13 Feb 24 – Sins of Omission

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour, and I'm delighted to have Bishop Strickland with us here, talking about nothing other than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

[1] Bishop Strickland, thanks for doing what you do.

[2] Thank you, Terry.

[3] Thank you.

[4] And, you know, just for those brand -new listeners, what we normally do as we take these tweets from Bishop Strickland, and we talk about some of the things he's commenting on for the Catholic Church today, we also have a section of the catechism that we teach right out of the catechism called the Way of Christ from the diocese of Tyler they have the St. Philip Institute which is doing great work for the church and one more thing we're adding now is the gospel of the day at the top of the hour folks we're going to have Bishop Strickland normally read the gospel I'm going to read it this one time and then every show Bishop Strickland will not only read the gospel but he'll give commentary on how we can have applied to us in our lives today.

[5] So that's our format, and we appreciate you taking the time our listeners to fall deep in love with Jesus, because that's our goal here at vmpr .org.

[6] All right, the gospel today is Mark.

[7] We've been reading a lot of Mark this cycle.

[8] It's been great.

[9] Chapter 8, verse 14 to 21, The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.

[10] Jesus enjoying them Watch out Guard against the leaven of the Pharisees And the leaven of Herod They concluded among themselves That it was because they had no bread When he became aware of this He said to them Why do you conclude That it is because you have no bread Do you not yet understand Or comprehend Are your hearts hardened?

[11] Do you have eyes and not see, ears, and not hear?

[12] And do you not remember?

[13] When I broke the five loaves for the 5 ,000, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?

[14] They answered him 12.

[15] When I broke the seven lows for the 4 ,000, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?

[16] they answered him seven and i love this last comment he said to them do you still not understand the gospel of the lord praise to you lord jesus christ oh my gosh i can't wait to hear your comments on this one well terry um i would encourage people to hear that as very consoling yeah because we don't understand either um the disciples they there they are, in the presence of the Lord.

[17] And we are in the presence of the Lord as well at every man. Amen.

[18] He's truly body and blood, soul and divinity.

[19] His word is proclaimed.

[20] And then on the altar, he is really present.

[21] So when we stumble and when we forget the bread and when we don't understand what he's saying in the gospel, we're in good company.

[22] because the original disciples didn't understand either.

[23] And I think that's very important for us to, certainly, part of what we're doing here is to try to understand more deeply, to know his truth.

[24] What does it mean for us?

[25] What is he talking about, the 11 of the Pharisees and avoiding that?

[26] Really, Terry, I think it applies very directly to our.

[27] world today and what we see going on in the church.

[28] And so beautifully, and honestly, we hadn't prepared for this.

[29] I hadn't read the gospel already because we're a few days out from when this is actually happening.

[30] But as always, the gospel speaks to our journey.

[31] It speaks to us here and now.

[32] It speaks of the church in the past and through the ages.

[33] The gospel, because, Because we shouldn't be surprised, but I have to be reminded.

[34] I think most of us have to be reminded.

[35] This is God's word, and especially the gospel, when Jesus Christ is speaking to the disciples, when he's, it refers in this gospel from Mark to those multiplications of the lobes.

[36] He's not doing anything so dramatic in this gospel passage, but he's reminded.

[37] them that he is the source of light and grace and power, and we desperately need to remember that.

[38] I think he says, to avoid the leaven of the Pharisees, what he's reminding them, and really reminding us is, like we've said many times before, his disciples, his church, his kingdom is not of this world.

[39] We're to be in the world, but not of the world.

[40] And I think that that's what I'm reminded of is Christ speaks of not looking to the leaven of the Pharisees, looking to those worldly answers.

[41] They're probably, you know, from scripture scholars, maybe something deeper than that.

[42] But there are always different levels of understanding the scriptures.

[43] and that's one thing as we begin including just a brief look at the daily gospel as we're talking each week.

[44] I think it's good to remember we can all look at the gospel and be reminded of spiritual truths and be uplifted and encounter the Lord to really approach whether we go to daily mass and hear the gospel proclaimed, absolutely then.

[45] But also, if you aren't able to go to daily mass, read the daily gospel, or some people are reading the Bible in a year.

[46] But when we read the gospel, I think we, why do we stand at mass during the liturgy?

[47] I think it's to remind us, sit up, stand up, pay attention, be alerted.

[48] that the Lord is speaking.

[49] Certainly, the first reading, or on Sunday, the first and second reading, the Psalm, all of that is the Word of God.

[50] And we certainly remember that and can be nurtured by that.

[51] But the gospel is the gospel of Jesus Christ from one of the evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, all different facets of the gospel story.

[52] Another thing that I would encourage, as we begin to do this, I like to, I pray the rosary all the time.

[53] I know you do as well.

[54] Many of our listeners pray the rosary.

[55] And we're encouraged.

[56] Why do that?

[57] Because mom told us to.

[58] Mom being the Blessed Virgin Mary.

[59] She told the children at Fatima.

[60] She told Bernadette at lords.

[61] She tells every time she appears, she says, pray the rosary.

[62] And if not, specifically, specifically the rosary, she says pray.

[63] And she's told us very clearly that the rosary is a beautiful prayer that takes us more deeply into the most beautiful prayer, the celebration of the Eucharist, the mass. That is our optimal prayer.

[64] That is the high priest of prayers is the mass. But the rosary nurtures that.

[65] And what I want to really encourage people to do, like the passage, we just heard from Mark, where does that fit into Christ's life?

[66] It's definitely, obviously, it's after that second luminous mystery of the first miracle.

[67] It's after the first miracle.

[68] Jesus himself refers to two other miracles, the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, both the 12 baskets and the seven baskets.

[69] So it's, and that just tells you, it's further along in the gospel story.

[70] This isn't a miracle story that we hear today, but it's, it really is a beautiful, intimate glimpse from what the gospel passage says.

[71] It's Jesus and the disciples.

[72] And very often, it's Jesus and his disciples.

[73] I mean, the apostles and that, that small band of disciples that traveled with him.

[74] So it's, you know, you can say it's inside baseball.

[75] It's an intimate moment.

[76] And you can hear the exasperation in our Lord's words.

[77] You still don't understand.

[78] But I think in many ways that passage is there to remind us we're literally in the same boat.

[79] The disciples are in a boat.

[80] and we are in the same boat.

[81] We don't understand.

[82] And it says to me, both, it's okay, don't get discouraged.

[83] Right.

[84] Don't abandon the faith because it says, oh, I'll never understand this.

[85] We never will completely.

[86] Right.

[87] But we're in good company to know that those who walked with him didn't understand.

[88] And a final thought that I will share is, I'm a cradle Catholic.

[89] I believe you're a cradle Catholic.

[90] We cradle Catholics, we're so accustomed to the Mass. Yes.

[91] We can easily take things for granted.

[92] And the point that I wanted to make is here we have a gospel passage where the disciples are literally in the presence of Christ.

[93] He's speaking to them.

[94] For us as Catholics, we always should be reminding ourselves.

[95] We too, in the world today, as Catholics, we are in the presence of Christ, in the presence of His Eucharistic face.

[96] And that, I think, if we remind ourselves of that, it's a great joy and a great blessing and a great responsibility.

[97] It reminds me of what we've talked about many times before.

[98] of those who have been given much, much is expected.

[99] We're expected to know the Lord because he is with us, just like he was with the time.

[100] We'll be back in a moment at the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[101] Stay with us.

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

[103] Welcome back, indeed.

[104] I love our new format for the first segment on the gospel of the day.

[105] Thank you, Bishop Strickland, for sharing that.

[106] Now I'm going to get to some of your tweets, And this is a tweet.

[107] I like it when you tweet a saint statement.

[108] And the reason I say I like it when you do the priest or a statement from a of a saint, it just really sheds light on our culture and our time in the church today.

[109] St. John Vieni, he's the patron of parish priest.

[110] You're a retired bishop, but you're also a priest.

[111] So I think John Vieni has something to say to you, even as a retired bishop, he says something to me. And you quoted this, said, if a pastor remains silent when he sees God insulted and souls going array, woe to him, if he does not want to be damned, and if there is some disorder in his parish, he must trample upon human respect and the fear of being despised or even hated.

[112] you know bishop strickland that quote reminds me of a monseigneur william smith who said priests in general don't like to be looked down on they like to be liked and it's it's amazing what john vienna is saying is why i got in trouble in my own apostolic work in the church because i didn't keep my mouth shut i always would speak up for the truth whether it was in front of a bishop.

[113] And, you know, I've told stories where I was in the, you know, I'm asking the bishop, would you say those statements if John Paul 2, the Pope was in our room?

[114] No, I wouldn't say it.

[115] Then why say it to us young people?

[116] So I got in trouble with my brother Jesse by doing what we, what John Vienny is saying is that is speaking up when you see error.

[117] And I have to say one of the reasons, now I'm not in management, I'm in sales, but one of the reasons you're retired, in my opinion, is because you didn't stay quiet.

[118] When it came to problems in the church, you spoke up for the sheep in the flock and saying, no, no, no, this is not what the Catholic church teaches.

[119] This is the perennial teaching of the church.

[120] And John Vieny, I think, has got your back covered for you speaking up, even though you're going to pay a terrible price in this life.

[121] But you know what, Bishop Strickland?

[122] Not really.

[123] I mean, they can take your, your, your ordinary, you know, the diocese away from you, but your preaching of the gospel continues in season and out.

[124] So did this statement from John Vieni really affirm you in the decision that you've made years ago to always speak the truth in charity?

[125] Absolutely, Terry.

[126] And I think as it's so often the case, it also, to me, echoes what we talked about in that gospel passage.

[127] Yes.

[128] In another way, St. John Vienni is saying what Christ said, avoid the leaven of the Pharisees, which means don't just go with the world or popular opinion.

[129] And that's exactly what St. John Viani is saying that if something's wrong, you need to speak up.

[130] Even if the popular opinion or the voice of the world says, don't see.

[131] speak up.

[132] And really, Terry, that was the reason that I was never told the reason, but that's the reason I was removed.

[133] And I'm, if that's what it takes is if speaking the truth, I'm, I'm glad to be removed because I'd rather be in the position I am than to not speak up, not speak up for the truth and not help to guide the flock.

[134] There are many people.

[135] people that are looking for truth to guide them.

[136] And we have a responsibility to speak the truth of Christ.

[137] So, you know, that's why I like that quote from St. John Viani.

[138] And I wanted to share it because I need to be reminded all of us to.

[139] It's easy to sort of start to backpedal and to say, oh, well, I'll just get quiet.

[140] And, you know, I know that there are those who wish I would get quiet, but I can't.

[141] As long as I have a responsibility to shepherd the flock in whatever way, no, I don't have a diocese any longer, but I'm still one of the successors of the apostles.

[142] And I think St. John Viani not only speaks to local pastors in parishes, but also to bishops, we have to speak the truth of Christ, no matter the consequences of the world.

[143] Thank you and thank you and thank you.

[144] I'm three times.

[145] Amen, amen, amen.

[146] And the reason I say thank you, Bishop Strickland, is because the church is desperately looking for that kind of leadership in the church.

[147] I always remember Bishop Robert Barron saying, it's a sign of a corrupt church that stops thinking deeply about the truths of Christianity.

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

[149] Now, I didn't say it, but Bishop Barron said it on the radio.

[150] I typed it up, and I said that is a very good comment because we have to hold ourselves.

[151] We should be real clear about what we teach because the church has taught these over the centuries, and ambiguity breeds dissent from what I can see.

[152] All right, you have another tweet, and it's regarding something that, well, we call it the fiducius supplican that came out December 18th.

[153] And it was very amazing that a whole continent of Africa, all these bishops rejected it.

[154] Right out of the gate, you said, I hope other people reject this because this is not consistent with the deposit of faith.

[155] and I think one of the biggest problems, and then I'll give you a tweet, I believe children are probably the biggest victims of this document.

[156] And you hear me out, and correct me if I'm wrong, right on the air.

[157] But when people see these blessings for same -sex couples, how is a young person not going to be taking that in a bad way?

[158] In other words, they're going to assume that this is legitimate lifestyle, and not think anything of it.

[159] So they're going to be malformed by what action is speaking louder than words.

[160] And so I think your tweets that I'm joining my voice with those who have signed this letter.

[161] I'll explain what the letter is.

[162] Let us pray that many others will speak up as well and make this appeal to all cardinals and bishops of the Catholic Church.

[163] This is a crisis magazine article, and many of us have signed on to this.

[164] basically asking the Holy See to reconsider taking that document of 2018 fiducius supplicans and saying, get rid of it.

[165] It's causing scandal.

[166] It's giving misunderstandings of what the church teaches on moral issues, and it would be best for Holy Mother the Church to just erase it from memory, take it away.

[167] now that's very bold of layman priests because the signatures are not just bishops but as professors people who study theology and they're saying this is not consistent so i i i'm my take on it and i know you said you're encouraging people let's pray that more people will do this but it seems that the sense of the faithful are reaching out to the hierarchy and saying hello hello this is not what the church And I think in humility, and I mean that, you're the bishop, but if I thought you were doing something incorrect on the air and said something was wrong, I'm going to say Bishop Strickland with all due respect.

[168] The catechism says this, so I don't think you're right on that point.

[169] And you've got to make a decision.

[170] You got to say, Terry, shut up.

[171] I said it, it's good enough.

[172] No. What I know you're going to say is, okay, I stand corrected.

[173] I didn't realize that until now.

[174] I'm obviously going to be with the church more than my personal opinion.

[175] That's what we're asking the hierarchy to do today is to humble himself and say, you know that document we did, a fiducius supplicant?

[176] Yeah, let's get rid of it and start from scratch because it's just caused too much confusion.

[177] And not only confusion, Bishop Strickland, I'm going to say this, and you can correct me right on the air.

[178] souls are at risk of not getting the true teaching regarding homosexuality and getting a false idea that this lifestyle of sodomy is legitimate in the Catholic Church today.

[179] Now, that's not what it says.

[180] I get that, but the action of it, you got Father Martin, the Jesuit at the New York Times blessing couples that supposedly have been married civilly for 22 years.

[181] what else can we see about this?

[182] It's basically been detrimental for the salvation of souls, and I appreciate you and other bishops and lay people say, no, no, we have to speak up.

[183] We're not going to be silent.

[184] And my question to you is, you've been a cheerleader since December 18th, encouraging people to let the bishops and the Holy See voice their concerns about this document.

[185] So thank you for doing that.

[186] Thanks, Terry.

[187] And I think that it's very important.

[188] And as you talk about leading people astray, young people, older people, whoever, I think that I've heard, well, you know, yeah, these things are wrong, but we have to stay, you know, quiet and just sort of bide our time.

[189] But while we're biding our time, souls are being lost.

[190] Exactly.

[191] People are making a decision.

[192] Maybe they've been struggling or maybe they've been just trying to decide which way they're going to go.

[193] And this is encouraging them to, like you said, to see the simple lifestyle as just as legitimate at what we know is a blessed lifestyle.

[194] And a lifestyle that brings grace and brings the life of the gospel.

[195] to see those on an equivalent footing and say, well, one's as good as the other, that does a lot of harm to people right here and now.

[196] Amen.

[197] None of us knows how long we're on the planet.

[198] I mean, sadly, in these years, in the last few years with so much confusion and people like Father James Martin pushing this idea, there are young people that in various circumstances, have died on the wrong path, maybe killed in a car accident, maybe, you know, sadly too many suicides, but we never know how long we are here.

[199] We have to seek to be faithful to the Lord today.

[200] And I believe we as pastors have to speak up today, not wait till maybe the atmosphere is a little easier or it's less politically volatile.

[201] I think now is the time to speak because now souls are in jeopardy.

[202] And if we don't speak up, countless souls will walk a path that ultimately leads to destruction.

[203] And a final thing I will add to that, Terry, it's just something in talking to people recently.

[204] Yes.

[205] If you look at what the church describes in all kinds, not just the sexual, but any sinful lifestyle that one adopts and really goes deeply into what the church has taught and continues to teach is a sinful lifestyle, they begin to experience the consequences of that sinful choice, not just in some future damnation to hell.

[206] I mean, they're at risk for that, but they start experiencing a taste of hell.

[207] right now.

[208] Look at the drug addicts who wish they had never gotten caught up in that lifestyle and so many other sinful lifestyles to tell people that sinful lifestyles are just devastating.

[209] Stay with us, family.

[210] We'll be back in a quick break.

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

[212] Welcome back indeed to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[213] Welcome back indeed to the Bishop Strickland Hour, Harry Barber with Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[214] Before we get into some catechism lessons, I wanted to mention Sister Willamina, who died recently and her body's incorrupt.

[215] And, you know, she just was a beautiful soul.

[216] I think she was very traditional and a religious habit she wore.

[217] And I love a tweet that you passed on from Michael Matt.

[218] It said, Sister Willamina drafted a letter to a a priest of the newly formed fraternity of St. Peter, whom she had heard was interested in forming a traditional group of religious sisters.

[219] And I love this lines that she said.

[220] It tells me how, you know, so many times saints are grown even in the senior years.

[221] She said, although I've been a professed sister for 50 years as an oblate sister of Providence, I'm ready to begin anew.

[222] And I just thought about that.

[223] Bishop Strickland, here she's.

[224] is elderly at the time and she's excited about being a bride of Christ and saying, yeah, I want to really give myself to Christ in a very more profound way every day.

[225] And she had a great love for the traditional liturgy, which is fantastic.

[226] I'm happy for her.

[227] Now, I have had friends, even my brother Jesse went to go visit her gravesite and saw her incorrupt.

[228] And there seems to be more interest in this nun now that she died than there was when she was living.

[229] What do you know about Sister Willamina, Bishop Strickland?

[230] Well, I was blessed with the opportunity just before Christmas to see her incorrupt body as well.

[231] Wow.

[232] And visit the sisters there, the Benedict and nuns, there in Gower, Missouri.

[233] a beautiful place and her story is a beautiful story.

[234] I have a book about her, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

[235] But it was a great opportunity to be there to pray in the presence of her incorrupt body.

[236] And let me share, Terry, that not just her body, but as it was told to me, part of the story of Sister Willamina.

[237] She was 96 years old when she died.

[238] wow but throughout her life and you know she's quite a bit older than either of us she was when she died i think it was 2019 that when she died but she lived through what we've lived through with all the turmoil in the late 60s and everything and so many religious communities really getting rid of their formal habits and and just looking more like regular women's you know, in the, in the families.

[239] Yes.

[240] But she fought to keep the religious habit.

[241] She saw a great value in that.

[242] Sure.

[243] And beautifully, I would call it the poetry, the poetry of God is not only was her body incorrupt.

[244] Yeah.

[245] But her casket had been in the ground about four years.

[246] I think part of the reason it was being moved was flooding and the coffin had collapsed.

[247] It was just a mess.

[248] But her habit was in pristine condition.

[249] Amazing.

[250] The mother superior there, Mother Cecilia, told me that herself, that the habit of Sister Wilhelmina was in pristine condition.

[251] Wow.

[252] So that's part of the miracle as well.

[253] And I think it's a beautiful detail of her story that, reminds us of how important tradition is.

[254] And Sister Willamino was willing, I mean, the reason she went there to Gower, Missouri and established the Benedictine sisters there, was in order to have that holiness of life, aura at Labora, prayer and work that is the Benedictine tradition.

[255] And so it's just a beautiful story that's a beautiful place that I would encourage anyone who can go to Gower, the sisters are beautifully.

[256] They sing beautifully.

[257] They have beautiful liturgies and their women dedicated to prayer and work.

[258] And interestingly, they make their own habits.

[259] Wow.

[260] They make vestments that priests can order to wear beautiful garments for the liturgy and for religious life.

[261] So Sister Willamina, I think, is a real highlight in a time when there's so much confusion.

[262] and people are worried.

[263] I think she's a sign of great hope and a sign that the Lord isn't distant.

[264] He's listening.

[265] And he knew his daughter, Willamina's story, and he blessed her in tremendous ways after she has died and during her life.

[266] Wonderful.

[267] Well, we'll talk about the saints.

[268] Your last tweet that I'm going to ask you to comment on is regarding a saint feast day.

[269] We just celebrated St. Paul Milky.

[270] he said this in this tweet, I am a true Japanese.

[271] The only reason for me being killed is that I taught the doctrine of Jesus Christ.

[272] I certainly did teach the doctrine of Jesus Christ.

[273] I thank God it is for this reason I died.

[274] Bishop Strickland, the martyrs always inspire us.

[275] It seems a year -round when you hear about these martyrs, you just go, wow.

[276] And think about this, Bishop Strickland, I'm going to ask you this.

[277] the Japanese Catholics, it took off in the 16th century, lots of conversions.

[278] And then when this took place, and I'm just going to ask you this comment, when it took place, they slaughtered all the Christian Catholics in Japan.

[279] There was a handful of them that went up into the mountains.

[280] And here's an interesting thought.

[281] I read this in the book on their lives, that the missionaries, before they died, they told the people, It'll be hundreds of years before missionaries come back to evangelize Japan.

[282] But when they do, you know that they're going to be authentic by three questions you ask them.

[283] One, when the missionaries come, say, where's your wife?

[284] If they say, I don't have a wife, we're celibate, that's good.

[285] That's a good sign.

[286] And then you ask them the second question about the Blessed Virgin Mary and their devotion to her.

[287] Do they have devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary?

[288] Yes.

[289] If they say that, that's good.

[290] And then the next question you ask me about the hierarchy of the church, who do you work under?

[291] And if they say the vigor of Christ, the Pope, is our leader, spiritual leader in the church, you'll know that they're authentically coming back to evangelize you.

[292] If they can't answer those three questions correctly, don't listen to them.

[293] I found that fascinating.

[294] It's a beautiful story.

[295] And people did go back and found people of faith, even though they hadn't.

[296] had a priest for their lifetime, a lot of times.

[297] But the faith was passed on.

[298] It reminds us how beautiful the faith is and how strong it is when people know and believe.

[299] Also, a detail of St. Paul Miki and his companion, they died in Nagasaki, where the second atomic bomb was dropped.

[300] So it just reminds us of the mysteries of God.

[301] into human history.

[302] And what a tragedy that that very Catholic place was one of the places that was bombed.

[303] But St. Paul Miki, I think, would remind us not to be devastated by that, but to be invigorated to live the faith more fully and to know that no power on earth can stop us or can destroy the truth of Jesus Christ.

[304] He was willing to die for it.

[305] And All of us need to have that same willingness.

[306] You know, I think about St. Maximine Colby, he had a missionary outfit there in Nagasaki in the 1930s.

[307] And I think about the bomb, the hydrogen bomb, that just slaughtered everybody there.

[308] But there was a community of Jesuits, six Jesuits, and I've seen the pictures of the church.

[309] Everything's devastated except the church is standing.

[310] and these six Jesuits who had the radiation, they should not have survived.

[311] They immediately started caring for the sick and the dying.

[312] And this was in the 1970s.

[313] I watched interviews with the Jesuits, and they said, well, what do you attribute you not being killed by the bomb?

[314] And the response to the Jesuit was, we were living the Fatima message.

[315] What?

[316] Yes.

[317] See, miracles take place in our own lifetime.

[318] And I just think that, again, getting back to our lady of Fatima, living out that message.

[319] What is the message?

[320] Pray the rosary for world peace.

[321] Do your daily duty well, whatever God's called you to do.

[322] Pray your rosary.

[323] It's basically what Paul VI said.

[324] It's a reaffirmation of the gospel.

[325] So I think that's fantastic.

[326] And thank you for sharing that, another saint of the day.

[327] Let's shift gears if we could into this last segment, this part of this.

[328] segment, the next segment, on something that you talked about over the years with me, the four last things.

[329] Now, Lent's coming up, I think it's a good idea.

[330] I talk about the four last things year -round, because last time I looked, nobody gets alive.

[331] Last time I looked, nobody gets out alive.

[332] So it's chapter 10 of the catechism, and I'll say this and then a life after death.

[333] God's will, the salvation of all, but the time for accepting or rejecting God ends at death.

[334] So true.

[335] Those who are faithful to God will live forever in heaven, while those who reject God and do evil will remain forever in hell.

[336] You know, Bishop Strickland, in my time, a statement like that would be so controversial, but it's so basic to the faith.

[337] Why do I say it's controversial?

[338] It's because, unfortunately, we have this idea of universal salvation that nobody goes to hell.

[339] But I got to tell you, that's not what the Bible says.

[340] And so I appreciate the folks writing this catechism to say, look, you know, God doesn't send you to hell.

[341] You send yourself to hell by your free will, by not choosing God.

[342] So, well, your thoughts on that.

[343] Am I off on that, or does that make sense to you?

[344] No, I think it makes great sense.

[345] And it's something we need to be reminded of.

[346] Just like, I mean, often these really profound truths that the church proclaims, you can find roots of it in day -to -day life, in ordinary living.

[347] I think of, you know, you've had children and grandchildren.

[348] Oh, yeah.

[349] If a child knows there are negative consequences to doing something, it gives them a lot more strength.

[350] Maybe their friends are saying, hey, let's go do this, and they've been taught that it's wrong.

[351] Knowing the negative consequences makes you a lot stronger and saying, no, I'm not going to do that.

[352] And even as adults, we need to know the negative consequences.

[353] Hell is the negative consequence of our sins.

[354] And we need to acknowledge that it's real and something absolutely to be avoided.

[355] Amen.

[356] Let's do it.

[357] We come back.

[358] We're talking more about.

[359] the four last things here on the Bishop Strickland Hour.

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

[361] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[362] I wanted to set the stage.

[363] We're talking about the four last things.

[364] My experience, Bishop Strickland, and I think you would agree that for the last 50 years, the catechesis that has gone on has been somewhat weak regarding passing on the fundamentals of the faith, that a lot of Catholics just haven't heard enough of good formation on catechesis of the faith.

[365] And so it seems to me, going through a catechism today is really a great idea.

[366] And I like this catechism from the St. Philip Institute, the way of Christ.

[367] It's from the Diocese of Tyler because it's question and answer.

[368] Real simple.

[369] You don't need a Ph .D. to understand.

[370] For example, they make definitions of words like, what is death?

[371] And the answer is death is the separation of soul from body.

[372] And, you know, Bishop Strickland, I just had Father Spitzer, Robert Spitzer on our show yesterday.

[373] He wrote a book called The Four Levels of Love.

[374] And he was talking about, you know, how consciousness, they've figured it out, these scientists, that when people have had near -death experiences, that their consciousness is still there.

[375] They see things from above, you know, with their life in front of them.

[376] And I thought about this that the idea that the new life that comes after death, whether we were judged by our Lord, we either have a couple options.

[377] We either go to heaven, which the Bible, in the book of Revelation says nothing but perfect and pure goes straight to heaven.

[378] So my sense on that is very few souls go straight to heaven.

[379] Most of us are going to take a pit stop in purgatory.

[380] And that could be however long it takes to purify us from our selfishness.

[381] Because last time I looked, many people die in heroic virtue.

[382] Very few.

[383] And then the other option is you've rejected God and you go to hell.

[384] all eternity.

[385] Now, it's pretty simple.

[386] And it seems to me that if we understood that fundamental teaching, I think Bishop Strickland, we'd have more people wanting to live a life according to the gospel, even if it means imperfect contrition, even if it meant, you know, I'm just doing it because I don't want to go to hell.

[387] Am I on to something?

[388] Absolutely.

[389] We have to keep sharing the truth.

[390] And certainly, just avoiding hell is not what Christ calls us to, but it's sort of the basic format to then seek holiness to seek that perfection that you mentioned.

[391] And that's what the word purgatory comes.

[392] It's the same as purge.

[393] and its root.

[394] And we need to be purged of anything that is not of God, that is not holy.

[395] I mean, Christ says in the gospel, and we don't hear this focus much at all these days, but he says, you must be perfect.

[396] And who's perfect?

[397] I don't claim to be perfect.

[398] You don't claim to be perfect.

[399] And really, part of moving toward perfection, and we're all called to, is to humbly acknowledge how imperfect we are.

[400] Hopefully that puts us on the right path of seeking.

[401] I mean, that's part of holiness is to recognize that we're not holy and that we need to, as Mary has told us, to turn from sin and to live the truth, her son is revealed to us.

[402] So we need those daily reminders.

[403] And that is what we can count on to help make us.

[404] strengthen our resolve to turn from sin and to live the gospel.

[405] And as we begin the season of Lent, we will be reminded to do that on Ash Wednesday.

[406] And it's such a critical reminder.

[407] Either remember you are dust and into dust you shall return.

[408] That speaks of the four last things.

[409] Or turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.

[410] That speaks of the four last sin things.

[411] Both phrases used when we receive those ashes on Ash Wednesday, a reminding of these basic truths that we're all called to live.

[412] We all fail.

[413] We stumble in sinfulness.

[414] Hopefully as we get older, our sinfulness becomes less serious.

[415] But we remain sinners and we remain prone to sin and to fall into temptation.

[416] And we need to, if we've managed by the grace of God to conquer some of the sins we struggled with when we were 30, then we need to look deeper and say, okay, what sins have I maybe not paid much attention to?

[417] Right.

[418] Because I was so preoccupied working these battles with other sins that have been more or less conquered.

[419] And that's always by the grace of God in humility.

[420] Yes.

[421] Whatever the sin is, we need to remember we're always vulnerable.

[422] We can always fall back into sinfulness because we're weak.

[423] Yes.

[424] The more we acknowledge that humbly and seek the Lord who is strength, the better job we'll do of growing in holiness, growing in perfection.

[425] Well said, and the next question in the catechism is, what is the particular judgment?

[426] and the answer is after death Christ judges whether a person will live forever in heaven or hell this is the particular judgment God offers grace to everyone in order to be in friendship with God Christ will judge us by how we worked with his grace and remained in God's friendship apart from sin those who have worked with God's grace and died in God's friendship we call it the state of grace will live in heaven those who rejected God's grace and died apart from God's friendship in the state of mortal sin will go to hell and it's scripturally backed up with Luke chapter 16 verse 19 to 31 and Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27 so when you hear people say that you know nobody goes to hell that's not what the Bible says and that's not what the church has always taught.

[427] Your thoughts, Bishop Strickland.

[428] Well, it's not what the Bible says.

[429] It's not what the church is taught.

[430] It's not what Jesus says.

[431] It's not what Mary says.

[432] It's not what a lot of the saints say.

[433] Yeah.

[434] I mean, St. Faustina talks about being a vision of hell.

[435] And she really describes exactly what Christ himself speaks of.

[436] She talks about the road to hell looks like it's wonderful.

[437] It's this beautiful broad avenue of flowers and everything's beautiful.

[438] And then people go into a pit.

[439] The road to heaven is the opposite.

[440] Brambles and rocks and tough and suffering.

[441] But then they go into the beautiful kingdom of God.

[442] So that's St. Faustina's vision and so many saints through the ages.

[443] Yes.

[444] We could have hours talking about just the different visions that saints talk about, St. John Bosco that we just celebrated, that I find so important for his two pillars, Mary, Eucharist.

[445] He has other visions talking about the reality of condemnation to hell and how we have to do everything we can to avoid it.

[446] Thankfully, God is pulling for us.

[447] He's always cared to.

[448] offer the grace and the strength that we need, no matter the sinfulness we've fallen into, no matter of the temptations that we face, if we humble ourselves and turn to God, just like we see so many of the great Old Testament stories, you know, like David, when he sins, he humbles himself, the people of Nineveh.

[449] They humble themselves and they turn back the wrath of God on the city of Nineveh, at least for a time, that is a reminder to us.

[450] God created us to be with him in eternity.

[451] But he knows that because we have to be perfect, he knows that there are things that must change in order for us to be with him in eternity.

[452] We must turn from original sin and all the personal sin that we fall into.

[453] And so the work of the church is always the same to guide people to salvation.

[454] We've kind of lost that focus in too many ways.

[455] But only really in very recent times, even when we were born, Terry, the world was focused more on what the truth is than it is now.

[456] So it hasn't been that long.

[457] And the wandering in the darkness and confusion and all these different ideas of, oh, nobody goes to hell or we hope nobody goes to hell.

[458] Certainly, God hopes nobody goes to hell.

[459] But he wants us to know very clearly that it's our own threat that we bring upon ourselves by ignoring truth.

[460] Truth has consequences.

[461] and we have to embrace the truth as fully as we can.

[462] That's embracing Jesus Christ's truth incarnate.

[463] Well, said, I think of what a Bishop Strickland, excuse me, Bishop Fulton Sheen comment on this issue that you were talking about.

[464] It's an amazing comment.

[465] He says this.

[466] He says, the good man is never sure he's good because he measures himself by the perfect which is Jesus, right?

[467] But the evil man is quite sure he's good because he measures himself by himself.

[468] And meaning our model is Jesus Christ.

[469] But you see, we've become too close to the world.

[470] And I think of what Fulton Sheen said.

[471] Only those who live by faith really know what's happening in the world.

[472] The great masses without faith are unconscious of the destructive process going on in the world today because they have lost the vision the heights from which they have fallen.

[473] I think of this that this is why teaching from the Catechism Bishop Strickland, Scripture, fundamentals of the faith is critical for our church today.

[474] And I thank you for your willingness to do just that.

[475] We're at the end of this first hour.

[476] I was wondering if we could get a blessing from you, please.

[477] Sure.

[478] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for all of us as we continue to seek to grow and perfection to turn from sin and to live the virtues of the gospel.

[479] May we support each other and pray for each other and be strengthened in the grace that has always offered to us when we turn from sin and live the truth.

[480] And we ask this blessing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[481] Amen.

[482] Thank you so much, Bishop Strickland.

[483] I want to recommend people go to the Bishop Strickland YouTube channel.

[484] Just type in Bishop Strickland.

[485] He does like five or six minute reflections on the gospel and on our faith from some aspect of the faith and then pass it on to your friends and also go to our our youtube channel full sheen ahead and you'll be able to see lots of little shorts that hopefully will help people fall deep in love with jesus christ and his bride the church i want to thank you again for joining us here on the bishop strickland hour we'll see you in tomorrow, same time, same station for the Ashton Wednesday show.

[486] God bless you and your family.