28 Jul 2020 – On the Second Commandment, Part II, False Oaths

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

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

[2] Bishop Strickland, thanks again for joining us here on the Ten Commandments.

[3] Great to see you.

[4] Thank you.

[5] And today we're going to be talking on the Second Commandment Part 2 about false oaths.

[6] But before we do that, it seems reasonable to me that we take that first segment like we've done in the past on some of your tweets and some of the spiritual advice that you're giving.

[7] and you're actually giving a homework assignment I saw about the rosary, and I love that.

[8] But Bishop Strickland, what's on your mind for your tweets?

[9] And tell us a little bit about the tweet from Fulton Sheen you did, because I really like that one.

[10] Well, talking about the rosary, I really think what I'm reading right now just emphasizes that the power of the rosary.

[11] I think a lot of people, including myself for many years, just thought of it as a nice personal devotion.

[12] And I guess that's the word that I would want to ask people to really move away from.

[13] The rosary isn't just a nice prayer.

[14] It is deeply powerful.

[15] Amen.

[16] Because God's plan for us human beings is that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the model of who we're called to be.

[17] She is full of grace.

[18] We're called to be full of grace as well.

[19] And I think we desperately, and I use that word very pointedly and intentionally, I think desperately need to pray the rosary in this time.

[20] We're seeing a lot of darkness, you know, as you mentioned, before we actually got in the air.

[21] California is really struggling with the virus.

[22] virus, Texas is.

[23] There people are, I just had one priest that I communicated with this afternoon.

[24] And I'm just asking him how things are going and he said he's tired of the virus.

[25] I think we all are, but it's not just because I'm tired of it or any of us are, it's not going away.

[26] And I think that we need to turn to strength and the rosary is about Mary's strength.

[27] you know as there's so many images and the scriptures talk about she will crush the head of the serpent and she does and that power is a power that we all have to plug into I love to talk about you know I just got a new cell phone and you know how that goes you kind of have to figure it out and it's a little it's always a little different a few generations back I said they can quit changing it It's not going to improve it.

[28] It just, but, you know, I know marketing, they're going to keep changing it.

[29] But with the cell phone, you know, and thankfully, you know, the batteries are better.

[30] So they, you don't have to plug them in as much.

[31] But they have to eventually plug in.

[32] A cell phone without power or without a signal is a nice paperweight.

[33] And I think we can say the same thing about us.

[34] If we're not connected to our maker, and if we're not praying and connecting to that power, then we're just a nice paperway.

[35] We'll occupy some space on the planet for a while, but we're not fulfilling our intention.

[36] And the Blessed Virgin Mary is all about plugging us in to the power of her son, to the power of the Holy Spirit.

[37] Mary is always, if you read anything in scripture or if you read any commentary about Mary, she's never saying me, me, me. She's always pointing to Jesus, her son and saying, follow him.

[38] Turn away from sin and follow him.

[39] And so I urge everyone listening.

[40] If you pray a daily rosary, pray too.

[41] If you haven't prayed a rosary in a long time, start now.

[42] We need to.

[43] We need your prayers.

[44] And I guess the final thing, I could go on and on, but the final thing I would want to say about the rosary is that it's not just a prayer for you.

[45] It's a prayer for everyone that you care about.

[46] And it's a prayer for our planet.

[47] It's a prayer for God's people.

[48] It's a prayer for our nation.

[49] I just wrote, there are a lot of different efforts to get people to pray the rosary.

[50] I just wrote an endorsement letter.

[51] like many bishops have, an effort to have a coast -to -coast rosary.

[52] And so I just encourage people, we need to, with the election coming up and everything, whatever your politics, if you're a faithful member of the church, if you want to follow Jesus Christ, pray the rosary that we can all wake up.

[53] It's one truth.

[54] Jesus Christ didn't reveal a menu of possibilities to choose from.

[55] He revealed that there's one truth, Father, Son, and Spirit of the source of that truth, God who is love.

[56] And the rosary really plugs us into that power source.

[57] Well, said Bishop Strickland, I just want to add that two things.

[58] One, Our Lady of Fatima, which we just celebrated the 13th of July the third apparition, And our lady asked from Fatima to pray the daily rosary for peace.

[59] And boy, do we need peace in the world.

[60] Also, I want to recommend St. Louis DeMontford true devotion to anybody to understand the rosary.

[61] That's been a classic for hundreds of years, very, very well done.

[62] And also, St. Maximine Colby, who I'm a member of the Knights of the Immaculata, can't go without him.

[63] He's the saint that died in Auschwitz back in the 1940s during the war and gave his life up for another man. very devoted to the blessed mother if you notice every saint in the last how many hundreds of years all had great devotion to our lady well there are big brothers and sisters why not imitate the saints and have great devotion to mary because devotion to mary brings us to christ that's what we call true devotion and that coast to coast rosary i've actually given some talks for them uh over the last several months promoting that so that would be a great thing here in our church in our chapel bishop of strickland after Mass on Sunday, we actually go outside and have a procession praying the rosary for our world.

[64] We just started that a couple weeks ago because we said, what can we do to help with this pandemic?

[65] And that is we could pray the rosary as a family.

[66] And as Father Peyton used to say, a family that prays together, stays together.

[67] Bishop Strickland, I had a question about your tweet this week to change gears because we could talk.

[68] Actually, I have a great story about our Blessed Mother.

[69] Maybe I'll share it.

[70] Well, I'll share it real quick just because I love telling stories about Our Lady.

[71] And this is a story that took place right after World War II, and it was in Germany.

[72] And after Germany lost the war, the country was in terrible shape.

[73] And Father William Wagner from the Opus Angelorum said this gave me this story.

[74] It was printed in 1964 in their newsletter regarding a gentleman after the war didn't have a place to live because everything was bomb.

[75] He's walking down a country road, and by golly, he hears a lady screaming, help, help, help.

[76] Well, there's five -year -old son was in the lake drowning, and no one could swim to save him.

[77] So this gentleman jumps over into the water, swims out, saves the little boy's life.

[78] And, of course, Mama says, thank you for saving my son's life.

[79] Can I give you some money?

[80] Because everybody's poor after the war.

[81] And the man says, I don't need any money.

[82] Well, how about if I feed you?

[83] Now you're talking, lady.

[84] she gives him a great meal and then when he's ready to leave that little five -year -old boy had a miraculous medal around his neck of our lady and the woman said can I give this medal to you and take it off my son I'll get my son another one as a way of showing you my appreciation of you saving my son's life he says okay lady whatever so he puts that metal around this man's neck many people from Germany migrated to Brazil and that's where he went for the last 30 years, but he was now dying in a hospital.

[85] For 30 years, he was a street guy.

[86] Never, never, because he had some issues with his health.

[87] So finally he's in the hospital and some good nuns are convincing him, hey, I see that miraculous metal around your neck.

[88] Would you like to go to confession?

[89] We could set that up because the doctor said, your heart is giving out.

[90] You're probably going to be meeting God.

[91] You might want to make your peace.

[92] And he says to the nuns, get out of here.

[93] I'm not interested in doing that.

[94] So then, here's the kicker, here's the punchline.

[95] The sisters go back to the convent and say, Mother Superior, we've got a guy who we think needs to go to confession, he's dying, he's got the miraculous metal around his neck, and what can we do?

[96] So Mother Superior says, remember what our lady said.

[97] Souls are going to hell because no one is there to pray and make sacrifices.

[98] You girls, make sacrifices.

[99] Pray for his conversion.

[100] So, and by the way, Mother Superior says there's a new German priest as a chaplain.

[101] He's from Germany.

[102] He's brand new, newly ordained.

[103] He's our chaplain.

[104] Ask him to speak to this guy in his own native language.

[105] They said, okay, we made the sacrifices.

[106] We called the priest.

[107] He goes over and talks to the young man, the old man, and gets into a conversation.

[108] He finds out, what part of Germany are you from?

[109] The south of Germany.

[110] That's where I'm from.

[111] He says this.

[112] He says, Maca, I noticed you're wearing a miraculous medal.

[113] Did your mother give that to you?

[114] He says, no, father.

[115] A long time ago, the little boy was drowning in a pond.

[116] No one could swim, so I went and saved the little boy's life and the mother gave me that medal.

[117] The priest says, you did what?

[118] you did that yeah yeah it was a long time ago that was me that was when i was five years old you saved my life and the priest said like i had and the old man goes really father he gives father a big hug and says father i'm so glad it was you that i could save your life and the priest says yeah me too and then he and then he says to the priest father will you hear my confession he hears his confession and the very next day god calls him home i'm telling you this is the medal for conversions i want to ask everybody, our listeners, get these medals and start handing them out.

[119] My mother Teresa did that.

[120] St. Maximine Colby called them as silver bullets.

[121] That's what devotion to Mary does.

[122] It brings us to Jesus.

[123] Bishop Strickland, that's the story I'll tell all over the world, and I never get tired telling it, and I still get chills up my back because I think of how good our Lord and our Blessed Mother is.

[124] Bishop Strickland, we've got another couple minutes on this first segment.

[125] Can you tell us about your, Oh, nope, I can hear the music coming on.

[126] When we come back, this is a teaser, everybody.

[127] Bishop Fulton Sheen, Bishop Strickland did a tweet of a quote by Fulton Sheen.

[128] As you know, I say on Terry and Jesse show, Full Sheen ahead.

[129] When we come back, Bishop Fulton Sheen's quote will be given to us by another bishop, Bishop Joseph Strickland.

[130] And we'll be back with much more to inspire you to fall deeper in love with Jesus Christ and his church.

[131] Hi, this is Jesse Romero from the Terry and Jesse show also from Jesus 9 -1 -1.

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[141] Thank you for listening to Virgin Most Powerful radio.

[142] Thank you.

[143] God bless you.

[144] Keep the faith.

[145] Leviticus 1144 says, Consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy.

[146] St. Vincent Pilate said, You must be holy in the way God asks you to be holy.

[147] God does not ask you to be a trappist monk or a hermit.

[148] He wants you to sanctify the world and your everyday life.

[149] May God show us the path to holiness and help us to follow it all the days of our life This is Terry Barber I want to thank you for your support here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio Here's an easy way to do it If you're going to sell or buy a house Call real estate for life 877 -543 -3871 Because they're going to get you a Christ -centered agent To purchase your home or to sell your home And at the close of escrow A portion of his commission goes right back to Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[150] Call 877 -543 -3871.

[151] Thank you so much for your support.

[152] Welcome back to the Terry.

[153] Actually, welcome back to Bishop Strickland Hour.

[154] And I just want to make a comment that this show has nothing to do with the person in a sense of the good that's coming from Bishop Strickland.

[155] He's a great Holy Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler.

[156] But I just want to make the point that any good he does, anyone does, comes from God.

[157] And we thank him for it.

[158] And what he's been doing these last couple weeks is teaching us about the fundamentals of the faith the ten commandments and we're going to continue on that but before we get to that second commandment the second half of it i asked the good bishop if he could talk about a tweet he made from fulton or archbishop fulton j sheen and as i like to say full sheen ahead bishop what did you have to say what did you tweet out on fulton sheen well let me just read the the tweet because it sounds like he's talking today in 2020, and it's many decades ago, but only those who live by faith really know what is happening in the world.

[159] The great masses without faith are unconscious of the destructive processes going on because they have lost the vision of the heights from which they have fallen.

[160] There's so many quotes like that from Archbishop Sheen, And it really is prophetic, and living by faith is what we're built for, as I have really made it my mission to guard the deposit of faith with so many things being eroded, and we're forgetting what the family is, what real marriage is, what sexual morality is about, what the sanctity of life is, just one issue after another.

[161] we need to live by faith.

[162] And there's so many of those destructive forces that just sort of we're blind to if we're not looking always through the eyes of faith.

[163] And like we were talking earlier, the Blessed Virgin Mary, that's why she wants us to pray the rosary, is to help her be that woman that God has chosen to model faith for us.

[164] She is a model of faith.

[165] We were talking about the Saints.

[166] St. Katiri Tekakwita, say that five times fast.

[167] But St. Kateri was a young woman.

[168] And she consecrated herself to virginity, which is, I mean, just that should get people's attention now.

[169] Man, what could a young woman be thinking to as a teenager, really?

[170] I think she still was when she did that.

[171] She died at 24.

[172] And here we are many years after she died and still remembering her because she had faith.

[173] And it's a reminder to us that having faith means, yes, we're living in the present moment, but we're always called to look to the real ultimate end of life.

[174] And both of us are old enough to know that end is not that far away.

[175] Amen, brother.

[176] Closer to the end, then to the beginning.

[177] And whether we're in that phase of life or not, we're all headed there.

[178] We just need to live by faith.

[179] I always have this statement.

[180] I say, nobody gets out alive last time I looked.

[181] We're all going to face death.

[182] And I want to just say that what you just said about Fulton Sheen, anything you can read on Fulton Sheen, go online and just put the quotes of Fulton Sheen.

[183] I have it in my studio.

[184] I use it every day because he really helped millions of people know the meaning and purpose of life.

[185] And I want to just throw one more thing in about the rosary because you really inspired me, Bishop Strickland, about why we should be praying the rosary every day.

[186] Here at the center, here at the Virgin Most Powerful Radio, we've had several Protestants listening to us who come to our church and I give them instruction of the faith because they ask questions about devotion to Mary.

[187] And one after another, I introduce them to the rosary.

[188] And Bishop Strickland, what blows me away is the openness of these folks when they understand what devotion to Mary is and what it isn't.

[189] And they told me over and over again, praying the rosary is so peaceful for them, meditating on the mysteries.

[190] They just have loved it.

[191] And this guy, well, one guy in particular, which he came into the church a couple years ago, he was praying the daily rosary for a year and a half before he was in actually came into the Catholic church because we had some issues he had to work out with some of the RCIA people had to go to another parish one parish wasn't actually giving him the straight stuff on the faith I'm sorry Bishop but they're out there and you know it and so he had to get to a good instructor because he just wouldn't compromise and when he did then he became a Catholic and he's an on -fire Catholic matter of fact he's a monthly donor for virgin most powerful radio and he's now praying that rosary and now he's sharing that rosary with his extended family who aren't catholic and see the rosary really is an ecumenical prayer because i've met many non -catholics and as you probably know bishop strickland that even martin luther a lot of the lutherans pray the rosary and so i would just use it as a tool to evangelize people because it's our lady that will bring them to christ Well, let me, you know, I know we need to move on, but talk about our lady.

[192] Come on.

[193] I'd like to share a little story of something I just read about Mary and the Rosary.

[194] This is actually in a very serious book, a very startling book that's about what demons and exorcisms have to say about Mary and the Rosary.

[195] and what I wanted to share is just one example of a demon actually quoted in this book saying every bead on that chain and that's how the demon puts it every bead on that chain that you're using hurts us it diminishes our strength we need to remember that as I love to say and I think we've one of my you know I get these drums that I beat, I guess, but I think we've lost too much of the supernatural fate.

[196] We live in a natural world, but the supernatural world is all around us as well.

[197] That's what the saints are in touch with.

[198] That's what the Virgin Mary is in touch with.

[199] Her apparitions are, she kind of walks through the door and talks to her children in the natural world, like the children at Fatima or Bernadette at Lourdes or Juan Diego at Guadalupe, occasionally she will visit.

[200] And we both know that there are many people that the church hasn't seen enough to be able to say officially, okay, church.

[201] I mean, that's a big deal for the Catholic Church to officially recognize an apparition of Mary.

[202] But I'm sure we both know people that we believe.

[203] I've never had an apparition of Mary, but I've known people that have, and she's always got the same message.

[204] And it's a reminder of that supernatural faith that we need to be strong in believing.

[205] We're seeing evil all around us.

[206] I don't see how anyone can have lived through just these first half of 2020 and say evil doesn't exist.

[207] evil exists but sanctity and goodness exists also good and evil have always been in a timeless battle we're seeing that battle heat up in our time and so we need to pay attention to the supernatural good that is available to us and the supernatural evil that can destroy us at least in this life and if we lose our faith can destroy destroy us for eternity.

[208] But God is always giving us another chance.

[209] Amen.

[210] Bishop Strickland, I'm going to put you on the hot seat before we get back to the Second Commandment.

[211] And I know you're going to love it.

[212] This is like a restaurant and everybody's sitting around the table with you, Bishop Strickland.

[213] And they go, hey, Bishop Strickland, well, I hear what you're saying about evil.

[214] But why is it that God allows this evil to go on?

[215] If he's so good, why doesn't he just stop it all?

[216] Why does he allow us to witness all these evils?

[217] What would you, what answer would you give because I think a lot of people need a good answer for that.

[218] Well, Terry, that's sort of the age -old question.

[219] You didn't tell me where you're going to get the question.

[220] I know.

[221] I wanted to, this is, folks, this is like you're, like I say, we're having a conversation with Bishop Strickland.

[222] I would think that you want to know the answer.

[223] I've given my answer Bishop Strickland about free will that the only value in saying yes to God is you have the freedom to say no. But the problem of evil, if you could just, it'd give us some advice on that we'd love to hear it well um you sort of stole my punchline but i i would turn it around to say that the god is all light all good all love yes that's god and you know i want to get back to that image of light and talk a little bit about that.

[224] But if, I mean, we live in a world where we know there's something called an absence of light.

[225] There, light is, I mean, it's a big part of the universe.

[226] Light is real.

[227] But the opposite of light is real also.

[228] to me, the evil proves the goodness of God in an irony that I think we need to pay attention to.

[229] Love, to think of a being that is pure love, we see a lot of what isn't love in the world, and that comes from the human heart.

[230] It comes from us made in the image of God.

[231] So it's certainly tied into free will.

[232] But I think that to the one of the ways to understand why evil still exists, if God is all love, which we know he is, he is all truth, because evil is the opposite of God.

[233] And we are given that free will to choose good over evil.

[234] We don't do that completely.

[235] Even if we're doing our best, we need to go to confession because we're sinners.

[236] Hopefully not in major ways, but we're sinners.

[237] We choose selfish things.

[238] We choose things that we know aren't good because they look good.

[239] And as long as that continues, which is the whole free will issue.

[240] And evil keeps getting, I talked about power earlier.

[241] Jesus Christ, he says in the gospel, all power in heaven and on earth has been given to him as the Son of God.

[242] We believe what Jesus says.

[243] And so he has all the power, but we keep giving evil Satan or whatever manifestation of evil you want to choose.

[244] We keep giving that a little power just enough to keep it going because, of my choice, my sinful choices, we multiply those simple, selfish choices that we all make.

[245] Really, Terry, I think one of our biggest problems in the world today is arrogance.

[246] Oh, yeah.

[247] No humility.

[248] And it's true for me as a bishop.

[249] It's true for priests.

[250] It's true for moms and dads.

[251] When we let arrogance grab us.

[252] Because, again, if we look at Jesus, modeling, pure love.

[253] How does he do that?

[254] He is humility, incarnate.

[255] Amen.

[256] Every step along the way you can see huge.

[257] Jesus, here's the Son of God allowing his human body to die and be placed in a tomb.

[258] Wow.

[259] That's a great act of humility.

[260] Amen.

[261] We're going to take a quick break and then we're going to get back to the Second Commandment here at the Bishop Strickland hour.

[262] You're listening, a Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[263] We'll be back with more.

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[272] God bless you.

[273] This is Terry Barber.

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[278] May God bless you and your family.

[279] This is Terry Barber.

[280] I want to thank you for your support here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[281] Here's an easy way to do it.

[282] If you're going to sell or buy a house, call real estate for life 877 -543 -3871 because they're going to get you a Christ -centered agent to purchase your home or to sell your home.

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[285] Thank you so much for your support.

[286] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[287] We've been talking about our blessed mother and talking about free will and the problem of evil.

[288] And now we're going to get to what we've been talking about the Ten Commandments.

[289] We've had the first section on the second commandment you know you shall not take the name of the lord your god in vain we covered that and why do we take the ten commandments because this is so fundamental to our church and to our teachings and bishop strickland already made that comment earlier of how we need to go back to the basics there's nothing more basic than the ten commandments and bishop strickland on paragraph 2151 as a section of the catechism i'll just read it and you can maybe comment on it the rejection of false oaths is a duty towards God.

[290] As creator and Lord, God is the norm of all truth.

[291] Human speech is either in accord with or opposition to God who is truth itself.

[292] When it is truthful and legitimate, an oath highlights the relationship of human speech with God's truth.

[293] A false oath calls on God to be a witness to a life.

[294] That's a very strong paragraph regarding taking false oaths.

[295] What are your thoughts on that, Bishop Strickland?

[296] Well, I agree that it's a strong paragraph.

[297] And I think it's so essential for our modern world.

[298] If they're, you know, we call it fake news.

[299] That's right.

[300] But it's too easy.

[301] People find it too easy to say things that aren't true.

[302] A lie.

[303] For, they rationalize, as so many things are rationalized these days, relativized.

[304] They, it's one of the key areas, I believe, where human relationships, just human commerce, the interaction of one person with another breaks down.

[305] Because, I mean, and we haven't gotten to the specific.

[306] commandment of thou shalt not lie, but this is very connected to it, because if you are willing to make a false oath, you are, as it says in the catechism, you're causing God to be witnessed to a lie.

[307] You're swearing in a way that you're implying that God is witnessing this, and it's destructive to human relationships.

[308] Think about husbands and wives that swear that they haven't done something or that they'll do something that they've been promising to do.

[309] It just begins to break down.

[310] It creates a lack of trust.

[311] It just undermines the human interaction that we have.

[312] And I think that this idea of, we need to really emphasize to ourselves and to young people, you know, still in our courts, people swear on the Bible, they make an oath that they will tell the truth.

[313] Yep.

[314] And that, as God is my witness, that needs to be, you know, we need to really pay attention to that because it's so destructive.

[315] And I think we're dealing with that.

[316] I was just looking at canon law this week.

[317] As a bishop, I have to refer to the canons of the Code of Canon Law.

[318] Like the catechism, and I know as we're talking, I mean, we're starting with the Ten Commandments, and there's a whole volume called the Catholic Catechism that really close out of the commandments and gives so many details.

[319] But I would encourage people, at least to be aware, I'm not, I'm realistic enough to know that people are not going to start going and studying law, but to be aware, there is a legal system for the church and how she lives the truth.

[320] And one of the canons that I was looking at just recently talks about, not letting pseudoscience, and in a sense, false oaths, false information is damaging.

[321] And I think that's what this is getting at.

[322] If you swear up to something that isn't true, then it really is more damaging than even just not telling the truth, but making it an oath.

[323] it really is devastating for the human community.

[324] And I think we really have to pay attention to that sort of thing because I think we see it happening all over the place.

[325] I mean, with this COVID -19, what is the reality of that?

[326] Really?

[327] It's hard to pin it down.

[328] I agree.

[329] Because you're one expert say something.

[330] And, you know, maybe we get the benefit of a doubt that they're not actually, you know, swearing under oath, something they know isn't true.

[331] But I think if we really pay attention and really deepen our understanding of what this commandment is talking about, then we should be careful to never say anything we can't say on oath that it's true.

[332] If we're uncertain, we need to make it clear that we're uncertain.

[333] And if, you know, if we're actually saying something we know isn't true, then we need to come clean.

[334] And I think that this idea of not swearing a false oath is rooted in that because we're talking about the power of truth.

[335] Truth is powerful.

[336] Truth is God.

[337] God is all true.

[338] And when we start playing God, and that's a big part of the arrogance we were talking about, and in a lot of what begins to break down in our world is when we forget, as we've heard so many times, God's in His heaven, all is right with the world.

[339] God is in His heaven, but when we forget that, and when we act as if God isn't there, then what should be right where the world starts to unravel.

[340] Well, said, I just want to make a comment you said about canon law that you look at.

[341] I'll never forget when I, I have a volume of the canon law, and the last canon says we do everything for the salvation of souls.

[342] And that's what the canon law is all about.

[343] Bishop Strickland, in paragraph 2153, they quote the sermon of the Mount, Matthew chapter 5, about how Jesus explained the Second Commandment.

[344] Can we kind of break that down?

[345] Because I think that's a beautiful summary of the Second Commandment about false but not swearing false oaths too.

[346] Yeah.

[347] Paragraph 2153.

[348] Yeah.

[349] Well, I'll just read some of it.

[350] You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.

[351] Do not swear at all.

[352] Let what you say to be simply yes or no. Anything more than this comes from the evil one.

[353] And that's what I was talking about.

[354] When we're dressing things up that we may know are not true, then it comes from the evil one.

[355] Jesus teaches that, Every oath involves a reference to God, and that God's presence and his truth must be honored in all speech.

[356] Discretion and calling upon God is allied with a respected awareness of his presence, with all our assertions either witness to or mock.

[357] And there's too much mockery.

[358] There's too much of swearing oaths and saying, this is absolutely true, maybe not using the word oath, but putting something forward that we know to be false, it really goes beyond even the commandment to not lie, but it's giving a witness to something that becomes an instrument of the devil.

[359] And I think we see that happening all over the place.

[360] And, you know, a lot of people say, ah, this bishop, he's talking about the devil, we'll better watch out.

[361] But, you know, we know the devil exists.

[362] We've talked to.

[363] about supernatural faith.

[364] There is total goodness, which is God, but there is that shadow, that opposite, that darkness that is the devil.

[365] What I've always urged people to understand is Christ has conquered evil.

[366] Christ is conquered evil and death, but we have to plug into that power because the devil still has power.

[367] And if we ignore that and pretend that, you know, that there is no evil, there is no real evil in the world, then that's when we open the door for evil to have a field day.

[368] And I think we see that happening.

[369] Without forgetting all the good, and I'm sure you see lots of good in the world.

[370] Lots of people that are swearing by God and doing their best, not perfect, none of us are perfect, but doing their best to live by God, to live that oath, before God, that I will do my best to be a faithful disciple.

[371] And to humbly confess when we fail, which we all do.

[372] We do that when we go to Mass. Every Mass has a penitential right in one form or another, and that is because when we're approaching the Eucharistic altar of Jesus Christ, and that's what happens at every Mass, we need to approach it with great humility.

[373] with great reverence and understanding that all of us, hopefully we're avoiding an oath that directly offends God with saying, God, witness this, and we know it to not be true.

[374] That's dangerous.

[375] That is playing with fire, literally.

[376] But even if we're avoiding swearing oaths about something that we know isn't true, we still are sinners and we failed to fully be in the light.

[377] Like I said, I wanted to get back to that image of light, because in a sense, that's what this is talking about.

[378] Are we children of the light or children of darkness?

[379] And if we look at Jesus Christ, and I love, just recently I was reading about the Shroud of Turin.

[380] And the scientists tell us, I mean, scientists have looked at it, And scientists who were not even believers in what I was reading, they acknowledge, we can't reproduce this.

[381] We don't have the scientific ability to reproduce the image the way it is.

[382] I mean, it gets complicated.

[383] They talk about like a stereographic image that is three -dimensional the way it's imposed on that cloth of the Shrout of Turin.

[384] And you know what, Terry, you know what they say made that image?

[385] a light source that is beyond our capability.

[386] Wow.

[387] When we come back, let's talk a little bit about the examination of conscience that the Ten Commandments can give us and has a practice here as a Catholic.

[388] You're listening to the Bishop Strickland Hour on Virgin Most Powerful.

[389] We'll be right back.

[390] We got Ernesto from Long Beach.

[391] You know, I just wanted to comment, you know, and I just wanted to thank you guys.

[392] I kind of wanted to encourage people that are listening, maybe they are not donating.

[393] You know, because honestly, I got to be honest.

[394] I used to think you guys were a little...

[395] Too over the top.

[396] You know?

[397] You know, yeah.

[398] That's right.

[399] If God gave us a lot, you know, and I'm at the blessing of listening to all this, I just want to call all the people, you know, I've got five kids, you know, and I don't make a lot of money, and I'm still donating to you guys.

[400] God bless you, brother.

[401] You're amazing.

[402] We've got to.

[403] We have to do this.

[404] We have to do the extra.

[405] And is that even the extra?

[406] People see it like it's extra.

[407] Needing for communion.

[408] Saying your rosary, saying the Divine Mercy chapelet, it is not extra.

[409] It's what the church tells us to do.

[410] Amen.

[411] You're a good man, brother.

[412] 30 years old, 29 years old, 5 kids, and I thank you guys.

[413] Everybody else, man, get on fire.

[414] Fight for the truth, man. I know what I'm telling you guys.

[415] I love it.

[416] This is Terry Barber.

[417] I want to thank you for your support here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

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[423] Thank you so much for your support.

[424] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[425] My name's Terry Barber.

[426] I actually have a show with Jesse Romero called The Terry and Jesse Show on Virgin Most Powerful.

[427] We'd love to have you pick it up.

[428] Go to our website, virgin most powerful radio .org.

[429] Bishop Strickland.

[430] I want to actually ask you a question about your institute and how people can be connected because we're having new listeners all the time.

[431] Can you share for a minute or two about your institute and what it does?

[432] Yeah, the St. Philip Institute.

[433] You can find it online.

[434] Just St. Philip Institute, philip, institute, philip .org.

[435] And there's great content there.

[436] If you're interested.

[437] You can, my tweets are there.

[438] It connects to my website and things that I post on my website.

[439] Recently, we put on five, posted five different segments about how do we as Catholics navigate this election that's coming?

[440] Oh, great.

[441] How do we vote responsibly?

[442] Looking at the sanctity of life, looking at all the elements that build.

[443] on a Catholic, athlete, and really a Christian.

[444] I mean, it's not just Catholics, but every Christian pretty much believes in the same basic principles.

[445] I'm in a very evangelical Christian area here.

[446] And thankfully, they're with us on the basic issues, the sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage, God made us male and female, all of those things.

[447] So the St. Philip Institute is a great resource for learning those kind of things.

[448] We did a podcast today with a Dr. Willie from Steubenville.

[449] Good.

[450] We're talking about you're probably aware there's a new catechetical directory that's been published from the Vatican.

[451] And he's part of a catechetical institute up at Steubenville.

[452] We partner with them to help train our catechists.

[453] Excellent.

[454] And so the same phil of institute, it's involved in all kinds of interacting with other institutes and just helping to get the truth out there in ways that are meaningful for the families.

[455] Primarily, it's focused on the community here in the 33 counties of the Diocese of Tyler, but everyone's welcome to visit the website and learn from the institute.

[456] and look at the different classes that are available there.

[457] There's a whole process for Christian initiation.

[458] There's a whole book called The Way of Christ that's available right there online.

[459] Excellent.

[460] And also if there's a young man who's wanting to become a priest, they can also contact you through that institute.

[461] Is that a fair statement?

[462] Absolutely.

[463] Through the institute, through my website, through the Diocesan website.

[464] But we have some great men studying for the priesthood.

[465] And thankfully, some young women interested in consecrated life, religious life.

[466] Kateria Tikakwitha, the saint we're celebrating today.

[467] She was a consecrated virgin.

[468] She didn't join a religious community, but she committed her life to Christ as a consecrated virgin.

[469] And we need to let young people know those are some options.

[470] There may be young women in a culture that are confused by all the overt sexuality and all the garbage that's out there.

[471] They may well be cold to that a life of consecrated virginity, which the culture would say, that's ridiculous.

[472] That's meaningless.

[473] What are you talking about?

[474] But saints like Kateri Tekakwita can remind us of those options that are there for young women today.

[475] or young men that may be called to the priesthood or to monastic life as a religious, a Benedictine.

[476] Or, I mean, we just celebrated St. Benedict.

[477] We were talking earlier.

[478] I encourage people to really take the saints as real people.

[479] You know, we know, and probably, I know sometimes people forget, the saints were sinners just like us.

[480] Exactly.

[481] The Blessed Virgin Mary is the sinless one by the power of God's grace.

[482] She is full of grace because God chose her to be the mother of his son.

[483] And as the mother of his son, she was protected from any sin, from any taint of sin.

[484] But we're all sinners.

[485] So the saints are in there with us.

[486] Certainly they're more virtuous than I am and probably than you are.

[487] But we're called to continue to seek virtue.

[488] So the saints can be a great inspiration for young people.

[489] I mean, Kateri Tikagwitha, I think was 14 when she became a Christian, when she was baptized.

[490] And how many 14 -year -old young ladies are out in the world wondering, what's this life about?

[491] How do I navigate this?

[492] Where is meaning?

[493] Kateri Tekehuita Gwitha can be an inspiration to them and to all of us.

[494] Absolutely.

[495] Bishop Strickland, can we talk a little bit about examination?

[496] of conscience because you made me think of my own examination of conscience as you were commenting on the second commandment I before I ask you that I also want to recommend the Fathers of Mercy website they have an examination of conscience that's free you can download it for absolutely free can you talk about the importance of an examination of conscience absolutely and let me preface that with the importance of a well -formed conscience We aren't just supposed to examine any conscience, but a well -formed conscience.

[497] We have an obligation to form our conscience well.

[498] What does that mean?

[499] To do things like this, to know the commandments, to study them, to study the faith, to learn what is really the truth that's been revealed to us.

[500] We hear a lot about the freedom of conscience, which is sacrosanct.

[501] It's a basic freedom.

[502] I mean, and the saints are great illustrations of that.

[503] Kateri, again, Kateri Tekakwitha, she had resistance to her choice to follow Jesus Christ and to commit herself as a consecrated virgin in the culture that she lived in.

[504] People tried to talk her out of it.

[505] Ultimately, a well -formed conscience is something no one can take away from us.

[506] Sure, they can harm us or they can do things to us to try to coerce our conscience.

[507] But if we have a well -formed conscience, that's the greatest gift that we can have to free us from the darkness of this world.

[508] So first, make sure you're striving to form your conscience in the truth, the Word of God, and the teachings of our Catholic faith contained in the catechism.

[509] And if you're confident that you're getting a well -formed conscience, I mean, I think Terry both of us would say that that sort of puts our feet.

[510] to the fire.

[511] It's like, man, I need to do a better job.

[512] I need to pray more.

[513] I need to watch what I say.

[514] I need to guard how I treat other people.

[515] All of that begins it.

[516] The more, really, I guess I would answer your question about an examination of conscience.

[517] The best way to examine your conscience is to ask yourself, am I continuing to strive to form it better and better?

[518] because if I'm doing that, I can speak for myself, trying to have a better form conscience every day means, you know, the light bulbs are going to go off and say, oh, man, I really blew it there, and I need to do better there.

[519] I need to be more genuine with people.

[520] I need to be more compassionate.

[521] I need to be more patient.

[522] I mean, if you're striving to form your conscience, that is going to make you, examine your conscience.

[523] And that's what we need to do.

[524] I mean, that's the traditional night prayer includes an examination of conscience.

[525] Because none of us has a guarantee that we're going to wake up in the morning.

[526] There are too many people that we probably both know.

[527] And usually it's older people and young people say, oh, I don't have to worry about that.

[528] That's for old people.

[529] But it can be a younger person that doesn't wake up because of some.

[530] unknown illness that they had or some for it happens so not this not to be scared but to just be aware we don't presume that God's gonna give us another day so do an examination of conscience and as you said there there are plenty of things the fathers of mercy you can just Google that's right examination of conscience and you know there's going to be some that probably aren't so good.

[531] The fathers of mercy, I'm sure that's a good one.

[532] Oh, yeah.

[533] And if you find one and you're not sure it's good, talk to somebody, talk to your local priest or compare it to some others.

[534] I'll say this, an examination of conscience that makes you uncomfortable is probably a good one.

[535] Well said, and I might add, just for those who are going, I've never done an examination of conscience, it's good to say to your act of contrition, just like when you're, you're going to confession before you go to bed when you do that examination i hope you pray the rosary too remember bishop strickland is asking us to pray an extra rosary in the month of july for our church and for the world but i will say this after you do your examination of conscience you do your act of contrition i'm going to make a suggestion because you're going to find out as you examine your life you're going to realize the hey you know what maybe i'm not as good as i kind of thought when i started examining myself i'm starting to see you know false and and sins that I didn't even realize because you're doing this exam.

[536] It's this exercise.

[537] So I want to recommend, and Bishop Strickland, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think everybody should be going to confession at least once a month if you're serious about following Christ.

[538] Is that a fair statement?

[539] Absolutely.

[540] At least once a month.

[541] We do a lot of things once a month.

[542] You pay your bills.

[543] That's painful.

[544] You know, there are a lot of things that you do once a month.

[545] And confession, at a minimum.

[546] I mean, if you want to go more often, okay, but at least once a month.

[547] I need to go more than once a month, okay, folks, and people say, oh, you're such a good.

[548] No, I go a couple times a week.

[549] Now, I'm going to share with you, those who listen to the Bible with the barbers with my wife, she goes weekly.

[550] She really wants the graces of that sacrament.

[551] And just a quick note, Bishop, St. John Paul II said it's okay to have going to confession for devotion.

[552] In other words, receiving the graces.

[553] In other words, you might not be in mortal sin, but it doesn't hurt to go to confession and receive those graces.

[554] Is that a fair statement, Bishop Strickland?

[555] Yes, it is.

[556] Absolutely.

[557] There's grace.

[558] It's the way I would encourage people to remember.

[559] And we could talk a lot about the sacrament of confession and how it was lost for so many years.

[560] And it was like, oh, you don't really have to go unless this and this.

[561] it's an encounter with Jesus Christ.

[562] Amen.

[563] The Eucharist is the, I mean, he's there really present physically in the form of consecrated bread and wine.

[564] But I would say that confession is the next best, most powerful presence of Jesus in the sacraments.

[565] I agree.

[566] Look at how many times in the Gospels, he gets in trouble we're saying go your sins are forgiven that's right people don't like that because it sounds like god's talking well it is god talking amen but you know the the forgiveness of sins is a beautiful way we encounter Christ we're all sinners Bishop Strickland I got to jump in we're out of time when I talk about the sacrament of confession I can tell you could go for a full hour on that one folks you listen to the Bishop Strickland hour talking about the Ten Commandments we come back next week we'll have the commandment number three again bishop could you give us a quick blessing for all of our listeners sure the lord be with you and with your spirit almighty god we ask your blessing for all listening that we all may know that we are your children that you love us beyond our imagining and you call us to share your life in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit amen thank you bishop strickland god love you so that hardened hearts might be brought repentance and return to thee, O Lord.

[567] Lord, give us holy priests.

[568] Thou thyself maintain them in holiness.

[569] O divine and great high priest, may the power of thy mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them from the devil's traps and snares, which are continually being set for the souls of priests.

[570] May the power of thy mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring to naught all that might tarnish the sanctity of priests.

[571] for thou canst do all things amen virgin most powerful pray for us virgin most powerful sharing the gospel is clarity and charity