08 Mar 22 – Lent: Repentance and Amendment

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

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

[2] Bishop Strickland, thanks for joining us again.

[3] It's your show for every week you spend an hour teaching us about the love of God and our love for Jesus Christ and His Church.

[4] So thanks so much for joining us again.

[5] Thanks, Terry.

[6] Bishop Strickland, right off the bat, we're in Lent now.

[7] And you made, I think, a very good point in one of your comments of your tweets.

[8] you said that especially as we begin Lent, our Lenten journey, let us resolve to do all we can to repent of our sins, confess them worthily, and thus be better prepared to receive our Lord and Holy Communion.

[9] And let us pray for all who ignore sin and even teach others that they can ignore their sins and still receive Holy Communion.

[10] Bishop Strickland, you say the most politically incorrect thing, and I love it because we need to hear that because it's not that it offends you.

[11] Who cares about you or me?

[12] Sacrilegious communions offend our Lord, and the individual that's doing it is going to be culpable to a certain degree, whether they know it or not, that this is wrong.

[13] It's sinful to receive only communion in the state of mortal sin.

[14] What made you bring that up?

[15] Is that because it's so rampant now that we just have a lot of people out there receiving communion and their pro -choice in a sense of killing unborn babies by their votes or by their actions?

[16] Is that why you did it?

[17] Absolutely.

[18] Because sadly, people are literally being taught that it's okay.

[19] That ignoring their sin and just relying on God's mercy and receiving communion, that's the sort of the new message.

[20] And it's not true.

[21] No. Absolutely.

[22] God is wondrously merciful, but that mercy relies on our choice to embrace it.

[23] And the first step in the right direction is to say, Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.

[24] And to repent of our sins.

[25] And really, Terry, it gets to a lack of understanding of what sin is.

[26] Sin is rejection of the truth.

[27] Sin is rejection of God's plan, and instead it becomes our human plan.

[28] Hopefully in the venial ways that we talk about, venial sin, the simple ways, but they're sinful because they're a small step, but a step in the wrong direction, a step away from God's plan and into our plan.

[29] It becomes a mortal sin, a deadly sin when it's a big step away from God's plan and in relying on our plan.

[30] The reality is, you know, probably for most people, most of their sins are venial.

[31] But if they don't pay attention to them, they keep you, you build the momentum going away from the plan of God, from the path of God.

[32] What, it seems like, you know, the ignoring of the reality of sin, it is people not realizing really what sin is.

[33] It's not just breaking a rule, but it's violating the very core of who we are because we're created in the image and likeness of God.

[34] We've got to, I have an obligation.

[35] You have an obligation.

[36] Every believing disciple who knows what sin is and knows what God's grace is really about and knows what his mercy makes possible, we all have an obligation to teach and live the truth that God is the creator of all.

[37] He's the one sustaining us in life even as we speak right now.

[38] and sin is diverting from the God plan for each of us in big ways or in small ways and we're called to repentance.

[39] I mean, it's perfect that we're talking about this on the doorstep of the season of Lent because it's a time for all of us.

[40] Really, Terry, in a lot of ways, with all that's going on in the world and in the church, I'm looking forward to this Lent more than ever because I know I need it.

[41] We all need it.

[42] We need to refocus.

[43] We need to trust in God, but built into that trust in God is a humble repentance of sin.

[44] And a firm purpose of amendment, some old language of the church, but a firm purpose of amendment means I really mean it that I'm not going to do this again.

[45] Certainly.

[46] We sin.

[47] We're sinners.

[48] But I urge everyone listening, and I urge you, I urge myself to continually, especially during this Lenton season, what it's about is repenting more and more deeply of sin.

[49] And if we say, thanks to God's grace and our willingness to cooperate with that grace, maybe something that's been a sinful habit, we finally overcome it, and we just stop doing that, whatever it is.

[50] You don't stop there and say, oh, well, I'm okay then.

[51] I don't need to go to confession.

[52] And really, I know in my own life, as I seek to overcome sinfulness, It really does invigorate me to keep going deeper and to keep striving more for what we call the universal call to holiness that comes right out of the documents of Vatican II.

[53] A beautiful element of the Second Vatican Council that with all the controversy, sometimes the beauty of those documents gets lost.

[54] what Second Vatican Council really emphasized, and it certainly wasn't a brand new idea, but the emphasis was new, that you're as called to holiness as I am.

[55] There's still that attitude, even after the universal call to holiness that the Second Vatican Council proclaims, there's still an attitude that, well, those are the holy people, the bishop or the priest or the deacon or the, women religious.

[56] Yeah, they're called to holiness, but a husband and a wife, a mother and a father, a child and a teenager, we're all called to holiness.

[57] And we have different ways.

[58] And really, Terry, the saints are a great illustrations of that reality.

[59] God gave us the example of the universal call to holiness long before we started using that language in the church.

[60] because he's called children to sanctity.

[61] He's called people willing to die for the faith to sanctity.

[62] He's called people willing to live a very long life apostolically and as missionaries.

[63] He's called them to sanctity.

[64] God is called married couples to be saints.

[65] God is called everyone.

[66] That universal call to holiness is the communion of saints.

[67] And that's what we need to be inspired.

[68] and challenged by that, you know, so often I, you know, as guys, as men, it's easy to say, oh, we'll let the women get me to heaven.

[69] And I've told men throughout my time as a priest that said, certainly your wife is there to help as you're there to help her.

[70] Amen.

[71] You can't, she can't do it for you.

[72] The call of God is a very individual process.

[73] Yes.

[74] And it's, in a communion that we need each other.

[75] We need the family of God.

[76] But ultimately, it's your choice and it's my choice, and it's every individual choice.

[77] That's where only I can repent from my own sins.

[78] Your wife can tell you, Terry, you need to change this and this and this, and I'm sure she does.

[79] Oh, yeah.

[80] People tell me as bishop, you know, this is what you need to correct.

[81] But only you and only I can actually make that correction.

[82] And that's what Lent is about, is in the love of God, trusting that God's love is there, even as he sees how ugly our sinfulness is, he loves us unimaginably.

[83] And so trusting in that, hopefully we're strengthened to repent of the sins and to know it's the greatest path to happiness in this life, much less the path to everlasting life.

[84] Certainly, that's the most important, but real happiness in this life is rooted in ridding ourselves of sin and growing in virtue.

[85] Well, said, I also, you have a tweet back on February 23rd.

[86] You said this about Lent and about just self -denial, says, if you're so attached to something that you can't give it away, it means you're too attached.

[87] Put God on the throne of your heart.

[88] I don't know who said that, but that made a total, that really got me that saying.

[89] Who is that, do you?

[90] Is it just someone who tweeted that to you?

[91] That's a great thing.

[92] I don't remember.

[93] It was a quote, a tweet quoting someone.

[94] Yeah, great.

[95] It's truth.

[96] And we need to recognize that.

[97] Yeah.

[98] Bishop Strickland, you, also constantly encourage us to pray for our leaders in our church, not just the bishops like auxiliary bishops, archbishops, cardinals, but the Holy Father.

[99] And I really liked the way you laid this out.

[100] And after the break, I'd like to give you a comment on that.

[101] Also, I want to encourage people to go to the St. Philip Institute.

[102] And they can put it on the screen right now.

[103] That's something that Bishop Strickland has in his diocese that it's just not for the diocese of Tyler.

[104] He allowed all of us so st and then philip institute .org check it out especially for lent there's some goodies there that you might want to get so when we come back i want to talk about a tweet that bishop strickland put out for praying for the holy father on you know it was a feast of the chair of peter and i thought it was so beautiful because you know what prayer works and sometimes we forget that we need to be praying for our leaders from the pope to the bishops to our priests to our deacons all of them need our prayers stay with us family we'll be right back welcome back to the bishop strickland hour we're talking about some of his tweets and then we're going to get into the catechism of the Catholic church I was mentioning before the break that the bishop's always asking us to pray for the leaders in the church which is a really good idea I've told you many times every Thursday night we pray for the priests the bishops the Holy Father two hours before the blessed sacrament specific prayers for our leaders.

[105] Why?

[106] Because Holy Thursday was the day the priesthood started and the institution of the Holy Eucharist was there.

[107] So you tweeted this.

[108] As we pray for Pope Francis on this feast of the chair of Peter, which was February 22nd, let us remember that our greatest support, this is awesome, our greatest support to the Pope is fidelity to Jesus Christ.

[109] Well said.

[110] hold life and marriage sacred reject immoral acts of every kind heed God's call to chastity I love this part know Jesus as the way the truth and the life Bishop Strickland I don't know if you just write this down quickly but you know when I see these things I go wow that's so beautiful that's the best thing we can do is live holy lives absolutely and it's the greatest respect we can show the Holy Father is to live as close as we can to Christ.

[111] You know, it's challenging enough to be a bishop anywhere, but it's probably been many centuries, really, since it's been as challenging to be Pope as it is right now.

[112] The world is so against the supernatural faith that is at the very heart.

[113] of the church.

[114] Amen.

[115] And so Pope Francis needs our prayers as the church in her wisdom.

[116] I mean, as long as I can remember, and certainly long before that, in the Mass, in the Eucharistic prayer, we pray for the Pope and the local bishop.

[117] And interestingly, Terry, just to talk a little bit about that specifically.

[118] Absolutely.

[119] In the beautiful ways the liturgy works, that it's easy to sort of take for granted and maybe not even pay attention.

[120] But when I as a bishop celebrate mass outside my own diocese, in the Eucharistic prayer, I pray for the local bishop.

[121] And I think that's significant.

[122] It is.

[123] It reminds us that all of us as shepherds, every priest, bishop, deacon, all of us need prayer to live our vocation faithfully.

[124] But the church in her wisdom has his pray for the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, and the Bishop of the local diocese.

[125] And so when I'm present in another diocese, it's not my name that's used, even if, I mean, even if I'm there, but it's the bishop of that diocese, of that territory.

[126] Right.

[127] And I think it reminds us of significant things about how the church is structured.

[128] We're praying for the bishop of Rome and for the bishop of that local diocese, because they're both local bishops.

[129] The bishop of Rome certainly has an extraordinary role as Pope, but theologically and spiritually, they're both bishops of two different places.

[130] and the church prays for them because that local bishop has the tremendous responsibility of guiding that flock.

[131] So it just occurs to me as we're talking that it's significant, and people need to pay attention to that.

[132] When they're in another diocese, then their home diocese, that bishop is prayed for.

[133] And certainly, you hopefully always pray for your own home bishop, the bishop of your home diocese.

[134] But when you're in another location, you pray for that bishop, for that shepherd.

[135] And I think it's significant.

[136] And prayer for the Holy Father and living our life in Jesus Christ as deeply as we can, what we're going to do with Ash Wednesday, receiving ashes, repent and believe the gospel, or we may hear Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return Both of those are possible for use for Ash Wednesday But when we hear repent and believe the gospel Know that that is the best way To honor the Holy Father And to support him Is in my own heart To repent and believe the gospel To follow Jesus Christ Well said Bishop Strickland you tweet in about a good friend of ours here at the Virgin Most Powerful Ralph Martin for decades I've known of his work and great man he did a YouTube video called I never thought I'd see this happen and you quoted him in that video saying like you said Ralph says here what every bishop priest deacon and catechus must say stop the ambiguity and false gospel by sharing the eternal truth of Jesus Christ.

[137] All believers must speak up and say no to the false gospel.

[138] That's Ralph, that you.

[139] I just happen to agree with it.

[140] Your thoughts?

[141] Well, that's why I tweeted it because I agree with it too.

[142] He says it well.

[143] And Ralph is a great man. He is like your grandfather.

[144] I mean, you know, he's about my age, but I could certainly be a grandfather.

[145] Sure.

[146] And, but he's just.

[147] But he's just, He's kind, he's clear.

[148] He knows his faith.

[149] And then I encourage everyone to go to YouTube, type in Ralph Martin and look for that video that he recently, it's probably about two weeks old now, where he says, I never thought I'd see this.

[150] And he talks about some very serious things that are false gospel and that are not the Catholic faith.

[151] And we all need to be very clear.

[152] and support the hierarchy of the church in saying no to a false gospel that brings harm in this life and brings the threat of eternal damnation.

[153] Bishop Strickland, what I like about Ralph Martin is he's a layman, okay, and he said some tough things about bishops, priests, the Holy Father, asking and pleading for clarity, okay?

[154] And I happen to agree as a layman, he said it with charity and clarity in a way that I think, like you said, everybody should go to YouTube, type in Ralph Martin, you'll see it there, because it's a 50 -minute presentation that should inspire people to do likewise and speak up.

[155] And Bishop Strickland, I think it's appropriate for lay people because canon law even requires that, that we should let our shepherds know our spiritual needs.

[156] And to be quite frank, Bishop Strickland, one of the spiritual needs for us lay people is no ambiguity.

[157] We need to know black and white what we Catholics believe on the issues of marriage, family life, contraception.

[158] All of us needs to be clearly taught.

[159] And when we hear things that are not being taught correctly by people, dressed like you.

[160] I've said this a couple times over the years, but it's just, it doesn't support us.

[161] It doesn't confirm us in our faith.

[162] And so I just want to say, God bless Ralph Martin, and also God bless you for supporting us lay people when we have to say tough things about the church, because he said some darn good things about calling the hierarchy to fidelity and proclaim Christ loud and clear.

[163] So I appreciate you supporting Ralph on that.

[164] Well, absolutely, Terry.

[165] And just to let you, you mentioned the word contraception.

[166] Yes.

[167] And I think we need to teach much more vigorously, much more clearly, how harmful that is.

[168] To the individual, to the individual marriage, to the individual family, yes.

[169] And to humanity as the family of God's people.

[170] with Ash Wednesday this year we begin 40 days for life once again praying in front of the Planned Parenthood office that's here in Tyler thankfully it's a small office and we'd love for it to finally just close and go away yeah but as I went to a rally that was encouraging people to participate in this 40 days for life that's happening all over the world really right but one thing that was pointed out that I think is it's not good news it's not something we want to to even have to acknowledge but we need to be very clear that even we pray that the law of the land will change and that the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade will be reversed that will be announced in June of this year we whichever way the Supreme Court has decided.

[171] But what was pointed out, and I think this is important, that the way contraception works now, there are many abortions, as they're called abortifiscence, that the one estimation, and it's really impossible to know, sadly, but one doctor kind of calculated and said looking at the populations and looking at things, said, you know, one guess, one guesstimate is for every surgical abortion, as they call, when the child is killed by direct abortion when they're alive in the womb, there may easily be 10 chemical abortions using contraceptions.

[172] And so that really is another level of child.

[173] that we face.

[174] And what I was reminded of in that, like I said, it's not good news.

[175] It's not even something you like to have to acknowledge.

[176] But we have to be aware that in our culture of promiscuity and a lack of respect for the bond of marriage and all the things that we talk about so often.

[177] But all of that, what they say sometimes, the contraceptive mentality that people have, that, oh, we can have sex however we want, we don't need to be married, we don't need to be committed, and it's just, we'll just, you know, get rid of this.

[178] With the contraception, if we were able to shut down Planned Parenthood totally as far as surgical direct abortions, we still have the terrible issue of contraception being used.

[179] certainly to prevent conception, that's bad enough, but also used to eliminate when a child has been conceived, creating a situation in the woman's body where that child can't implant in their mother's womb, or if they do implant, it just makes it impossible.

[180] It's, talk about a safe environment, it makes a very unsafe environment for that newly conceived child.

[181] And so as a bishop, I've tried to speak up about the evil of contraception, but we really need to.

[182] We can't relax, even if things go the right way with the Supreme Court decision, we still have to.

[183] Because again, it ties into knowing the truth.

[184] And it's not just avoiding abortion, but treasuring the life of every child conceived.

[185] Well, said, and thank you for being, again, politically incorrect in the church, because when you do talk about contraception, many people are upset at you, and thank you for taking the heat for that.

[186] We come back.

[187] Let's talk about what's going on in the Ukraine with a Catholic mindset praying for those folks.

[188] We'll be right back.

[189] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[190] I mentioned that Bishop Strickland tweeted a tweet regarding the folks at the Ukraine and the war that's going on.

[191] and why we need to be praying for peace.

[192] You said, as we approach Lent, let us pray in earnest for people of the Ukraine.

[193] Let us pray.

[194] And I like this, in reparation and atonement for the false messages, the confusion, and the lack of clarity in the light of Christ that allows evil to flourish.

[195] These resources may help.

[196] Okay, well, here's my question, Bishop Strickland.

[197] You're talking about praying for the people of the Ukraine and, you know, reparation.

[198] That's part of what the message of our lady of Fatima said about praying the rosary and offering up suffering for the salvation of souls.

[199] But I want to ask you, you said for the confusion and lack of clarity in the light of Christ that allows evil to flourish.

[200] What were you talking about in that statement?

[201] Well, it really refers to a lot of what we have already talked about is just there's too much confusion.

[202] It's like we were talking about with Ralph Martin's video.

[203] Got it.

[204] The word of God isn't confusing.

[205] It's deeply challenging and mysterious, but it really is, it's painfully clear sometimes when Christ says it's better to cut off your hand than to go to Gehenna, to go to hell.

[206] And Christ himself, those are his words.

[207] And certainly, you know, you don't, I don't believe he meant for people to go around mutilating themselves, but he's making the point of how important this is.

[208] And our Lord makes it very clear why confusion is so diabolical and so harmful because it takes those words of Christ himself and it makes them, well, he didn't really mean it, but or those are just sort of symbolic metaphors and he didn't it blunts the two -edged sword of the truth and that harms people when we aren't living the truth what's the alternative you can't be not living the truth and living anything but falsehood and the more what you're living is false the more harmful it is i mean just look at our own physical bodies if you ignore your health i just went to the eye doctor just recently and i've always tried to eat healthily i'm you know i'm no perfect healthy person but i've always tried to i like vegetables i like all kinds of food i take a multivitamin i try to take care of my health because your body is a temple given by god as everything is a gift from god but I'm just reminded because in my eye exam, I got a great score with, you know, they do all these gadgets and measurements and everything.

[209] But and the doctor said, you must take vitamins.

[210] And I said, yeah, I do.

[211] But my eyes work better.

[212] My body works better when I put healthy things into it, when I get some exercise, when I take care of myself.

[213] Our soul is the same way.

[214] When we care for our soul, when we avoid sin and seek virtue, we're healthier.

[215] Life is better.

[216] And that's what Christ is saying.

[217] It's better to lose an arm or gouge out an eye than to lose everlasting life.

[218] It highlights for him to use that rather violent language.

[219] I mean, imagine if somebody, a public figure said something similar now, they probably get canceled for using such violent language.

[220] This is the Son of God trying to make a point, trying to wake us up to just how devastating it is when we allow anything to divert us from the path of God.

[221] Well said, Bishop Strickland, well said, I just wanted to mention that we at Virgin Most Powerful Radio are doing something that I'd love to see other people do.

[222] I think it makes sense in the world that we're in right now.

[223] We know that President Putin for Russia decided to send his family to Siberia in an underground bunker.

[224] I'm not here to scare you to say, but he's got his nuclear bombs on high alert.

[225] Yes, we could have our exit interview any time.

[226] But here's the point I'm making.

[227] We're implementing the Fatima message here at Virgin Most Powerful, the first Saturdays of each month.

[228] We're encouraging people to not only pray the rosary in front of the Blessed Sacrament, take 15 minutes of quiet meditation where we're not talking, and we're going to have confessions right after that prayer.

[229] We're going to actually do the Divine Chaplain of Mercy at 3 o 'clock, rosary, meditation, confession, and mass begins.

[230] And then after Mass, we have a potluck.

[231] a little social.

[232] Now, that doesn't sound too complicated.

[233] So I'm asking others to do something like that in your diocese of Tyler, Texas.

[234] Anybody in the world can do this.

[235] Tie it in, we went to our local pastor and said, Father, you're always hearing confessions at 3 .45 in the afternoon before the 5 o 'clock mass. Can we come a little early and pray our prayers of the phantom of prayers?

[236] And here's the last kicker, Bishop Strickland.

[237] I'm giving the homework assignment for our folks.

[238] each person has to give a 15 -minute presentation on some aspect of the Fatima message.

[239] So they study the Fatima message, and each month that person will give that message to all of us.

[240] And so all of us are studying our faith together.

[241] We're saying our prayers together.

[242] We're going to Mass. We're going to confession.

[243] And then we have a meal together.

[244] I believe that this is a very effective way to implement the Fatima message.

[245] So I'd only share that to you, Bishop Strickland, because other people listening can say, gee, I could do that.

[246] Why not?

[247] This is what we're doing.

[248] Now, Bishop Strickland, here's my question to you.

[249] The question is, I'm old enough to remember as a little kid, the Cuban crisis.

[250] And I remember mom getting a bunch of extra food and putting it in the cupboards at the garage and saying we might need this because, you know, Russia might be attacking us with nuclear bombs.

[251] And we were all concerned.

[252] People were praying in churches.

[253] It was kind of a scary time for a little kid.

[254] I'm not here to scare people, but Bishop Strickland, it seems to me the world is mad right now.

[255] And it seems to me that the answer is not a political answer.

[256] It's a spiritual answer.

[257] Am I on to something?

[258] Absolutely.

[259] Really, the greatest thing we can do is pray the rosary.

[260] There you go.

[261] We can all do that.

[262] Rich and poor, young and old.

[263] we can all pray the rosary and we need to to pray in general, to read the scriptures, to grow closer to God.

[264] And it's always what we need to do.

[265] But with the concerns that people have and the fears and the confusions, praying the rosary is a great weapon.

[266] It's a great opportunity.

[267] It's a great way of refocusing our lives on the mysteries of Jesus Christ.

[268] I just learned recently, because I'm always learning.

[269] I didn't realize that there have been a couple of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ukraine.

[270] One was in 1914 just before, just as World War I was starting, and another was in the 1980s.

[271] That one, the video I saw talked about 500 ,000 people seeing this for several days, this bright light over a church of the Holy Trinity there in a village in Ukraine.

[272] But what I wanted to mention is, as always, Mary says, repent of your sins, live the way of my son, pray the rosary and she says very in a very down -to -earth way you could just imagine a mother and Mary is our mother saying this but the this apparition had Mary saying any time you get together with other people pray the rosary so I think that's a reminder to all of us that it's not just for a special occasion or it's not just it it should be a part of gathering of people of faith to pray a rosary when we, when we come together.

[273] That's what the Immaculate Virgin Mary, our mother told us.

[274] And I do want to mention that just to encourage people, if you're, like you said, it's not about being afraid.

[275] The Lord says, be not afraid.

[276] Right.

[277] But we do need to be aware and we need to be repentant in seeking reparation and atonement for sin.

[278] And praying the rosary is a great way to do that as well.

[279] But I wanted to mention another organization you're probably aware of.

[280] It's called gospa .org.

[281] Go to gospa .org.

[282] Go to gospa .org And you'll have to put up with me some more.

[283] But you can sign up to participate in every Wednesday at 8 p .m. Central time.

[284] It's at 9 p .m. on the East Coast is where it originates from.

[285] So that's 6 p .m. Right at the dinner hour for people in California.

[286] But at gospa .org, you go to that website, and you can find at the very top, it says, click on this, and you can be subscribed to receiving an email reminder every week to participate.

[287] If you can't make it on a given Wednesday, then it's recorded and you can participate later.

[288] The reason I mentioned that is because we need to know we're not the only one.

[289] We're not alone.

[290] There are many people turning to prayer and the beautiful images that we both saw of people praying in Ukraine and in Poland and really all over the world.

[291] We hear that people, people are protesting.

[292] And certainly they have a right to that and it needs to be protested what's happening.

[293] Yes.

[294] But also, hopefully those people that are protesting will remember maybe while they're together to say a prayer, pray the rosary as well, because it's what mom has told us to do.

[295] Blessed Virgin Mary for many centuries has been saying, pray the rosary.

[296] And it's all about the mysteries of her son and the light that he brings in the darkness that we face.

[297] Ask your mother.

[298] Mother's no best.

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

[300] We're going to be going to our catechism segment next.

[301] Paragraph 1622 on the sacrament of marriage.

[302] As St. John Paul too said, the way the family goes is the way the culture goes.

[303] Strong marriages, strong family.

[304] Stay with us.

[305] welcome back to the bishop strickland hour i love the catechism of the catholic church bishop strickland i i just tell this quick story yesterday i was having my teeth cleaned and the young lady was vietnamese i couldn't tell because she had a mask on in california they're still wearing masks we're a little odd people out here anyhow uh when i when she asked me what do i do because it was the first time i've met her and it was kind of interesting because she was a vietnamese uh Vietnam she was born in 75 so her parents left communism in Vietnam to become Americans and they're just really pro -American and pro -democratic and you know they don't like communism obviously well when I chatted with her she praised her daily rosary and she's just quiet she's just you know really devout and somebody gave her a book by bishop sheen and she found out that you know I promote Bishop Sheen on radio and anyhow one thing led to another and so I gave you her material to study your faith.

[306] And she just never really had a catechism.

[307] I told her it's essential for you, young lady, to study your catechism because all the questions you're asking me are all in this book.

[308] So she says, oh no, you're like an encyclopedia.

[309] I said, no, I'm not.

[310] I just read the catechism.

[311] You need to get that catechism.

[312] So I'm going to be dropping off a book by her office.

[313] I didn't get the chance today, but she's on my list.

[314] But you see how important it is for us to study our faith because she had all these questions.

[315] And Bishop Strickland, I've got to be honest with you.

[316] There's an indexed here.

[317] And if people really know they have this book, so many of the questions they have are really clearly stated in this catechism.

[318] So I just had to share that.

[319] So if you don't have a catechism, please, folks.

[320] Get one.

[321] But Bishop Strickland, you have spoken on marriage in the section on marriage before.

[322] So I thought we'd continue.

[323] paragraph 1622 says inasmuch as it is a sacramental action of sanctification the liturgical celebration of marriage must be per see valid worthy and fruitful it is therefore appropriate for the bride and groom to prepare themselves for the celebration of their marriage by receiving the sacrament of penance mr strickland i hate to tell you this when I counsel young couples about their marriage and I ask them about their marriage do you know that a lot of times they're not encouraged to go to confession before they receive the sacrament they're not even realizing even the priests don't know this paragraph I'm just giving them the benefit of the doubt this is what the church is wanting you they want you to receive the sacrament in the state of sanctifying grace so it's just a good idea but your thoughts on that because you counseled so many people over the years on marriage.

[324] I just think that this paragraph is kind of like hidden from people.

[325] Yeah.

[326] Well, and it really does get to the issues that people face in marriage.

[327] Oh, yeah.

[328] Terry, I'm sure that it'd be interesting to talk to your wife sometime.

[329] Oh, boy.

[330] And I'm sure that she would agree that, and for both of you.

[331] I mean, yeah, of course.

[332] When your spouse goes to confession, that's a blessing to you both.

[333] Just like for me as a pastor, for me to go to confession, to grow in holiness, to repent and believe in the gospel, that's a benefit to the family of the flock that I serve, directly and indirectly.

[334] And it's the same way for the family of a man and a woman in marriage.

[335] It just really what that paragraph reminds me of, and as you said, it we, even as people of faith, we're in such a secularized world that we have to really work at keeping that perspective of faith.

[336] that if we know what sin is, like we talked about earlier, stepping away from God's plan for us in whatever way, if that is what sin is, then when your spouse, or when you as a spouse, go to confession, certainly as you're celebrating those vows and making that commitment at your wedding, your marriage ceremony at the right of the sacrament of matrimony to be as holy as possible gives you the strength and the tools that you need to be a holy husband and a holy wife and that of course this paragraph 1622 says how to start and it it doesn't say explicitly, but it reminds us, how do you continue by continuing to stay close to the sacrament of penance?

[337] If you're really doing that, you're acknowledging constantly that you're a sinner.

[338] If you're genuinely celebrating the sacrament of confession, if you're celebrating the sacrament of penance, you're humbly acknowledging that I'm a sinner.

[339] even a secular marriage counselor will tell you that's one of the best ways to strengthen a marriage is to say you're sorry to acknowledge that you make mistakes to seek to do better all of that is the humility that you need to live the sacrament of matrimony really what it highlights for me is that, as you know, your vocation is your own salvation and the salvation of your wife and of the children and all the people in your circle.

[340] Ultimately, your first responsibility is your own salvation.

[341] And in marriage, you have a great partner who is her, your second.

[342] vocation or your secondary responsibility is her salvation.

[343] Amen.

[344] So you are there to see that you live as a son of God and share in the plan that God has, God's will for you, that you share in everlasting life.

[345] When you marry, that's one of the most beautiful elements of marriage is that you take on a shared responsibility, a complementarity, as we say, in caring for your own soul and the soul of your spouse because the two have become one.

[346] And then the children that come along, you are partners in a complementary way, the man and the woman, the mother and the father, nurturing the lives of those children, and passing on that call to sanctity.

[347] So, So what this paragraph is, so many paragraphs in the catechism, there's a lot embedded there that it doesn't say explicitly, but if you think it through, you can see that if you begin with the sacrament of penance immediately before you celebrate those vows of marriage, then it really implies that you stay with the sacrament of penance.

[348] And it, as we've talked before, probably many people, including people of faith that enter into marriage, don't really in a deep way acknowledge the supernatural element of marriage.

[349] And this opens your heart, soul, and mind to that supernatural element by taking away the, the, the, confusion, the distraction, everything that sin does to us to divert us from the path of God.

[350] Well, said Bishop Strickland, I'd just add one more thing that I'd share when I do little marriage talks, and that is even in the courting stage, when I was courting my wife, we would go to church and we would pray the rosary together or at home we would pray, and we would go to confession, I think we were engaged six months or is it eight months before the wedding and we would go on a, for us, going to confession was at least twice a month, okay?

[351] And it's still been the case.

[352] But we go, this is 35, 40 years ago.

[353] And, you know, that holy habit that was getting encouraged to us to do that has really helped us before we got married during our marriage.

[354] and so I would recommend that that you stay close even before the marriage by going to confession and praying together and learn that holy habit to pray with your prayer partner, your wife, or your husband.

[355] And one more thing I'm going to encourage people.

[356] We have it on our website.

[357] We have Bishop Sheen's book, free to get married, and you can download that book as a book, audiobook.

[358] And I'm going to recommend mom and dad, if you have a son or daughter, getting ready to get married, just go down and it's free.

[359] doesn't cost you a penny.

[360] Have them study three to get married.

[361] My wife and I read that entire book in that six or eight months before we got married, and we studied Fulton Sheen's book.

[362] It really helped us understand the Trinitarian life of a marriage.

[363] And then the last thing I'll say, and I know it's getting at the end, but a good priest told us that what he would do, Bishop Strickland, is he would put a crucifix like this one in my hand, and he would say, are you willing to imitate Christ on the cross for this woman you're going to marry?

[364] And if you say, I don't know about that, the priest would say, you're not ready to get married, dude.

[365] What?

[366] You're not ready to sacrifice for her.

[367] Has Christ sacrificed his life for us?

[368] You have to imitate Christ and that woman for your wife, future wife.

[369] And I'll never forget that, man. I thought, wow, that's a powerful image to give to me before I say yes.

[370] to this woman that I have to die to myself and then he says it to the other to the wife the same thing are you willing to die to yourself i thought that if that was used more often bishop strickland i think there'd be fewer breakups because then they went in to the marriage not to get whatever they can get but to give that's my thought absolutely all right we just got a couple of minutes left i won't go to another paragraph but bishop strickland for lent right now is there some action items that you talked about earlier at the beginning of the show about, you know, turning your life over to Christ and really taking some special steps towards this Lent as a way of getting closer to Christ.

[371] Any other thoughts on that in the last minute or two?

[372] Well, I'll just be the broken record.

[373] You need to hear it again.

[374] Repeat the two pillars that during this Lenton season to really turn to the Immaculate Virgin Mary with the rosary, with the memorary, with all the beautiful Marian hymns, just devotion to Mary and devotion to Jesus Christ, especially in the Eucharist, to let those two pillars just be strengthened and rooted more deeply in your life.

[375] And I would say finally, if you can't get a whole rosary done, then do as much as you can.

[376] Got it.

[377] And then keep looking for the ways to do a complete rosary.

[378] Wonderful.

[379] How about a blessing before we leave, Bishop Strickland?

[380] Sure.

[381] Heavenly Father, we ask your blessing for all participating in this.

[382] Maybe an opportunity to make wonderful mercy.

[383] In the name of the Father, the Son of the Holy Spirit.

[384] Amen.

[385] Thank you, Bishop Strickland.

[386] You can listen to all the podcasts by going to vmpr .org.

[387] As a fact, all of our shows are there.

[388] Virgin, most powerful radio, pray for us.

[389] God love you and your family.

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

[391] God willing.