29 Dec 2020 – Bishop Strickland on Vaccines & the Catholic Conscience

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name's Terry Barber, and I have the honor of doing this once a week, having a conversation with Bishop Strickland, first of all, about his tweets and then about different moral teachings in the catechism of the Catholic Church.

[2] Bishop Strickland, I always say put your seatbelt on because I'm going to ask you some tough questions, but I just want to thank you for taking the time to joining us here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[3] Thanks, Terry.

[4] My pleasure.

[5] Now, Bishop Strickland, you have some.

[6] tweets, but before we get to the tweets, you're in an article from LifeSight News.

[7] The headline is, U .S. bishops endorse abortion -tainted COVID vaccine, an act of love of our neighbor.

[8] And this document entitled Moral Considerations Regarding the New COVID -19 Vaccinations was published just yesterday, December 14th.

[9] And in this article, you and many other good bishops like Bishop Athanasia Snyder and many others are actually on the other side of it going on this.

[10] In other words, I want to ask you because so many of our listeners are thinking, what should I do with this COVID -19?

[11] Is it moral for me to take this vaccine if it's been tainted from aborted babies, even though it was 20 or 30 years ago?

[12] And that's the case.

[13] And they're saying in this article that out of charity, we should take this vaccine so that someone else won't get the COVID -19.

[14] What's your take on all this?

[15] Well, I address the question for my flock here in East Texas.

[16] And my statement really comes down to this.

[17] I can't in good conscience receive a vaccine myself that is tainted in whatever way with through from abortion, an aborted child is used in whatever way for the, the production of this vaccine.

[18] I can't in good conscience personally receive that.

[19] I'm not, you know, demanding of others, but I think we need to look at those moral questions.

[20] And what I've really encouraged for a lot of other factors that go into these controversial vaccines in this very controversial disease of COVID -19 that truly does kill people, but how we control it and how we deal with it, you can talk to a different expert that tells you something different every day.

[21] I've encouraged people to simply wait not to rush into vaccines that have been, thankfully, very quickly produced, but also that's somewhat problematic that they were produced so quickly without the usual testing of a vaccine.

[22] So my basic instruction says, I personally can't in good conscience receive a vaccine that has been tainted, as you say, with the connection to an aborted child, a willfully aborted child.

[23] And the reality is that other vaccines are in development.

[24] They're not being marketed yet.

[25] They're not been approved yet, but they are in development that are not, have no association with aborted children.

[26] And so I've encouraged my flock.

[27] And I encourage everyone.

[28] But my responsibility is the flock of East Texas here, the Diocese of Tyler.

[29] And I've encouraged all the people here, not just the Catholics, but everyone to just wait and evaluate all sorts of factors with these vaccines.

[30] But to me, it's a deal breaker when these, the two that are being offered now, as I understand it, have some connection to aborted children.

[31] And if that's the case, I'm not going to receive it.

[32] Well, Seth, Bishop Strickland, are you aware that the death rate from COVID -19?

[33] Now, notice I said directly from COVID -19 is 0 .03 percent.

[34] And most of these people who die from COVID die with it, not from it.

[35] In other words, they have heart disease, they have other ailments that they have to deal with.

[36] and so the most of the people 92 % of them die with other health problems so in other words the 300 ,000 people that are recorded that died with COVID about 10 % now this is the CDC center of disease center saying this only 10 % died directly from COVID now that's 30 ,000 people Bishop Strickland I don't mean to be a medical guy but I read that more people are dying from the flu and pneumonia and we don't stop the economy we don't I just I now hear me out I believe that it's it is a virus and it can be serious but in my lifetime we've gone through this and we deal with it not by using a vaccine that's immorally developed or even shutting down economies where people lose their jobs I just father I hate to say this there was a priest from Africa on LifeSight News today and God rest his soul, he's 37 years old and he committed suicide after he got diagnosed with COVID -19.

[37] You heard about that.

[38] And I prayed for him right on the spot on the radio this morning because I felt so bad.

[39] Now, some people feel this, and tell me if you're all, if this is false compassion, they go, well, I'm going to do whatever I'm, I am going to not allow myself to be connected with giving the vaccine.

[40] or not giving this COVID -19 to anyone else.

[41] So I'm going to wear the mask.

[42] I'm going to stay at home.

[43] I'm not going to go to church.

[44] I'm not going to do anything because I had a charity for my brother and sister out there.

[45] I'm just going to, you know, not go to work and just live in this bubble because it's the right thing to do.

[46] What's wrong with that thinking?

[47] Well, I think it's not taking in all the factors that need to be.

[48] be addressed.

[49] And that's what I encourage people to do.

[50] To look at all of it.

[51] And one of the key things that I didn't include it in my statement, but it needs to be addressed is each of us needs to consider this and make our own decision.

[52] I think people need to very much resist.

[53] There's a lot of talk about mandates.

[54] Yes.

[55] And maybe it's just talk because I haven't heard of strict mandates yet.

[56] But I think we need to be very aware that mandating something like this, I think that we need to be very careful about that.

[57] And a lot of people say, ah, you know, Strickland's crazy.

[58] But I think that's what I would encourage people not to resist any forcing of receiving these vaccines because, like you said, there are many factors there.

[59] The death rate is not large.

[60] Certainly, any death is bad and life is sacred.

[61] But I think we've got to look at all the different factors, look at the fact that these vaccines have been produced very quickly, shortcutting, some of the usual testing and all.

[62] So there are many things.

[63] So even beyond the, moral issue of using unborn children, unborn neighbors.

[64] If we're concerned about our neighbor, which we should be, Christ says, treat others as your neighbor.

[65] But we've got a lot of unborn neighbors that our society isn't concerned about at all.

[66] So we need to look at all the sides of the issue and make a well -formed conscience decision.

[67] Bishop Strickland, I understand that airplanes, in flying on an airplane at different airports, now, the airlines are going to say you must have a vaccination shot before you get on certain airlines.

[68] And I would imagine more and more airlines are going to require that.

[69] I know at the theaters, they're going to require you to have a vaccine.

[70] What would happen?

[71] This is hypothetical.

[72] But if they keep telling us, maybe we can't go to the grocery store without, you know, having this vaccination.

[73] Now, they're not telling you have to.

[74] to have it, you just can't do normal things in life.

[75] Would it be an overstep to say if they came to your door as the Bishop of Tyler and they said, Bishop Strickland, I want you to implement this.

[76] The state is saying nobody comes into church without being vaccinated.

[77] What would you say?

[78] No, thank you.

[79] Okay.

[80] And then what happens if they pressure you as the Bishop of Texas saying, look at Bishop Strickland, you need to go along with this because if you don't, the church is going to be persecuted.

[81] You know, this has happened before in cultures.

[82] Are you going to hold the line on that?

[83] Or what are you going to tell the government if they said, you've got to close your churches?

[84] What would you say?

[85] Well, Terry, churches are being persecuted in the world as we speak.

[86] That's right.

[87] That's just a reality.

[88] Probably most of the time through history, someone in the world, the church has been persecuted.

[89] we haven't had to experience that here in the United States, but we've got to, I mean, that's what persecution comes down to.

[90] It's trying to be forced to do something that goes contrary to your faith.

[91] And so we have to be willing to do what we have to live the truth that Jesus Christ has revealed to us.

[92] And if it becomes persecution, then in justice, we need to speak against that and do everything we can to resist any diminishing of the freedom of religion and the freedom of living our faith in every aspect of society, not just closed off in churches, but in everything.

[93] And, you know, I think we do have to be careful.

[94] What I keep reminding myself as a bishop, I need to act on what I know.

[95] and what is is true in what I as much as I can discern what is true and act on that there are lots of speculations there are lots of rumors there's lots of confusion and I think we all have to be cautious about these rumors about oh they're going to require this they're going to require that hopefully people will be reasonable but if not we need to resist absolutely when we come back I'm going to talk to a little bit more about this vaccine.

[96] This is Bishop Strickland Hour.

[97] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[98] Bishop Strickland was talking about the possibility of persecution that has happened for 2 ,000 years for Christians.

[99] I have a quote from Archbishop Fulton Sheen, he says, about persecution.

[100] One of the great and mysterious fact that is not generally known to the world is that whenever there is persecution on the account of the faith, it always results in a vast catch of souls for the kingdom of God.

[101] Tutilian was right when he said, The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

[102] So I thought of that quote when you were speaking, Bishop Strickland, because it says it all.

[103] There.

[104] And what I also want to bring up before I continue to ask you a question, I bring this up from another Holy Father back in the 5th century, and he probably get tired of this quote, Bishop Strickland, but I love it.

[105] He's a pope.

[106] It's a saint.

[107] St. Felix III said, not to oppose error.

[108] For example, if Bishop Strickland was silent on this COVID thing, probably life would be a lot easier for him.

[109] But he knows he must, as a shepherd, proclaim Jesus Christ's teachings in season and out.

[110] But here's what the quote said.

[111] Not to oppose error is to approve it.

[112] Not to defend truth is to suppress it.

[113] And indeed, to neglect to confound evil men and we can do it is no less a sin than to encourage them.

[114] Bishop Strickland, you're implementing Pope or St. Pope Felix III because you're speaking out and you pay a price for that.

[115] So I just want to say as a layman, thank you.

[116] Now, Bishop Strickland, the final thing I want to ask about this whole situation on the vaccine, how can people get the letter?

[117] I talked about it last week, and I think it's St. Phillips Institute, but is that where they and read your 10 point shoot letter that I got the other week?

[118] Is that where that's still there?

[119] Yes.

[120] Yes.

[121] St. Philip Institute .org.

[122] Okay.

[123] Now, I just want to have you comment before I comment on one of your tweets.

[124] I was reading an article from Mr. Carl E. Olson from Catholic World Report, and I want to give a plug to all good Catholic periodicals, and I consider the Catholic Report, Father Joe Fesio, as a good source for people.

[125] people to read articles.

[126] And in this article, he quoted Pope Benedict the 16th when he wasn't emeritus.

[127] He was the Pope at the time.

[128] And he said something that I thought was really like it turned a light on.

[129] I said, wow, that's so beautiful.

[130] And I wanted to have you as a successor of the apostle hear this and give your thoughts for today in 2020.

[131] Now, this was said, I think, in 2010.

[132] He said this about the papacy.

[133] Pope Benedict the 16th.

[134] The power that Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors is, in an absolute sense, a mandate to serve.

[135] The power of teaching in the church involves a commitment to service.

[136] Your obedience of faith.

[137] Now, put your seatbelt on everybody because the Holy Father said this about his papacy and about the papacy for all popes.

[138] The Pope is a prophetess.

[139] not an absolute monarch whose thoughts and desires are law.

[140] On the contrary, the Pope's ministry is a guarantee of obedience to Christ and to His Word.

[141] He must not proclaim his own ideas, but rather consistently bind himself and the Church to obedience to God's Word in the face of every attempt to adapt to adapt it or water it down and every form of opportunism.

[142] Bishop Strickland, doesn't that apply to you as a bishop?

[143] And what are your thoughts?

[144] Because I just thought he nailed it.

[145] Yeah, absolutely.

[146] It clearly expresses what the role is.

[147] And Terry, it really always refers back to the man. on the cross behind you.

[148] Yes.

[149] Jesus Christ.

[150] Amen.

[151] Unity in the church is unity in Jesus Christ.

[152] Amen.

[153] Unity in his truth.

[154] And of course, every pope, every bishop, Pope is the Bishop of Rome.

[155] Right.

[156] First among equals, sometimes is the way that it's spoken.

[157] But he does have a, the Roman pontiff has a very significant role.

[158] And Pope Benedict says it very well.

[159] And I know that every pope is.

[160] is guided by that, and they understand that, that they are there to teach Christ, and he is the unifying principle of the church.

[161] But doesn't that also apply to you as a bishop?

[162] And give me your insights on this, Bishop Strickland.

[163] I've never asked a bishop this question.

[164] But when you were ordained to the fullness of the priesthood as a bishop, what Benedict XVI just said about the Pope, doesn't that apply to all bishops too?

[165] Yes, absolutely.

[166] That we are about unifying people in Jesus Christ, the one son of God, the only son of God.

[167] And so he's the principle of unity for every bishop and for the Pope who is bishop of Rome.

[168] Well, Bishop Strickland, how do you deal with?

[169] most single men as bishops or single priests or a single man who want to be liked everybody likes to be liked but how did how did you develop your understanding of the grace of the bishopry because i would imagine that there's a lot of pressure for as a for a bishop in our country to just kind of look the other way and compromise how did you see your bishopry in other words of not compromising with the world.

[170] Where did you have that understanding?

[171] Because I see a lot of bishops who just, and I'm not judging anyone, I'm just saying the facts are, we're all over the place.

[172] How did you stay so focused on not your personal opinion or what the boys club will say and sticking to with what the perennial teachings are saying?

[173] Was there some grace of being a bishop that you might have received, that you're receiving it and you're cooperating with it?

[174] That's my take.

[175] What about you?

[176] Well, absolutely.

[177] The only thing I can claim is the Holy Spirit guiding, and I do my best to listen.

[178] I'm a sinner.

[179] I get confused.

[180] I make mistakes.

[181] And as I've said, do you often as we talk, Terry, if it's, if I say something that is contradictory to what the catechism of the faith says, then correct me. I'm the first that wants to be corrected.

[182] I can make mistakes.

[183] But I think, think that that, it's a reminder of what our beautiful Catholic faith is based on.

[184] It's revealed truth.

[185] Amen.

[186] It's not something I decided or you decided or any group of humans decided.

[187] It's truth revealed by God.

[188] And certainly, in our faith, it's the word of God that grows out of that and also the tradition of the church guided by the Holy Spirit.

[189] So I think we've, we all have to have the humility to recognize that I don't know everything and I shouldn't claim to know everything but to turn to Christ and to his church and to the official teaching of his church that's contained in the catechism and one thing I think we have to remember about the catechism as large and significant a book as it is it's got a lot of references to scripture to church documents to the church fathers others.

[190] So if you, and this is just something I'm thinking as we're talking, but if you were to really say, okay, I want the full text of everything the catechism refers to, you'd have what's called a library, a library of Catholic teaching.

[191] And that's important.

[192] That's significant.

[193] that library of Catholic teaching is the doctrine of the faith that I promise to guard, to guard the doctrine of the faith.

[194] And that is what the catechism is.

[195] And it really, as big a book as it is, and as much as there, it's really just the outline of all those texts, of all of sacred scripture, of all the books through 2 ,000 years that the church is used to express that guidance, going back to the Didicate and to all those early writings that are referred to in the catechism.

[196] Well said, Bishop Strickland, I appreciate you seeing that the Bible, that there's no expiration date and that there's no error in the scriptures because many people today, even inside the Catholic Church, will say stupid things.

[197] I'm sorry, they're stupid to say, well, that's what the Bible says, but is it really right?

[198] Is it really correct?

[199] And I find that just the opposite of humility.

[200] I can see that as pride being expressed to say that I've got a better idea than what the Bible teaches.

[201] So thank you for realizing and also proclaiming objective truth, that it's outside of you, that what's true today, 500 years from now, a thousand years from now, it'll be true then.

[202] And I find that, very edifying and I'll just leave you one note today a 18 year old boy called in from Florida his parents are from Cuba and he just came the last year and a half to an understanding of Jesus Christ present in the Holy Eucharist and he's on fire for the faith and he just consecrated himself to the blessed mother and I'm sending him all of Fulton sheen material Scott Hahn we're going to mentor that 18 year old kid he wants to be a priest okay but why someone introduced him to Jesus Christ, and I asked him, well, when you were young going to catechism, didn't anybody tell you about Jesus being present in the Holy Eucharist?

[203] He said, no, nobody ever taught me that.

[204] Now, Bishop Strickland, I don't mean to be pointing fingers, but this gets me excited when somebody finally gets the light bulb turned on, they see they're praying before the Blessed Sacrament.

[205] He's going to daily Mass. He prays his rosary every day.

[206] He's 18 years old.

[207] And he wants to be a priest.

[208] I really believe that what you're doing with the catechism, teaching people the fundamentals, can turn people on to Jesus Christ and his bride to church and see that all of what we're sharing isn't our opinion, Bishop Strickland.

[209] This is what Jesus Christ taught, and his church is just being faithful to 2 ,000 years.

[210] And I really believe that vocations will come back when the true teachings are being taught in a dynamic way, like your St. Philip Institute does, because I'm so impressed with that.

[211] And I think that their vocations will be there because when he told me he fell in love with Jesus and the Eucharist, it changed his life.

[212] He was depressed before that as a young person.

[213] And so I share this because it's a testimony of why it's so important for us to teach and, you know, what you do as bishop, teach, govern, and sanctify.

[214] Last thing I want to throw at you, a tweet about St. Augustine.

[215] You pointed out, it said, here's what St. Augustine said.

[216] if you believe what you like in the Gospels and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself, wise and challenging words that call us all to embrace the full message of Jesus Christ.

[217] We are all tempted to bracket these hard words.

[218] Wait a minute, you said bracket hard words.

[219] I have a reference for that, but share why you put that out.

[220] And what do you mean by bracket?

[221] Well, in a book I read recently had talked about that phenomenon of the, and I think that it's a human tendency we all have to bracket out the hard stuff.

[222] But literally with sacred scripture, there's been a trend of bracketing out aspects of what the gospel says or even the Old Testament, any of the stories that maybe get a little challenging or don't go with what we're trying to promote.

[223] And even that, we have to be very careful.

[224] I'm here to promote Jesus Christ, not Joe Strickland's ideas.

[225] And I should be called out for anything where it's, well, that's just my idea.

[226] That's not based in what the church teaches.

[227] Well said, thank you, Bishop Strickland.

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

[229] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[230] I've been so blessed to be here with you, Bishop Strickland.

[231] and before we get into the Catechism of the Catholic Church at paragraph 1862, I want to let you finish something because I really think you nailed it when you quoted St. Augustine about if you believe what you like in the Gospels and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe but yourself.

[232] And the reason I was so happy to see that quote, I think you nailed one of the biggest challenges we have in the church today.

[233] And that is we've come up with, it's homosexuality or same or it's um the issue of a marriage we seem to have like uh like for dealership who says i have a better idea i'm a four dealer no it seems that when we start deviating from what the church's perennial teachings are we're getting ourselves into a lot of confusion and if there's one thing in the church right now we need is clarity and bishop strickland that quote you mentioned, would you agree if we would just stick to the Gospels and the perennial teachings of the church, much of the confusion would go away.

[234] Is that a fair statement?

[235] Oh, yeah.

[236] Thankfully, as I've said, probably as we've talked through the weeks, Terry, the truth is not complicated.

[237] It's not confusing.

[238] It's really very clear.

[239] Even children can come to the basic truth of what the church teaches.

[240] I think what gets complicated is when we don't like it and we want to start reshaping it and decided we, like you said, we've got a better idea.

[241] Yeah.

[242] Um, that, you know, what comes to mind for me is the, the Protestant Reformation.

[243] Yeah.

[244] Um, they, Martin Luther had a better idea than the church that Jesus Christ established.

[245] I mean, thought.

[246] I mean, and certainly it's understandable when people get frustrated with the church because she's very human.

[247] And none of us fully lives up to the ideals that are laid out in the gospel.

[248] But to decide, well, we'll leave out something or we're going to change teaching, as we call it the perennial teaching of the church, the doctrine of the faith, when we decide to change that on whose authority are we changing it?

[249] And it basically becomes, well, on my opinion.

[250] Certainly, that's where as a bishop, I need to be very cautious about expressing my own opinion, and instead going to what the gospel says and in the whole whole of scripture.

[251] So I think we do have to just like St. Augustine reminds us, we have to be humble.

[252] We have to acknowledge we're not the Lord of the universe, but the Lord of the universe, Jesus Christ, has revealed to us some very important aspects of how the human family works and how the universe works, not scientifically, but in the divine truth that guides us as the children of God.

[253] When we start changing, that.

[254] And very often, if you look at history, again, to sort of focus on the Protestant reformers that didn't, they didn't accept the idea that what Christ said, the Eucharist, this is my body, this is my blood, that's the Catholic belief.

[255] They interestingly started kind of bracketing chapter six of John's gospel.

[256] that talks all about the Eucharist.

[257] So that's what we tend to do.

[258] It's like, well, we won't pay attention to that part because it doesn't fit with what we've decided.

[259] And that should be where the wake -up call comes, and it's not about what I've decided.

[260] It's what is God revealed to us.

[261] So we all have to purify that and keep going back to it.

[262] But there really is a tendency.

[263] There's a tendency for many people to deny God.

[264] God, period.

[265] But even for people of faith to begin to shape God the way they want to see God, instead of just humbly receiving God as he's revealed himself to us.

[266] Bishop Strickland, thank you for that clarity because I'm, I've been involved in ministry.

[267] I'm, you know, in my early 60s.

[268] And I've seen what St. John Paul, too, did with Veritatis splendor in the 1980s.

[269] And he really took some of the, what I call the fake Vatican II, spirit of Vatican II, and corrected a lot of that when it came to liturgical abuses and also doctrinal things.

[270] And he really made things really clear so there was no ambiguity.

[271] Now, Bishop Strickland, I don't mean to be, I'm just being, I'm frank about it.

[272] It appears right now that some of the old 1960 thoughts on, theology, they're like coming back.

[273] And it's like deja vu.

[274] We've already been through all this, I would call it modernism, okay?

[275] That's what I call it when they start changing the Bible.

[276] And I just want to ask you for our listeners' sake to reassure and to build them up in the faith.

[277] I know we got the catechism, but what advice would you give people who are going, wait a minute, this bishop said that, this priest is saying this, reassure them, if you could, on what the perennial teachings are and how do you help someone stay in their faith when we see massive dissent in the church?

[278] Well, Terry, the best answer I can give you at this moment is really, I believe, the answer, Jesus Christ.

[279] Amen.

[280] To know him as a person.

[281] Yeah.

[282] He is a real person.

[283] Amen.

[284] Fully God, fully man, but very real.

[285] He's not like some of the Greek, you know, gods.

[286] He doesn't have many faces.

[287] He's not, you know, he's a person.

[288] Yes.

[289] When you know a person, you know this is authentic to Christ and this isn't.

[290] That's right.

[291] I would encourage people that are struggling.

[292] I mean, that's what I've benefited from is coming to know Jesus Christ more deeply.

[293] I hope for the rest of my life to continue on that journey of knowing Jesus Christ as a personal Lord and Savior more and more intimately in my life.

[294] And I guess that that occurs to me as the answer to your question.

[295] because I mean think of your wife yeah you know her and you know her qualities and she's not going to be you know in a few years she's not going to turn into a different person oh she's not going to suddenly morph into something that she wasn't when you married her that's we mean certainly we age and I think in many ways with age we've become better we become more ourselves so Jesus Christ is a person He's not going to turn into something different.

[296] And I think that's a good basis to work from.

[297] If you know Jesus Christ, you know, he tells us, love your enemies.

[298] Be kind to those who persecute you.

[299] Jesus isn't going to suddenly say, ah, hate your enemies, rip their heads off.

[300] And persecute those who persecute you.

[301] That's not Jesus Christ.

[302] that's not authentic to him.

[303] That's right.

[304] Jesus quotes when, I mean, on the topic of marriage, people ask him about marriage.

[305] He says, look to Genesis.

[306] God made them male and female.

[307] I mean, Jesus taught us that himself in the gospel.

[308] So is he going to change his mind?

[309] Is he going to turn into a different Jesus?

[310] That's what you would get the impression of.

[311] If you really start trying to wrap your mind around all the different ways that the gospel of Jesus Christ is being distorted in our time, it's like Jesus has changed.

[312] No, he's the eternal son of God.

[313] What he revealed to us, he's not going to turn into a different person anymore than your wife or you as her husband that you're going to turn into different people.

[314] that is not authentic to who Christ is.

[315] Well, sad, Bishop, Strickland, I'll just add one more thought about personal relationship.

[316] Sorry to interrupt you while you're getting the vaccine.

[317] Oh, that's funny.

[318] So we got to add a little, I want to just add one more thing to what you said about that relationship, that personal relationship.

[319] It doesn't get any more personal than receiving Holy Communion, the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.

[320] And I might add, here it's the Sacred Heart Chapel, we never close our doors for people to come to adore Jesus.

[321] Bishop Strickland, I've got to tell you, people come into our chapel and they're in tears because it's the first time in six or eight months they've been able to get inside a church.

[322] I am honored that I can unlock that door and say, come on and visit and talk to Jesus.

[323] And I want to encourage our listeners, you're struggling, go visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

[324] If you're in Southern California, I give my cell number out.

[325] I'll open up to church myself for you, 661 -972 -7872 that's how much I want to introduce you to the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Eucharist Bishop Strickland before we go to this break I know it's coming up I just want to go right into the catechism and we're talking about sin because for a lot of us we haven't heard a good I'll use the word catechesis on sin and the catechism covers it quite well so I want to encourage people to get their catechism paragraph 1862 we already covered mortal sin last week, but I want to make a read 1862 about venial sin, and then you can kind of break that up.

[326] One commits venial sin when in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent.

[327] Share, would give us an example of what that would be like.

[328] You know, what we, you know, what we, you know, know a lot of times in in common conversation we would say oh well that's a white lie yeah you know that's probably a venial sin yeah uh to not tell the truth is is wrong and what occurs to me as as we're talking about sin um yeah terry it's you know i love cars um and i as a kid i mean i've always like cars yeah and there's certain venial sense with operating a car that gradually kind of wear things down.

[329] We probably all have driving habits.

[330] Maybe I think of riding the brakes.

[331] If you're bad about riding the brakes.

[332] Bishop Strickland, hold your line about that.

[333] We've got to take a quick break.

[334] We'll get back to the car analogy.

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

[336] We're talking about sin, legal and mortal sin.

[337] We'll be right back.

[338] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[339] My name's Terry Barber.

[340] and with Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[341] Bishop Strickland was giving us a car analogy regarding venial sin.

[342] I love analogies because I'd like it.

[343] So continue.

[344] And Bishop Strickland, we're referring to paragraph 1862.

[345] And by the way, I want to welcome all you YouTube listeners.

[346] Every week we get lots of new viewers on YouTube.

[347] And I want to just ask you to like us, and that way you'll get notification whenever the Bishop Strickland Hour is coming on.

[348] also i want to just encourage you to pass it on to your friends about this because we have all the podcasts available from months of recordings of the ten commandments i just had somebody ask about well how can i get a good ten commandment a teaching well go to virgin most powerful under the bishop strickland hour and you can hear you can benchy or what is it called bench listening on bishop strickland's ten commandment series uh bishop strickland paragraph 1862 talking about venial sin.

[349] You were giving an analogy about that you like cars and that continue.

[350] What was the analogy again?

[351] You were in the middle of it.

[352] Yeah.

[353] Well, what I was talking about just comparing, I mean, mortal sin and venial sin for our lives in Christ.

[354] What I was saying, a venial sin is like riding the brakes.

[355] It doesn't immediately, you know, make the brakes collapse or anything.

[356] but it's a gradual wearing down and it can get worse and worse and become mortally a mortal problem for that car a mortal sin for a car would be to you know to decide i've decided i'm going to use water instead of oil yeah that's going to be mortal for that car it's going to kill it yep and i think there's there's something to think about there because if we believe what God is revealed to us is the truth.

[357] If we believe that we are created by God, our loving father, he's given us this manual of right and wrong of how do we operate human life, kind of talking car language again.

[358] And if we just decide we're going to do something contrary to the owner's manual of human life, then, you know, you might get away with it for a little while.

[359] I mean, replacing the oil in a car with water, you're not going to get away with that for very long at all.

[360] And that's how some mortal sins are.

[361] But a lot of sins, you can get away with it for a while, but it's a gradual erosion of the life that God has given us.

[362] In venial sins, you know, you might say, well you know going back to the car riding your brakes is is not any big deal some people think oh that's just the way i drive but it gradually wears down the brakes and it deteriorates the car that's what venial sin does in itself that venial sin is not that big a deal that's why it's venial it's just sort of you know not not serious not mortal but if we get into those bad habits of venial sins.

[363] For one thing, they are sin and they're not good.

[364] They are diminishing the life that God has given us, even if they just stay on the level of venial sins.

[365] But also, the bad thing about venial sins is that they can grow into bigger bad habits.

[366] And then we find ourselves falling into to mortally sinful situations that may have begun with just a little inconsequential.

[367] apparently venial sin.

[368] For one thing, it desensitizes us to what's right and what's wrong.

[369] If we get used to telling little lies, the lies can get bigger and bigger until we're at the point where, you know, we've committed a felony or we've done something that even though the civil law says is punishable, you know, so I think that the idea, and I think so many that rejects sin in the world today have the idea that well it's just a bunch of rules that the catholic some bunch of catholic bishops made up yeah no it's it's the truth that god is revealed to us yes if if if it's anything that's been made up by people then it's not going to last and what what comes from God is true for us as 60 -something -year -old men.

[370] It's true for six -year -old children.

[371] It's true for a six -month -old child.

[372] It's true for a six -week -old embryo that's still developing in their mother's womb.

[373] And if you do certain things to the human person, it's going to cause mortal damage.

[374] And that's true for us throughout our lives.

[375] And that's what we have to pay attention.

[376] to what is God revealed to us about ourselves?

[377] Well, you covered several paragraphs of the Catechism, that last answer.

[378] So I'm going to go to paragraph 1864, which I think is really a merciful paragraph.

[379] Listen to this and then give me your take.

[380] Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin.

[381] There are no limits to the mercy of God but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy, by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit.

[382] Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.

[383] I see that as a beautiful paragraph.

[384] Can you kind of break that up?

[385] And yeah, that's powerful.

[386] Well, what I focus on and what you just read is hardness of heart.

[387] That refers to our choice.

[388] to believe.

[389] And I've heard many people through the years as a priest.

[390] Oh, you know, Father, I can't go to confession because my sin's unforgivable.

[391] That is a person choosing to harden their heart against that infinite mercy of God.

[392] That's what the catechism is getting at.

[393] That's the sin against the Holy Spirit is not believing that even my sin, as dark as it may be, can be forgiven.

[394] that's in there there's a lot of pride built into that yeah that we need the humility to acknowledge yes i'm a sinner and to believe that even my sin that may have hurt people terribly may have been a very bad thing to do that cause great harm but it can be forgiven but when we decide when we harden our heart to the mercy of God.

[395] Yes.

[396] And it's really interesting that that, it's our choice.

[397] Yes.

[398] It's only our choice can lock us out of God's mercy because we decided not to accept it.

[399] God will never lock us out.

[400] He certainly calls us away from sin and he mourns our sinfulness because it's harming his children that he loves so deeply.

[401] But God will never close that door.

[402] he gives us the free will to close it if we choose and then he constantly gives us new opportunities but you know the church in her language talks about presumption yeah and and to presume that well I'll keep doing this and I'll take care of getting forgiveness tomorrow that's presuming there's going to be it tomorrow yeah and that can become a sin itself the sin of presumption presumption of mercy when we are not really doing our part to address that hardened heart and open our hearts to not just being forgiven, but to changing our lives.

[403] Beautifully stated, I think of what Fulton Sheen said, the only value in saying yes to God is you have the freedom to say no, so you're free will.

[404] So wouldn't it be a fair statement, Bishop Strickland, to say that God doesn't send any souls to hell that we actually send ourselves by our decision, our free will, by rejecting God.

[405] So that's not God sending you to hell, it's your free will to choose something other than God.

[406] Is that a fair statement?

[407] Absolutely.

[408] It's by our free will that we make that choice to reject God that ultimately that would result in that ultimate condemnation of hell.

[409] I want to get a plug in for your institute, the St. Philip Institute, and then I want to take a minute or two to encourage people during this Advent season to get closer to Christ and what it's all about.

[410] But tell us a little bit about the St. Philip Institute for the benefit of those who haven't heard about it.

[411] Well, the St. Philip Institute is our Institute for catechises and evangelization, all kinds of teaching tools.

[412] We have an online course for really pre -K through adult faith formation designed to help people that may be interested in the Catholic faith that are adults or to help the eighth grader that can't get to a regular faith formation class because of everything shut down or whatever.

[413] It's all online with well -formed catechist teaching.

[414] And so that's one of the things that the St. Philip Institute offers, a lot of podcasts.

[415] Just, it's all about teaching the beautiful message of Jesus Christ.

[416] That's what the St. Philip Institute is there for.

[417] Awesome.

[418] And now, by the time people listen to this radio show next week, we'll be really close to Christmas.

[419] Can you just give us a little reflection, Bishop Strickland, on what we should be focusing on when God became man?

[420] you know, an incarnation.

[421] Can you share a little bit about how wonderful that is for us as Christians?

[422] Sure.

[423] And I would focus on God sent his son and his son is still here.

[424] Amen.

[425] That's what I would encourage people this Christmas to really open their hearts and minds to that Jesus really never left.

[426] Yes, he returned in the ascension in our Catholic faith, in the gospel.

[427] He ascended to the Father, but he has been with us in all the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist.

[428] But that's what I want to encourage people to focus on this Christmas, that as we celebrate that child born in Bethlehem, he's still here.

[429] And if you aren't really sure, look for him.

[430] Look for him in the tabernacle.

[431] Look for him in the Word of God.

[432] Look for him in the love of the community.

[433] Look for him in all the ways that he's present.

[434] But just remind yourself as we celebrate his birth we're celebrating that god's gift of his son god the father so love the world that he sent us his only begotten son that's a permanent gift of joy and life because the son of god dwells with us calling us to share his life a big amen to that bishop strickland could you give us your blessing to all the people who are listening on YouTube, radio, Facebook, anyhow, anywhere in the world they can be listening.

[435] Could you give us your blessing, please?

[436] Sure.

[437] The Lord be with you.

[438] And with your spirit.

[439] My Almighty God bless you.

[440] Guide you always, especially as we approach the beautiful feast of Christmas in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[441] Amen.

[442] Thank you, Bishop Strickland.

[443] I want to remind everybody you can listen to the podcast of this Bishop Strickland Hour by going to Virgin, Most Powerful Radio .org and you can listen to all the shows and there's other shows that we have, the Terry and Jesse Show, Jesus 9 -1 -1, apologetics, a lot, the bar of history, and much more on Virgin Most Powerful.

[444] May God richly bless you in this Advent season and I hope to be with you again next week, same time, same station.

[445] And as I say on most of my radio shows, full Sheen ahead.

[446] God bless you.