11 Apr 23 – Loyalty to Christ

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

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

[2] Each week we take an hour to talk about our Catholic faith and to share the Catholic faith with you and to have you fall deeper in love with Jesus Christ and his bride, the church.

[3] Bishop Strickland, thanks again for joining us here on our Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[4] Thanks, Terry.

[5] Thank you.

[6] And what we do for those brand new listeners is we take the tweets from Bishop Strickland and then also a catechism lesson, the last segment usually, to talk about some catechetical moment to help us understand our faith better.

[7] Bishop Strickland, I wanted to start off with something that I caught years ago from Pope Pius the 12th, and I think of you because you made a document last week.

[8] We did the whole show about the Germans, bishops, error, and the true understanding of the development of doctrine.

[9] And you really called your brother bishops and Catholics, all of us, to be faithful to Christ and his church and to understand that the perennial teachings of the church don't change.

[10] And I thought of Pope Pius the 12th, because he said this in 1949, his little statement, he said to about 250 ,000 people at St. Peter Square, do you want a church that remains silent when she should speak?

[11] And all the people said, no!

[12] And he said, do you want a church that diminishes the law of God where she is called to proclaim it loudly?

[13] And the people said, no. Do you want a church wanting to accommodate it to the will of man?

[14] People said, no. Do you want a church that departs from the unshakable foundations upon Christ founding her and taking the easy way of adapting yourself to the opinions of the day?

[15] No, he goes on basically and says we need to go out and proclaim Christ louder than ever because the world is rejecting the supernatural meaning of life and replacing it with secular humanism.

[16] That was back in 1949, Bishop Strickland, and you're doing the same thing right now.

[17] You're calling us all, including myself, that I need to turn my life over to Jesus Christ and the kingship of Christ and in all aspects of life, give myself to him so that I can do his will in my duties in my state and life.

[18] So I thank you for that.

[19] Now, I just want to say that you tweeted something from the late Pope Benedict.

[20] the 16th, when he was, I think he was just a bishop back in the 70s, he was an Archbishop of Munich, he said this back in the late 60s, it's a radio, very famous radio broadcast.

[21] He said the future of the church can and will issue from those whose roots are deep and who live from the pure fullness of their faith.

[22] It will not issue from those who accommodate themselves merely to the passing moment or from those who merely criticize others.

[23] Bishop Strickland, you tweeted back, said these words of faith continue to resonate with us, Holy Father.

[24] May you arrest in a wondrous peace of our Lord since he passed away on the 31st of December of last year.

[25] I just ask you this, Bishop Strickland, there are still people inside the church who seem, no, only God can judge him, but it seems that they've lost the supernatural aspect of the faith and are kind of looking at the signs of the times, whether it's on homosexuality or issues of marriage or the morality of sin and trying to lower the bar.

[26] So it seems that Benedict knew about that, what's that, 50 years ago.

[27] Your thoughts?

[28] Well, both that and from Pies to 12, that indicates, well, in some ways, it's a good reminder that what we're seeing now, it's pretty extreme.

[29] If you look at all of history, it's pretty extreme.

[30] But there have been other extreme moments.

[31] And even 50 years ago, 80 years ago, they were already seeing signs.

[32] And thankfully, they spoke up and said, we need to be true to Jesus Christ.

[33] It's his church.

[34] He lives.

[35] suffered, died, and rose to share the truth at the church, we have the mandate to proclaim that truth.

[36] And the thing that as we celebrate Easter, it's important to remember, it's always good news.

[37] It's always a joyful message.

[38] You're a dad.

[39] You've had to discipline your kids, probably even grandkids sometimes.

[40] Oh, yeah.

[41] But, and that isn't easy.

[42] The scriptures talk about this.

[43] It isn't easy to be disciplined, but a loving parent does it for the ultimate joy of that child.

[44] When a child, son or daughter, is corrected, they may not like it at the moment, but they will like it when they learn to be a better person.

[45] And their life is more joyful, more fulfilling, more meaningful.

[46] And they're on a better path to salvation and everlasting one.

[47] All of that fits together.

[48] That's what these two popes are really talking about.

[49] Jesus Christ is the Lord of life.

[50] He's the Lord of Truth.

[51] And we need to, I was had a conversation just recently about the resurrection of the Lord.

[52] Yes.

[53] And, you know, the fact that we as Catholics proclaim it as historical fact that actually happened.

[54] It's not a nice spiritual story that inspires us.

[55] It is inspiring, but because it's the truth.

[56] And as I was discussing this, it's important to remember that when Jesus rose from the debt in the year 33 AD, after he had died in the cross, and be buried for three days.

[57] When he rose from the dead, there was no New Testament.

[58] There was no church.

[59] There was a faithful band of disciples who, because they knew this Jesus, and the real critical moment was when he rose from the dead.

[60] Because then they knew, what they had gradually were coming to believe, but even after it all, you can read at the end of the gospel, even as he's ascending to the Father, they saw but they doubted.

[61] They still are struggling with that human weakness that we all deal with.

[62] How can we believe this?

[63] How can we believe he really rose from the dead.

[64] But thankfully, those who witnessed his death and his resurrection, I mean, they began to proclaim to the world this truth, that we benefit now almost 2 ,000 years since he died and rose.

[65] We benefit from that truth.

[66] And we need to continue to proclaim the truth.

[67] It's not a nice story.

[68] It's not a fairy tale.

[69] It's reality.

[70] And I think it's important.

[71] important for us.

[72] We do believe to remember that everything we know as the Catholic Church that we believe he established when he says, Peter, upon this rock, I build my church.

[73] All of that began to be recorded and examined after he had risen.

[74] After they saw the real power that he had to conquer sin and death, to rise from the dead, in a real body, and to share that good news with his disciples and the resurrection appearances.

[75] So I think we need to, as we enter into the Easter season, we really need to be very clear that this is the truth.

[76] It is our faith.

[77] And the Gospels.

[78] Yeah, there are many different ways of looking at the Gospels and reading.

[79] the writings of Paul, all of the New Testament, all of the Old Testament, but to believe and to know that it's based on real events.

[80] It's not just stories that have developed.

[81] Because too many people treat it as stories that can be changed or that we don't really have to believe in.

[82] Well, Bishop Strickland, you have three or four tweets complimenting your brother, bishops are priests who are standing up and speaking out on different issues.

[83] Everything from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Archbishop Luski, and his leadership, where what happened is one of the priests, his own priest, Father James Connell, basically is getting his faculties taken away because he doesn't think it's a big deal to reveal people's sins in the confessional, which is something that we consider offensive.

[84] In other words, you would excommunicate your.

[85] yourself if you start doing that.

[86] Well, I just want to say that, yeah, the bishop said, you're not going to be hearing confessions if you're not willing to keep the seal, you know, confidential.

[87] So there you go, one bishop, and then another bishop, and this is not going to, he's not going to get invited to Notre Dame after this.

[88] Bishop Rhodes, he's praying, yeah, for Notre Dame.

[89] What happened is he condemned Notre Dame for allowing them to host a pro -abortion event.

[90] And, you know, he rebuked the university.

[91] Now, he could have stayed quiet, Bishop Strickland.

[92] You know, you don't stay quiet.

[93] That's why I call you America's favorite bishop, because you speak out when things are wrong, because we need clarity.

[94] So there's another bishop who, I didn't hear this a couple years ago as much.

[95] And I'm just thinking, wow, this is good news.

[96] And then the U .S. Catholic bishops condemn genetic engineering.

[97] You know, it sounds to me like, like more bishops are stepping up to the plate and say timeout things have gotten so bad i feel obligated that i need to step up and speak out for the truth because so many people are being misled by error and some of them are being misled by people dressed like priests today and i hey i don't even want to have to say that but that's the fact and that's why you know mont senior george kelly in his book battle for the american church says where are we going where our leaders take them so bishops like yourself and others that I just mentioned, I want to publicly thank him myself as a layman that thank you for not being quiet.

[98] Yeah, and I try to, when I see those, I try to thank the bishops and applaud their good work because we need to support each other.

[99] Absolutely.

[100] There's too much quiet and there are too many contrary voices.

[101] Amen.

[102] I see that.

[103] I mean, sometimes I criticize like the German bishops and I think we need to do that as well.

[104] but we also do need to support and be united in the truth.

[105] We'll be back in a moment with the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[106] Stay with us.

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

[108] Welcome back indeed.

[109] Bishop Strickland, I just mentioned off the air, and I'm going to say it on the air, that a good friend now lying of Dr. Peter Howard is starting a movement to petition to reschedule the beatification mass of the venerable Fulton J. Sheen.

[110] His website is Fulton Sheen Movement .com.

[111] and I signed the petition as a layman saying, yeah, I want to see it come back because the church in America is suffering.

[112] All of us know that.

[113] And it's time to declare the beatification of Fulton Sheen.

[114] You know, Jesus promised that the sheep would recognize truth in the voice of a shepherd and follow him.

[115] And let's be honest, there's no voice more powerful in our own time than Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.

[116] And I just want to mention that three years ago when his beatification was scheduled some people some bishops wrote to the Vatican saying well this might not be a good time to do it because New York is doing an investigation on sexual abuse and wouldn't it be embarrassing for us if Fulton Sheen was part of that sexual abuse well the Bishop Lankie from Pierre Illinois he did the investigation with his due diligence and didn't find anything so that was done but they said no we'll postpone it well New York just came out saying that nope Bishop Sheen's got a clean bill of health there was no sexual abuse there so that's been removed so we're saying let's get him fiatified because let's be honest Bishop Strickland his writings need to be read his recordings need to be heard and I think it would really bless the church if people could see Bishop Sheen as blessed and soon St. Bishop Sheen your thoughts on that I totally agree I'm glad to hear that that movement is underway and hopefully it will bear fruit yeah well the fruit you know i i just interviewed a dominican father basil cole uh about his book angelic virtues and demonic voices it's tied into this next tweet that you said about the national catholic register because he's a thomas he loves st thomas aquinas and he made a comment about the second vatican council i've read the documents but i don't remember this being said that St. Thomas's philosophy is the preferred philosophy for Holy Mother the Church that we need to follow.

[117] And what happened after the council, Bishop Strickland, is people poo -pooed St. Thomas Aquinas as being antiquated in practice.

[118] But the documents of Vatican II say, no, no, Thomas is the angelic doctor.

[119] We need to turn to him.

[120] And your tweet is kind of similar because the National Catholic Register said, now is the time to once again return.

[121] to the actual, do you notice the word actual conciliar documents and texts of those of St. John Paul 2 and Benedict the 16th in order to expose the capitulation to the spirit of the age?

[122] In other words, let the real Vatican 2 please stand up and you wrote to the register saying thank you for saying let's go back to what the documents say, not what the spirit says.

[123] Absolutely.

[124] And I was very pleased to see the National Catholic Register writing about that.

[125] And basically, talking about the deposit of faith.

[126] I don't think they use that phrase, but it's the same thing.

[127] It's going back to the magisterial teachings and following those well -reason philosophical stands that that Thomas Aquinas, I mean, he was an amazing intellect.

[128] Yes.

[129] And the truth, he discovered the truth.

[130] And since it doesn't change, the message is as fresh as it was when he first shared it.

[131] Amen.

[132] Well said.

[133] This is a Latin phrase that you put out in a tweet.

[134] Lex Orende, Lex Gorsende, and then Lex, I might be pronouncing it wrong, Vendé.

[135] the familiar Latin saying gets to the heart of what we need to do to return to the faith.

[136] It says, the law of prayer, here it is, this is the cash value.

[137] Translate it, the law of prayer is the law of belief, is the law of living.

[138] Let us seek to return to this path for living joyfully according to God's will.

[139] Great message.

[140] Yeah, and that's classic Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi, Vendie.

[141] And a lot of times you just hear Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi.

[142] Yeah, that's what I've heard of.

[143] But the Lex Vivendi, it all follows.

[144] And it reminds us, once again, I mean, it's using the word Lex or law, but the truth that we pray, the truth that we believe, the truth that we live.

[145] It all fits together.

[146] And when we're not praying correctly, when our prayers are distorted, we are not believing correctly and we're not living correctly and I think you could say the same thing about music in the church I'm more and more aware of we have some beautiful hymns in Latin and in English but the beauty is certainly the music can be beautiful but the beauty of the words that really express beautiful messages that are true about the faith, very often based on scripture.

[147] But it's the same kind of thing.

[148] If we're singing songs that are not theologically sound, then they're going to distort what we believe, and then what we live is going to be distorted.

[149] So it all fits together.

[150] Prime example, Arianism, they put their error out in songs.

[151] And we have songs that, I'm sorry, I think it's Cardinal George you quoted last month when he said that song that says, all are welcomed, you know, that all are welcome.

[152] He's sick of it because, yes, of course, all are welcomed under the dictate of Jesus Christ.

[153] In other words, his teaching, repent and believe in the gospel.

[154] So, yeah, songs can really teach us the faith or they can teach us error.

[155] You know, I wanted to mention you talk about prayer.

[156] There's a gentleman who just came in to our chapel who was a wide world church of God, Armstrong, and Pasadena, big church, mega church.

[157] And he came into the Catholic church maybe six years ago because he heard us on the radio here in Southern California.

[158] And he wanted to know about the rosary.

[159] So he started praying the rosary and then making visits to the blessed sacrament.

[160] and that one -two punch brought him into the church and he just knocked on my door just 15 minutes ago saying Terry can you open the church I want to spend some quiet time with Jesus and the Eucharist almost his whole life he's now 65 years old he's been a Catholic what seven years and this man now is so on fire for the faith but it was the rosary and the blessed sacrament that got him to come to Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist to the Catholic faith So this is why prayer, what you just said, affected him in such a positive way.

[161] So I appreciate what you said there.

[162] Bishop Strickland, you also get a tweet from Pope Pius the 10th, which he, I mean, what a, what a Pope.

[163] He said this, pay no heed to the derision and mockery of the wicked.

[164] Oh, I have to define who the wicked are.

[165] You know, the secular humanists.

[166] Have courage, the Pope said, you must never yield, nor is.

[167] is there any need to yield oh my goodness you must go into the attack wholeheartedly not in secret but in public well those are marching orders not behind the barred doors but in open in the view of all bishop strickland this sounds like military language but spiritually military language what are your thought yeah well it's it's just being clear about the truth that christ is shared with that us being joyful and I mean like we're talking about truth and clarity and charity but we need that clarity we need that vigor with the truth and not just sure say oh yeah I believe this but other people may not and it's okay I don't want to ruffle any feathers if we really believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior we've got to call people to him certainly God's the one that gives us the free will, whether we accept the message or not, even in the time of Christ.

[168] Yes.

[169] People that walked the roads with him and listened to him talk and even witness his miracles, they didn't necessarily believe.

[170] They were free not to.

[171] And certainly the ones who we've just commemorated their condemnation and execution of them, they were free to do that.

[172] God gives us free will, but we're obligated to use that free will to find the truth and to live by that truth.

[173] Well, Sitt, you know, Bishop Strickland, I'm going to be getting to the last segment on the catechism, but I want to give a plug right now about the St. Philip Institute because there's a lot of resources there for our listeners.

[174] Even though it's part of your diocese, you're not opposed to having people outside your diocese access that website.

[175] Could you tell us a little bit for those who don't know about the St. Philip Institute, please?

[176] Sure, the St. Philip Institute.

[177] The full title is St. Philip Institute for Catechesis and Evangelization, website, St. Philip Institute .org.

[178] And they do have a lot of resources, especially for marriage formation, for basic catechesis, for all sorts of questions that arise regarding the faith.

[179] And we have a great team of young scholars and young committed Catholics that are doing a great job of sharing that truth.

[180] The world needs the truth desperately.

[181] We see in the political world and even in the world of the church, there's too much distortion of the truth and too much watering it down to try to make it more like us instead of making us more like the truth.

[182] Well said.

[183] And I want to mention the way of Christ's catechism that we use here on the Bishop Strickland Hour is a resource you can purchase online from that St. Philip Institute.

[184] We're on chapter 5.

[185] We're going to be getting to that and much more.

[186] And the reason we want to continue to teach people from a catechism perspective, Bishop Strickland, let's be honest.

[187] Let's be honest, our own generation, we're in our 60s, but many people our age never got solid formation in the early ages of their life.

[188] And many of us, like myself, picked up on it in later time, later ages, because for whatever reason, I'm not going to condemn it, just that we kind of dropped the ball in giving people good formation.

[189] And so now we have a bunch of adults who really don't know much about their Catholic faith.

[190] So I want to encourage you, our listener, to get that catechism we're going through because you're going to learn a lot about your faith that maybe you didn't get when you were younger.

[191] And I just can't say enough that it's important that this lifetime occupation of studying our faith doesn't end when I'm 60 years old.

[192] It's going to end five minutes after my heart's not beating.

[193] Because a lifetime occupation.

[194] Bishop Strickland, aren't you still studying your Catholic faith as a successor apostle, reading books?

[195] on the faith?

[196] Yes or no?

[197] Absolutely.

[198] It's essential.

[199] And all of us, especially the more responsibility you have, whether bishop or father of a family or a priest, the more responsibility we have to keep learning and growing and deepening that truth.

[200] Like the document we talked about, the article we talked about last week, there is a development of doctrine.

[201] You can, can go deeper and deeper.

[202] There you go.

[203] It doesn't change.

[204] You just understand it more clearly.

[205] Well, said, we're listening to the Bishop Strickland Hour on Virgin Most Power.

[206] If you want to get some of the other old shows podcasts, go to vmpr .org and listen to those.

[207] We come back.

[208] We'll have some more tweets, one with Archbishop Bordeleone.

[209] Stay with us, family.

[210] We'll be back with more on the Bishop Strickland Hour.

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

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

[213] I wanted to mention those who are listening that are in Catholic radio land, that maybe this show isn't being played on your local station.

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[221] So we're counting on you, our listener, to go to bat to your local Catholic station and say, hey, Virgin Most Powerful offers all their shows for free.

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[223] Why?

[224] Because we want to give Catholic radio the best talks, the best radio shows that will encourage people to fall deep in love with Jesus Christ and his church.

[225] Bishop Strickland, you thank the Archbishop of San Francisco.

[226] Boy, he's got a tough job.

[227] He lives in Sodom and Gomorrah.

[228] Here's what he said.

[229] Archbishop Cordillian, he's holding a Eucharistic Holy Hour and Rosary Monday evening for the people of Hong Kong directing prayers to leading freedom advocates, Cardinal Joseph Zen and Jimmy Lai, in particular.

[230] Bishop Strickland, what in the world?

[231] I know there's a large Chinese population in China, but he's a, he's a, he's a busy man for him to do what you do once a week.

[232] I mean, he's coming out and basically asking people to pray for our brothers and sisters halfway around the world.

[233] Well, just a reminder that we're all connected.

[234] Yeah.

[235] And, you know, Cardinal Zen needs our support as all the Catholics in China do.

[236] And I, again, that's why I commended Archbishop Cordione, because like you said, I mean, He's got plenty to worry about, but he's there to be in solidarity with his brother, Bishop, the Cardinal, and the faithful people there are there, that there's a lot of persecution there and in other places.

[237] We need to speak up for those who are being persecuted.

[238] Yep.

[239] Bishop Strickland, when this show is being broadcast, it'll be Easter week.

[240] we'll already have celebrated the Easter Tritium, which is the holiest time of the year for us Catholics.

[241] Can you just talk a little bit about the resurrection and why this is a game changer for us in the sense of the whole world that no other religion, I'll just say that, has someone from raising from the dead.

[242] And I'm not condemning all these other religions.

[243] We have the fullness of the truth.

[244] They have a partial part of the truth.

[245] But, you know, Islam, all these other religions, none of them teach what we teach about the God man being raised from the dead and opening up the gates of heaven.

[246] So I'd like you to just take a few minutes or however long you want to talk about why the resurrection is really ultimately what it's all about.

[247] Well, you said it, Terry.

[248] It is what it's all about.

[249] And really, a lot of times, I think especially today, because we're in such a time of, oh, well, you believe that, I believe this, and we just need to get along.

[250] Certainly we need to get along, but the truth is the greatest way to bring us together.

[251] Amen.

[252] And we're talking about reality.

[253] Yeah.

[254] The son of God incarnate among us and then lived for 33 years, lived for 30 of those years, basically in just ordinary life unknown by most.

[255] people, but he lived three years of public ministry, teaching, healing, raising people from the dead.

[256] I mean, we have the marvelous story of the raising of Lazarus, and we know that the raising of Lazarus and others that Jesus brought back from the dead are just kind of a foreshadowing of what he does with his own resurrection from the dead.

[257] we're talking about the reality that God has revealed to us.

[258] There are a lot of people that may have believed at one point or maybe never really deeply believed, and they wander away.

[259] They're convinced that, oh, it was just stories that were made up.

[260] I mean, people point to the four Gospels in the New Testament, and they're different versions.

[261] But, you know, the reality, that's just the human reality.

[262] you get two people experiencing the same thing, you isolate them, and you say, okay, what did you see?

[263] What happened?

[264] You're going to get a different version.

[265] And they're trying to tell the same story, but they emphasize different things.

[266] Different things are more important to them.

[267] Right.

[268] So I think the fact that the Gospels aren't perfectly matched up, time -wise, and data -wise, it proves that they're real stories from real people about a real event of Jesus Christ, born among us, lived with us, and died for us, and rose.

[269] And so the resurrection, as we celebrate Easter, is not just, it is a beautiful liturgical feast.

[270] And whatever, whether the novice ordo or the Latin Mass or the different rites, they're all beautiful.

[271] They're all, especially the Easter Trigoam.

[272] There's a beauty to all the liturgies that are celebrated and very moving to people.

[273] I mean, before the weekend, before Easter, of course, is Palm Sunday.

[274] Yes.

[275] And we had tremendous crowds.

[276] And I'm sure in many places there were tremendous crowds.

[277] Sometimes that's the only time people come, you know.

[278] But at least they come then.

[279] and we need to encourage them to continue to come.

[280] A lot of people come on Easter Sunday, thankfully, but they need to come and celebrate.

[281] And we need to keep emphasizing the resurrection is the very core of where Christian belief comes from.

[282] Because, and I think it's important to remember to just really reflect on how did the Gospels, How did the New Testament?

[283] How did the church come about?

[284] When Jesus died and rose, there was no New Testament.

[285] There was no church, as we know it, but there was a band of disciples who believed.

[286] Amen.

[287] And so they began to ask the questions.

[288] There are traditions that some of the gospel writers had contact with the Blessed Virgin Mary and asked your questions.

[289] but they became curious about where was Jesus born and all of that that hadn't been written down.

[290] I'm sure there were stories circulating even as he was alive and different ideas about where he'd been born.

[291] But all of that, we have to remember the real spark that made it all take off was his resurrection.

[292] He rose from the dead.

[293] confirming the faith of his existing disciples and calling so many others to faith.

[294] We talk about the saints, especially in the first or second century.

[295] There's some great saint stories of people willing to die rather than to deny their resurrected Lord.

[296] And we're thankfully, we have the same thing even into this century, people willing to die rather than to deny Jesus Christ because they know that he's the Lord of life.

[297] I pray I'd have the strength to do that.

[298] I'm sure you do as well.

[299] Absolutely.

[300] Because we can't deny the Lord.

[301] We're not volunteering to be martyred.

[302] None of the martyrs volunteered to be either killed by the state or someone else.

[303] But we do have to have the kind of faith that they had.

[304] Martyr, as we know, means witness.

[305] What are they witnessing to?

[306] They're witnessing to the truth of Jesus Christ that he lived, died, and rose for us.

[307] So celebrating Easter, and I love the resurrection appearances that we hear through the Easter season, especially in the octave of Easter.

[308] I like to remind myself and others that really every Mass, every celebration of the Eucharist is a resurrection.

[309] appearance.

[310] If we really believe the same Lord who lived, died, and rose is there on that altar in the form of consecrated bread and wine, then it's a different form, but it's a resurrection appearance.

[311] And that's the impact of the resurrection.

[312] Every eighth day, every Sunday is another celebration.

[313] A lot of times when I studied, they said it was a little Easter every Sunday.

[314] We need to rekindle that kind of approach.

[315] That's why Sunday is a sacred day.

[316] That's why it's the Christian Sabbath that needs to be treated, not just, I mean, we need everyone to go to Mass to celebrate the Lord's Day, but then to make the whole day a celebration of the Lord's Day.

[317] And really, Terry, I think the more that people do that, the more they will say, let's go to Mass on Sunday.

[318] I read something just recently.

[319] I'm not sure it's accurate, but I think it says something to us that in the pre -Vatican 2 church, when it was still the traditional Latin Mass and those liturgies, that the Easter vigil that was celebrated didn't take care of your Sunday obligation.

[320] Whether or not that's accurate, I don't know.

[321] But I think it's a reminder of the significant of Sunday.

[322] Yes, the church's law is we can fulfill our Sunday obligation on Saturday, but I encourage people when they, and sometimes people work, I know there are reasons and it's, I mean, it's the church's allowance, but I think for our own spiritual growth, as much as we can, to make Sunday go to Mass on the Lord's Day, on Sunday, and to, make the whole day a day of celebration.

[323] And I think being reminded that every Sunday is a little Easter hopefully enkindle some of that respect and that desire to make every Sunday.

[324] I mean, I was blessed to witness your family, Terry.

[325] There's a lot of family there, a lot of community.

[326] That needs to be a time for family to be together, to rest, to have recreation.

[327] to have a good meal after going to Mass and to spend the day with each other, welcoming family and friends.

[328] Well said, when we come back, we're going to open up our catechism, the way of Christ's catechism.

[329] We're on paragraph 5.

[330] I'm going to just give a question, answer, catechesis.

[331] Why?

[332] Because this is helping us know the person of Jesus Christ better.

[333] And when we know our Lord, it affects our faith.

[334] or asking Jesus Christ for more faith every day.

[335] Stay with us, family.

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

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

[338] Welcome back.

[339] I love talking about the resurrection, Bishop Stricklandite.

[340] Last segment is gold.

[341] You know, we think of what St. Paul said that, if Christ didn't resurrect, that our faith is useless.

[342] And, you know, there are people, again, I don't mean to be negative, but this Jesus seminar that Dr. Hahn talked about to me years ago, saying that, you know, if we found the bones of Jesus, it doesn't really matter if he did, if he resurrected or not.

[343] That's not a biblical worldview.

[344] And so I say that it's nice to hear a bishop clearly teach what the church teaches about the resurrection.

[345] So thank you for that.

[346] I want everybody who has the catechism to turn to paragraph 5, the way of Christ's catechism.

[347] It's question number five.

[348] And this is really huge because we can't get the resurrection without really God becoming man. So this question is, why did God become man?

[349] And the catechism not only gives a couple paragraphs, but it also gives you references for the big catechism, the Catechism of the Catholic Church that was printed and published in 93, many verses that just support this.

[350] This is such a big topic.

[351] He says, God became man to reconcile us sinners with God.

[352] Oh, yeah, we're all sinners.

[353] since God is infinite we cannot make up for our sins against him by Jesus being fully man we talked about that earlier in the chapter Jesus is able to offer himself as a representative for all humanity as God his sacrifice has infinite value and makes up for our sins I'm just going to leave it right there for that paragraph I how do you get more succinct than that Yeah, it's good.

[354] Really good.

[355] What about the next paragraph?

[356] God also became man to show us how much love, how much God loves each one of us.

[357] God has infinite love for his creation.

[358] Jesus fully expresses God's love for us through his passion that we're going to be celebrating this week of Holy Week.

[359] Yeah, I mean, I like the idea that God would have died on the cross if we were the only person alive.

[360] life.

[361] I thought about that.

[362] That's love.

[363] Bishop Strickland, I just, before I go to the next paragraph, I just want to, I think that this paragraph about God's love, I'm not so sure everybody, even in the Catholic Church, really understands how much God loves them.

[364] I say that if God stopped thinking about each individual person, they would cease to exist.

[365] How do we communicate that love for each person individually in a way that is very compelling well to me Terry the answer to your question is that's why God had his son die the most compelling message is for the God the father to sacrifice his own son and his son Jesus really beautifully humanizes his journey to death he's not saying oh yeah sure i'm god i'll i'll go die he says father if it'd be possible let this cup pass me by but then he says the the words that he and every saint ultimately that's why they're a saint yeah not my will but thy will be done his own mother the immaculate virgin mary yes welcomes him being conceived in her womb basically saying the same thing not my will but thy will be done and I think this sorry well you're catching your breath here I just want to say what you said about doing God's will I mean that to me is so basic to say I want to give my life to Jesus Christ you did that in your own life I've done it in my own life.

[366] I said, you know, Jesus, I want to turn everything over to you.

[367] And I think that some people don't realize that that is the key.

[368] And they think sometimes, well, can God really handle everything in my life?

[369] The answer is yes and much more.

[370] But continue now that you got your Absolutely.

[371] We say it in the Our Father, but like so many prayers, we really need to listen more.

[372] Thigh will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[373] And I've thought about that a lot because really the definition of heaven is where God's will reigns, the angels, the saints.

[374] All of heaven is about fully living in the divine will, and that is a beautiful image of what heaven is.

[375] Because God is love, so it all just, it sort of all fits together that God.

[376] God's will is for the love of creation, and the highest creature is humanity, because we're the only ones created in the image and likeness of God.

[377] Yes.

[378] And so he gives us his son to save those he has made in his image, and his son becomes one of us in that same image.

[379] I mean, there are just so many layers of beautiful truth of what God's love means.

[380] And kind of as you're alluding to, Terry, I think that too many in the church and too many definitely in the world, we have no idea what real love is.

[381] And Jesus shows us what real love is because it's tough.

[382] I mean, we're talking about tough love.

[383] imagine you as a dad had to exercise tough love sometimes yeah sure have yep and and really all love is tough if it's real love yeah if it's real love it doesn't mean it's just some sort of glossy idea and everything's just wonderful i mean like you you and your love for your spouse your wife oh yeah there are a lot of tough things that y 'all have to go through to And some of it's just putting up with each other day after day.

[384] Amen.

[385] And the little annoyances that come along.

[386] You got it.

[387] And then the big things that become burdensome.

[388] But real love is rooted in sacrifice.

[389] And we've forgotten that.

[390] Yeah.

[391] That's, I mean, it's all wound up in, why did God become man to show us real love?

[392] That sacrifice, certainly the ultimate sacrifice of the son of God giving over his body to death.

[393] But really, I like to think, and if you think about everything that Jesus experienced, and the tremendous humility of him being incarnate like us, conceived in the womb of a woman, imagine, he's always fully God.

[394] So the Lord of the universe contained inside the body of a woman in her womb and grows and develops.

[395] I like to think that from that moment until his last breath, Christ suffered in various ways.

[396] And he humbled himself throughout his 33 years on earth.

[397] he died and then rose into glory but those 33 years that he was on earth i think that we have no idea what it meant for him to humble himself and to suffer you know in in his passion tremendously but i think we have to see christ suffering i mean even in the gospel stories many people rejected him.

[398] Even his own disciples didn't understand.

[399] So that enters into the suffering that Christ was willing to endure.

[400] That act of humbling himself opened the door to a lot of real human suffering.

[401] And it's bound up in the mystery of what love is.

[402] We human beings experience that.

[403] If we really love, there's going to be suffering mixed into it.

[404] When we've when we lose that person that we love or when you know suffering comes along i would imagine for you as a husband and a father and a grandfather it probably hurts you more to see one of your children your wife your grandchildren suffer than for you to suffer personally that's what love is about as well you nailed it bishop sheen said sacrifice is the language of love and i think that this is something that our world doesn't see, even, like I say, even in the church where we want everything to be the resurrection, but without Good Friday.

[405] If we're going to follow Christ, as Bishop Sheen would say, without Good Friday, there's no Easter Sunday.

[406] And just giving it on a level of mom and dad that are listening, you know, when I make sacrifices for my family, for my kids, or for my wife, I've found that there's a joy in being able to serve her.

[407] Even the sacrifice of bringing home a paycheck.

[408] Yeah, because I worked hard, I went to work.

[409] This is how I'm providing for my family.

[410] I have much joy to know that I can support my wife and her needs and my family needs and that through God's grace that he gives me the strength to go to work, support my family.

[411] These are little things that are we actually realizing that we could do none of this without the grace of God.

[412] We wouldn't be able to do anything.

[413] And I think that what you just said about our faith in the resurrection, that, you know, we need to focus on what God has done for us and then return it by what we can do for God.

[414] And you nailed it when you said doing God's will.

[415] In other words, embracing our life and saying, what I've done, I know it's human.

[416] But if I can unite that with God and say, God, I give my life to you, do what you want with me and my wife and my family and my duties.

[417] Just give me the grace to be faithful and ask everybody for stronger faith.

[418] Ask Jesus Christ for stronger faith and he will give that to you.

[419] Bishop Strickland, we're at the end of the show.

[420] We've got two or three minutes.

[421] Can you just tell us a little bit more about this Easter tritium?

[422] Why?

[423] I need to know, excuse me, the Easter week.

[424] In other words, we're going to be on Tuesday of Easter week, the octave.

[425] What's that all about?

[426] Well, it's a reminder that like we were talking about earlier, that really Easter is an ongoing celebration of how God has loved us.

[427] And it's once a year that we actually commemorate.

[428] But we need to live, as Pope St. John Paul II said, we are an Easter people and hallelujah is our song.

[429] That's not once a year.

[430] That's a way of living.

[431] That's a way of living the way of Jesus.

[432] Christ and we need to remember that.

[433] Very well said can I have a can we get a blessing for our listeners please.

[434] Almighty God we ask your blessing for Terry and Jesse and all who work with them and we ask your blessing for all listening to our time together to reflect on the wonder of your love and the grace you bring to us through your son Jesus Christ.

[435] May this Easter season continue to guide us in his life and we ask in the name of the Father of the Son of the Holy Spirit.

[436] Amen.

[437] Folks, you can listen to all the podcasts by going to VMPR of Bishop Strickland and all of our other shows.

[438] And I pray that this Easter octave that we're experiencing right now will get you closer to Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church.

[439] Thanks again for listening and thanks for supporting us here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[440] God love you and your family.