05 Oct 21 – No Human Can Change Divine Revelation

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

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

[2] Bishop Strickland, welcome again to another hour of sharing the gospel.

[3] Thanks, Terry.

[4] I'd love you.

[5] We usually go through the tweets.

[6] I want to welcome all the Catholic answer folks that were with Bishop Strickland last week, and we handed out about 500 cards inviting people to download the app.

[7] So for those new people, welcome.

[8] And every week, Bishop Strickland will share.

[9] his tweets in the catechism of the Catholic Church.

[10] Bishop Strickland, I've got one tweet that I want to really delve into because I saw this tweet and I said, wow, Bishop Strickland, thank you for speaking up because it's such an important topic.

[11] The family.

[12] I mean, the way the family goes is the way the culture goes.

[13] And here's what you said.

[14] You said, the Catholic Church's teaching on the family flows from the truth God has revealed to us.

[15] No human has the authority to change divine revelation.

[16] Amen to that.

[17] The new head of the John Paul II Marriage Institute suggests the church must change its definition of the family.

[18] And I'm like, really?

[19] Change the definition of the family?

[20] I mean, that sounds to me like a, that's like some secular institute or, you know, like Black Lives Matter saying on their website at one point, we need to get rid of that family definition.

[21] So I just, you know, concerned about it because this is right in Rome where this is a institute that's supposed to promote what the Catholic Church teaches on marriage and family.

[22] So why did you hear, Bishop and Tyler, Texas comment on something like this?

[23] Well, Terry, because as you said, marriage is so foundational to human civilization, marriage and family, that, the, Those are the building blocks that God has given us.

[24] And I would say the vast majority, if not all, the problems, probably all, but that may be going a little too far, but it's all connected for sure.

[25] But the vast majority of the issues that we see in society today, violence, abuse of others, we can just go down the list.

[26] it's because of the erosion of family and the lack of understanding of what marriage is and to abandon that is is really just more destructive to human society family is the building block of human society and let me say very clearly because I think there's the idea of compassion and absolutely what the truth The truth that God is revealed to us is the greatest compassion, the greatest mercy, the greatest love.

[27] God is love, and God has revealed to us the pattern of the human flourishing that is really built on family, which means a mother and a father committed in marriage for their life, and open to children.

[28] And that's where family comes from.

[29] And certainly, not every family fits that definition exactly, because people die, circumstances change.

[30] We're all members of the family of God, absolutely.

[31] But compassion doesn't mean, trying to redefine what a family is.

[32] I believe what God has revealed to us is we always keep that basic model.

[33] And then, of course, I mean, a single person living alone, that doesn't mean somehow they're left out of God's love and of God's embrace of living the truth.

[34] So it's a single person.

[35] It's one parent with children.

[36] It's grandparents, maybe living with the family.

[37] It can take a lot of different configurations.

[38] And no person is excluded from the model of family that God has given us, but it's the basic template that we always should go back to, welcoming everyone and valuing everyone and valuing everyone.

[39] but not changing the definition of family to some other model of I'm not sure I mean I guess you could go in a hundred different directions if you say oh we we need to change the definition of family I think we need what I would say what I believe the catechism says what Pope St. John Paul the second emphasized is society is built on the family as God has modeled it.

[40] A man and a woman committed in what is called the sacrament of matrimony, committed for life, not just for a while, not just while the kids are around, but committed for life.

[41] And then out of that flowing, an openness to children.

[42] The childless couple is a family.

[43] in the model of God's plan for family, but to start distorting that and departing from, is this family living in the model of God's plan, that's the question that needs to be asked, not to reject those people, but to call them to the truth.

[44] And then basically using God's model as the framework.

[45] work and then acknowledging, yeah, a mother whose husband has left or is deceased and has children still to raise, absolutely, that single mother that maybe through no choice of her own is left as a single mother.

[46] Absolutely, she needs our support in society.

[47] She's living and not, I mean, their challenges there, there are elements of reality that she's dealing with.

[48] Maybe you could say, well, that's not the perfect model of family, but she's living within that context.

[49] It's when people choose to reject the model and say, we're going to be family in this configuration.

[50] You know, I mean, through history, people have said, well, a man can have multiple wives or maybe, you know, I'm not as aware, but probably in human history it's been tried for a woman to have multiple husbands.

[51] That's not God's model for two men to claim to be married and say they're forming a family.

[52] That isn't God's model.

[53] Again, not out of hatred, not out of attack of those individuals, but to just say, come, to God's model, come to what has been revealed to us, and compassionately reach out to those who are taking a different path, rather than saying, well, yeah, let's redefine what family is.

[54] And that takes us down a path that ultimately takes us further from God.

[55] Bishop Strickland, you're summarizing chapters of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

[56] Paragraph 1601, you basically just said it, you know, what the catechism says.

[57] And I want to encourage our listeners to read the Article 7 called the Sacrament of Matrimony because it gives a very biblical teaching on the Great Sacrament.

[58] And paragraph 1602 talks about sacred scripture.

[59] And again, this is not Bishop Strickland's purpose.

[60] opinion about marriage.

[61] Because I personally don't care about your personal opinion.

[62] I mean, with all due respect, I want to know what God teaches about family life.

[63] And that's what the catechism of the Catholic Church gives you.

[64] And I believe that's what Bishop Strickland is giving us because paragraph 1602 says sacred scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God concludes with a vision of the wedding feast of the lamb.

[65] Scripture speaks throughout of marriage and its mystery, its institution, and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the history of salvation, difficulties arising from sin, and its renewal in the Lord in the new covenant of Christ and the church.

[66] You know, that's a mouthful, Bishop Strickland, but it is beautiful that scripture supports a biblical view, obviously, of marriage.

[67] And I think that you're obligated as a bishop not to give your personal opinion if you even disagree with this.

[68] You're supposed to.

[69] If I'm wrong, go ahead and tell me. But I don't have a choice.

[70] I have to give what Holy Mother the church.

[71] And the Bible says teachers are more responsible, are going to be more accountable at our exit interview if we don't, if we're not faithful to a world biblical view.

[72] So my question on paragraph 1602, we have to be faithful to the scriptures, not even, you know, a prelate like yourself.

[73] If I, if I have to go with somebody, I'm going to go with what the church is perennial taught, perennial teachings are, not your novelty of a teaching.

[74] So I think this catechism paragraph supports what you're saying.

[75] Your thoughts?

[76] Absolutely, Terry.

[77] And thank you for bringing up the catechism because, as we've said many times before, if I just said anything that doesn't line up with the catechism, I'm the first to say, correct me. Because what I am trying to present, maybe in different words, but inspired by what the catechism says, I'm trying to present that truth, sometimes in my own words, and it's great to just read a paragraph and consider what's it really saying.

[78] Because if I say anything contrary to the catechism, I want to be corrected.

[79] Me too.

[80] Count me in on that one.

[81] Sign me up.

[82] When we come back, we'll talk more from the Catechism of the Catholic Church on marriage and God's plan.

[83] Stay with us, a virgin, most powerful radio.

[84] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[85] We're talking about the great sacrament of matrimony, and Bishop Strickland was laying out a world biblical view of the sacrament using the catechism of the Catholic Church.

[86] Paragraph 1605 says this.

[87] Holy Scripture affirms that man and woman were created for one another.

[88] It is not good that man should be alone.

[89] The woman, flesh of his flesh, is equal, is nearest in all things, is given.

[90] given to him by God as a helpmate.

[91] She thus represents God from whom comes our help.

[92] Therefore, a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.

[93] The Lord himself shows that this signifies an unbreakable union of their two lives by recalling what plan of the Creator has been in the beginning.

[94] so they are no longer two but one flesh wow that's the world biblical view there bishop strickland your thoughts absolutely and what i think this emphasizes terry is what tends to get lost in some of the the recent conversations about family all of this is about marriage which is the foundation of family and what this paragraph reminds me of is the good of the man and the woman, the call to holiness, the call to everlasting life that we all share.

[95] The man and the woman in marriage are fulfilling that individually and part of their coming together in the commitment of marriage.

[96] I mean, like you and your wife, you are partners in your own salvation.

[97] and that of your children and grandchildren, and then the community that you serve.

[98] But you are partners in fulfilling the most important task we all have is for the salvation of our souls.

[99] That's our goal.

[100] That's the goal that God is revealed to us.

[101] And so marriage falls into that.

[102] And I emphasize that, Terry, because if...

[103] If people are living in a situation that diminishes their ability to fulfill their ultimate purpose, the salvation of their souls, then that should never be called family, whatever configuration it takes.

[104] If one individual, well, I really can't imagine that there's any situation.

[105] where one individual is the only one affected.

[106] But if people are living in a situation which is detrimental to their salvation in a sinful situation, then that really is not, that's so far from the model of family that we need to say, stop and look at what you need to do.

[107] For that man and that woman, for whoever's involved, is every person on the path to the salvation of their souls.

[108] Like we've talked about so many times, I mean, the last canon in the code of canon law says, all of this is about the salvation of souls.

[109] Amen.

[110] I think we can apply that directly to family and marriage.

[111] It's about the salvation of the souls involved in that household.

[112] Yep.

[113] And ensuring that there, we're all sinners, we all need to repent of our sins and return to the virtuous life that God calls us to share.

[114] That's not only for some distant or maybe not so distant, but for the future salvation of our souls, but that salvation is being worked out day by day.

[115] And so if we're living in a sinful situation, we're putting roadblocks up to living in a way that ultimately fulfills the purpose of our life, the salvation of our souls.

[116] And we can look around in society and see how people are suffering, how there's violence, how people are abused in all sorts of ways.

[117] people are made into commodities i mean it's just the long list of brokenness in our world and it comes down to sometimes it's that person's choice or sometimes it's inflicted on them that their ultimate purpose either they are denying it and they're choosing to live in a sinful way, or circumstances, maybe others, are imposing a situation where it's detrimental to the salvation of their soul to be living that way.

[118] Real family is always a place that fosters the good for the individual person and then brings them together in what we call a family to collaborate in the salvation of their soul and the souls of others, just like you and your wife.

[119] You're both obligated to your commitment to marriage of love and the fostering of the lives of your children and now grandchildren.

[120] All of that is about Terry's salvation.

[121] And your wife's salvation in collaborating to make sure that that happens.

[122] And to see that today whatever you're doing whatever your wife's doing is about living that out hopefully with joy not perfectly but always that's where the joy in life comes from is being on the path to that fulfillment of our purpose in life people can short -circuit that in all kinds of ways but the long -term joy the long -term happiness flows from from being on a path to fulfill our ultimate mission.

[123] And that's what family and marriage is about.

[124] Beautifully stated.

[125] I think of you're quoting a Fulton Sheen book, Three to Get Married.

[126] He has a whole chapter on what Bishop Strickland talked about.

[127] And if people want to get that book, Three to Get Married as a resource, I have been promoting that book for 40 years.

[128] And I will just say go to CatholicRC .org.

[129] We have downloads of all kinds of books on CD.

[130] that you can, not on CD, but on downloads, and that's one of them, three to get married.

[131] Bishop Sheen says to men and to women, your love for your wife, for your husband will not last because you're tough or strong.

[132] It will last because you have the power to renew it.

[133] And I have a couple things that that book talks about, renewing your commitment to your wife, your vows, renew each other, their vows to each other on a regular basis.

[134] And also, Bishop Sheen talks about praying together the family rosary keeping the family together incredibly important that that would be not my idea this is actually taken from his book three to get married and i always say this bishop strickland what you just said that my salvation is tied into serving my family specifically my wife first that if i can give her that cup of water for 30 some years every morning that that pleases god not only her but I'm serving her.

[135] Think of in terms this gentleman and ladies that when you're serving your spouse or your family, you're actually pleasing God because God expects you to do that.

[136] That's part of your daily duty.

[137] And I also tie it into Fatima because our lady of Fatima said to do your daily duty is to sanctify the day.

[138] So this is important reading and talking about the sacrament of matrimony.

[139] And Bishop Strickland, I know you deal with it every day because I do.

[140] I had a couple of couples call me today with marriage problems, and they're going through retrovite.

[141] There's resources out there for people that can help them in their marriage.

[142] Not everybody's perfect.

[143] Nobody I know is perfect.

[144] So it's going to take effort.

[145] And that's where this paragraph 1606 talks about the experience of evil.

[146] Here it comes.

[147] And then we all have experienced that in our marriage.

[148] You know, there's temptations.

[149] There's all kinds of challenges in modern living.

[150] but we have the solution so here's paragraph 1606 every man experiences evil around him and within himself this experience makes itself felt in the relationship between man and woman their union has always been threatened by discord a spirit of domination infidelity jealousy and conflicts that can escalate into hatred and separation.

[151] This disorder can manifest itself more or less acutely and can be more or less overcome according to the circumstances of culture, eras, and individuals.

[152] But it does seem to have a universal character.

[153] Doesn't he talk, isn't that what he's saying about original San Bishops Strickland that our fallen nature, that we're going to need to ask for forgiveness throughout our marriage, each of us?

[154] I mean, I've experienced that.

[155] Yeah.

[156] I have Absolutely.

[157] And in what this to me emphasizes is once again, the every man experiences evil around him and within himself.

[158] Every woman experiences evil around her and within herself.

[159] When the two come together, it's natural.

[160] It's part of, and as it says, there's a universal character to this.

[161] discord and brokenness, it is original sin.

[162] It's a world of concupiscence, of a tendency to sin and to hurt others.

[163] You know, as the saying says, you only hurt the ones you love.

[164] And I'm sure that that happens very often.

[165] Some of the deepest hurts happen in marriages and families.

[166] But that can be, by the grace of God, can be overcome and can be healed.

[167] reconciliation needs to happen in marriages.

[168] Absolutely.

[169] In many ways, that's what the vows of a man and woman entering into marriage, what they really contemplate for better for worse.

[170] There's a lot of worse.

[171] And sickness and in health.

[172] There's a lot of sickness.

[173] And the reality is that's the beauty of marriage and the beauty of family is coming together to support each other when the worst things happen, when sickness happens, when discord and division happens, is that you don't abandon the others, but you stay with the family, you stay with the marriage.

[174] But this is really talking about the challenge that we all face.

[175] Like I said, even the single person living a solid life still is that that first line still applies.

[176] Every man experiences evil around him and within himself.

[177] The single man and the single woman experienced that.

[178] And so when they come together in the loving commitment of marriage, some of that is still going to be there.

[179] And that's why they need prayer.

[180] I mean, like Bishop Sheen's, Archbishop Sheen's book, Three to get married basically is needing Christ, needing God, needing that grace to help you overcome the discord and the hurts that you cause each other and the misunderstandings.

[181] You know, Bishop Strickland, we're going to take a quick break, but I also want to talk about the sacrament of confession with mom, with the husband and wife.

[182] And I have found that going to confession with my wife on a regular basis together, like we never go for 30 -some years, more than four weeks.

[183] It's always around two or three weeks because I'm a sinner and she's a sinner.

[184] I want to hear your thoughts about the great sacrament of penance.

[185] Stay with us family.

[186] We'll be right now.

[187] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland hour.

[188] We're kind of covering a marriage topic for the whole show because Bishop Strickland tweeted out this week in regards to marriage being something that you can't change by any man can change it.

[189] They said that this is something that comes from God, and I think that it's important.

[190] He's responding to the head of the JP2 Marriage Institute, suggesting that the church must change its definition of the family, and Bishop Strickland is reaching out and say, no, no, no, no, you can't change what God has instituted.

[191] This is a universal teaching of what the marriage where the family is.

[192] No man can change that, so thank you for doing that.

[193] I asked you two things, Bishop Strickland.

[194] I want to talk a little bit about the St. Philip Institute as resources for the family.

[195] But before I do that, I asked the question about the sacrament of penance.

[196] I have found that taking my family when they were young to confession at least once a month was very edifying for the family.

[197] I always went to 31 flavors for an ice cream with the kids, so I always made it a positive experience because my dad did the same thing to us, and I sure liked the ice cream.

[198] But my question to you is, You counsel a lot of married couples.

[199] How important is it for couples to go and celebrate the sacrament of penance on a regular basis and for family life?

[200] Well, absolutely.

[201] As, you know, living the sacramental life is the greatest assistance to living the call to holiness that we all share to live God's plan for our lives.

[202] And I think there's a great witness value for the husband and the wife, even if there are no children involved, to just reinforce for each other the need for reconciliation, the need for forgiveness.

[203] Certainly on an individual basis, the man is a sinner.

[204] The woman is a center in every marriage.

[205] That's guaranteed.

[206] We're all sinners.

[207] But I'm sure for you and your wife, maybe some of those sins have been toward each other, maybe anger or impatience or whatever.

[208] And even though you certainly need to say, honey, I'm sorry and ask forgiveness of your wife, she has forgiveness of you for whatever discord has been there.

[209] I think even beyond that to know for her to know that her to know that her, husband is humble enough to go to the Lord and confess his sins to the priest.

[210] You know, there are probably sins that you've had to confess that your wife isn't directly aware of.

[211] She certainly sees the, you might see the residue of that sinfulness, and she has to deal with it as you have to deal with her sinfulness.

[212] But I'm sure it's an inspiration to spouses, as it is an inspiration.

[213] for me as a priest to see my brother priest or brother bishops going to confession.

[214] I don't know what they're confessing, but it's an inspiration to remind us to be humble before the Lord, to repent of our sins, to acknowledge that we are sinners.

[215] And so I think that's a beautiful part of a relationship that for the husband and wife, for the mother and father, the man and woman, to go to confession, to go to the church together, and to be there in prayer waiting for the opportunity to go to individual confession.

[216] And certainly, if there are kids involved, or grandkids, that's a great model for them to see mom or dad go to confession, certainly not knowing what they're saying, but knowing that they have the humility to do that, it's going.

[217] to help the kids maybe with something they need to forgive mom or dad for because of something that they were hurt by.

[218] To see mom and dad humble enough to go to confession is a great way to bring that presence of Christ and the healing of the Holy Spirit into the family.

[219] Right.

[220] And how about the St. Philip Institute?

[221] We like to plug that because you have so many great resources for the family.

[222] Absolutely.

[223] There's one of our main aspects of the St. Philip Institute is the marriage and family formation office run by Deanna Johnston and with a lot of collaboration from from people around the diocese.

[224] It's the first thing we got started when we started the St. Philip Institute because it's so foundational.

[225] Oh yeah.

[226] As Pope St. John Paul II said, as the family goes, so goes the world, so goes human society.

[227] And we see that, the unraveling of so much, the brokenness of so much is rooted in the brokenness of marriage and family.

[228] So there's a specific section.

[229] You go to the St. Philip Institute .org to the website, you'll very quickly see the section on marriage and family.

[230] And I'd encourage you to explore that.

[231] They're great articles in the Catholic East Texas online, which, as you mentioned earlier, Catholic East Texas Magazine is coming back into print beginning in November.

[232] But you can access a lot of great articles that really, you could say, Terry, there are all about marriage and family, as we were talking about the individual call to holiness, they're all about that.

[233] So if the man and the family grows in holiness, that's a benefit to the whole family and to the marriage.

[234] The same with the woman, the same with the children, whatever their ages.

[235] If we're all growing in holiness, the family benefits from that.

[236] And for those in marriage, the marriage benefits from that.

[237] So the same thing.

[238] Philip Institute really does have a lot of great resources for the call to holiness and the call to holiness in marriage and family.

[239] Well said, and you quoted St. John Paul too.

[240] He wrote a letter that available online to families back in 1993.

[241] And you said, you know, the way the family goes is the way the culture, the way the society goes.

[242] I would encourage everybody to go online and type in a search on that letter because it's so appropriate.

[243] even though it was written almost 20 years ago, it still applies to us today, because it's the truth.

[244] It'll apply 100 years from now.

[245] Bishop Strickland, this quote from the catechism, paragraph 1614, is a powerful quote because we're dealing with a lot of, here's what's happening, and you know this.

[246] Lots of people listening have had marriage problems.

[247] Some of them have had divorces, some of them have had annulments there's just been tough situations in Catholic marriages are way down in the sense of how many people are even getting married today so this paragraph says in his preaching Jesus equivocally taught the original meaning of the union of man and woman as the creator willed it from the beginning and in the Old Testament permission given by Moses to divorce one's wife was a concession to the hardness of hearts The matrimonial union of man and woman is indissoluble.

[248] God himself has determined it.

[249] What therefore God is joined together, let no man put it under.

[250] And I bring this up because the distinction between a divorce and an annulment, people ask that question to me all the time.

[251] What is the difference?

[252] Isn't it an annulment that's kind of like Catholic divorce?

[253] I heard that comment.

[254] Can you, I know this is a can of worms, but I, you know, it's something that a lot of people have to understand the distinction because they say, well, he's in a second marriage.

[255] Well, actually, if it's an annulment, he's not in a second marriage.

[256] The first one was invalid.

[257] But let's talk a little bit about what a annulment is and what the church teaches about second marriages.

[258] Well, I'm glad you bring that up, Terry, because it is a whole.

[259] heartache that many deal with probably, I know in my family, there are probably very few families untouched by broken marriages, marriages that end in divorce.

[260] It's the Catholic mindset on this is something that's challenging for Catholics and for everyone.

[261] But I'm glad you bring it up because I worked in the marriage tribunal for many years.

[262] Okay.

[263] Divorce is an action by the state.

[264] It's a civil action that acknowledges there's a marriage there and we're acting to because the people have petitioned, there's a petition for divorce.

[265] The people have petitioned it and the state says, okay, we're divorcing that marriage.

[266] We're separating these two that were joined in marriage.

[267] we really have to change the language, and it's tough, because as you speak of anonement, really that isn't good language.

[268] I agree.

[269] Because it sounds like, again, oh, well, the church is doing something that sounds just like divorce.

[270] I mean, I can understand the confusion that people have because, well, the state has divorce and the church has anonement.

[271] Because the word annulment sounds like the church is acting to do.

[272] something to change something.

[273] The mindset that the church brings to this, the better language to use is to speak of a decree of nullity.

[274] And you alluded to why that language is important, because it takes a while for people Catholic or not Catholic, to understand this, not because they're not bright, but because it's a different way of thinking about it.

[275] But it really corresponds to what we just read.

[276] What God has joined, let no man put asunder.

[277] So if we're with the Catholic approach to marriage, the assumption is that a marriage existed, that the man and woman stood before a priest or deacon and committed themselves in the vows of marriage.

[278] What a decree of nullity is saying that something was meant?

[279] missing, and the marriage never took place.

[280] It's decreeing that there never was a marriage.

[281] It's decreeing that this was null and void from the beginning.

[282] A basic, I mean, we could, I mean, I spent years studying, so it's hard to cover.

[283] It's a complex.

[284] Bishop Strickland, we're going to take a quick break, but I want you to continue, because you're absolutely right.

[285] It's critical.

[286] People understand the distinction, the annulity.

[287] That's right.

[288] They don't know what that annulity.

[289] You know, let's make that clear as a bell here.

[290] When we come back, we'll continue to talk about what the Catholic Church teaches about the great sacrament of matrimony.

[291] You're listening to the Bishop Strickland Hour on Virgin Most Powerful.

[292] Stay with us, family.

[293] We'll be right back after this quick break.

[294] Welcome back to this final segment on the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[295] We're talking about marriage and Bishop Strickland, as he said, I assume Bishop Strickland, you're a canon lawyer because you're working in the diocese, is that a fair statement?

[296] So there you go.

[297] I have a licention and canon law.

[298] God bless you.

[299] Most of my friends have that that worked in the Vatican and other places.

[300] So this is good.

[301] Now, you were just in the middle of explaining something critically important in regards to a nullity of marriages and what it is and what it's not.

[302] Can you please continue on that?

[303] Yes, Terry.

[304] As we were saying, the typical term is, oh, I got an annulment.

[305] And we really, the language makes a difference.

[306] Because when we say so -and -so got an annulment, it sounds like very similar to so -and -so got a divorce.

[307] And it's really a very different approach that the church takes.

[308] Decree of nullity is the better language because decrees are stating we've investigated, and this is a statement of reality as far as the church is concerned.

[309] A decree that this is what we've come to understand to be the truth.

[310] A decree of nullity means there never was a marriage.

[311] There you go.

[312] That it never came into existence.

[313] It it appeared to be a marriage, but it never came into existence.

[314] One question that always comes up when their children involved, oh, father, are you saying that our children are illegitimate?

[315] Legitimacy of children, very important question, but it's a civil issue.

[316] If a man and a woman are considered to be in a marriage, and civil marriage, I mean, there's quite a broad spectrum of what the civil authorities accept as a marriage.

[317] Here in Texas, it's even a common law marriage, which not every state embraces, but basically in Texas, if a man and woman present themselves as married, they're considered to be married.

[318] And so in that sense, if the civil law recognizes that a man and a woman were in a marriage from the civil perspective, then those children are legitimate children.

[319] That's legitimacy deals with the question of whether there was a civil marriage or not, that a marriage license was granted, or in Texas, again, the common law marriage even.

[320] So that's a question that comes up.

[321] When the church says a decree of nullity has been issued, the church is saying from From the church's perspective, a marriage never took place may have well been a civil marriage.

[322] And so the children are legitimate and a divorce separates that civil marriage.

[323] From the church's perspective, the lasting bond that no man can put as we just quoted from the catechism.

[324] That is a spiritual bond that is under God that can't be divorced, can't be separate if it came into existence.

[325] So when a man and a woman stand before the altar in a Catholic church witnessed, and it's really just witnessed by the priest and the of the people that are there.

[326] When the marriage takes place is what was really emphasized with us as we studied all of this in Canada law, consent makes the marriage.

[327] When the man and the woman consent to marriage, that's what makes the marriage.

[328] If there was something vital to marriage missing at that moment of, of consent, then the marriage never took place.

[329] They may still exchange the same vows.

[330] They may still say the same thing that you and your wife said for however many years ago and you remain married and committed in your marriage.

[331] It can look the same.

[332] It can look right.

[333] But if something basic was missing, then it never happened.

[334] The marriage bond was never formed.

[335] The consent wasn't there.

[336] and never made the marriage.

[337] One simple example, there are many different possibilities for a decree of nullity, but one pretty clear is that, I mean, from the Catholic perspective, you have to be committing to that woman for you as a man, or the woman to the, she commits to the man. You commit to each other that you will be faithful.

[338] to the marriage.

[339] You intend to be faithful.

[340] If, as you're saying that, if you've already got, you know, a relationship on the side where you're simultaneously, I mean, you're basically not expressing the truth, but you've got, you know, let's say the man has a mistress, that he has no intention of discontinuing that relationship, and he says, he makes the vows of marriage, that's grounds for a decree of nullity.

[341] Amen.

[342] Because he hasn't given the consent properly.

[343] I can just hear someone asking this question as you were speaking.

[344] Well, what about consummation of the husband and wife that got married, but they never consummated, never had relations to consummate the marriage?

[345] Are they married?

[346] they are the marriage hasn't been consummated so these days probably most times the consummation happened before the marriage yeah i get it um it's true that in in canon law there so if you can prove yeah that consummation never happened then the the marriage never happened the marriage isn't completed with the consent but without the consent consent, the consummation doesn't happen either.

[347] Yeah, it doesn't mean anything.

[348] So, I mean, it gets technical.

[349] It does, it does.

[350] And it's hard for people just on a program like this to cover everything.

[351] But so much.

[352] The main thing to remember that I would encourage listeners to remember is change the language from an annulment to decree of nullity.

[353] The church is decreeing something to be the reality that a marriage never.

[354] happen.

[355] It's not separating a marriage that was.

[356] And Bishop Strickland, I don't want to get you into trouble, but the perennial teachings of the church has always taught that I know that like in the Eastern Church, you know, the Orthodox, they can get married up to three times.

[357] I read that in their church official teachings.

[358] But in the Catholic Church officially, correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't even attend.

[359] In other words, if you're validly married, there's no way that you could valiantly get married a second time.

[360] That's what has been for the perennial teachings of the church in Maya.

[361] Is that still the case?

[362] Correct.

[363] You're not free to marry if what the church speaks of is a prior bond.

[364] Yeah.

[365] If you're already married, you can only marry one person at a time.

[366] The only thing that dissolves the marriage is death.

[367] There you go.

[368] If your spouse dies, of course you can marry again.

[369] Yeah.

[370] Well, that's clarity here with charity.

[371] And I appreciate you answering those questions from the canon.

[372] law perspective.

[373] Again, let's end on a positive note, Bishop Strickland, what do you tell young couples when you give, I'm sure you've married a lot of young couples, are there any points that you tell them that you could communicate to the folks who are listening right now that what advice would you give couples who have been married for years or even just contemplating getting married?

[374] What are the key elements of a successful marriage?

[375] Well, we've really already talked about it.

[376] Three to get married talks about it.

[377] Keep Christ in the marriage.

[378] Amen.

[379] And for Catholics, pray together.

[380] Yeah.

[381] Read the Word of God together.

[382] Amen.

[383] Celebrate sacraments together.

[384] Go to Mass together.

[385] Yeah.

[386] Go to confession.

[387] Amen.

[388] And certainly that's individual confession, but go to the church together.

[389] Live your faith journey together.

[390] Is one thing.

[391] thing that would be basic advice that I would give to do so as much as possible, you know, and it's very often, just recently I was visiting with a very faithful man. And he said, oh, you know, I'll let the wife take care of the holiness part and said, you know.

[392] That's that is a temptation that a lot of men have.

[393] but we've talked about it before.

[394] The stronger family is where the man is committed to faith, supporting the woman, and they support each other.

[395] So that's probably one of the strongest things that the man and woman can do is to pray together and take their faith seriously together, encouraging each other.

[396] What you just said, I had a young couple on our Terry and Jesse show who are in their 30s with four kids and they told me how they came back to the Catholic Church and they took your advice she one of her relatives died in early death at age 16 or 17 and he was a very devout Catholic and he wrote all kinds of notes and he recommended book lists he's on fire and so when he passed they looked at his Twitter account and saw all these things about his Catholic faith and they thought wow why don't we look into this So they picked up a catechism of the Catholic Church and the couple started studying their faith with the catechism and they got so excited.

[397] They started going to Mass. They were doing adoration together and they started praying the rosary.

[398] They had prayed the rosary when they were kids but they thought, you know, that's boring when we were kids.

[399] Why would we do it now?

[400] Well, they started studying the rosary and it just blossomed their whole family life into a prayerful life.

[401] And now both of them started a website, you know how it says Go fund me?

[402] No, they go, go pray for me .com.

[403] And what they do is, you go online to go pray for me .com and ask for prayers, and they pray for you.

[404] And that's their ministry.

[405] But it came from a 17 -year -old boy who died in a tragic accident, but because he was so on fire for the Lord, that influenced these young couple to be open to studying their faith.

[406] And I would encourage anybody today listening, going, We've had such poor catechesis in the church.

[407] Study your faith with the catechism.

[408] Continue to study.

[409] It's a lifetime occupation.

[410] And what Bishop Strickland's advice was was basic teachings of the Catholic Church.

[411] He's not that smart.

[412] I mean, he's a smart man, but he's not giving you anything that anyone else can't tell you.

[413] And it really comes down to having a close relationship with Jesus Christ and his bride, the church, and live a sacramental life.

[414] Bishop Strickland, how about a blessing for all of us listening?

[415] now mighty god bless all the listeners in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen folks you can listen to all the past shows of bishop strickland's hour going to virgin most powerful radio dot org matter of fact you can listen to all the shows on virgin most powerful radio dot org if you don't have our app please pick it up by going to vmpr .org and have that free app and you can listen to it anywhere in the world and as i say we'll go full sheen ahead here at the bishop strickland hour we seem to always quote bishop streen bishop bolton j sheen every hour may god richly bless you until next time we'll see you again on the bishop strickland hour on virgin most powerful radio god love you