12 Jul 22 – Don’t Try to Lead God, He Will Lead You

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name's Terry Barber, and I'm excited because it's Friday, and it's a day that we're doing this pre -recorded show for next Tuesday.

[2] I'm sure you're going to enjoy it.

[3] Bishop Strickland, thanks again for taking time out of your busy schedule to teach us from the catechism, from your tweets.

[4] So thank you so much.

[5] Thank you, Terry.

[6] Bishop Strickland, you've tweeted some.

[7] Well, you've tweeted quite a bit, but I want to tease everybody that we're going to be covering a section in the catechism that I think is very appropriate on social justice.

[8] I think when you read the catechism and what you see is social justice, you go, wait a minute, that's not what I'm hearing.

[9] Why do I say that?

[10] Because always go to your catechism of your Catholic Church when you want to know something about doctrine and what the church officially teaches.

[11] You won't, won't miss it there.

[12] All right, here's your tweet from Deuteronary chapter 4, verse 39 to 40.

[13] I like this because we need this today especially today know and fix in your heart that the lord is god in the heavens above and on the earth below and that there is no other you must keep his statutes and commandments which i enjoin on you today let us pray that all humanity may embrace this truth wow bishop strickland it's almost like we are kind of reinventing who god is in our culture it's me myself and i so i thought this was a beautiful quote for us.

[14] Is there another reason or what was the purpose of that tweet?

[15] Well, like you just said, we're living in a time and the momentum is building and building and we're just being told constantly and really, it really is something we need to pay attention to since the row reversal.

[16] That's what I've begun to call it, just sort of a short end.

[17] I like the two R's, the row reversal.

[18] Yeah.

[19] Ever since that, the evil, the filthy language, the movie star is saying, blank, blank, it's just unimaginable, really.

[20] And I think we've, because we've turned from God as a culture, as a world, certainly it's rampant in this nation, but it's not.

[21] just this nation.

[22] It's infiltrating the church.

[23] It's, it's just astounding, really, how evil things are becoming.

[24] And as I say that, we had two masses today in the cathedral parish the morning at 7 a .m. and a 1205 in our chapel that St. Peter and Paul, masses of Thanksgiving, the row reversal.

[25] Awesome.

[26] But ever since that happened, the spewing forth of venom and ugliness, and here we have the president now pledging to some law to make, to remandate abortion, it is just evil.

[27] I mean, and it makes it very clear.

[28] As I told the people today, You know, I was a kid in high school.

[29] I played high school football.

[30] You know, I know the language that's out there.

[31] Sure.

[32] But we were taught, and I was taught by my father, by his example, as well as by his own teaching.

[33] We don't use language like that.

[34] Amen.

[35] And you've heard people elected officials, mayors and governors, and, you know, a bunch of Hollywood people, which you can kind of discount that, but these elected officials to be using filthy language in talking about just as Clarence Thomas and what people need to do to, I mean, it's just really what occurs to me, Terry, it illustrates where the truth is.

[36] And it's not with these people.

[37] You don't spew foul language if you're about the truth of Jesus Christ.

[38] It just doesn't happen.

[39] As one thing that I was told as a kid, and I've heard many times through the years, using bad language is besides just the badness of the language, it's ignorance.

[40] It's a lack of using language well.

[41] It's a poor man's use of language.

[42] To use filthy language, there's no need for it.

[43] You can find a good word to get the point across.

[44] That's right.

[45] To say something's excruciating or vile.

[46] I mean, we've got plenty of good words where you can make your point.

[47] But to use foul, gutter language, it tells us where they're, message is coming from and it's coming out of the gutter and we've all got to pay attention to that yeah and call elected officials i mean we can't do much with you know somebody who makes a million millions of dollars on some immoral song or movie or whatever they do right but we can call our elected officials to be people of integrity and responsibility So, you know, the spewing forth of hatred and, I mean, the language is really the least of the issue because what they're doing is saying, we demand the right to murder babies no matter what the Supreme Court says.

[48] That's where the evil is.

[49] And the fact that they're using this language just shows how evil they are.

[50] That's what we have to remember.

[51] And I tried to say that at the masses also, we can never give in to the hate.

[52] We can never spew back the evil that is spewed at us.

[53] Amen.

[54] Jesus said in the gospel today from Matthew 10, That's right.

[55] They will hate you for using my name.

[56] Amen.

[57] That is simply the reality that the church is faced through the ages and faces today.

[58] And sadly, people even within the church are hating because the truth of Christ is under attack from all sides.

[59] From up, down, backwards and sideways, people are attacking the deposit of faith in the truth of Jesus Christ.

[60] We have a moral obligation.

[61] All of us who can speak, we've got to speak up and say no. Amen.

[62] With love and with patience, clarity and charity, but we've got to say that is not the truth.

[63] And we cannot remain silent in the face of this false rhetoric.

[64] that is sweeping the world I can't agree with you more but I will say show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are.

[65] Don Bosco said that and Bishop Strickland if the world is friendly with you I would be worried for your salvation Yeah I would I must be in good shape The world is not friendly with me And that's the way it should be because if we think about it the gospel as you said in Matthew Chapter 10 tells us that that we are going to be persecuted for standing up for Christ.

[66] And when we're not persecuted for standing up for Christ, then I start to wonder, am I doing the right thing?

[67] Or what's going on here?

[68] Bishop Strickland, you have another tweet that I think speaks volumes to our clergy and to the hierarchy of the church, including yourself.

[69] I mean, I'm not in management.

[70] I'm in sales, but you tweeted this statement.

[71] He said, challenging words, let us seek truth, the best remedy for tyranny.

[72] This is at a church.

[73] I don't think it's a, it looks like a little marquee that says in the face of tyranny a silent pulpit is a complicit pulpit Ezekiel chapter 33 verse 6 whoever said that they're absolutely right and so I'm just saying you know what made you tweet that you I mean I think I know what made you tweet it but I want to hear what you have to say well as a bishop as a shepherd I promise to guard the deposit faith.

[74] Amen.

[75] And I have an obligation to do that.

[76] Yep.

[77] And the deposit of faith is under attack.

[78] Yes, it is.

[79] From all sides.

[80] And, you know, we have to, I have to take a breath.

[81] Yeah.

[82] Remember, God is the Lord of Creation.

[83] We're all here because we are created from God's love.

[84] God is love.

[85] We have to remember that this is God.

[86] And we have to remember it's God's church.

[87] Everything flows from a loving God.

[88] God is love.

[89] And we always have to remember that.

[90] God loves the person that is on some news clip spewing for hatred and saying, we demand the blank right to kill babies.

[91] God loves that person.

[92] Even as they say that, that's the irony.

[93] That's the wonder of the God who has been revealed to us by Jesus Christ.

[94] God's love cannot be stopped.

[95] But we can turn from it, and too many people are.

[96] And too many people like that marquee are remaining silent.

[97] And we simply cannot remain silent any longer.

[98] Whatever the consequences, the only consequences that can be thrown at us are consequences of the world.

[99] You can lose your job.

[100] You can be denigrated.

[101] You can be thrown in prison.

[102] You can be killed.

[103] They're called martyrs when they're killed for the name of Jesus Christ.

[104] But those earthly consequences, for one thing, in terms of eternity, they're very brief.

[105] We just have to remember that.

[106] Those consequences are for a moment And a moment is nothing in compared to comparison to eternity.

[107] We are built for eternity.

[108] Amen.

[109] We have to be willing to take the moments of suffering, whatever they may bring, if it's about teaching the truth.

[110] You can probably tell I'm fired up.

[111] I love it.

[112] Because we've got to, I mean, you know, people have already been all over me and been warning me because I speak up too much.

[113] They ain't saying nothing yet.

[114] Amen.

[115] Because the more the evil speaks up, the more we have to speak up.

[116] Well said Bishop Strickland.

[117] You're listening to the Bishop Strickland Hour, straight talk Catholicism here.

[118] Stay with us, family.

[119] We'll be back here on Virgin Most Powerful radio with more of the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[120] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[121] I joke a lot of times, Bishop Strickland, when I say, put your seatbelts on because we're going to talk about the kingship of Christ.

[122] And in a world right now that acts like God doesn't exist, Bebo Christorri, long live, Christ the king.

[123] But in a world that we're in today, when you hear bishops and priests speak the truth, which I've seen on the internet watching videos, and I go, wow, that takes guts because it's not protocol right now to just speak the truth.

[124] But what I see you're doing is what we lay people are doing too, and that is canon law says that we should let our pastors know our needs and also give our opinions on things and give us, you know, clarity.

[125] So I appreciate when a bishop says, hey, look, we got some issues in the church.

[126] I see you do that at the bishops conference to your brother bishops in a loving manner.

[127] And I know that some of the bishops would wish you just to be quiet.

[128] But I think you're doing it out of love because the truth is what is important.

[129] And you have that tenacity to say, look, I'm going to share the truth with who, whether it's my brother, bishops, or someone on the streets.

[130] That's what we're called to do.

[131] Now, you have a tweet that just recently came on Friday.

[132] I just saw it.

[133] And I want to just preface this to say, man, you don't even, I mean, you and Bishop Snyder are two people that I talk to on a regular basis who say things that are just not politically correct.

[134] and even stick your neck out for the truth.

[135] And I respect both of you for doing that.

[136] But here's your tweet.

[137] A sad commentary on the church and the state in our time.

[138] We need to wake up and stand up for the truth.

[139] Jesus Christ is the face of truth.

[140] I want to repeat that again.

[141] I love that line.

[142] Jesus Christ is the face of truth.

[143] Again, I say this.

[144] I say, Vivalo Christo re, long live Christ the king.

[145] And you point Pope Francis, Nancy Pelosi, the Territus.

[146] cultural of death.

[147] And I know that you lovingly point, just like Bishop Stricklandish -Snyder last week, thought that what happened with Pelosi was a sacrilege in Rome and asked the Pope to make a clear statement that that shouldn't have happened.

[148] And, you know, he sticks his neck out, so do you.

[149] And I think that it's out of love, not for any vindictiveness.

[150] So what made you tweet this?

[151] Because I understand some people have already responded who are officials in the church saying how dare you say that well really terry i tweeted it and i after a lot of prayer i mean literally prayer before the lord and the blessed sacrament and i said this speaks truth yeah um and it needs to be addressed the greatest way to love the holy father pope francis all the cardinals all the bishops of the world is to call to the truth.

[152] I don't claim to know much of anything, but I know Jesus Christ.

[153] Amen.

[154] And I know his presence in the world.

[155] John 316, it's quoted at least here in this part of what they call the Bible Belt.

[156] We have wonderful people here who know Scripture and are devoted to Jesus Christ.

[157] John 316 reminds us, God so loves the world that He, sent us his only begotten son.

[158] That's Jesus Christ.

[159] It's out of God's love that we know everything that has been revealed through Jesus Christ.

[160] His bride, we believe, is the Catholic Church.

[161] And history supports that belief as not just some thing that came up a hundred years ago.

[162] For 2 ,000 years, a deposit of faith that shares all the wondrous facets of who Jesus Christ is.

[163] is.

[164] So the most loving, respectful, and obedient thing I can do for Pope Francis, for all the cardinals of the Roman Curia, for every bishop, every priest, is to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ.

[165] I don't claim to have all the answers, and I can only imagine the pressures that Pope Francis and all the popes of the 20th and 21st century have had to deal with.

[166] But to speak the truth, as I know it, and to call all of ourselves to the truth is the best way to love.

[167] It's the best respect that I can offer.

[168] The confusions and the mixed messages have to stop.

[169] They just have to stop.

[170] We have to have clarity.

[171] Amen.

[172] As you say so often, clarity and charity.

[173] Amen.

[174] Charity is the greatest truth.

[175] To do that clearly is the greatest way to share the truth in unambiguous ways.

[176] We can unambiguously say life is sacred from conception to natural death.

[177] And anyone who denies that unambiguous truth flagrantly and pushes for murder of anyone needs to be corrected and not just welcomed and patted on the head, that's got to be corrected.

[178] simple.

[179] Out of love for the church, out of love for Christ, and out of love for every individual, whether it's Nancy Pelosi or Joe Biden, or these movie stars that don't claim to be Catholic, but if they are speaking falsehood, they need to be corrected.

[180] That's the loving thing to do.

[181] That's what Christ has taught us, not to judge anyone, but to say, to make the judgment, I'm not hearing the truth, and for the sake of this individual and for the world, we've got to speak the truth.

[182] I mean, you know, today's gospel says Christ is sending out the apostles.

[183] He's just named them earlier in chapter 10, and he's sending them out, and he says, I send you out as lambs among wolves.

[184] Man, is that the truth today?

[185] Any lamb bringing the truth of Jesus Christ is surrounded by wolves.

[186] and many people have succumbed to the wolves.

[187] Too many people, you'll see their messages.

[188] They say, oh, I was Catholic, but I left the church because of this corruption or that corruption.

[189] Yeah, there's corruption.

[190] But we have to remember the words of St. Peter, Lord, to whom shall we go?

[191] And one of the points that's made in this video that is very harsh in some ways.

[192] But it's, I didn't see anything that wasn't true.

[193] If it's not true, I'll stand corrected, but the video talks about the plague of evil that is sweeping the world.

[194] And it all focuses on, and it says something that we've talked about, I'm sure that people are tired.

[195] Well, the people that agree with us aren't tired, but many people would love for Terry Barber and Bishop Strickland to shut up about the sanctity of unborn life.

[196] We're not going to because we can't.

[197] We have to be the voices of these children.

[198] And part of what this video talks about, and I truly believe that it all boils down to so much of what we're seeing in the world, so much of the division, so much of the economic issues, so much of the evil we're seeing is because we've been slaughtering unborn children, unborn babies have been murdered and literally ripped apart for 49 years, we finally get the Supreme Court to make the wise decision that, no, this can't be the law of the land.

[199] If individual states choose that, sorry for them, but at least it's not the law of the land.

[200] And people are already trying to reverse that.

[201] But it's about killing babies.

[202] It's about killing and reminding us, what is an infant in the womb, as we've said so many times before, but it needs to be repeated over and over again.

[203] They are the weakest, the poorest, the most voiceless human beings on the planet.

[204] I think anyone can agree with that.

[205] A baby in the womb cannot speak, has no power, has nothing, and is dependent on the woman in whose womb they are in and the rest of society for protection.

[206] we've got to protect them and it is something that we all have to we better speak up for the sanctity of the life of these babies because too many are trying to pull the church the world the nation all of human society in the wrong direction it's been moving in that wrong direction for a very long time but the evil forces the wolves are Very cunning.

[207] Just Christ says in that same gospel, be as cunning as serpents and as simple as doves.

[208] Well, evil has the cunning serpents, and they are cunning.

[209] They are manipulating things economically, power -wise, all sorts of things going on.

[210] People say, oh, just another conspiracy theory.

[211] When you look back in the rearview mirror and see what has happened, conspiracy theory doesn't make things happen.

[212] Conspiracy theories are by definition just full of empty air, full of empty words.

[213] We can look back and see the destructive forces that have been unleashed in our world and we better wake up.

[214] Yep.

[215] Well, Bishop Strickland, I know Bishop Fulton Sheen would agree with you about 65 years ago he stated a religion that doesn't interfere with the secular order will soon discover that the secular order will not refrain from interfering with it.

[216] And it is the church.

[217] And you know, Bishop Strickland, if we had more outspoken bishops and priests who went after the secular world and with the gospel of Christ, I think we'd be in a lot better shape.

[218] So thank you for speaking so clearly on that.

[219] Bishop Strickland, after the break, I want to tease everybody you had a tweet from st. Arenas that really says it all when it comes to our culture and this was written centuries and centuries ago i just i just love truth because it's it's never outdated a thousand years from now this statement is true and i think that remember irenas yes tell us is a martyr yes well most of the guys who speak the truth in the church whether it's Athanasius, Bishop Athanasius, in the fourth century.

[220] He was exiled, I believe, four or five times.

[221] And so I think that it really says that you're doing something right.

[222] And Padre Peele also is a good example of that when he was reprimanded for doing the right thing in his own life.

[223] And I think that if you're just doing the standard things without speaking up for the truth, yeah the world is going to say good stay quiet because we don't want to hear from you anyway and i think that we need more prelates we need more priests we need more lay people to say how'd enough i'm not going to be quiet i'm going to stand up for life i'm going to stand up for the gospel even if it means being punished by it because bishop strickland isn't it true that we've been here before the church has had to stand up to the culture of death and many times there were lots of martyrs, but what happened after the martyrs was the fruit of that became conversions.

[224] Am I onto something?

[225] Absolutely.

[226] And really, Terry, it comes down to what is true.

[227] Yes.

[228] What is true?

[229] Like you said, something that was true for humanity, 5 ,000 years ago, is still true today and will be true if the world continues for another 5 ,000 years.

[230] The truth, doesn't change.

[231] And that's one of the most frustrating things in the world today and in the church.

[232] Amen.

[233] Too many people are saying, oh, well, let's change this.

[234] And what hasn't been talked about very much that needs to be talked about is if we change one truth, if we say, okay, we're going to change that.

[235] It's been true for 2 ,000 years, but we've figured it out differently.

[236] Then everything's up program.

[237] Exactly.

[238] Well, said.

[239] Everything can be challenged.

[240] Absolutely.

[241] When we come back, we'll get that St. Aranaeus quote on the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[242] Stay with us, family.

[243] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[244] Folks, I want you to take these recordings from VMPR .org and send them to your friends.

[245] Bishop Strickland, I've got to say we've been doing this for a year or two.

[246] I don't know how long, but quite a bit.

[247] That last segment really said it all where it's time for us to stand up for Christ and take a hit for Jesus.

[248] In other words, life is short, eternity is forever, and we just can't be quiet anymore.

[249] I like what St. Aranaus said.

[250] You tweeted this.

[251] It said, it's not you who shapes God, but God who shapes you.

[252] And you said, wise words that we need to remember in today's world.

[253] Let us live in humility, because humility is truth, and seek the wondrous shaping God has in store for us.

[254] That was an inspiration tweet.

[255] take well why did you do that well once again it speaks the truth terry and we desperately need it the reality is we the universe that god has created is so marvelous so full of wonder and when we make it about ourselves.

[256] We diminish it in tragic ways.

[257] We have to remember that it is so much bigger than us.

[258] And when I guess I would say two things, Terry, remembering that God is so much bigger than us and remembering that as insignificant as we are, every one of us is beloved of God.

[259] Amen.

[260] When I say Mass, I try to remember to pray for, to take some silence.

[261] That's one thing we need in the Mass. Whatever, the Novus Ordo or the Antioachor, the older, the Latin Mass, we need silence.

[262] We need to quiet our minds and our hearts and allow God to speak.

[263] And in those moments of silence, I love to remember to pray.

[264] I mean, it's my job to be the shepherd of the people in these 33 counties, a pretty rural area, about 1 .5 million people, about 120 ,000 Catholics, many huge diocese and archdiocese that make it look like one of their parishes.

[265] But what I pray for, and it's my response to for these 33 counties.

[266] And I pray at that moment in the Mass, I pray for everyone in these 33 counties, whether they're passing through on one of the interstates or they're moving here or they're moving away or they're dying or being born.

[267] Every human being being in that moment is, I mean, all human beings, but praying for specifically every human being in.

[268] in these 33 counties, in the boundaries of this diocese, they are all beloved of God in ways that I will never know and never could fully understand or imagine.

[269] We are beloved of God.

[270] That's why we exist.

[271] Amen.

[272] We need to remember that.

[273] And every person that we encounter, and I don't do it, I'm a sinner, I'm weak, I get out of focus, I forget, But I try to remind myself as I begin a new day that every person that I see on the street driving here or in the office here or people that I meet with and spend a little time with or people, even that you see on a video, human beings are precious in the eyes of God.

[274] If we could just remember that.

[275] And I think the only way to remember that is remembering they're precious from the moment of conception.

[276] They're precious in the womb when the world says they don't have anything and they can be disposed of.

[277] The world still says that and maybe the majority of people believe, yeah, a child in the womb is disposable.

[278] We can get rid of them.

[279] They won't even call it murder because they don't even consider them someone that can be murdered.

[280] only human beings can be murdered.

[281] We know that the child in the womb can be murdered and sadly is in abortion.

[282] So we need to remember how big God is, how small we are, and that we are beloved of this big and wondrous God, even though we have no significance outside him.

[283] We have all the significance in the world when we stay in his sight and live as his children.

[284] That's what he longs for.

[285] That's why he sent his son.

[286] That's why the son and the father sent the Holy Spirit.

[287] That's what the Catholic Church is about.

[288] And the Catholic Church has to lead all of humanity.

[289] That's right.

[290] The Catholic Church has never been the majority of human beings on the planet.

[291] And we're probably losing ground rather than gaining it on a global, stage right now.

[292] Many people in the church are responding to that losing ground by saying, oh, well, we've got to be more like the world.

[293] We've got to adjust.

[294] We've got to change our teaching.

[295] We've got to change the truth.

[296] We've got to say marriage can be anything you want.

[297] You can make yourself anything you want.

[298] Male or female, God created.

[299] Oh, no, no. We can change that.

[300] You can be what you want.

[301] We cannot abandon the truth.

[302] And the reality is we're not growing because of that agenda.

[303] We're not seeing people in breath.

[304] Oh, the Catholic Church is suddenly wonderful.

[305] We're not seeing that.

[306] We cannot change the truth in order to make up with the world.

[307] We can't be in the world and of the world.

[308] But that's more and more what we are.

[309] We've got to hang on to the truth.

[310] The truth is just.

[311] Jesus Christ.

[312] He has given truth of face.

[313] We need to look him in the face and say, Lord, I repent of my sins and I ask your mercy on my life.

[314] All of us need to look Jesus Christ in the face because truth, he is the face of truth.

[315] Truth has a face and it's Jesus.

[316] Wow.

[317] You know, I'm going to ask everybody to open up their catechism because what you were just talking about is just the catechism paragraph 1929 under social justice teaches exactly what you were just teaching bishop strickland if i ever heard you teach something that the catholic church doesn't teach you've asked me year and a half ago to correct you but i know but everything you've said is backed by what the magistral teachings of the church so i mean you have people complain about you they're complaining about christ that's how i see it okay paragraph 1929 and I think you're going to find folks that when you read about social justice officially from the catechism you're going to say wow is this being implemented is this what social justice is yeah well listen 1929 social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man the person represents the ultimate end of society which is ordered to him The catechism says what is at stake is the dignity of the human person whose defense and promotion have been entrusted to us by the creator.

[318] Notice it's not by the state and to whom men and women at every moment of history are strictly and responsibly in debt.

[319] Bishop Strickland, that paragraph right there puts a lot of burden on us to speak up.

[320] Absolutely.

[321] And it reminds us, like you said earlier, Terry, what real social justice is.

[322] Authentic social justice is exactly that.

[323] Can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man. Transcendent dignity.

[324] That's talking about our holiness, our call to holiness, are being created in the image and likeness of God.

[325] There's too much of a value.

[326] a push in the world to ignore God, to deny God, and to go our own way.

[327] When we deny God, we lose the transcendent dignity of man. Transcendent.

[328] What does that mean?

[329] It means we go beyond the whatever years we're allotted.

[330] We both acknowledge that we're in our 60s.

[331] Let's say we live to be 80.

[332] Yeah.

[333] Our transcendent dignity goes beyond that.

[334] Amen.

[335] People are living and being taught.

[336] We're living in a world as if there is no transcendent dignity.

[337] And it's all about how you live in this life, as if oblivion was what awaits us.

[338] If that were the case, if that is the case, and we know it's not.

[339] But if that were the case, Terry, we would be the good.

[340] greatest fools in the universe.

[341] And St. Paul basically says it.

[342] If Christ isn't real, if all of this is not the truth, we're fools.

[343] We are the most foolish human beings.

[344] We know he's the truth.

[345] He is the life.

[346] He is the way.

[347] But this reminds us in the key words here, transcendent dignity.

[348] You don't get any transcendent dignity.

[349] You don't get any transcendent dignity rooted just in these 80 years or 100 years or 110 years.

[350] There's no transcendent dignity rooted in this life.

[351] Our transcendent dignity is rooted in God, rooted in being created in His image and likeness.

[352] That's what social justice ultimately comes down to.

[353] Amen.

[354] And that's the tragedy of so much that we're seeing.

[355] I know both of us.

[356] I mean, you've been thrown in jail because of your pro -life stance.

[357] I've never been thrown in jail yet, but, you know, I've certainly gotten the opposition and people are yelling at me and writing terrible things about what a horrible person I am, and I need to be shut down, I need to be disposed of.

[358] But the reality is we've got to speak that truth of the transcendent dignity of every human being from conception to natural death.

[359] We've got to speak up.

[360] We've got to speak that truth.

[361] And so we have to be willing to be thrown in jail or rejected by the world to lose our job, to lose our status, as we've talked about before.

[362] Here is Jesus Christ, the son of God, the second person of the Trinity, Lord of the universe.

[363] He was stripped down to be human, fully God and fully man, but he was willing to walk this earth as a human being for 33 years.

[364] And then he was stripped of even any human dignity.

[365] He was stripped to nothing for us.

[366] We have to be willing to do the same.

[367] Well said Bishop Strickland.

[368] We're talking about the social justice teachings from the catechism of the Catholic Church.

[369] Stay with us, family.

[370] Welcome back to the terrorist, excuse me, welcome back to Bishop Strickland Hauer.

[371] I wanted to say that I wanted to promote other good websites and other shows because it's the truth.

[372] That's the only reason.

[373] I don't get paid to do that.

[374] It's because I enjoy.

[375] Raymond Arroyal has a show The World Over on EWTN, and it was outstanding last night.

[376] It's on YouTube.

[377] Father Jerry Murray was there, and he was interviewed about the situation in the church.

[378] I just think everyone should hear it and watch it because it's so informative.

[379] It should give us all the motivation.

[380] to actually work harder in the church.

[381] I mean, last night we pray for the church, for the bishops, for the Pope every Thursday night, two hours of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.

[382] And we've been praying for that for years here.

[383] Why?

[384] Because our church leaders need that Bishop Strickland.

[385] You're one of the priests and bishops that we're praying for because they need our support through our reparation.

[386] I'll tell you why we do reparation.

[387] Because things in the church have gone on that have been terrible, okay?

[388] We see it on the youths.

[389] We see all kinds of masses being celebrated with horrible things that are going on, sacrilegious, even in Rome.

[390] So what do we do?

[391] As lay people, we make reparation and we let our pastors know we're praying for them.

[392] That's been our approach.

[393] Bishop Strickland, the catechism of the Catholic Church we're talking about, a social justice.

[394] I wrote down these quotes because I just think so much of what you say over the months and years of this show basically it's just supported by what the Catholic Church teaches.

[395] And it sounds like you're being like, wow, listen to Bishop Strickland.

[396] You know what Bishop Strickland?

[397] You're not saying anything other than what the church teaches.

[398] We should be going, oh, what else is new?

[399] No, it's because I'm going to be honest.

[400] We don't hear enough of the teachings of the church, clearly.

[401] We hear too much ambiguity and you're anything but ambiguous about what you teach because you teach the authentic teachings of the church.

[402] Now paragraph 1930 is kind of long, a little bit longer, but it's, again, it talks about respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a creature.

[403] That means everybody from birth to the end, man. These, he said, the catechism says these rights are prior to society.

[404] It must be recognized by it.

[405] Boy, that's a good statement.

[406] They are the basis of all of the moral legitimacy of every authority by flouting them or refusing to recognize them in a positive legislation.

[407] Boy, that applies to abortion.

[408] A society undermines its own moral legitimacy.

[409] Boy, that's it and hard.

[410] This could take a whole hour.

[411] If it does not respect them, authority can rely only on the force of violence to obtain obedience from its subjects.

[412] Wow.

[413] It is the church's role to remind men of goodwill of these rights and to distinguish them from unwarranted or false claims.

[414] Bishop Strickland, next hour, you got it.

[415] I want to hear, this to me got me really fired up because this is our marching orders right here.

[416] Absolutely.

[417] And as you were reading that paragraph 1930, I think of so much of what the founding fathers got right for this nation, the United States, where it's slipping from our graphs, sadly.

[418] Hopefully it's not gone, you know, irretrievably, but it has definitely been damaged.

[419] But what this paragraph talks about is the genius of the United States, is to recognize inalienable rights.

[420] I mean, that's the language that the documents of the state use wisely.

[421] But this talks about the same thing.

[422] Entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a creature.

[423] These rights are prior to society that's basically saying the same thing, that these rights come from God, Amen.

[424] They're not granted by some president or some king or some committee or some world counsel or from any human being.

[425] These rights are granted by God, and that is what we've got to return to.

[426] The United States has been called that city on the hill, the American experiment, all of the wonderful ways that it has that hope of living what this paragraph is talking about.

[427] But the more we turn from God and the more we ignore that God is where the rights come from, the more we lose that American dream.

[428] I mean, that's really the American dream is to know who we are and to hold those rights inalienable, that we, everyone deserves the right to life, the right to so many of things, in the Bill of Rights.

[429] And it's a tragic situation we're in, in church and state.

[430] Imagine both of us through the years I was raised to be very patriotic.

[431] Yes, the nation has its issues.

[432] It always has.

[433] It's a complicated reality.

[434] It's a world that doesn't want a lot of the freedoms that the United States offers.

[435] And it takes a real responsibility on the part of the citizen, and we're losing that.

[436] If you don't have responsible citizens, it's hard to make the United States work because it's about each of us being responsible in understanding these unalienable rights that are spoken of here as given prior to society, meaning what's prior to society, our basic existence from conception to natural death, and that comes from God.

[437] So this paragraph is really something, like you said, we could have a civics lesson or a catechism lesson on this to remind ourselves what it's about and all the incremental steps either deeper into recognizing how sacred we are, the dignity that comes from being children of God, or the incremental steps away from that.

[438] And sadly, the steps away from that truth are becoming a stampede, and it's harming more and more people.

[439] Bishop Strickland, the paragraph that got me was, it is the church's role to remind men of goodwill of these rights and distinguish them from unwarranted or false claims.

[440] In other words, it's not the role for the church to be quiet when it comes to even talking to these politicians, about the beauty of our faith and these natural law, this is what the catechism says.

[441] So what you're doing when you're, you know, some people would say we have big mouths.

[442] I mean, we're always talking about the unborn, but I'm supporting this because the Catholic catechism says, it is the church's role.

[443] You're the bishop.

[444] If you're not speaking, who is?

[445] Yeah, absolutely.

[446] And it's an obligation and ultimately a joyful obligation.

[447] It's an honor.

[448] It is.

[449] And we need to remember that as well, Terry.

[450] Yeah.

[451] I know that people get beaten up.

[452] I certainly do.

[453] I'm sure you do.

[454] Oh, yeah.

[455] We can get down and I do.

[456] Oh, yeah.

[457] But we've got to remind ourselves, it is a privilege and a blessing.

[458] Amen.

[459] To live in this time when truth is under attack.

[460] Because what does Christ say?

[461] Either be hot or cold.

[462] If you're lukewarm, you need to be strong.

[463] spewed out.

[464] We need to remember that.

[465] We need to be on fire with the truth that Christ died for.

[466] Here we are in the month of July.

[467] And it's pretty hot here in Texas.

[468] A lot of things you'd say Texas is on fire.

[469] We need to be on fire with the truth.

[470] Amen.

[471] Jesus says, I long for a flame to burn that is his truth.

[472] The disciples speak of when they're walking the road to a maze, their hearts are burning as they hear him speak the truth.

[473] We need that fire.

[474] We need that fire in the belly.

[475] We can't be lukewarm.

[476] We can't just sort of go along to get along because we're going along and getting along and getting pushed off a cliff as a nation and as a church.

[477] And we've got to be clear in exactly, like you said, that line captures it.

[478] It is the church's role to remind men of goodwill of these rights and to distinguish them from unwarranted or false claims.

[479] It's the church's role to speak up.

[480] It can't just be this little sort of boutique out in the corner that just we get together and pray if you want, worship God if you want, but just don't say anything outside of that little room.

[481] That's really where they're pushing us.

[482] And the whole COVID experiment.

[483] really pushed a lot of that and accomplished it to something.

[484] Thankfully, our churches, at least here in Tyler, are more full than ever.

[485] Awesome.

[486] I think it's because people are hungry for truth, and they got hungrier as COVID unfolded.

[487] Thankfully, people are recognizing we've got to do exactly this is the role of the church.

[488] To call politicians, to call people in public life, to call business people, to call everyone to the truth of the dignity of the human person.

[489] If we, and the almighty dollar is too often, as weak as it is now, it still is the God that too many people worship.

[490] It's the idol that has taken the place of God for too many people.

[491] If I can make big bucks, I'll spend the lives of whoever I need to.

[492] And the abortion industry is just one of those flagrant examples.

[493] of making money on the backs of innocent people, innocent unborn people for abortion.

[494] But it happens in many facets of society.

[495] We've both been accused of, oh, you just want them to be born.

[496] And that's just a smoke screen because they don't care about life, period.

[497] That's right.

[498] They don't care about the life of the unborn.

[499] They don't care about the life of a two -year -old.

[500] They just want their wealth.

[501] They want their power.

[502] And they want to shut us up.

[503] Because if we can take that ground and say life is sacred at conception and throughout the time in the womb, if we can move to that place, then we can move to making sure that innocent children that are from one to seven years old, that their lives are properly held sacred.

[504] And then moving throughout life until natural death, lives have to be held sacred.

[505] And there are tremendous challenges in that.

[506] There's a great disproportionate distribution of wealth.

[507] But we can't just steal it from one and give it to another.

[508] We've got to promote dignity of the human person that makes that happen.

[509] Well, said, Bishop Strickland, how about a blessing for our radio audience, please?

[510] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for all of us, for Terry and I and all who are listening, that we may truly recognize the wonder of the truth that you have revealed through your son and continue to follow him, no matter the resistance, no matter who says no, we must say yes, Viva Christo Rey.

[511] In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

[512] Thank you very much, Bishop Strickland.

[513] You can go to VMPR, Virgin Most Powerful Radio, for all the shows that we have.

[514] I just want to give a teaser.

[515] We did a show on how to revive any Catholic parish.

[516] You can Google that title on your search engine.

[517] How to Revive any Catholic Parish.

[518] Great material.

[519] It's all about Jesus and the Eucharist, Our Lady, and the right worship.

[520] Because the way you worship is the way you believe.

[521] May God richly bless you and your family.

[522] Thanks again for joining us here on the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[523] We'll see you another time next week.

[524] God love you and your family.