to go back to the fundamentals.

[224] Stay with us.

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

[226] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[227] Before we get into the catechism, since this show will be broadcast just a day or two after Mother's Day, I know Bishop Strickland, we honor our mother.

[228] And I wanted to give you an opportunity just to, you know, to say a few words to our mothers who are listening.

[229] And, you know, you know that raising a family requires courage, noblest, and perseverance.

[230] And, you know, mothers are really key people in the family.

[231] And I always, whenever I see a little baby with a mom, I always say, mom, thank you for what you do.

[232] You're changing the world one diaper at a time.

[233] And I mean that because their love for their children.

[234] moms make sacrifices that are so beautiful, and I just wanted to ask Bishop Strickland, what would you want to tell the mothers for the Mother's Day holiday coming up?

[235] Well, the primary thing I would say, Terry, is thank you.

[236] Yeah, really.

[237] Thank you for embracing that vocation, however you came to it.

[238] Yeah.

[239] We hope and pray that many mothers are in a happy marriage.

[240] Yeah.

[241] with the father of their children, but many aren't.

[242] We need to remember that that's the model.

[243] That is the way that God planned it.

[244] We support every mother, and certainly mothers that face circumstances where it's not easy to support their children, we need to applaud them as well.

[245] Mothers are irreplaceable, and we need to remember that.

[246] Fathers are irreplaceable, but as we sell.

[247] Celebrate Mother's Day, no one can replace a mother, no matter what technology, no matter what things they want to do, how they want to try to reshape humanity.

[248] Yeah.

[249] We all have a mother and we need a mother as well as we need a father, as God planned it.

[250] And so I applaud the women that are called mothers.

[251] I mean, you know, the sad thing is with all the controversies and this crazy world, that we're in.

[252] I just read something, oh, they're birthing persons and not, not to call them mothers.

[253] It's like, and, you know, it goes back to, you know, the vigil candles in an even more serious than that, but we need to just say no. Exactly.

[254] Celebrate mothers even more and say and push back on any idea that mothers should be less than honored and celebrated and supported.

[255] for the godly vocation that they've been given.

[256] And mothers need to, young women need to recognize that when they become a mother, they take on a role that only comes from God.

[257] And that needs to be supported and encouraged.

[258] And young women that aren't mothers yet need to be encouraged to really recognize what a joyful and important call from God that is to.

[259] nurture the life of a child in their womb and then give birth to that child and nurture that child until they're an adult and can, with a new generation, continue the human story.

[260] Wow.

[261] Very good.

[262] All right.

[263] Let's open our catechism to chapter six.

[264] We're at question number seven.

[265] This is the paschal mystery.

[266] We're talking about the life and death of Christ and now the resurrection.

[267] So here's the question.

[268] How do we know Jesus rose from the dead?

[269] Question seven.

[270] And the quick answer is, we know the resurrection was not a story made up by the apostles because they had nothing to gain.

[271] Further, they never recanted the idea even while being persecuted and killed.

[272] Jesus' resurrection is essential for Christian faith.

[273] And his resurrection, Jesus' soul, was reunited.

[274] with his body and transformed by the state of death a decayed to a state of a glorious immortality.

[275] Bishop Strickland doesn't Strictland, doesn't St. Paul said if Christ didn't resurrect from the dead and our faith is useless?

[276] Yep, our faith is in vain.

[277] Yeah, in vain.

[278] Truly rise.

[279] And a lot of people have rejected, you know, through the edges.

[280] Sure.

[281] I mean, when Christ rose in the year 33, at least according to our calendar.

[282] Most of the world didn't accept that truth, but the truth was that he rose from the dead.

[283] And that's what started Christianity.

[284] Yeah.

[285] And that's right.

[286] You referred to the acts of the apostles.

[287] This is a perfect section of the catechism to be looking at because we're going through this Easter season.

[288] Where we celebrate these foundational truths of what it means to be a Christian.

[289] Why are you baptized to share in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ?

[290] And, you know, so the resurrection really is that moment when when Christianity begins.

[291] And I love to think about if you look, if you really thing about Christianity, the disciples looked back to say, well, this is what he said, and this is how he was born, and this is who he was connected to, the people of Israel.

[292] It all expands from believing in the resurrection.

[293] And, you know, so we've got to help people understand that.

[294] And in a great way, I was thinking, as you were talking about, the acts of the apostles, I would encourage anyone listening, if you've never read any book of the Bible all the way through, start with the acts of the apostles.

[295] Because it really is the story of the church beginning.

[296] And it's not all perfect.

[297] It's all, they have some divisions.

[298] I'm reading.

[299] And right now in the Daily Mass. chapter 15 of Acts.

[300] They're beginning to talk about what is now called the Council of Jerusalem, where they have to sort out one of the first big questions.

[301] Is it for just the Jews or is it for everybody?

[302] And of course, guided by the Holy Spirit, the church and the Council of Jerusalem with revelation to St. Peter said it's for everybody.

[303] And we don't need to require circumcision.

[304] We can let go of some of the old Jewish practices because they've been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

[305] So reading the acts of the apostles is a great way to really understand what that paragraph talks about and the significance of the resurrection because the apostles started acting after the resurrection.

[306] Before that, they were running away, they were fearful, they were timid, They were confused.

[307] They didn't understand.

[308] Jesus, as we know in the gospel, predicted.

[309] He told, he prophesied himself.

[310] He told them, I'm going to be killed.

[311] I'm going to die.

[312] I'm going to be buried for three days, and on the third day, I shall rise.

[313] It actually happened.

[314] And the disciples, you can read the scriptures, the gospels, and the acts of the apostles.

[315] It's them to, saying, hey, he told us.

[316] It really happened.

[317] And they come to faith.

[318] And when you believe Jesus died and rose, then you say, well, he has to be the son of God.

[319] The only person in all of history.

[320] He raised a lot of people from the dead under his power.

[321] He's the only person that came back to life under their own power, under the power of his own Holy Spirit.

[322] Great distinction made.

[323] Oh, man, that's so true.

[324] Bishop Strickland, this next question really is the key thing here.

[325] How did Jesus resurrection restore us to new life?

[326] It says Jesus' resurrection shows he is God and has defeated sin and death.

[327] Jesus took on the consequences of sin and experienced death by rising from the dead.

[328] He conquered sin and its consequence death.

[329] This foreshadows our own future resurrection.

[330] Jesus allows us to participate in his victory over sin and offers us new life in him.

[331] The new life in Christ is a gift of sanctifying grace.

[332] Wow.

[333] And makes us adopted children of God.

[334] Wow, we, wow.

[335] you know what bishop stricken we only got a minute on this part and then i want to have you and be i want this is really a game breaker because without christ life death and resurrection we have no hope in our life he led the way and so i want to ask you the question that says you know that how did jesus resurrect and restore us to new life and how it's applied to us today 20 centuries later so stay with us when we come back, we're going to do that.

[336] Again, I want to remind you that all of these shows are podcast on vmpr .org.

[337] You can check those things out by downloading a free app.

[338] It doesn't cost you a dime to get any of that.

[339] Also, we have other resources, little catechisms that we're putting on for kids and for adults.

[340] Great resources there with Bishop Sheen, and so I want to recommend that.

[341] Also, Bishop Strickland, can you give us a little plug for the St. Philipsy.

[342] Institute before we have a break?

[343] Sure, the St. Philip Institute is the Institute that produced this Way of Christ that we're reading through, a simple but solid approach to the catechism.

[344] That's a great introduction or a great review for people.

[345] And there's some great resources.

[346] We're just completing the Way of Christ some video commentary that goes with this.

[347] We haven't in English already.

[348] We're finally completing it in Spanish.

[349] Awesome.

[350] I encourage people to let, you know, they may have relatives that really don't speak English much and encourage them to be watching for that at the St. Philip Institute.

[351] Just go to St .Philip Institute .org.

[352] And anybody that is interested, you can get video commentary in the English for each of these chapters as well.

[353] Wow, that's great.

[354] People like video.

[355] Yes, they do.

[356] And that's what's nice about it.

[357] And so St. Philip Institute is part of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas.

[358] So if you go to the diocese website, they'll have resources there.

[359] And I want to encourage you to pick up the way of Christ's student book that we're reading through so that when you listen to these shows, you have the book like I do in front of me, and then it can study that.

[360] And I think it's a great idea to do that.

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

[362] I think we're at 30.

[363] Let's see here.

[364] We've got about 30 seconds.

[365] Yep.

[366] So let's take the quick break.

[367] come back and talk about how did Jesus resurrection affect us 20 centuries later as a church and in the world.

[368] And showing that, you know, life is short.

[369] Eternity is forever.

[370] And Jesus Christ opened the gates for us to get to heaven from his death and resurrection.

[371] Wow.

[372] Life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

[373] Much more when we come back.

[374] Stay with us, family.

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

[376] we are back talking about catechism and we're talking about something that's critically important obviously and that is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and how that affects us 20 centuries later and how that if without that we have nothing and so i i want to just bring it up to you bishop stricken how do we communicate that to our flock today that this is a game changer that no other religion has anything close to this.

[377] I mean, we have this revealed truth about Christ dying as life, death, and resurrection and coming back and opening up the gates of heaven.

[378] That, to me, is like a game changer.

[379] Absolutely, Terry.

[380] And if you look to the early centuries of the church after the acts of the apostles, after the first century, a lot of the controversies really kind of.

[381] down to, not so much, I mean, later on there's more question about the resurrection, but like we were saying earlier, by definition, those who became Christian were those who said, I believe this.

[382] I believe this miracle that Jesus of Nazareth, who they may have heard about, that he died and rose from the dead under the power of his own Holy Spirit.

[383] that's what Christianity was.

[384] It was those who believed.

[385] And then as things developed, they start looking at, well, okay, how is his work?

[386] And who is Jesus really?

[387] Some of the early, the real earliest heresies were about Jesus.

[388] Yes.

[389] He couldn't really be God.

[390] So he's really just a good man. Or he couldn't be really a man. He was God.

[391] The truth, that the church ultimately comes to, and it wasn't easy.

[392] I mean, it literally went through centuries of battling through these questions.

[393] You see, fully God and fully man, the church says yes.

[394] And the reason I bring that up is because it's all tied to what his resurrection means.

[395] Because if he wasn't really a human being like us, with a heart and lungs and blood flowing through his veins, and everything that makes us a human being, if he wasn't really, then his death isn't real.

[396] Right.

[397] Good point.

[398] But he really was.

[399] He had a human body that died on a cross.

[400] And all the, as we would say in modern terms, his vital signs ceased and he died.

[401] Yes.

[402] But the vitality of his divine life allowed him to rise from the dead.

[403] So it's all, it's woven into who is Jesus Christ?

[404] He wasn't just, if he was just a good man, he couldn't have risen from the dead.

[405] Right.

[406] If he was just God, he didn't have a real human body.

[407] And so his, you know, sort of going through the motions of death had no effect on us.

[408] But the fact that he's fully God and fully man had a real human body, it's all tied to the resurrection and to who Jesus is and ultimately to who we are.

[409] And that's sadly what our society and even too many in the church are losing touch with who we are as redeemed human beings, incarnate beings.

[410] are in we're corporeal we're beings in a body and the body then and it's all tied together yes pope st john paul the second speaks of it beautifully in his what is often called theology of the body it's really just a proclamation of who we are as body mind and spirit beings created by god But it's all critical.

[411] What we're talking about with the resurrection is as a huge impact on the sacredness of our own bodies.

[412] And the reason the church has specific teachings about how a dead body is treated.

[413] And you don't just scatter a body to the winds if they've been cremated.

[414] You treat it as sacred remains of a human being.

[415] And it's all tied together and all this, you know, mutilation of bodies, whether it's killing children in the womb or mutilating bodies of people, even by their own choice.

[416] Yes.

[417] We've got to say no, stop this.

[418] And it's sort of at the other end of the very serious spectrum, Terry, that we were talking about already.

[419] We've got to stand up and say no, not just you're not going to blow out my sanctuary.

[420] lamp, the candle in the sanctuary, but you're not going to violate and mutilate my body or anyone else's.

[421] Amen.

[422] That's what we've got to stand up and say, and thankfully, people are beginning to do this.

[423] But to me, Terry, all of this shows when we know the truth of the faith, it gives us a path.

[424] How do we navigate this insanity?

[425] that we're witnessing.

[426] We say our bodies are sacred.

[427] Amen.

[428] You don't just chop parts off because you feel like it.

[429] You hold yourself as a sacred child of God.

[430] And certainly we help those who have some sort of confusion about who they are or what their mission and life is.

[431] But the answer isn't mutilating the body.

[432] And it goes all the way back to the Lord had a real real body that rose from the dead.

[433] His body was mutilated by others.

[434] He was almost killed before he died on the cross.

[435] Yeah.

[436] Through his scourging and through all that he went through.

[437] But he continued to cling to life as long as he could to show us how sacred our lives are.

[438] And then he rose from the to bring our ability to enter into his eternal sacred life.

[439] It's, I think we can't emphasize enough here that all the controversies of today come back to this basic catechism of who God is, who we are, what Jesus Christ did, and waking up to that truth.

[440] We have to wake up to this truth because otherwise we're lost in a confusion of feelings and a confusion of without navigate, we can't navigate this insanity without what God has revealed to us.

[441] Thankfully we have it, but we've got to speak up with joy, with love, with clarity, but we've got to speak up and not just say, oh, well, if you, if you, if you do, you know, identify yourself as something, you want to be something different tomorrow than you are today, then go ahead and mutilate, no. We've got to lovingly say no, just like going back to moms, what do moms have to do and dads?

[442] But as we celebrate Mother's Day, moms, and I think all of us, if we're on the right path, we can look at our moms and say thank you for saying no to me so often.

[443] They say yes as well, but they need to say no and teach us to say no to sin into anything that denies who we are, anything that is selfish, anything that denies the value of the other person.

[444] I mean, that's what it's about.

[445] And I guess what really strikes me as we're talking about the resurrection of the Lord, you might say that's sort of remote and just a concept.

[446] It's all woven into who we are and what our faith means.

[447] Well, in the last couple minutes that we have, we're talking about Ascension Thursday.

[448] That's the 18th of May this year.

[449] And the question is, to what does Ascension refer 40 days after the resurrection, Jesus ascended to heaven by his own power as God.

[450] He sits at the right hand of the Father perpetually offering himself and interceding on our behalf.

[451] Now, I don't know, in our diocese, it's not a Holy Dave obligation, certain ones there are, but I like, you know, we have a special mass at our chapel here for Ascension Thursday, but maybe you can talk a little bit about that.

[452] Yeah, well, it's continuing the story.

[453] And really, it's, you know, the journey of Jesus Christ's incarnation begins when he's conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

[454] Right.

[455] And it is incarnate presence in the world.

[456] with his ascension, returning to the Father, as the creed says, seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.

[457] The ascension is when that happened.

[458] A real body.

[459] It's a mystery, what his resurrected body was really like.

[460] He still could have breakfast, but he also could walk through walls and appear and disappear.

[461] A very different body, but a real body.

[462] Ghosts don't have breakfast.

[463] you know yeah but but it's his risen body right that with all those resurrection appearances his is his risen body returns to the father and i love to reflect on that when i pray the the glorious mysteries of the rosary that here we have jesus of nazareth and who had a human body and he's taken it to heaven yeah so The DNA of Jesus is in heaven with God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.

[464] The same with the Immaculate Virgin Mary.

[465] In August, we'll celebrate her assumption, pointing out that she didn't do it under her own power.

[466] Jesus ascended under his power.

[467] He's the second person of the Trinity.

[468] So it's God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[469] and the great mystery that that is, he ascends to the presence of his father.

[470] Mary is there and is crowned in heaven as the one fully human being, not divine, but she's there as well.

[471] And then, of course, the saints are welcomed, but Mary paved the way for human beings to enter into heaven.

[472] And Jesus gave her, he is the way.

[473] Mary was the first to follow the way to everlasting life.

[474] Well said, Bishop Strickland, and again, we're at the end of the hour, so if you could be so kind to give a blessing to our listeners, I would appreciate that.

[475] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for all who are listening, all participating in all those who assist Terry and his crew.

[476] Help us to rejoice in the truth that you have revealed to us and continue to speak that truth.

[477] with joy and with vigor and strength, not shying away from the truth, but proclaiming it in a world that so much needs the light of the world that is Jesus Christ.

[478] We ask this in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[479] Amen.

[480] Thank you, Bishop Frikeland.

[481] And again, folks, you can tune in to vmpr .org, download the free app.

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