24 Jan 23 – We Are Defenders of Apostolic Tradition

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

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

[2] We are delighted to have Father Mark Goring joining us here on the hour with Bishop Strickland.

[3] First of all, Bishop Strickland, thanks for taking time again to talk about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

[4] And Father Mark, thank you for joining us.

[5] It's my pleasure.

[6] Thank you for having me. Oh, God bless you.

[7] Thanks, Terry.

[8] Our pleasure.

[9] You know, normally we talk about Bishop Strickland's tweets and what's going on in the church.

[10] and how we need to just teach the Catholic faith with its teachings and how it applies to a world that acts like God doesn't exist.

[11] But I wanted to just start off with something about Cardinal Pell.

[12] We talked a little bit about him last week.

[13] Cardinal Pell, 81 years old, he died the 10th of January of a heart attack after he was having hip surgery.

[14] And he is known for just, I mean, I knew him personally, and I know that he was just a straight shooter.

[15] In other words, he taught what the Catholic faith taught all of his life, and he was willing to step out and speak the truth, even if it was politically incorrect, which I appreciate, and both of you have done that in your own as a bishop and a priest.

[16] So, I mean, he said something around, he wrote an article like the day before he passed, and it was in The Spectator, and he basically was trying to advise his brother Cardinals that we have some challenges in the church.

[17] And, uh, reminding the bishops, the cardinals, that were defenders of the servants of that apostolic tradition.

[18] We are not masters of the apostolic tradition.

[19] We're not to free, we're not free to change any essentials in the perennial teachings of the church.

[20] As a layman, that moved me to say, wow, I'm glad he's trying to influence our cardinals to really, you know, confirm us in our faith, because it seems to me that's what cardinals and popes and priests and bishops are to do.

[21] I'd like to get Bishop Strickland's take on that, because you did tweet that, Bishop Strickland.

[22] Yeah, well, I think it's really a shame that, you know, certainly Cardinal Pell, 81 years old, had hip surgery.

[23] It's both father and I, I'm sure, have dealt with parishioners and similar circumstances.

[24] It reminds us we're just men.

[25] We're just human beings.

[26] And the same things happen to us that happened to anyone else.

[27] We certainly pray for Cardinal Pell.

[28] He went through a lot.

[29] And as we talked last time, we were, I was impressed with, I had the, well, we had him on your show, this show.

[30] And I was impressed with his humility, with his witness to faith as he was wrongfully imprisoned.

[31] There wasn't any bitterness that I heard or anger.

[32] He was very complimentary to the guards.

[33] and worried about their humanity.

[34] And I just was very impressed with that.

[35] And I think we need straight shooters.

[36] The truth is our strength.

[37] It's what we're going to, for today and for the future, we have to have the truth.

[38] And so it's a shame to lose his voice.

[39] And we pray that many of the cardinals and bishops that have significant roles and whether in the Vatican or around the world in different diocese that hopefully we can be emboldened to joyfully, like we talk about all the time, Terry.

[40] Amen.

[41] The truth.

[42] It's the greatest gift that we can offer another person.

[43] Even if it's an uncomfortable truth or a challenging truth, certainly we don't attack anyone.

[44] We always value the person because God values the person.

[45] but we've got to proclaim the truth.

[46] And so my prayer is that as we pray for Cardinal Pell, that his writings will inspire many to speak up and to speak the truth.

[47] We all need to be strengthened by the truth.

[48] And I'm sure Father Goring can add a lot to that and we're on the same page.

[49] I bet.

[50] Father?

[51] Yeah, I mean, I was obviously sad to him.

[52] of Cardinal Pell's passing, it was a surprise.

[53] And, you know, part of the sadness was because, you know, he was kind of a courageous voice.

[54] You know, he wasn't afraid to speak up on the unpopular issues of the day.

[55] And, you know, he seemed to have a deep concern for the church and making sure the church kind of stays on the right path, you know, the path of fidelity.

[56] to the teaching of our Lord Jesus, you know, biblical orthodoxy as taught by the saints throughout the ages.

[57] And I didn't know a lot about Cardinal Pell, but I heard he was, he was really, you know, popular among the young people in Australia because of his upholding the Catholic Church teaching, which wasn't, you know, considered politically correct.

[58] And I think, you know, young people, they know courage when they say, see it.

[59] And being politically correct doesn't take any courage at all, you know, but, but standing up for, you know, church teaching that isn't understood in our world today, that's mocked and ridiculed sometimes, you know, he, he wasn't afraid to, you know, to stand up for, you know, the truth of the Catholic faith.

[60] And I know, I know a lot in the, you know, especially whatever mainstream media, some of the public wouldn't have liked that at all.

[61] but young people who are searching for truth and looking for courageous leaders, they found that in Cardinal Pell.

[62] So yeah, I hope, praise God for his courage and his love to be able to stand for the truth.

[63] Well said.

[64] I just want to move to Pope Benedict XVI, who also passed away at the end of this last year just a couple weeks ago.

[65] We had this funeral and so much of his writings now through Ignatius Press and other publishers are coming out.

[66] One of the things that maybe Father Mark, I know Bishop Strickland's familiar with, the spirit of the liturgy that Pope Benedict wrote back in 1999, published by Ignatius Press, and it seems that he really had a pulse on understanding that we need to bring sacredness back into the liturgy and kind of, I mean, he was the last father of the Vatican too.

[67] As far as I know, I don't know if anybody else is alive.

[68] Maybe they are, but they have to be very old to be participating in the Vatican II Council.

[69] So he just made it real clear that the spirit of the liturgy, we need to really make sure that we understand who we're worshipping at Mass. And I'd like to get both of your comments because, you know, the Vatican II calls the Mass the source of the Eucharist, the source and summit of the Christian life.

[70] And I think he really, and from as far as I can say, that's my favorite book of Benedict the 16th, because if we don't have the liturgy right, we get nothing right.

[71] So Bishop Strickland, your thoughts on that book?

[72] Absolutely.

[73] It's a wonderful book.

[74] And as you said, Terry, I think Pope Benedict, when Cardinal Ronsinger, when he wrote that book, but he just had a love for the liturgy and a deep understanding.

[75] He was a scholar and a theologian.

[76] And one of the, as we've said before, one of, I mean, John Paul II had many accomplishments, but one of the greatest, in my opinion, was the catechism.

[77] Oh, yeah.

[78] I think one of Pope Benedict's accomplishments that really helps us now in this time of confusion is the third typical edition of the Roman Missile.

[79] Yeah.

[80] It clarified some things.

[81] It really brought us to a more solemn, more reverent, theocentric kind of liturgy, just in, I mean, no big structure changes, but just in some of the wording.

[82] And the fact that it was called a Roman missile rather than a sacramentary, which was what it was when I was ordained a priest.

[83] So I think that was a great accomplishment during the pontificate of Benedict the 16th was that new Roman missile that we're using now, that, you know, people complained, oh, the language was too formal or whatever.

[84] But it comes, it was just a retranslation of the Latin, the original Latin, and refining some of that, sort of elevating the language, because, you know, the mass is not just any other meeting.

[85] But it is, it is a unique and it needs to have some of that unique expression of the solemn reality that we're there to worship God in God's house, whether it's a grand basilica or a simple church like many of ours in the diocese.

[86] The building is not the main thing.

[87] It needs to be what the people can afford and what they can offer to honor God.

[88] But the main thing, the liturgy, is in the simplest of buildings, it can be grand because who we're celebrating is the Lord of the universe.

[89] And Pope Benedict was very clear about that.

[90] beautiful father mark yeah i've read a number of things that uh pope benedict has written i haven't read the spirit of the liturgy yet it's it's definitely on my list of books read it's been on the list for a long time i just it's one of those things it's a big book yeah okay yeah i've seen it around a lot of the priests in my community have read it and loved it um i mean the thing about pope benedict is i i never had the chance to meet him or get to know him you know personally but I've always been so impressed with his writings.

[91] And I've almost found it amusing how he can put together a few thoughts or ideas that are just, they're brilliant and beautiful and insightful and spiritually deep.

[92] I'll give you one example.

[93] I've always had a great love for a lady Guadalupe.

[94] and she was part of my conversion as a teenager out of atheism, the story of the Tilma.

[95] And so I read a lot of books and did a lot of studying on Our Lady of Guadalupe.

[96] And I thought, you know, I had a pretty good idea of Our Lady Guadalupe.

[97] And then I came across something Pope Benedict just mentioned about Our Lady of Guadalupe just in passing.

[98] And he, in one paragraph, like in three or four sentences, summarized the beauty, the mystery, the wonder of our lady of Guadalupe in a way that all the books I read, you know, didn't get on so clearly and, you know, with such depth.

[99] And I'm thinking to myself, like, he's in Europe.

[100] Father, hang on.

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

[102] I want to finish that story about Pope Benedict.

[103] Stay with us, family.

[104] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[105] We have Father Mark Goring, our guest here on the hour.

[106] And he was telling us a marvelous story about.

[107] Benedict the 16th and how we can articulate certain aspects of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

[108] So, Father, we had a quick break, but let's get back on to that story.

[109] Yeah, well, like I said, I was just, you know, after doing so much reading and studying of our Lady Guadalupe, to read something that Pope Benedict had written just in passing about our Lady Guadalupe that perfectly encapsulated, I was thinking, okay, like, he's in Europe.

[110] He's a, he's a German, you know, Bishop Pope, and yet how does he understand?

[111] understand, you know, are leading Guadalupe.

[112] And this is, I mean, this isn't his area of specialty, I don't think.

[113] I mean, he's a theologian, a philosopher.

[114] And since then, like, everything I read from him, it's, it's so beautiful.

[115] It's so inspiring.

[116] And I think I like about, I liked about Pope Benedict, too, is, and not everyone appreciated this, especially in the secular world, you know, the media or whatever.

[117] he really came across as a meek and humble man. Oh, yeah.

[118] Despite his great genius and also the tremendous power he yielded in the church, you know, obviously ultimately as Pope, such a meek man. And I remember when he traveled to England for a people visit, before the visit, there was so much kind of negativity and, you know, sarcasm, like a lot of the some of the British people including leadership were really kind of disrespectful and he spent a few days on his people visit when he was flying out of England it's like he he touched the hearts of everyone like all of the the the mockers or you know negative people were impressed with them and I think it was particularly his meekness but also his brilliant.

[119] Here's a brilliant man who's not trying to impress anyone.

[120] Just humbly trying to be faithful to his duties.

[121] Anyways, I love Pope Benedict.

[122] And I plan, God willing, to spend the rest of my life poking away at things he's written.

[123] And a lot of priests, I'm sure Bishop Strickland can confirm.

[124] I say, when I talk among priests, well, what are you reading?

[125] What's inspiring you?

[126] A lot of And do you experience the same thing, Bishop Strickland?

[127] Oh, yeah, absolutely.

[128] And from what I understand, we actually had some of our priests and seminarians that were there at the funeral in the Vatican.

[129] And they said there were lots of priests there from around the world.

[130] And I think that's just an indicator.

[131] And, I mean, he was sort of like a father to priest, almost a grandfatherly figure.

[132] And, you know, he sort of could blow you away with his theological.

[133] precision, but still be very humble, meek, and not flashy at all.

[134] He had a warmth about him.

[135] He had, you know, we have to face it, as Pope, he had a tough act to follow.

[136] I mean, the super charismatic course, John Paul II, now St. John Paul II had really diminished a lot in the last years of his life.

[137] But he was truly a rock star and for Pope Benedict to follow him.

[138] But Pope Benedict really had his own style and his own beautiful commitment.

[139] I was just reading about World Youth Day that he went to, I guess it was 2010 or I forget exactly the time, but how much he loved the young people and how much they gravitated to him in a way similar to John Paul the second, but with Benedict's own style.

[140] And I think that like we were talking, I was talking with Father Goring during our break that as a young person, he wasn't so sure about the faith, but different elements drew him to a deep love of our Catholic faith.

[141] And, part of that is having people like Pope Benedict, who is clearly a brilliant man. I mean, he could be, you know, one of the Fortune 500 companies, if that's how he had used his brilliance.

[142] But instead, he studied the faith and shared that faith in a very humble way.

[143] And one thing that's striking is, as I read more about Pope Benedict, it's very clear he was actually hoping to retire when John Paul II died, he thought he could step away.

[144] And even before that, and then he gets elected Pope.

[145] So it really is, I've read, you know, it's not that surprising with that humility and that sort of understanding of an understated dimension of himself.

[146] I think to me, as I read those kind of stories, it makes more sense that he did.

[147] resigned the papacy.

[148] I mean, it's still very controversial, and there will probably still be a lot of books written about that, because it's hard to figure out.

[149] But I think it was an expression of his humility, not abandoning the church in any way, but stepping into a very prayerful mode, recognizing the diminishing strength that he was concerned about, even before he was made Pope.

[150] Wow.

[151] Wow.

[152] I know that there were 400 ,000 people at that World Youth Day in Australia, because Cardinal Pell spoke about it last month.

[153] It was the largest amount of people ever assembled in the history of Australia, and that was the World Youth Day in Australia.

[154] So you're spot on.

[155] You know, Father Mark and Bishop Strickland, I always quote Pope Benedict at the end of my book on how to show your faith with anyone.

[156] He said this.

[157] I ended this book.

[158] He said, Pope Benedict, said there is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the gospel by the encounter with Christ there is nothing more beautiful than to know him and to speak to others about our friendship with him and that touched me because that's what we all that's what we're all doing you know we want to introduce people to the person of Christ I think that was very special for him I wanted to get your take on another pope and I'm going to shoot from the hip here because back in October you Fisher Strickland you tweeted this and I kept this copy of the tweet from Pope St. Pius X. And I want to ask how it applies to you as a bishop and Father Goring as a priest.

[159] And here's the quote.

[160] The Pope said, how I tremble to think that souls can be punished for all eternity on the account of negligence of their pastor, that innocent people can be led from the path of truth because the words of the inspired text were never preached to them, and that the spirit of the world and of our time especially should pour into ill -instructed minds for want of a firm hand to check its tide.

[161] I have a sacred duty to defend the truth openly, for God will ask me to render an account for all those souls who have strayed into the way of perdition.

[162] I was moved by that statement as a layman on the radio.

[163] How does that apply to you, Bishop Strickland, and also Father Mark?

[164] I'll let Bishop Strickland go first.

[165] I like to hear from Father Mark first on that, because it really speaks to me. Yeah.

[166] That's how Father Mark and I've gotten to know each other.

[167] Yeah.

[168] He speaks the truth.

[169] He's certainly not.

[170] He gets in trouble for it sometimes, but we have to speak the truth.

[171] So I'd like to hear Father Mark.

[172] Awesome.

[173] Let's do it.

[174] Yeah, I mean, I think our people, they need to see what I would call a kind of a holy recklessness from the pastors like if we truly believe in the gift of eternal life one for us by the lord jesus if we truly believe that you know there are two ways like the lord jesus speaks about the wide and easy path the narrow path that every soul is made for eternal life but we can choose to reject that like if we truly believe this we shouldn't be all kind of trim proper and polite all the time now obviously there's a place for being prim and proper and polite, but I think, you know, there must be, especially in our time, a certain holy recklessness, a loving recklessness where our people need to see our shepherds.

[175] They're a little, there's a divine madness.

[176] They're anxious to see us hear the good news, respond to the gospel, encounter Jesus, and choose, you know, to, you know, say as to the gift of eternal life.

[177] I think if a pastor is so nice and careful and not rocking the boat at all, people would be like, but wait a minute, don't you believe in something eternal and great and so important?

[178] Like, don't you care about us, you know?

[179] And so I think souls are drawn to pastors who like St. Paul, they're anxious for for the children, God's children, to know the truth and to believe it and to accept it.

[180] And so, you know, the words of, you know, that you just quote it there from Pope Pius the 10th.

[181] Is that the who it was?

[182] Yes, sir.

[183] Oh, yeah, it resonates.

[184] It certainly resonated with me as a layman.

[185] And thank you, Father Mark.

[186] And you know, Father Mark, I watch a lot of your videos like a lot of our listeners do.

[187] I just want to give a plug a couple times during the hour.

[188] how can people get in tune with your social media platforms well i mean my youtube is pretty much my only thing i think and so father mark going on youtube i put them on it on my facebook public page but it's just a youtube video on facebook so yep i'm on youtube well bishop strickland um i would think and i'm just putting words in your mouth but i want to hear from you but the holy father here pope pious the tenth is really um pointing out the responsibility, as Father Mark was saying, of shepherds to really proclaim the truth in season and out.

[189] Does that give you hope as a bishop when you read from the saints, just their commitment to fidelity to the truth?

[190] Absolutely.

[191] Gives me hope and strength to continue to do my best, to do the same thing in our time.

[192] And what occurs to me as Father Mark was talking, you know, three men.

[193] Terry, you're a father of children.

[194] That's right.

[195] Father Mark and I are fathers, spiritual fathers of children.

[196] Yep.

[197] And, you know, what dad worth his salt is going, we've talked about before, Terry.

[198] I know.

[199] What dad is not going to say, son, stop that.

[200] Instead of, oh, son, maybe, or not even saying anything.

[201] Well, son, if you're choosing that, well, okay.

[202] I mean, that's not being a father.

[203] I think the job of a shepherd has that fathering aspect, a spiritual father.

[204] And we need to be, you know, ready to face whatever for the sake of the flock, for the sake of our spiritual children.

[205] And the truth, there's no better weapon than the truth.

[206] The truth is what we present, and we have to.

[207] And so what Pope Pius the 10th, Pope Pius the 10th said is to me, it does, it should make us tremble to think, I have a responsibility.

[208] I mean, that's what motivates me as a bishop.

[209] Yeah.

[210] I've got 33 counties about 1 .5 million people that I need to speak to as bishop of the Diocese of Tyler.

[211] Only a fraction of those, less than 10 % are Catholic.

[212] but the church says all of them as Father Mark was saying they're all souls of God they're all beloved of God and I have an obligation to share the truth with them amen and when we come back we're going to confirm Archbishop Charles Shepu basically said the same thing you gentlemen said and I want to do that and also I want to I want to talk a little bit about St. Anthony of Egypt you've tweeted about him and I've got something that I was sent that I think will really rock people big time.

[213] time when he regards to falling in love with Jesus Christ and his bride the church.

[214] Stay with us family.

[215] We'll be back before the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[216] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[217] As a layman, I'm listening to these two men who've committed their life to Jesus Christ and their sacred priesthood by hearing our confessions, by saying mass and convicting the Eucharist.

[218] I mean, you know, the church couldn't exist without the mass. And I want to say publicly for our listeners.

[219] Thank you, Bishop Strickland.

[220] Thank you, Father Mark, for saying yes to Jesus about your priesthood.

[221] All right, and I just want you to know every Thursday night we pray for two of you and all the priests here because at our chapel, we're part of our Opus Angeloam spirituality is praying for the Pope, the bishops, the priests every Thursday for our holy hour.

[222] And we say prayers specifically for priests, bishops, and the Holy Father to confirm us in our faith.

[223] So we got your back covered with the lay people praying for you.

[224] All right, Bishop Strickland, you guys have both been talking about the truth.

[225] Well, Archbishop Shepu, you know, was saying that, I just get, speaking the truth is polarizing.

[226] You know, our Lord was polarizing.

[227] And you said, thank you, Archbishop Shepu.

[228] I love your reminder that speaking the truth is polarizing and that this happens in the ministry of Jesus Christ himself.

[229] He did not shy away from the truth, and neither should we.

[230] So I think that this is what we as lay people are looking for leadership.

[231] And I remember the book, The Battle for the American Church by Monsignor George Kelly.

[232] He says, where is the church going?

[233] And he said, where there's leaders take them.

[234] So if we have strong leadership, we're going to follow you guys.

[235] Why?

[236] Because we see your commitment to Christ and Him crucify.

[237] Oh, and I'm done.

[238] I want to give a quote here from St. Anthony of the desert.

[239] And Bishop, I mean, sorry, St. Athanasius Snyder wrote.

[240] his autobiography, people might want to read that.

[241] But we just had a feast day of St. Anthony of Egypt, and you tweeted that it inspired you to be sure that our possessions do not possess us.

[242] He sold everything.

[243] He became a hermit.

[244] We are all called to be hermits, but we are called to live simple, recognizing that wealth does not ultimately feed deep hunger in our hearts.

[245] I just want to, I did a little research.

[246] When he was in the desert, he lived to be 105.

[247] I don't want to live to be 105.

[248] Please, God, don't put that.

[249] Whatever God wills, okay?

[250] But, I mean, he had 8 ,000 souls that he was consulting with in spirituality and in spiritual direction.

[251] 8 ,000.

[252] He said this, and I want to get your take on this, he said this as a prophetic statement, a time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, you are mad, you are not like us.

[253] Bishop Strickland, Father Mark, has that time come?

[254] Well, there are too many signs of it for sure, probably through the edges at different moments.

[255] But in our time, there's too much of that.

[256] People saying insane things and then attacking other people that are simply speaking the truth.

[257] And I was really inspired in the little bit I read about St. Anthony of Egypt, St. Anthony, the Abbott.

[258] because what was very interesting, you think, well, he was a hermit and he went and sort of hidden from the world, but what I read is that he struggled with temptation throughout his life, strong temptations.

[259] It didn't describe what, but, you know, all kinds of temptations, I guess.

[260] Here he is a hermit living in the desert all by himself, and he's still struggling with those temptations that we can kind of excuse ourselves.

[261] Well, we live in this sinful world and we see all these images or whatever.

[262] Here's St. Anthony, literally in the desert, and he's still struggling with temptation.

[263] I think that's a reminder to that we shouldn't be surprised that we struggle with temptation, but what did he do with that temptation?

[264] He took it to prayer.

[265] He took it to his faith and to the strength there.

[266] So I think St. Anthony, like all the saints, the saints are wonderful people that can inspire us.

[267] And I'm often encouraging people to get to know the saints because they inspire me, just like Father Mark was talking about our lady of Guadalupe and studying certainly our lady, the queen of saints, but realizing that real people have lived wondrously virtuous lives, living the truth.

[268] The truth has been the same since eternity, but the truth that Christ proclaimed 2 ,000 years ago hasn't changed.

[269] It can't change.

[270] It won't change.

[271] We hear a lot about, oh, we're going to change this teaching or that teaching.

[272] We have to be strong enough like the saints to say no. And, I mean, St. Anthony in the desert, he was a contemporary, actually the best information we have of him because he was a hermit.

[273] How do we know anything?

[274] Because St. Athanasius, who was a contemporary, wrote about him.

[275] And both of them were finding the Aryan heresy and just great inspiration of when you have the truth, you have the greatest strength that humanity can possess.

[276] Amen, amen, amen.

[277] I say unto you.

[278] Wow.

[279] Father Mark.

[280] Yeah, I I mean, I agree with you or both of you.

[281] Like, the expression I use, and I should maybe copyright, but, you know, to me, in many ways, our world has gone completely bonkers, you know.

[282] And, I mean, you don't need me to list just the things that, you know, you think to yourself, like, aren't you serious?

[283] Like, how can normal people pretend like this is just, you know, normal?

[284] And anyways, you don't need me to give examples, but it, to me, it scandalizes me that, especially leaders and, you know, people in the media, they treat some of these new ideologies, especially in the area of sexuality and identity as if, oh, yeah, no, that's, that's perfectly fine.

[285] And anyways, I don't want to get into that, but I do believe, I do believe we're living in a time where we've, I forget exactly how St. Anthony put up, you know, we've, we've, we've, gone mad, we've gone bonkers, and I believe it's, you know, it's a sign that we will be experiencing just more of God's divine intervention, his mercy, justice, you know, to bring us to our knees and bring us back to our senses, you know, and again, that's a whole topic I probably don't want to get into now.

[286] St. Anthony, he went into the desert when he was 18 years old and he had a massive impact on the whole christian world even in europe they were hearing about throngs of people leaving the world and going into the desert to live a life of deep prayer so they could enter into a union with god and live the gospel in the most you know whole heart radical, complete way.

[287] And they were renouncing the world that had even kind of compromised or lax Christianity.

[288] They wanted to really respond wholeheartedly.

[289] St. Anthony, he set the burner.

[290] Yeah.

[291] Like, he showed them how it could be done.

[292] And people, again, he inspired them so much.

[293] They came out, if I'm not mistaken by the thousands, maybe tens of thousands.

[294] You know, they just filled that area of the Egyptian desert and beyond.

[295] And that impact has had its ripple effect to this day.

[296] I mean, many, all of the monasticism, so much, when you read St. Teresa Vival, even Therese, when you read, you know, any of the saints who had a, you know, kind of deep spiritualized, they all read the stories of the desert fathers.

[297] Because they're delightful.

[298] They're just so fun to read.

[299] They're so, they're so human.

[300] They're so heartfelt.

[301] And I, like, we're going to do a series starting next week for our youth group on wilderness spirituality.

[302] And we're going to talk about St. Anthony of the Desert.

[303] We're going to talk about how Jesus went into the desert.

[304] No iPhone.

[305] We're going to talk about, you know, St. Benedict, Elijah, St. Paul.

[306] even like this whole thing of just disconnecting from the crazy, noisy, world full of distractions and just facing yourself and in that kind of reality check of who you are and whose you are encountering God in a life changed way, like we have to rediscover that.

[307] I agree.

[308] You know, we have to realize our identity, our dignity, our authority, our destiny, our authority, You know, the young people, you know, don't be shy even to literally go into the desert.

[309] Like, go camping.

[310] Go camping alone and leave your phone behind.

[311] Bring a Bible with you.

[312] Do a little bit of fasting and see what happens inside of you.

[313] You know, see what happens to your soul.

[314] And so I love St. Anthony.

[315] I didn't know that when I asked the question.

[316] But you know what, Father, you fired me up what you just said.

[317] I think of, I know Bishop Strickland can't stay with us with the next segment when we So, Father Mark, if you could stay, I want to ask you the question of the greatest need in the church, what would that be for us today?

[318] But I want to just touch base on that silence part that I know I was with Father Don Callaway last weekend, and that's what got him.

[319] He was a wild kid, and when silence came in, it scared him at first because he didn't know what to do.

[320] Is that the point I'm trying to convey to you is it seems, Father Mark, that young kids, people need to experience silence and prayer, whether it's before the Blessed Sacrament or out in the woods, but just to get the distractions out of their mind so they can focus on their relationship with Jesus Christ.

[321] And you've had a lot of experience working with young people in the charismatic movement.

[322] I know that.

[323] Am I on to something about giving them more time to just have silence in their life?

[324] Would you, what would you recommend, you know, a time, like a regiment for a young person to say, put aside a certain amount of time each week and just get your Bible, read it, and reflect on it.

[325] I mean, yeah, absolutely.

[326] You know, in Proverbs it says, with closest custody, guard your heart.

[327] Yeah, guard your heart.

[328] For in it are the sources of life.

[329] And, you know, when we go into silence, what we need to do is we need to look deep within our own hearts because God dwells within us.

[330] And we need to see the depths of beauty and, you know, glory God has created deep within us and, you know, our dignity, our calling.

[331] And so, again, to go into silence and to just face yourself and the God who made you, it's meant to shock us to the core and change our life forever.

[332] And, you know, many people can testify to that.

[333] That's what makes, you know, the saints, you know, they've encountered reality.

[334] Wow, wow.

[335] Father Mark, we're going to get you back after the break.

[336] And I have some big questions to ask you about the great needs of the church.

[337] Bishop Strickland, I know you've got a tight schedule.

[338] We'll see you again.

[339] We'll see you again next week.

[340] So I thank you for your time.

[341] We'll be back with the Bishop Strickland Hour after a short break.

[342] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[343] Father Mark Thorring is with us.

[344] I wanted to give a quote from Vatican 2, Father Mark, because I think you imbied the Vatican 2 priests that I envision not the spirit of Vatican 2, but the actual teachings of Vatican 2.

[345] And on the decree of the missionary activity of the church, it says the whole church is missionary.

[346] The work of evangelization is the fundamental task of the people of God.

[347] And I like what it says here.

[348] In the church, there's diversity of services, but unity of purpose.

[349] Christ conferred on the apostles and their successors.

[350] the duty of teaching, sanctifying, and ruling in his name.

[351] But the laity too share in this priestly prophetic and royal office of Christ.

[352] Therefore, they have a role to play in this mission.

[353] And I've seen you operate with that Vatican II spirituality where you're giving laypeople roles of evangelization.

[354] And I want to ask you this question, what do you think is the greatest need in the church today to bring Christ into the world into the workplace?

[355] What need, well, how can we do that?

[356] Yeah, well, certainly, you know, that what we keep speaking about is people having that personal encounter with the Lord Jesus.

[357] Like when you fall in love with Jesus, when you open your heart to the Lord Jesus, everything changes and you see things as they are.

[358] and it, you know, it changes everything in your life.

[359] And so we always have to keep our work of evangelization and everything we do.

[360] Like everything we do in the church, it has to always be proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ.

[361] And it should be done with the radiant joy of a disciple of Jesus who's filled with the Holy Spirit.

[362] And so if you're in love, you never grow weary of sharing the Lord Jesus with others.

[363] and if you're in love, there's a joy and there's a desire.

[364] You know, people, they need to discover his love.

[365] And so certainly, you know, calling people to encounter the Lord Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit is where it all begins.

[366] Wow.

[367] Father, well said, and I always say this, that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

[368] And I've seen this with priests, especially hearing confessions, are going and ministering to people in need because this is an opportunity.

[369] We have a couple hundred funerals at our chapel here and I get to meet the people who are hurting because of their loved one who passed away.

[370] And this is a great opportunity to get them to re -invite them back to a relationship with Jesus Christ.

[371] And I think that you, through your YouTube channel, I cover that.

[372] As a matter of fact, I think your comments about Our Lady of Fatima, I don't know if you remember this was well back, but you talked about the message of Fatima, how important it is for us to live that message.

[373] Do you mind just kind of talking a little bit about how the Fatima message applies to us, especially today and how important it is to live that message?

[374] Yeah, I mean, I think one of the key things with the message of Fatima is it was at a time when so much of, especially Europe, was just, opening itself up to these new ways of thinking, you know, and, you know, dreams of new philosophies or ways of structuring, you know, society that we make our own paradise.

[375] Yeah, that's right.

[376] And part of the thinking, you know, especially from, I guess, the Masons or the, you know, the intelligency of the time was that or the communists it was the communist the idea was we need to do away with religion because that's that's a stumbling block that's preventing us from being open -minded and it's funny we're seeing this right now with the world economic forum and davos you know people thinking that oh we're going to make the world a better place and and the way we're going to do that is we're going to set aside traditional morality.

[377] We're going to set aside natural law.

[378] We're going to do this all by our own reason, our brilliance, our new ways of thinking.

[379] And if you read the history of the world, going back to the Old Testament, it never works when you kick God out and his commands and his law.

[380] Like when you try to make a paradise and God isn't invited to paradise, it's not paradise you need god you know and so and so that was happening in an acute way in at the time of fatima 1917 people young people in droves were leaving the catholic faith the practice of religion and our blessed mother appears and she warns this this is going to lead to destruction and it did the second world war the spread of communism you know yeah yeah it's an urgent message it was an urgent message and it still is and you know father mark i always think of fatima my wife and i went to fatima for our honeymoon almost 38 years ago and so we're very devoted to our lady and consecrated to the blessed mother and i love the aspect you know you can talk about you know the children seeing hell i get all that i mean we have to have a fear for going to hell i get that a proper fear but the thing that really touched my heart was when our lady said that souls are going to hell because because no one is there to pray and make sacrifices.

[381] And I actually have heard you talk about that on one of your YouTube's about embracing the fact that we all participate in the saving work of Christ and that I think you quoted Colossians chapter 1.

[382] I fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the good of the church and how we can have redemptive suffering and affect souls.

[383] Can you talk a little bit about that?

[384] Yeah, I mean, I think a big part of that is having the heart of Christ And it is a heart that does grieve over, you know, the lack of love.

[385] And, you know, we know that the heart of Christ was pierced.

[386] And if we, if our heart is like the heart of Christ, it is a pierced heart.

[387] And so, I mean, the thing is we're supposed to be joyful.

[388] We're supposed to be confident, surrendered to the Lord, but always longing for the prodigals to come home.

[389] And, you know, the story of the prodigal, son, I know you're so familiar with it.

[390] I love it, though.

[391] Let's talk about it.

[392] The tragedy is that the older brother didn't understand the grieving heart of his father.

[393] And we, as practicing Catholics, we're the older brother.

[394] And we need to grieve, you know, with the wounded heart of Christ.

[395] Like, there has to be a longing for the prodigals to come home, you know.

[396] And so, so, yeah, it's, it's, you know, and I think the Lord delights.

[397] when he sees his children, kind of, you ever hear the song, break my heart with what breaks yours?

[398] I think the Lord loves it when our heart is broken over the things that break his heart.

[399] And I think that the opposite is true also.

[400] If we're like, if we couldn't care less, whether or not people were saved, like that must grieve the heart of the Lord, the Blessed Mother, our guardian angel.

[401] Yes.

[402] And you know, Father Mark talking, about angels.

[403] I'm a member of the Opus Angelorum, the work of the Holy Angels.

[404] I'm consecrated to my guardian angel.

[405] I always ask him, I always joke and say that the unemployment rate for guardian angels is way too high.

[406] Put them to work.

[407] Can you talk a little bit about how important it is as committed Christians, Catholics, especially to have a devotion to their guardian angel?

[408] Yeah, well, I mean, to have a guardian angel is just, what a wonderful thing.

[409] And it says something of our own dignity like you you talk about being VIP you know if we have a constant celestial being who lights guards rules and guides us um that's a a revelation of our great dignity and um and it should be something that that you know we we are grateful for and to me you would know about devotion to the angels because of your work with is it opus angelorum yeah the work of yeah so you would know more than i do but you know what one thing i've always urged catholics is you have to pray your guardian angel prayer every day i agree minimum i do that and the saint michael prayer like those two prayers yeah non -negotiable for for a catholic and it brings you know the special help and assistance of of you know our guardian angel and and saint michael and and all the celestial court and so it's a yeah it's a beautiful thing to be aware of and to enter into you know father mark i'm 66 years old uh 52 years ago someone introduced me to uh the mass and daily mass and then i've heard fulton sheen's cassette tapes uh explaining what the mass is and just like you you got fired up as a teenager and you talk a little bit about not just the mass but the euchrist in itself Why is that such?

[410] I mean, John 6, why is it such a gift to the church?

[411] And my point is, how do we re -enkindle?

[412] Our bishops are talking about a Eucharistic revival.

[413] What's your take on getting people excited about the Eucharist and the Holy Mass?

[414] Yeah, I mean, the Eucharist is a gift beyond words.

[415] It's the Lord Jesus himself.

[416] I think if we just, you know, were to say to someone, listen, if you were in the vicinity of Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born, what do you want to be there and what what do you want to just you know gaze upon the savior and just just bask in that beautiful thing and some people say what are you talking about it's just a little baby oh no it's not it's not just a little baby yes it's a baby but this baby is the divine son of god the savior of the world and a soul that is awake will will there'll be a knowing will encounter divine love in this this child this newborn child so too in the holy eucharist it's him yes it's the lord jesus he's truly present and would you not want to spend some time with him would you not want to open your heart to him and receive him body blood soul divinity in the whole euchrest and a person who is spiritually awake experienced is a wonderful peace and delight and is fulfilled in a way that, again, can't be described.

[417] And the proof is look at all the people who they just, they keep going day after day to mass, to Eucharistic adoration.

[418] It's their heart.

[419] It's their love.

[420] It's, it's their strength, you know, and I can go, I don't know how much time we have.

[421] Oh, we just have another minute or two, but, you know, it's a taste of heaven.

[422] I'm, I'm listening to you going, ah, father, you're preaching to the, I mean, this is so important that I, especially say I find that young people also are doing much more Eucharistic adoration.

[423] I see more young people at mass. So I just want to thank you for your zeal for the salvation of souls.

[424] We got a minute left, Father.

[425] Can you give us your priestly blessing, please?

[426] Oh, Heavenly Father, pour out your love, pour out your mercy.

[427] Just grant your children their heart's desire now.

[428] Bless them.

[429] Father, I pray that through this blessing, you bathe everyone in the most precious blood of your son, Jesus.

[430] And may Almighty God bless you now.

[431] The Father, the son, and the Son, and the whole, Holy Spirit.

[432] Amen.

[433] Father Mark Goring on YouTube, people, I endorse that man because he has a heart for the sacred heart of Jesus.

[434] And he's on fire.

[435] And we need young priests like Father Mark to share the gospel.

[436] Thank you, Father Mark, for taking the time to join us here on the Bishop Strickland Hour, here on Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[437] May God richly bless your ministry.

[438] And again, folks, if you'd like to hear more shows, we've got the Terry and Jesse show, we've got Jesus 9 -1 -1.

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[444] God love you.