05 Apr 22 – Always Speak the Truth Even If It Offends

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

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

[2] I'm excited to take another hour to share the gospel with the good bishop.

[3] Bishop Strickland, thank you again for joining this with your show once a week here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[4] Thank you, Terry.

[5] God love you.

[6] And I wanted to start out with your permission, a prayer that Bishop Athanasius Snyder sent to you and to me. I interviewed him this morning for another show regarding his book called The Catholic Map.

[7] and it'll be aired here at Virgin Most Powerful on Monday.

[8] People can listen to it on a podcast.

[9] It was awesome.

[10] But here's the prayer.

[11] In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.

[12] Oh, Immaculate Heart of Mary!

[13] Holy Mother of God and our tender mother, look upon the distress in which the whole of mankind is living due to the spread of materialism, godlessness, and persecution of the Catholic faith.

[14] He says, in our own day, the mystical body of Christ is bleeding from so many wounds caused within the church by the unpunished spread of heresies, the justification of sins against the Sixth Commandment, and the seeking of the kingdom of earth rather than that of heaven, the horrendous sacrilegious against the most holy Eucharist, like the angel said at Fatima, especially through the practice of Holy Communion and the Heaven.

[15] hand and the Protestant shaping of the celebration of the Mass. He talked about that in his book.

[16] Now he says this in his prayer, amidst these trials appear the light of the consecration of Russia to thy to thine immaculate heart by the Holy Father and union with the world's bishops that just took place.

[17] In Fatima, thou didst request the communion of reparation on the first Saturdays of the month, which we start tomorrow here at our chapel.

[18] Implore thy divine son to greet.

[19] grant a special grace to the Pope.

[20] This is I'm praying.

[21] This is so beautiful.

[22] Implore thy divine son, a special grace to the Pope that he might approve the communion of reparation on the first Saturdays.

[23] Almighty, may Almighty God hasten the time when Russia will be converted to the Catholic unity.

[24] Mankind will be given a time of peace.

[25] And the church will be granted an authentic, I love that word, authentic renewal of the purity of the Catholic faith and I love this, the sacredness of divine worship and the holiness of Christian life O mediates of all graces O queen of the most holy rosary and our sweet mother turn thy eyes of mercy towards us and graciously hear this our trusting prayer a big amen Bishop Strickland that prayer said a lot to me. How about you?

[26] Yeah, it says a lot that needs to be said.

[27] And, you know, we just have to know the truth and to stand with the truth and be clear about the truth because there's too much confusion.

[28] There's too much lack of clarity.

[29] And it's a joyful message.

[30] That's what we have to remind people.

[31] It's not some burdensome thing that just drags you down.

[32] It does the opposite.

[33] It lists you up.

[34] It It gives real meaning and purpose and joy to your life.

[35] And that's what we've got to help people understand, that the truth of Jesus Christ, he's the face of truth, he's truth incarnate, following him.

[36] Yes, it's challenging because we're challenged to turn from sin and live more virtuously.

[37] And all of us have to continue on that journey.

[38] But, you know, it's really important that we know the truth and share the truth.

[39] And it's my job.

[40] It's Bishop Schneider's job.

[41] It's every bishop's job to defend the deposit of faith.

[42] I still have people ask me, what is the deposit of faith?

[43] And because we haven't been catechized well, and I'll put that on myself, we were trying to correct years of a lack of solid catechesis.

[44] I want to encourage people.

[45] I just finished a book, and I sent a tweet, encouraging people to read this book it's let me pull it up it's called revolt against reality by Gary Michuta M -I -C -H -U -T -A He's one of our Virgin most powerful radio hosts yeah I saw that and he works with Catholic answers revolt against reality it's an excellent excellent very readable not real heavy, deep theology or anything, but he basically takes us through the history of the church and the ways that gradually, in key moments with the Protestant Reformation, but even before that, key moments along the way where the grasp of reality has been slipping from our grasp for many centuries, and we're just seeing it all coming to a head.

[46] And he does an excellent job of just really mapping out where we've gotten off track.

[47] And getting back on track is as simple as listening to Jesus Christ, reading the scriptures, reading the catechism that really are a distilled.

[48] The catechism is a distillation of the church's understanding of the scriptural message and magisterium through the ages.

[49] That's what, I mean, it's like we've talked about before.

[50] If you read a paragraph of the catechism, it's all references to papal documents, to the scriptures, to magisterial letters that it's all based on.

[51] The catechism is really a document of church history in many ways.

[52] It's a tracing of the doctrinal development.

[53] of in truth of constantly looking at Christ and for the catechism to be treated as if it's a document that can be revised and changed and oh this was wrong for this century it's just not the truth and we've got to but this book I really encourage people to read it revolt against reality Gary Machuda.

[54] I'm not getting any royalties, but it's essential reading for people who love Jesus Christ and love his church in the 21st century.

[55] Well said, thanks for that plug.

[56] And Gary, I'll give it to him.

[57] I'll let him know that you really enjoyed his book.

[58] He is one of our radio hosts here at Virgin Most Powerful.

[59] Check him out on the podcast.

[60] That kind of story.

[61] I want to mention and really emphasize, we've talked about it a lot, and I appreciate the ways you encourage me to highlight the St. Philip Institute.

[62] I want to, yes.

[63] We had what we call an odd extra board meeting today talking about, you know, some of the major issues that we face.

[64] And the Institute is a lot of talented young people that really they're getting some wonderful truth out there.

[65] But as you know, it's hard to get the good news out.

[66] I mean, I think Jesus experienced that.

[67] The early church said, on fire with the Holy Spirit, got the good news out there.

[68] We need to be on fire with the same Holy Spirit now, but we need to use the media that we have, the tools that are available to us.

[69] And so I just thank you for the support of the St. Philip Institute.

[70] It really, they're doing a great job of getting good news out there, but it's hard to get people, here on the Diocese, and that's the main focus of the Institute, is to work with the 33 counties that make up the Diocese of Tyler.

[71] And so I just appreciate your support of the Institute, encourage people to go to St .Philip Institute .org, and they'll find a treasure trove of videos, of podcasts, of articles, of all kinds of the way of Christ, which is for those.

[72] in Christian initiation, the way of the family, which is a document on guiding people through what does baptism mean?

[73] That would be a great gift for people to give to a family that's baptizing a baby, the way of the family, the way of the Holy Family, that talks about, and it's all available on this website, St .Philip Institute .org.

[74] Thank you.

[75] it's really not reinventing the wheel.

[76] I mean, we've got the wheel, the catechism, but it's breaking it down into categories and texts that are really available to people that, you know, I'm sure you've had the joy of baptizing each of your children and then taking them through the sacramental journey.

[77] And it's a special moment for the whole family when a baby is baptized, whether it's number one or number 10.

[78] you know the baptism of the child is as the baptism right says it's it's welcoming a new child of god to seek the kingdom i mean i've got to live that baptism and that's what we've got to really do a better job of catechizing post baptism as soon as the child is old enough to know and it's a lot of it's due to up to the parents but we've got to support the parents so just encourage people to to know the truth and to seek the truth of Christ, it transforms your life.

[79] Both of us can testify to that.

[80] And I've been a priest for almost 37 years, but knowing Christ more and more deeply continues to transform my life more and more deeply.

[81] Well, you're getting me all excited.

[82] I had Bishop Athanasia Snyder this morning firing me up, and now I see that fire in your belly when it comes to talking about truth.

[83] And Bishop Strickland, I just want to quote something.

[84] And then when we take a break, I want to ask you to give us your reasons regarding a tweet that you sent out at, you know, in a charitable tweet to correct a cardinal who came out with some strong language that was contrary to what the teachings of the church speak.

[85] And I, as a layman, appreciate what you've done.

[86] But here's the quote and then we'll come back.

[87] Never worry about who will be offended if you speak the truth.

[88] Worry about who will be misled, deceived, and destroyed if you don't.

[89] And that's what I really see in you, Bishop Strickland, even coming out and speaking out to your brother, bishops and cardinals when they're an error, because it's the truth that sets us free.

[90] When we come back, we'll talk about that and much more on the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[91] Stay with us, family.

[92] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[93] I left you on a quote from Bishop Strickland tweeted, I'm going to repeat it because I love this quote because it speaks with clarity.

[94] It says, never worry about who will be offended if you speak the truth.

[95] Worry about who will be misled, deceived, and destroyed if you don't.

[96] I think our church needs to hear that every day because even as a layman for me, and more importantly, priests and bishops, that needs to be really lived out.

[97] and I think you did that in a recent article that I got here from Catholic World Report.

[98] Cardinal Mark says, and this is a German Cardinal.

[99] He's been in the news.

[100] He said the catechism, the way read from, is not set in stone.

[101] One is allowed to doubt what it says.

[102] Bishop Strickland, that fired me up to say, wait a minute.

[103] What is he doing?

[104] He's a cardinal in the Catholic Church, and we've heard of some other cardinals in Germany saying, crazy things that are contrary to the teachings of the church.

[105] And now you tweet something about, hey, you know what?

[106] He shouldn't be a cardinal.

[107] If he can't live and be and teach what the church teaches, let him step down.

[108] Now, what made you respond so quickly to that?

[109] And why do you feel convicted that you need to do that?

[110] And teach us a little bit about why you speak up, even when cardinals say things that are contrary to the church in the universal church when we are confused.

[111] Tell us why you responded that way.

[112] Well, Terry, we've witnessed this, you know, wave after wave of more and more, simply contradicting what the church teaches.

[113] And, you know, I'm certainly not a cardinal, but I am a bishop.

[114] And we basically have equal responsibility as far as ecclesiology.

[115] I'm responsible for the teaching of the faith in this diocese.

[116] And the way the world is so connected, we can't say, well, you just talk to your diocese.

[117] I mean, when I do, it goes out anyway.

[118] And so we live in a world that is connected, and we need to connect the truth.

[119] Honestly, Terry, I'll share something that, you know, I certainly don't hide it.

[120] I didn't advertise it.

[121] People will tell me, well, you should make a direct.

[122] contact, which absolutely, the scriptures talk about that.

[123] Talk to your brother who is doing something that you believe is wrong.

[124] Well, I did that.

[125] I wrote back in 2019, I wrote all the archbishops of Germany.

[126] As bishop of Tyler, I'm just one among many, but I believe in Jesus Christ.

[127] I believe the Catholic Church is the true church that he established.

[128] I believe this catechism of the Catholic Church is a document of truth.

[129] And back in December of 2019, I was already hearing disturbing messages of, oh, we're not so sure.

[130] Well, I am.

[131] I'm sure that Jesus Christ is the son of God.

[132] I'm sure that he lived, suffered, died, and rose for us all.

[133] I'm sure that what his church has taught.

[134] us is the truth.

[135] And really, Terry, in this book that I just finished it today, so it's very fresh on my mind, but this book by Gary Machuda, am I saying his name?

[136] Yeah, Mutuda.

[137] That's right.

[138] Machuda.

[139] But he says at the very end that we've got to believe in the truth that Jesus Christ has shared.

[140] And we've got to stand up for it.

[141] And the title of this book, Revolvely, against reality, that's really what one piece of what that is all about is what Cardinal Marx said.

[142] That's a revolt against reality.

[143] And as Gary says at the end of this book, reality begins to strike back.

[144] And this agenda of the sexual teachings of the church, they're all wrong and they need to be revised and they aren't set in stone.

[145] It reality is already starting to fight back.

[146] In reality, it's going to do that.

[147] As I've said so many times on this show or talking to the people in the diocese, truth is what lasts.

[148] If it's false, if it's a teaching or an idea that wanders from the truth.

[149] It isn't going to last.

[150] That's why the Catholic Church has lasted for almost 2 ,000 years.

[151] Yet when Jesus Christ was incarnate, 222 years ago, that's when the mystery of what the church is about started.

[152] The church has lasted because she is guided by the Lord of Truth, Jesus Christ.

[153] We simply can't let go of that.

[154] People have died for this truth.

[155] People have lived their lives in ways that the world has judged to be meaningless because they knew Jesus Christ is the Lord of Truth.

[156] And it is more than dangerous.

[157] It is devastating to humanity to be told that, you know, truth isn't set in stone.

[158] We can change this.

[159] even, you know, Gary in the book, I've often, I was kind of glad that he said, he used this as an example that, you know, because I, we probably talked about it here.

[160] I'm a simple guy.

[161] I just go to basic things.

[162] I have a coffee cup here.

[163] I see it.

[164] If I throw it across the room, it's likely to break.

[165] That's the laws of physics, the laws of gravity.

[166] Yeah.

[167] We can say, say, oh, well, I've decided that I don't believe that.

[168] And this cup isn't going to break.

[169] I can throw it, you know, off the roof and it hits concrete.

[170] It'll be just fine because I've decided that I don't believe in those laws of physics and gravity.

[171] Well, I hate to tell you, the coffee cup is going to break.

[172] That's as basic as it gets.

[173] And it really, we tend to complicate things and, oh, it's so nuanced and everything.

[174] It's really not.

[175] It's very simple.

[176] It's very simple.

[177] It's very I mean, maybe that's why it's easy for me because I'm a simple guy.

[178] I don't claim to be any great scholar or any great anything, but I'm a great believer and lover of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[179] I'll die for him.

[180] I really will.

[181] Amen.

[182] And one thing that, you know, people, we were sharing this before, but I'm all fired up.

[183] I'm going to share it right here.

[184] Let's do it.

[185] People tell me, oh, be careful, Bishop.

[186] You know, we want you around for 12 years until you retire.

[187] you know, at 75 years old, I'm 63.

[188] Sure.

[189] If God gives me that life, he gives me that many days, but I need to spend them teaching the truth.

[190] Amen.

[191] I'm worthless as a bishop.

[192] If I say, well, I want to hang around, so I'm going to kind of lighten up on the truth.

[193] That's worthless.

[194] That's basically what you just quoted.

[195] That's what it gets to.

[196] If you're worrying about, oh, well, how will they receive this and how politically incorrect is it and who's it going to upset and what donors are going to disengage?

[197] Who gives a blankety blank?

[198] I've got to teach the truth.

[199] Amen.

[200] And if I'm told you can't teach it anymore today, okay, I did my best.

[201] As long as I had a voice, I taught the truth.

[202] Somebody told them reasonably, and as long as you have a head.

[203] Yeah, I heard that one.

[204] people have lost their heads through the centuries.

[205] St. John Fisher is a great hero of mine from the time of Henry the 8th.

[206] He got his head chopped off because he was not willing to compromise on the truth because Henry was king.

[207] And he was saying, truth has changed.

[208] And I've decreed that I can marry whoever I want, basically.

[209] And he and Thomas Moore basically both lost their heads because they opposed the power of the world.

[210] And the reading today from the Book of Wisdom, I'd encourage people to go to the first reading for Mass for this Friday of the fourth week of...

[211] I'll give you the...

[212] Jack, Wisdom, 12 to 22.

[213] It talks about the wicked set among...

[214] What chapter?

[215] Chapter 2, I'm sorry, chapter 2.

[216] 2, 12 to 22.

[217] That's right.

[218] Read those first few.

[219] Yeah, I do.

[220] I wanted to do that.

[221] He took the words out of them.

[222] The wicked said among themselves, thinking not a right, let us be set the just one because he is obnoxious to us.

[223] He sets himself against our doings.

[224] Exactly.

[225] And that is before Christ, that's in the time before Christ.

[226] In the Old Testament, the Hebrew story, it's clearly talking about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

[227] And what they're going to do to him, and what I said this morning at Mass, they've been trying to do it since he hit the planet.

[228] As soon as he was born, they're trying to kill him.

[229] And I'm not a scripture scholar, like I said, but I'd like to go through the four gospels and count up how many times does it say they were trying to kill him, trying to throw him off a cliff that wanted to get rid of the guy.

[230] And it's happened with his body, the mystical body, that is the church.

[231] They've been trying to kill off the Catholic Church ever since Jesus established it, ascended to the Father, sent the Holy Spirit.

[232] They've been trying to kill off the church.

[233] Look at Peter.

[234] They tell St. Peter, quit using the name of Jesus.

[235] And he says, I can't.

[236] I'm with Peter.

[237] Amen.

[238] I can't quit using the name of Jesus.

[239] I can't quit sharing his deposit of faith that is developed in his church.

[240] I can't do it.

[241] cancel me, kill me, shut me up, however the world wants to, the message will endure.

[242] It's not about me, some guy named Joe and Tyler, Texas.

[243] It's about the truth of Jesus Christ.

[244] And people need to wake up to it before the world really comes apart.

[245] Because we can only get away with ignoring God for just so long.

[246] And I just tweeted something that Pope Benedict XVI said about the Eucharist, but we as Catholics better start saying, I believe this.

[247] I believe that the Eucharist is the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the same one who walked this earth, the same Jesus.

[248] He's there on our altars.

[249] And we better get reverent about the king of kings.

[250] in our churches.

[251] All of this garbage that still goes on, it is harming, not just the Catholic Church.

[252] That's what people don't realize.

[253] The Catholic Church, established by the Son of God, according to the will of the Father, guided by the Holy Spirit, is essential to humanity.

[254] It's not just this Catholic club.

[255] That's how it's treated by too many people even in the church.

[256] it is essential to humanity because it's the truth and I'll fight for it till my dying breath wow Bishop Strickland thank you for being fired up about our faith I wish we had more leaders like that because I have to say if we don't correct these problems in the church from the hierarchy I believe the church will be reduced to a loose confederation of local churches holding different views and probably closer to an Anglican or Protestant model, and this is why it's so important that our hierarchy, from the Pope down, I'm a layman, speak up for these truths because the catechism speaks loudly, and we have to go with that rather than personal opinions.

[257] If I ever say anything, and you ever say anything contrary to that, I want you to correct me, and I know you said the same thing to me. We come back, we're going to have more on the Bishop Strickland Hour here on Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[258] Stay with us, family.

[259] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland just to support what Bishop Strickland is saying.

[260] This is not his personal opinion regarding the catechism.

[261] I quote the catechism which St. John Paul II described as a sure norm for teaching the faith, saying basically basing itself on sacred scripture, which presents homosexual acts as grave depravity.

[262] A tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.

[263] They are contrary to the natural law.

[264] They close the sexual act to the gift of life.

[265] They do not proceed from a genuine, effective sexual complimentary.

[266] Under no circumstances can it be approved.

[267] Now, Bishop Strickland, it's great that you say that, and I'm all for it, but you're not St. Pope Paul, Pope John Paul, the second.

[268] He said it right in the catechism.

[269] So when I hear Cardinals and others come up and say, nah, come on, you know, you can decide it for yourself.

[270] That's not what the church teaches, and I just want to pray.

[271] I'm going to to pray it right now for a German Cardinal Reinhard Marks right now.

[272] Hail Mary, because I want to see him get to heaven.

[273] I really do.

[274] I love him enough to pray for his conversion in the sense of what he's saying on sexuality is not what our Lord teaches.

[275] So let's pray.

[276] Father, Son, Holy Spirit, amen.

[277] Hail Mary, full of grace.

[278] The Lord is with thee.

[279] Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy boom Jesus.

[280] Holy Mary.

[281] Holy Mary, Mother of God.

[282] Pray for a sinner.

[283] now and at the hour of our death.

[284] Amen, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[285] Amen.

[286] And just another side note, the Vatican congregation for the doctrine of the faith just recently, I mean, you know, a year ago, March of 2021, said that the Catholic Church does not have the power to bless unions of people of the same sex.

[287] So we have a consistent 2 ,000 year history of teaching on sexual morality, and you just can't change it because you feel, like it's better to change.

[288] Well, and really, Terry, it's, it's bigger than any single issue because, you know, that's the issue that's being pushed there.

[289] But from what Cardinal Mark said, it's all up for grabs.

[290] There's, I mean, nothing's written in stone.

[291] Yeah.

[292] You can doubt whatever.

[293] I mean, you can doubt that I'm a bishop or he's a cardinal.

[294] You can doubt holy orders.

[295] You can doubt communion.

[296] I mean, many people do.

[297] Many people don't even doubt.

[298] They just don't believe that bread and wine really becomes the body and blood of Christ.

[299] I mean, you can just everything.

[300] I mean, it just destroys the foundation of believing anything.

[301] And sadly, that's how a lot of people are living their lives in the world today.

[302] There's no truth.

[303] And it's all just whoever you want to be the next day and then you can change yourself and be something else.

[304] And it's, you know, it used to be called insanity.

[305] Yeah.

[306] And now it's like, oh, no, well, if you've decided this, and it really gets pushed to the ridiculous, you know, people saying they want to marry a building.

[307] I mean, it's just, and you're saying, oh, that's ridiculous.

[308] Nobody's going to do that.

[309] Yeah, they've tried to do it.

[310] And that's where you lose reality.

[311] If you lose the truth, then anything, it's all up for grabs.

[312] And if you can survive it, you can do it, I guess, is the attitude that's there.

[313] Well, you've said it over the years here on Virgin Most Powerful, these people who say, you have your truth and I have my truth.

[314] No, it doesn't work that way.

[315] Jesus Christ is the truth.

[316] And that's what we need to go by.

[317] And I just want to endorse another book, The Catholic Mass, by Bishop Athanasius Snyder.

[318] steps to restoring the centrality of God in the liturgy.

[319] The old story is the way you worship is the way you believe.

[320] And I'm so edified by reading his book.

[321] And again, we've got two hours of Bishop Athanasia Snyder on podcasts.

[322] If you go to vmpr .org, you'll listen to it because it's showing us the majesty of the Mass. And I think we've lost that for the last 50 or 60 years.

[323] People think going to Mass, Bishop Strickland, is like a Protestant.

[324] service.

[325] We're going to sing some songs, read from the Bible.

[326] And it's very similar to our Protestant.

[327] No, completely different.

[328] We have a reenactment of Calvary.

[329] We're present at that one eternal sacrifice when we go to Mass. And Bishop Snyder really points out the fathers of the church, the saints, St. Francis of Assisi, his comments about how mass has to be so precise and you use nothing but the best.

[330] And he's the guy that a lot of people today, my age, say, oh, St. Francis, like, you know, when I was a young teenager, they'd say mass in gym shorts and a stole around their neck at a retreat for teenagers.

[331] I've been there.

[332] I saw it.

[333] And I said, the sum's not right about that.

[334] Well, now I know.

[335] Yeah.

[336] And it, I mean, speaking about the Eucharist and the mass, this wonderful book by Bishop Schneider, that if you believe that that's what, to me, it's the whole lynch pen for so much of the church.

[337] If we believe that Jesus, the eternal son of God, incarnate among us, that his body and blood is there, body and blood, soul and divinity, really present, then if you really believe that, it's insanity to not be seeking the deepest reverence you can possibly find for yourself, for the whole community gathered, for the priest seeking reverence, for every person coming seeking reverence in the way you dress, in the way you genuflect toward the tabernacle, not just sort of halfway, not quite getting your knee on, but taking a moment to honor the Lord of the universe who's there present.

[338] And when you dare to come forward to receive him.

[339] And I use that word specifically.

[340] We dare to offer the prayer the Our Father.

[341] We dare to receive him because he loves us so much, because of his mercy.

[342] But if we do that, we better think about how can I receive him the most reverently possible.

[343] And that's what the priest need to do.

[344] That's what the person needs to do.

[345] I really want to work on that for the Diocese of Tyler, and to really give some guidelines to the laity and to the priest, like you're talking about, it's not about finery, but it's about giving the best that we have.

[346] I mean, if some worldly dignitary suddenly said, I'm coming to your house, people would be scrambling and washing and scrubbing and, you know, said, oh, we've got to get a new chair.

[347] That chair's too shabby.

[348] They'd be dressing things up.

[349] It's true.

[350] And to come to the, the banquet to the heavenly altar of the King of Kings, his royal banquet in flip -flops and cut -off shorts like the what you would wear to mow the yard or to go to the lake, that just shows that we don't really believe he's there, that we don't really honor the Lord of the universe.

[351] And sadly, Terry, in today's culture, if we could wake people up.

[352] There are people that believe, but they're just so desensitized.

[353] They don't really think about it.

[354] We need to really think about it.

[355] We need to pray.

[356] I would ask everyone watching this radio program listening or watching to really ask yourself, how can I get on a path to deeper reverence?

[357] Do I go to confession often enough?

[358] That's a place.

[359] to start.

[360] Am I aware enough of my sins so that when I say, Lord, I'm not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

[361] Can I really mean that?

[362] And say, thank you, Lord, for your mercy.

[363] I've done my best.

[364] I've gone to confession.

[365] I'm trying to prepare my house to receive you.

[366] Thank you for your mercy because none of us, if we claim, oh, yeah, I'm there.

[367] I'm worthy.

[368] that shows how unworthy we are because pride is one of the gravest sins we need to be humble and seeking reverence and that to me is one of the basic areas that we need to address and it's not happening in too many places and you know i i will say that i need to seek deeper reverence every time i celebrate mass me too you know bishop strickland as you were speaking some priest told me this, and maybe I've said it to you before, but when you go to Mass, think of it as possibly your last time that you'll ever get to Holy Mass and receive communion like this might be your last Holy Communion.

[369] And that was great advice given to me, and I try to do that because, man, this book by Bishop Athanasius Snyder, the Catholic Mass, is just so edifying for me to realize, I said to him, if people really understood the Mass, our churches would be overflowing.

[370] because they would realize what they're there for.

[371] So anyhow, that's my take on that.

[372] I wanted to shift gears because we talked about sexual morality, and we've been talking in the catechism about the love of husband and wife and marriage, and I'd like to ask everybody if they could open up their catechism because we want to take the next segment on these paragraphs that teach so clearly what the church teaches on marriage.

[373] I just want to remind everybody the 6th, 6th of May, 7th of May, excuse me, Saturday, we're having a marriage seminar here at the Sacred Heart Chapel, and you're welcome to come, but just go to vmpr .org, and you can watch it if you're in another country or another state, but if you're locally, you can register also by going to vmpr .org, and I think you'll get a lot of good material.

[374] We're using the catechism of the Catholic church the Bible and our favorite cardinal cardinal sarah couples awaken your love and he's got some exercises for couples to pray the scriptures with your wife or your husband and then you apply that in your marriage it's just what a great idea so we're going to have that here at the sacred heart chapel on the 7th of may and we're welcoming you to go to vmpr .org to find out more about that we're almost at the week that changed the world and so keep keep your letting fast going everybody and when we come back we're going to talk about paragraph 2361 and i'll have bishop bishop joseph strickland kind of share his thoughts on this paragraph because it really does apply to some of the things we're looking at and this is not again personal opinions this is why we go to the catechism because we want to go to a source as st john paul too said you can trust and this is one of the things i tell people bishop stricken you can correct me if i'm wrong but when i you hear a priest say something or a bishop say to have something it's good if it sounds funny just check it out make sure it lines up with the catechism if it does great absolutely because we're all human we can misspeak we can we can get something wrong i want to be correct yeah yeah and we're going to do that Paragraph 2361, stay with this family, we're opening up the catechism of the Catholic Church on Virgin, Most Powerful Rating.

[375] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[376] I seem like the hour went so fast, but I want to call this title of the show, never worry about who will be offended if you speak the truth, worry about who will be misled and deceived and destroyed if you don't.

[377] Long title, but really that's pretty much what we've been talking about is speaking the truth in charity.

[378] This is kind of a theme for Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[379] Terry, I want to set up this look at paragraph...

[380] 2361?

[381] Yes.

[382] Okay.

[383] Great.

[384] It probably is something...

[385] I mean, we should know it and take it for granted, but in God's plan...

[386] Yeah, let's listen.

[387] The only place for sexual relationship is in marriage.

[388] Yeah.

[389] Period.

[390] marriage between a man and a woman for life, open to children.

[391] And that really is key to so much of what the church teaches about marriage.

[392] Why is it an indissoluble bond?

[393] Because that intimacy of sexual intercourse is so intimate and involves so much of one person and sharing with another, as the scriptures say, the two shall become one.

[394] Amen.

[395] The man and the woman bond.

[396] That's why they call it a marriage bond.

[397] Amen.

[398] And no power on earth can separate that if it occurs.

[399] So that, we've lost so much of that.

[400] That is reality.

[401] That is how God has made man and woman.

[402] work and for procreation and for the truly making the man and woman a couple of bonded units that can't be broken and when we treat it so lightly that it's disposable with no fault divorce and all of that it all traces back to that intimacy that's been shared and when it's shared prior to marriage it's it's broken when it's shared between between two people that can't be married, for whatever reasons, because they're the same sex or for whatever reasons they could never marry, a brother and a sister, you might say.

[403] The world has had a taboo against a brother and a sister marrying.

[404] And according to, if you tear that apart, then why can't a brother and a sister marry?

[405] Or why can't two brothers marry?

[406] Or it just becomes, insanity.

[407] But it's all based on the intimacy of that sexual, and that's what this paragraph starts to get into, is this is a beautiful gift from God.

[408] And when we mistreat it, and when we treat it lightly, it is dangerous for those two people and for humanity itself.

[409] And that's where we are.

[410] Amen.

[411] I call it our culture has recreational sex.

[412] It's like a good work out at the gym.

[413] They're using this power that God has given to them in a bad way, in actually a very sinful way.

[414] And that's why, you know, thou shall not commit adultery, thou shall not commit fornication, because this isn't the way God designed it.

[415] So here's paragraph, thank you for stepping in.

[416] I like it when you do that, Bishop Strickland, because it really makes it so that you really teach us our faith in a practical way.

[417] Paragraph 2361 says sexuality by means of which men and women give themselves to one another through the acts which are proper and exclusive to spouses, just what you're saying, is not something simply biological, but concerns the inmost being of the human person as such.

[418] It is realized in a truly human way only if it is an interical part of the love by which a man and woman commit them.

[419] totally to one another until death.

[420] Now, I, you just summarized that already by the preface you said before.

[421] But, I mean, this is what sets us free.

[422] What the Bible just said and what the church is saying is that marriage is not only forever, but this intimate union is sacred and that it's by God's design.

[423] Well, the phrase there that I think you can really focus on, It concerns the innermost being of the human person as such.

[424] It's a part of being human.

[425] Yes.

[426] Is to treat our sexuality as sacred and as reserved to this sacred bond.

[427] Yeah.

[428] Anytime it's treated less reverentially as less powerful, it is powerful.

[429] Yeah.

[430] I mean, think about the ways that people are damaged, for life when something of a sexual nature happens.

[431] Oh, yeah.

[432] And the horrible abuse of a child and people love to throw that up to the church.

[433] Yes, we've had that horrible reality.

[434] A few, relatively few priests, but any is too many.

[435] But, you know, it's rampant in every aspect of society.

[436] That's not an excuse for any.

[437] But it's just, it shows how volatile it is.

[438] It is powerful.

[439] It is powerful.

[440] It's powerful for you and your wife that creates a bond that truly does make you become a married couple that begins to share every aspect of life.

[441] You are truly partners.

[442] That's the sexual bond is part of that.

[443] Yes.

[444] And when it's broken, it really is devastating to break that.

[445] And that's what this is talking about.

[446] It concerns the innermost being of the human person.

[447] It's how we are made.

[448] It's connected to being made in the image and likeness of God.

[449] It can't be held in our concepts.

[450] We can't speak of it importantly enough.

[451] I think we don't even realize.

[452] As much as we do know, and as much as the catechism teaches, there's a mystery there that is beyond fully understanding how it interacts with the reality of who we are created in the image and likeness of God.

[453] And to use the word recreational associated with it, that's part of the devastation.

[454] There's nothing recreational about it.

[455] It should be gloriously beautiful as a bond between a man and a woman in marriage.

[456] And that's the only time it's appropriate.

[457] That's the only time it isn't disordered.

[458] It's out of order when sexual expression happens out of marriage.

[459] A big amen to that.

[460] And you know, one of the aspects that my wife and I thought about that Scott Hans shared many years ago, probably 30 -some years ago when we heard his talk on marriage, and he said, this union that my husband and wife have is so intimate that you might have to give a name.

[461] In other words, a child might come from this, so you co -procrate with God.

[462] In other words, you're participating in this sacred communion.

[463] It's almost like the analogy of a communion of a husband and wife in this intimacy that's only appropriate in marriage, and that many times God blesses you with a child.

[464] And it's such a beautiful analogy.

[465] Scott Hahn explained that to me the first time, like I said, 30 years ago, but it really is very true that you communes.

[466] with your wife, in this sacred bond of sexual intercourse that are appropriate for you and your wife to have.

[467] And I have to say this, and I'll leave you on this one, and then we'll get a blessing.

[468] I've told people this in marriage talks that, I believe that having relations with my wife I have more a joy and pleasure than anybody using a prostitute to go have relations illicitly, they do not have anywhere near the joy I have because that wife of mine is committed to me and I'm committed to her for life and it's that way of communing with her that God has designed and when we see it that way, are you kidding me?

[469] Someone having sex outside of marriage, you know, they don't get, I'm sorry, I'm getting a little graphic, they don't receive the joy that you receive when you have your wife or your husband with you and you're commuting with them in that relationship.

[470] No comparison to what prostitution or fornication or adultery has.

[471] So I want to share that with men and women that they're not missing out.

[472] Matter of fact, doing it God's ways always better and more enjoyable.

[473] Is that too graphic?

[474] All right.

[475] Well, it's beautiful and that's what it's intended to be.

[476] Yeah.

[477] Hey, Bishop Strickland, how about this?

[478] I love today's show because you are teaching us so beautiful the teachings of Catholic Church on marriage and on just speaking up for the truth and charity.

[479] You've done that.

[480] And I want to ask, before we have the final blessing, I think we've got another minute, can you just give us a little tidbit on, we're going towards the end of, we're getting to Holy Week quickly.

[481] The scriptures are, what can we do to prepare for that week that changed the world right now?

[482] Well, one thing that I would encourage is it's right, I mean, it's in the middle of Holy Week, but the Divine Mercy Chaplet Novena, which begins Good Friday.

[483] I actually tweeted about that and had to correct the dates or the time to begin.

[484] People are always telling me, oh, you got this wrong.

[485] But, okay.

[486] Okay, thanks.

[487] But it's from Good Friday to the Saturday before Divine Mercy Sunday.

[488] That's one thing that it really embraces a good part of the tritome and then lead you from Easter into divine mercy for that first week of Easter.

[489] So I think that there are many things we can do.

[490] We're finishing.

[491] I've been doing myself and encouraging people to do the 33 -day consecration to Jesus through Mary.

[492] It comes from St. Louis to Montfort.

[493] there are many things to do, but I would encourage people.

[494] The Divine Mercy Chaplet Novena is very short, but it's a great way to really tune into the great celebration of mercy that is Easter and all the sacraments.

[495] The whole life of the church is the gift of God's mercy and living in his divine will.

[496] Awesome.

[497] That's great advice, and I want to recommend people to give you.

[498] gets signed up on his Twitter account, because he tweets quite a bit during the week, and then we just chat about it here.

[499] And I want to also say, this is your first time listening to the show.

[500] You can go to vmpr .org and listen to all the past podcasts and all the shows.

[501] Mr. Strickland, could you give us your blessing, please?

[502] Sure.

[503] Heavenly Father, we ask all those who listen to this program or watch it in whatever way, at whatever time, that they may be blessed.

[504] and guided in the wondrous truth that your son lived, suffered, died, and rose to share with us all.

[505] Help those who have never known Jesus Christ or know him deeply to continue to know him more deeply, the great mystery of your love incarnate among us.

[506] May all the saints, especially the Immaculate Virgin Mary, intercede for us in our broken world.

[507] And we ask this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[508] Amen.

[509] Thank you so much, Mr. Strick.

[510] And again, folks, all of the shows of Virgin Most Powerful are on our website, vmpr .org.

[511] I hope you got a lot out of this hour of power talking about our Lord and the church, and how beautiful it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ and not compromise on one item.

[512] We need more people to speak the truth and charity.

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