30 Jan 24 – Be a 1st Century Christian in the 21st Century

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland hour.

[1] My voice is a little raspy because I've got a little bit of a cold, but I think I'll make it.

[2] Bishop Strickland, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to, I know it sounds funny, preach the gospel.

[3] I mean, give me a break.

[4] Isn't it a joy?

[5] Thanks, Terry.

[6] That's what my schedule needs to be.

[7] Amen.

[8] I'm with you.

[9] I'm right behind you.

[10] And I mean behind you.

[11] Bishop Strickland, before I get into the topic, I just wanted to mention something.

[12] and I noticed that Pew Research came out, and you might have seen this, that the single largest group in America are nuns now.

[13] 28%.

[14] I saw that.

[15] Yeah.

[16] And I, you know, I don't mean to be critical, but it seems that many of those kids, we know statistically, by the time a young Catholic man or woman reaches the age of 23, 87 % of them aren't practicing the religion.

[17] religion.

[18] So why?

[19] And I'm going to say, that's why to me we have the antidote.

[20] It's our Catholic faith being taught to them.

[21] I don't think they got the memo.

[22] I think so the catechesis has been so bad for so long that we're losing our flock, not because they want to leave.

[23] I really mean that.

[24] I don't think they want to leave.

[25] It's because no one has introduced them to the person of Jesus Christ.

[26] Am I on to something?

[27] Absolutely, Terry.

[28] And really, the way I would put it and have really thought this for years, people leave the Catholic Church because they don't know what they have.

[29] They haven't been taught what the Catholic faith really is, the wondrous gift that it is of God revealing himself to us and culminating with his own divine son coming to dwell among us and he's still here with us.

[30] We need to double down on sharing this profoundly good news.

[31] I remember saying as a kid, very early on, I recognized that my peers were even even in high school and college that leaving the Catholic faith because they never really had it.

[32] They never really embrace the faith.

[33] We need the faith of the martyrs once again.

[34] Amen.

[35] People don't die for something that they're willing to walk away from.

[36] That's exactly what the martyrs died for.

[37] They were unwilling to budge.

[38] They were unwilling to let go of their faith.

[39] They were unwilling to deny Jesus Christ.

[40] We need that kind of faith again, faith of the martyrs.

[41] And it's, it's really my obligation.

[42] Amen.

[43] And really the obligation of all of us.

[44] But especially for us as bishops to share the truth, to share the message of the gospel.

[45] We need, I mean, Pope St. John Paul II, John Paul the Great called for a new evangelization.

[46] And we really haven't ever gotten that off the ground.

[47] But we need to desperately.

[48] because these nuns, N -O -N -E -S, with no religion, it's overcoming the world and making people of faith and Christians and Catholics a minority when we really need to be the strongest voice in a world that is caught up in confusion and darkness.

[49] but we just, I guess really, for anyone listening, it's disheartening.

[50] It is for all of us.

[51] For you, for me, for me as a bishop, for you as a father and grandfather husband, a Catholic man, dedicated to this for your whole life, both of us.

[52] We gave our lives to because we know this truth.

[53] And I know we both have the attitude that you would have to kill us.

[54] I'm not volunteering for martyrdom, but you would have to take our life for us to turn from this truth that we know really sets us free, really makes us free children of God, flourishing and joyful and full of life.

[55] That's what we've got to share with the young people, the older people, with everyone, with families, with single people.

[56] We've got to do a better job of sharing the truth because people, we need a faith that people won't walk away from.

[57] It's there.

[58] Yes.

[59] But people haven't been, it hasn't been presented to people.

[60] And really, it's not just the Catholic Church, but across the board churches are losing ground.

[61] That's right.

[62] Those sons, a lot of them are Catholics or should be Catholics, but they're also other faiths.

[63] And so it's a challenging time, a burdensome time that can, many people can give up.

[64] But instead of doing that, I urge people to be stronger in their faith, to learn the faith more deeply, to see the richness of the lives of the saints and the teachings through the ages, and to just be more and more strongly rooted in the church.

[65] Really, you and I, Terry, I think we both.

[66] We both saw this article saying that the vast majority of Americans have no religion at all.

[67] Right.

[68] That's tragic.

[69] But rather than letting that cause us to give up, we need to double down with love, with compassion, and share the truth of the gospel more vibrantly than ever.

[70] I've, in many ways since I was removed as Bishop of Tyler, I've been busier than ever.

[71] And, you know, sometimes it is exhausting.

[72] But I think people ask me, how do you keep doing this?

[73] But I feel compelled to do anything I can to share this treasure, the pearl of great price, to keep speaking up and to counteract the confusion that's coming out.

[74] at Washington, that's coming out of Rome, that's coming out of too many centers of power and leadership.

[75] They should be leading.

[76] Instead, they're just creating chaos and more confusion.

[77] And we who know the truth.

[78] And thankfully, there are many people out there, the grassroots level of people of faith.

[79] And I would like to think, I mean, let's say these polls are completely accurate.

[80] I think that they aren't talking always to the right people.

[81] That's not to say, oh, it's all just fake news.

[82] Because I think we can see what's happening in our society.

[83] What's happening in our world, the violence, the division, the corruption.

[84] All of that comes from people who don't know who they are and don't know who God is.

[85] So the mission of proclaiming Jesus Christ, here we are today as we record, celebrating the Timothy and Titus, some of the earliest successors of the apostles, some of the earliest bishops of the church.

[86] And we've, as I've said many times, and I think I need to repeat it more and more, we need to be first century Christian in the 21st century.

[87] We need to have that kind of fervor, that kind of clarity, that kind of knowledge of Jesus Christ that causes us to be a strong and joyful voice of the truth.

[88] Well, said, I was going to ask you about that being a first century Christian.

[89] That's how Christianity multiplied so fast.

[90] It's amazing how, I think it was like every 10 years in the first century, it just multiplied.

[91] It's just incredibly quick.

[92] Bishop Strickland, the news I just got this week is in Nebraska, not 10 ,000.

[93] Texas.

[94] But a baby heads home after being the smallest infant to survive at a hospital.

[95] The old baby's name is Buddy.

[96] He was 24 weeks old in his mama's wound.

[97] And here's the kicker.

[98] He weighed less than one pound.

[99] I bring this up because we have right now a Catholic, baptized Catholic, as the President of the United States.

[100] And I pray for him because just recently he wants to try to codify Roe versus Wade if he gets to be elected again.

[101] And I please God him won't be elected again because we need to protect the unborn.

[102] And also, I pray for Joe Biden because as you've said before, he's a child of God.

[103] He's being misrepresenting what life is about because he's trying to say that I'm comfortable, as he said, for a baby to be killed up until birth.

[104] So here's my question.

[105] This little baby, 24 weeks old, Father Bishop Strickland, less than a pound is back at home with mama and daddy.

[106] How in the world can a world look at that and say, well, that's because it was wanted or it just, you know, we have lost the sense of the sacred.

[107] That's all I'm going to say.

[108] Absolutely.

[109] And really what that highlights for me is the tragedy of we have the technologies we have the medical expertise great people that have learned tremendous knowledge about how life begins how we can how we can support life yes and here we are in the 21st century with so much of that knowledge and too often that same knowledge is used to destroy life yeah and to harm god's people rather than use using it, it's God -given knowledge.

[110] I mean, ultimately, everything we learn comes from the ability to learn that God has given us.

[111] And it's just tragic that with all these technologies, here we can save a baby of only 24 weeks.

[112] And across the road, they're killing babies that are much more developed than that could easily be viable outside the womb.

[113] I mean, there are more and more people pushing abortion up until birth.

[114] And it's just, it's a tragic contradiction that we've got to continue to highlight and call people to the same deal.

[115] Well, said, we can't be quiet about this at all.

[116] That's why every day we have a show here, we're going to talk about innocent of the unborn.

[117] Stay with this family.

[118] You're listening to the Bishop Brickland.

[119] on Virgin Most Power Radio.

[120] And now back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[121] Welcome back, indeed.

[122] This segment is being sponsored by Tan Books.

[123] Go to vmpr .org and click on the Tan Books logo to shop for all of your Catholic books needs.

[124] And clicking on the logo, they're going to give us a little bit of a donation back to VMPR .org.

[125] I have a catechism of Baltimore, Catechism number four from TAN.

[126] A couple years ago, we did a 13 -week course, and it's still available at full Sheen ahead.

[127] Just type in, Life is Worth Living with Bishop Sheen.

[128] We took the catechism and Bishop Sheen's convert course, and we taught the class for the Anglican Ordinariate, and these were people that could come into the Catholic Church based on completing the classes.

[129] Now, it's going to be good for even if you're already a Catholic.

[130] It's a review of the teachings of Christ and his church.

[131] the perennial teachings of the church.

[132] Bishop Strickland, I wanted to ask you, and I know I've gotten people emailing me, about a decision you decided to go on a pilgrimage with Patrick Coffin.

[133] And for those who don't know who Patrick Coffin is, I've known him from the day that he got his first job at Catholic Answers.

[134] He spent time at my house.

[135] We don't agree on something, and that is he thinks that the Pope is an apostate pope, and, yeah, so, I mean, I don't agree with him.

[136] But you are going on a pilgrimage, and people have asked me, why is Bishop Strickland going on the pilgrimage?

[137] And I'd like to ask you for the benefit of the people listening, what's your response?

[138] Well, thanks, Terry, and I'm glad to respond to the question.

[139] I prayed about whether I should go on this pilgrimage or not.

[140] And, you know, I don't agree with Patrick Coffin on many things.

[141] But I guess the judgment I made is we agree on Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

[142] Amen.

[143] Jesus Christ established the one true church that is the Catholic Church, the bride of Christ, the mystical body of Christ.

[144] So on those essential things, we agree.

[145] And for that reason, I thought, I think Patrick is a good man. And I really think we have to rethink some of the tendencies in the world today.

[146] I mean, there are people that won't associate with me for this reason or that reason.

[147] And I think where, you know, people say, oh, you shouldn't judge.

[148] To me, I think that's very judgmental.

[149] I can be clear that we don't agree on everything, but to respect each other.

[150] And I'm hopeful that we can have some conversations, not just Pat, but the people on this pilgrimage.

[151] Pilgrimage is a great opportunity to enter more deeply into the faith.

[152] So after I prayed about it and considered, I made the decision that it was, a worthwhile thing to do and to just acknowledge that, yes, we can disagree on something that I don't think any of us.

[153] I certainly don't claim to have all the answers or to have some sort of perfect understanding of this is exactly what's going on in the world and in the church today.

[154] But we can, as believers say, we're unwavering in the basic principles of faith.

[155] And then we can have discussions about what trying to figure out the, I think we, people would agree, these are confusing times.

[156] churches is in turmoil.

[157] There's much confusion.

[158] I don't claim to have all the answers, but I think we need to respect each other.

[159] And those who, I mean, if we deny Jesus Christ, I'm definitely not going to go on a pilgrimage where someone is saying, Jesus Christ is not Lord and Savior of all humanity.

[160] But as we agree on those basic important truths, I think then we need to have conversations about other prudential judgments that we have to make that, you know, who knows what the ultimate truth is.

[161] Maybe we'll never even know in our lifetime about some of these confusing things that are happening.

[162] I mean, there's some cardinals that, in my judgment, it's like, how can this man be a cardinal with what he's saying?

[163] but that's that's not my judgment to make ultimately but again we go back to what does christ say who is jesus christ what is his church about and i think these kinds of questions and that's the reason i'm willing to talk about it because anyone who's oh well i'm never going to listen to bishop strickland again because he's going on this pilgrimage with patrick koffin i would hope they would rethink that.

[164] I mean, I don't claim to have all the answers, but I do claim, and I will stand for Jesus Christ, the son of God, present in the Eucharist, present in the sacraments, he is the word incarnate, those basic truths of our faith, those of the anchors we have to hold on to navigate these challenging times for all of us.

[165] And I'd encourage the Catholic community to to really rethink some of this pointing fingers and say, oh, well, this person and that person, there's a lot of confusion.

[166] If somebody says something that we disagree with, we need to have a good conversation and ask, okay, what are the basic truths that we can agree on and kind of rebuild from there?

[167] So I believe it's important to engage and important to have the conversations with some unwavering truth that we're not willing to move.

[168] I like the image of the plum line, that clear line of saying, this is the line I stand on.

[169] Jesus Christ is Lord.

[170] I mean, come on.

[171] There are people in the church saying, well, you know, maybe Jesus is just one among many.

[172] Those are not conversations that I am willing.

[173] to enter into.

[174] Jesus Christ is the one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

[175] But then on some of the other things like the structures of the church, I mean, we have to have conversations there and respect each other enough.

[176] If we're believers in Jesus Christ, if we believe the Catholic Church is the one true church he established, then I think we need to respect each other enough to have conversations.

[177] and certainly there are going to be things that we may disagree about because of different perspectives.

[178] But I think it's important to have the conversation.

[179] I agree.

[180] And I'll just add one other thing, praying for each other, even among people who we disagree.

[181] Will you pray for me?

[182] That's it.

[183] I think that's a very charitable way to approach it.

[184] Okay.

[185] I'm on your tweets.

[186] Actually, I guess it's X now.

[187] But you have a tweet that you have a tweet that you sent out with St. Mother Teresa, and I thought this was kind of a good tweet because it's right after the first of the year.

[188] And people are still like, wow, look what's going on in the church.

[189] What do I need to do?

[190] And Mother Teresa says, keep looking at the sacred heart.

[191] Why worry?

[192] You are his.

[193] I thought that was a short statement, but it says it all.

[194] Yeah.

[195] We're his.

[196] Well, as you know, Terry, I have a great devotion to the sacred heart of Jesus Christ.

[197] And I think all of us need to remind ourselves, those of us who know he's really present in the Eucharist, as we've said before.

[198] I mean, his whole body, blood, soul, and divinity are present in the Eucharist, bread and wine consecrated.

[199] Whatever particle of bread, whatever drop of.

[200] precious blood that in the veiled in the form of wine, we need to know that the fullness of Christ is there, the full mystery of Jesus Christ, but it's important to really rejoice in knowing him and knowing what is the image of the sacred heart?

[201] I mean, Valentine's Day is coming up.

[202] And I encourage people to think of St. Valentine's.

[203] day in terms of the greatest love of all that is Jesus Christ, the love that God has for all of us.

[204] And so that's why I tweeted that from St. Teresa of Calcutta.

[205] Good.

[206] Because the closer we can grow to the heart of Christ, the more we can know his truth and be set free by that truth.

[207] And you also followed up and saying, may these troubled times draw us closer to the sacred heart of Jesus and his church, the wedding garment of Christ's bride is soiled, but her holiness remains.

[208] And then you pointed out, the best remedy to grow in personal holiness is to pray for the same, for all the hierarchy, and all the baptized.

[209] So prayer is essential for us all.

[210] Can you comment on this when you said that, but the church, the bride, The church is the bride of Christ, but the holiness remains even with individuals not doing a, let's say, a holy job.

[211] Explain that.

[212] Absolutely.

[213] And the church really, as far as those in holy orders, deacon, priests, and bishops, the church really came to clarity on that early on.

[214] Because, I mean, I think it makes sense.

[215] Even the earliest centuries in the beginnings of the church, the apostles themselves, the first successors of the apostles, and then the presbyterate that developed the priesthood, they were all still sinful men.

[216] And it didn't take long for people to say, hey, wait a minute, you know, these men doing holy things sometimes aren't so holy.

[217] Well, the church's teaching is very clear that the validity of the sacraments does not depend on the holiness of the man that is the instrument God is using for Christ to confect his sacraments to make the reality present.

[218] And I think that's a great theological reminder to us of who is acting in the sacraments.

[219] It's not the priest just going through rituals.

[220] The priest is an instrument of the Lord, and he uses the priest in order to bring his Eucharistic presence, to forgive sins and confession, to anoint with the healing that he brought to so many in his lifetime, in his public ministry, in the Gospels.

[221] so we need to remember that the sacraments are Christ acting in his church he needs just as he needed a real human body he was fully God and fully man he was born of the blessed virgin Mary a real boy a real man he needs real men flesh and blood human beings human men to be his instruments of sacraments in the church today But they're his sacraments.

[222] It's his life that's being shared.

[223] And that is essential for us to understand.

[224] And when you remember that, certainly, I always urge people to pray for priests.

[225] We need good and holy priest dedicated to being the best instrument of Christ that they can be.

[226] But always humbly acknowledging we're mere instruments.

[227] We're not Christ.

[228] we're not bringing our power.

[229] We're not bringing our light.

[230] We're bringing his light.

[231] Well said.

[232] We'll be back with more teachings on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ here on the Bishop of Strickland Hour.

[233] Stay with his family.

[234] We'll be back after a quick way.

[235] And now back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[236] Welcome back indeed.

[237] We're going through his twiglin hour.

[238] tweets.

[239] And I really like this tweet from Benedict the 16th because we talk about the challenges of our life right now in the church and in the state.

[240] And I think he nailed it with this statement.

[241] And I want to get your take on it.

[242] He said this, Bishop, excuse me, Pope Benedict the 16th, as one sees the power of the Antichrist spreading, when can only pray that the Lord will give us mighty shepherds to defend his church.

[243] against the power of evil in this hour of need.

[244] Wow, I don't know when he said that, but boy, it seems like that prayer needs to be prayed over and over again.

[245] What made you tweet that, Bishop Strickland?

[246] Well, for me, Terry, it's sort of Pope Benedict there laid down the gauntlet for bishops to be strong and to be unswerving in the faith.

[247] I don't claim to be a mighty bishop, but I do know the call to be.

[248] And we do need bishops that are unconcerned about the world, unconcerned about possible consequences for speaking the truth.

[249] I agree.

[250] We've got to speak the truth.

[251] got to quit mumbling around with confusion and, you know, dissembling and just speak.

[252] Like we've said so many times, we need to speak the truth with charity and clarity.

[253] There is no clarity than speaking the truth of Jesus Christ because he's love incarnate.

[254] He's truth incarnate.

[255] So, like I said, that, to me, Pope Benedict challenged every bishop that is and every bishop that will be ordained in the coming years.

[256] We need to be strong in the faith.

[257] We need to be courageous.

[258] We need to be clear.

[259] We need to be apostles.

[260] Right.

[261] We live up to that successors of the apostles that we're called to be.

[262] last fall I was at a conference and one of the speakers was talking about the he was talking about St. John the Apostle they're at the foot of the cross with crime as he was being crucified and it was interesting because he said he spoke of St. John as a bishop and you know it just using language in a different way in a different context, I don't often think of the apostles as bishop.

[263] You know, Bishop Matthew or Bishop Andrew or Bishop Peter or, you know.

[264] I don't either, but they are.

[265] It was both ways.

[266] It's been an inspiration to me as a bishop and a challenge to think of myself as a successor of the apostles.

[267] But also to think of the apostles as bishops, I think it's just a reminder.

[268] What I ultimately, what that brings to me, Terry, is we have the same responsibility, the same joy.

[269] Yes.

[270] Same truth, the same strength that the original apostles had in the very earliest days of the church.

[271] It's not somehow diminished.

[272] it's not watered down it's not something that needs to be changed and updated it's the same powerful truth that jesus christ shared with those 12 yes one of them was a betrayer and we need to pray for bishops to be mighty and strong and avoid the betrayals that our sins can be you know, hopefully to never escalate to the point of being an actual 21st century Judas.

[273] But, you know, I'll confess that in my sinfulness, there's a little, and for all of us, and not just bishops, but for us as members of the mystical body of Christ that is the church, when we sin, and the more serious that sin is, there's something of Judas and all of us.

[274] That may sound like a harsh thing to say.

[275] But I think we need to really embrace that and be challenged by it so that we are stronger in saying no to sin, no to anything that's contrary to Christ.

[276] Anything that blasphemes his name, anything that is not loyal and strong in the light of Christ.

[277] The way the apostles became after they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, I think we need that kind of strong bishop.

[278] I think of a prayer that St. John Fisher is attributed to St. John Fisher spoke of the apostles as being kind of slippery clay until they were fired by the Holy Spirit in the kiln of holiness.

[279] Wow, that is great.

[280] And they went from being this sort of squishy.

[281] I would use the word squishy.

[282] I don't think that Bishop John Fisher used the word squishy, but that's what he was getting at.

[283] Weak and slippery and without substance, without any strength.

[284] But the apostles became fire -tried, old after the Holy Spirit came.

[285] That's the kind of bishops we need across the world in the Vatican, in every diocese in the church.

[286] We need strong bishops that are unwavering in saying, this is the truth.

[287] I will not veer from it.

[288] I will not compromise.

[289] I will not allow confusion to take over and to somehow say, well, the gospel has changed.

[290] No, it hasn't.

[291] And it won't.

[292] And that's why, you know, as you can tell, I get fired up.

[293] Yeah.

[294] Yeah, you should.

[295] Fired me up to say, I will do my best as weak as I am and as lacking in strength, lacking in knowledge, lacking in many things.

[296] But I've still got the obligation to be joyful and strong.

[297] And really, Terry, my strength, if I have any, it comes from being heart -driven and really loving the Lord, loving his church, loving his people, being willing to sacrifice in order to serve the people of God.

[298] That's the kind of men we need as bishops and as priest.

[299] We need, I would add to what Pope Benedict said, we need to pray for mighty and strong bishops and mighty and strong priests.

[300] And if it takes a priest who is strong, standing up against a weak bishop, it's happened and it needs to happen more.

[301] The priests are the ones on the front lines and parishes with the flock directly there with them, Sunday after Sunday.

[302] day, day after day.

[303] We need strong priests.

[304] And if it takes standing up to a weak bishop, they need to do it.

[305] Thankfully, many are.

[306] Yes.

[307] But it needs to happen.

[308] Because people are suffering, and the sheep are being led astray into confusion and into the darkness of serious sin.

[309] Yes.

[310] That's why we need strong shepherds.

[311] We need strong shepherds and strong pastors in the parishes.

[312] And someone who says the same thing as Bishop Athanasius Snyder.

[313] He just published a new prayer begging God for an error of holy popes.

[314] I hope I can read this with my voice here, but this prayer imploring for holy popes.

[315] Kiri Elizan, Christe, Krielauson, this is the prayer.

[316] Lord Jesus Christ, you are the good shepherd with your almighty hand.

[317] You guide your pilgrim church through the storm of each age.

[318] Adorn the Holy See with holy popes who neither fear, the powerful of this world, nor compromise with the spirit of the age, but preserve, strengthen, and defend the Catholic faith unto the shedding of their blood, observe and protect, hand on the venerable liturgy of the Roman Church.

[319] O Lord, return to us through Holy Popes, to inflame us with the zeal of the apostles, proclaim to the whole world.

[320] Salvation is found in no other than in Jesus Christ, for there is no other name under heaven given to men, by which they shall be saved.

[321] And it says, taken right from the Bible, Acts chapter 4, verse 10 to 12.

[322] And then he says, Through an era of holy popes, may the holy see, which is home to all who promote the Catholic and apostolic faith.

[323] Always shine as the cathedral of truth for the whole world.

[324] Hear us, O Lord, and through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, mother of the church, grant us holy popes, grant us many holy popes, have mercy on us, hear us, Amen.

[325] Now, this is a prayer we've been encouraging, and we have it on our website right now, Bishop Strickland, on vmpr .org, asking lay people to pray for the leaders in our church, especially the Pope.

[326] I love that.

[327] Praise the Cathedral of Truth.

[328] Oh, yeah, that was awesome.

[329] We need to pray for the church to be.

[330] Once again, the world needs the church more desperately than ever.

[331] And sadly, we're not stepping up to the challenge the way we should.

[332] We have to pray for the church.

[333] to truly be that cathedral of truth.

[334] Well said.

[335] Now, before we take this break, I want to give a plug to your new YouTube channel.

[336] For people, if I can say it, you do like six, seven, eight minutes of a topic.

[337] How can people get your new channel, Bishop Strickland?

[338] It's just YouTube.

[339] Just search for Bishop Joseph Strickland, and the channel will come up there.

[340] There are probably eight or so episodes posted at this point, try to do more or less one a week in about six or seven minutes, fairly short.

[341] You know, most people can listen to something like that in their commute to work or on a break.

[342] And just trying to share the good news of our faith and to help people.

[343] And certainly some of it's been specifically for priests, but I encourage people to pray for priest.

[344] So the YouTube channel is just another way of reaching out people.

[345] Maybe more a little easier for some than a lengthier kind of program.

[346] Makes sense.

[347] When we come back from the break, we're going to give a quote from St. Maximilian Colby.

[348] I was at his canonization, October 10th, 1982, so you fired me up with that quote because I've used this quote over the years.

[349] Wait to you hear it, folks.

[350] You won't want to miss this about modern times.

[351] What does St. Maximumian Colby have to say?

[352] Well, we'll tell you, and much more, when we come back from a quick break on the Bishop Strickland Hour on Virgin Most Power.

[353] Stay with us, family.

[354] And now back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[355] Welcome back, exactly.

[356] Terry Barber here with Bishop Strickland on his show.

[357] And I promised I'd give you a quote from the great St. Maximilian Colby.

[358] He said this, a tweet from Bishop Strickland, modern times are dominated by Satan and will be more so in the future the conflict with hell cannot be engaged by men even the most clever the immaculata alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan however assumed into heaven the mother of God now requires our cooperation she seeks souls who will consecrate themselves in entirely to her, who will become in her hands effective instruments for the defeat of Satan and the spreading of God's kingdom upon earth.

[359] After you give your tyke on this, I have to share something about St. Maximine Colby that touched my soul.

[360] So, Bishop Strickland, what made you tweak that?

[361] Well, really, Terry, it speaks a very important truth that we do.

[362] do need to acknowledge in the world today.

[363] And it's not, you know, I think people tend to discount those who speak of Satan and demons and their power and say, oh, they're kind of wacky.

[364] It's biblical.

[365] It's part of our Catholic faith.

[366] It's in the catechism.

[367] That's right.

[368] Always, we have to always face Satan in the context.

[369] and in the faith, that Christ has conquered him.

[370] But we're living in the midst of that conquering in this world.

[371] And one of the reasons that that, quote, caught my attention in this time, I just recently read through the book of Revelation.

[372] And Revelation says very clearly that Satan, as it says in that, Quote, the immaculata, of course, is Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Conception, the woman chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus Christ, the son of God.

[373] So when he says the immaculata is the only power that we can turn to for the defeat of Satan in the world, it's because that's ordained by God and Christ turns to his mother for that.

[374] conquering, to accomplish it to complete what he's done in each of our lives, we turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

[375] And the book of Revelation talks about Satan going after Mary, the woman clothed with the son there in the book of Revelation.

[376] He can't do it.

[377] He's powerless against her.

[378] And so he turns to those who live the commandments and share the teachings of Jesus Christ.

[379] That's us.

[380] And we're living through a time.

[381] And it's certainly, to some degree, throughout the history of the church, it's been a reality.

[382] But for whatever reasons, we're living through a time where that attack is very pointed and very powerful and we need to face it head on there there are too many voices even within the church i think the head of one of the the great religious orders um spoke of and said they don't believe they see as as as just an image yeah it's terrible that as as um As many have said, you know, Satan's cleverness, he is clever.

[383] I mean, think about how you struggle with your own temptations and your own sins.

[384] They may not be that serious, but it's so easy to talk ourselves into doing something that we know is wrong.

[385] And we regret it later.

[386] But those temptations are so easy.

[387] Satan isn't called the father of lies for no good reason.

[388] He truly is the father of lies.

[389] And I think we need to face it head on and be clear -eyed about the reality of evil, the reality of Satan.

[390] The people like Father Ripper and other exorcists will tell you stories that hopefully convince you that this is real.

[391] it's not so much that we need to be afraid of Satan we don't need to be afraid as we know Christ has conquered him but we need to that for that reason we need to be more and more deeply committed to the sacred heart of Christ in order to avoid the temptations and the wiles of the father of lies Satan.

[392] That's what St. Maximilian Colby is getting at is the idea that we have to be, we have to turn to our strength.

[393] And that's the reason the immaculata, the Immaculate Virgin Mary, is strong, not because of her, but because she knows where the power source is.

[394] Amen.

[395] She knows where the strength is.

[396] And that is in God.

[397] And her son, who is God's divine son and the power of the Holy Spirit.

[398] So as the immaculata, she's not the one who conquers Satan, but she points us to the power of Christ that is his conqueror.

[399] And through her, we sinful and weak human beings can be strengthened to say no to temptation and sin in our own lives and ultimately as a human race to say no to Satan, the father of lives.

[400] beautifully stated.

[401] I just want to mention this has been going on for a long time about people not believing in the devil.

[402] There was a 1966 Dutch catechism that came out after the Second Vatican Council.

[403] They had nothing to do with the council.

[404] These people, these bishops came out, and they said, angels are just figments of your imagination.

[405] There's no devil.

[406] And you know, once they did that, well, look what happened to the Dutch church.

[407] They were giving us 800 priests a year to, as a missionaries and that ceased now and they're dying they're a dying church also one other catechism i just want to i don't mind calling them out because it was the christ among us catechism by wilhelm that sold millions of copies in the 1980s and 90s that was also very very liberal and i want to just encourage people to get the catechism of the catholic church or something that i grew up on the baltimore Catechism.

[408] And Tan Books still carries it.

[409] Baltimore Catechism number four, four adults.

[410] Question and answers.

[411] Like what we're going to be doing a little later.

[412] So I just think that the catechism is essential for every age.

[413] You need to know your faith because without that you're going to be taken away.

[414] Bishop Strickland, one thing you mentioned about St. Maximine Colby, it was October?

[415] No, it was August 14th.

[416] 1978.

[417] It was about 20 years old or something.

[418] And I made my total consecration to the Blessed Mother.

[419] Within two months, I got Bishop Sheen's Life is Worth Living Records in my hands.

[420] And I started putting those on to cassette tape.

[421] And now 46 years later, I'm still doing it.

[422] Now, this has nothing to do with me. It has everything about cooperating with grace that Our Lady gave me to start all these different media outlets, whether it's the Lighthouse Catholic Media or St. Joseph Communications, Catholic Resource Center, all these things that we're doing.

[423] I attribute it to cooperating with the grace of my consecration to Our Lady, and I would encourage all of our listeners to get the St. Louis de Montfort consecration or the St. Maximine Coop.

[424] You can just Google it on Google, and you can do it with preparation.

[425] There's a lot of online courses for it.

[426] So that would be my take.

[427] Bishop Strickland, Edward Petten, he is a journalist for EWTN.

[428] He was on yesterday, which just go and do Raymond O 'Royle, and check out what he has to say with an interview with Raymond for the 26th of January.

[429] Now, you quoted him, my voice is getting fading.

[430] I'm just sorry.

[431] He said, I would encourage you to offer a...

[432] the suffering of living in such confusing times.

[433] But God has placed you in his wisdom in this time so that you can gain many merits for eternal life and so that your faith will be purified like gold.

[434] This is a quote from Bishop Athanasius Snyder.

[435] Again, he wrote that prayer for praying for bishops.

[436] I love what he just said, because this is really what our faith teaches us.

[437] Our reaction is like a blank check.

[438] If Christ's name is on it, it has infinite value.

[439] Your thoughts.

[440] Yeah, absolutely.

[441] And we, I think we need to be stronger in our faith and really trust in its power.

[442] As I was thinking, as you were talking about, you know, the people, catechism saying angels are just, you know, there really is very much an attack on supernatural faith.

[443] Oh, yeah.

[444] I would encourage people because we know that Christ's word is true and he really is present in consecrated bread and wine that become his body and blood, soul, and divinity.

[445] I encourage people if they're really not too strong in their faith, go and spend some time in the presence of our Lord in the Eucharist and ask him to be.

[446] Ask him for strength.

[447] Ask the Lord to strengthen you.

[448] You, you know, I don't expect some, maybe it would happen.

[449] It can happen.

[450] It does.

[451] But you may not hear anything.

[452] You may not feel anything.

[453] But trust and believe that he's and that he hears you.

[454] And I would wager that as your life unfolds, if you really seriously with an open heart do that, you'll begin to see the supernatural in your life.

[455] I can testify to that and I've always been a believer but my faith has just gotten deeper and deeper as I've spent time with him.

[456] He's there and he will strengthen us in mysterious ways that may not be exactly what we're expecting or even what we want but I encourage people if they're not sure about if they're listening to this maybe they just for the first time got this and heard you say that about the catechism and they say well i think maybe angels are just an imagination imaginary thing if you're thinking in those terms please go and spend some time with the lord even if your faith isn't strong that he's there he is amen and i and you spend time in his presence you will begin to be changed and strengthened Maybe in very subtle ways, but in very real ways, you'll come to see the supernatural more clearly.

[457] So don't just get carried away with saying, oh, well, okay, they said it's just an imagination.

[458] They know, I do believe, I want to believe more deeply.

[459] Well, well said Bishop Strickland, I want to encourage people to pass this program on to your friends because I've got to tell you, he's showing people how to be introduced to the person of Christ.

[460] This is just what we need in the church today.

[461] Oh, yeah, a blessing for us, Bishop Strickland, please.

[462] God, we ask your blessing for all this program, the next Father, the Son of the Holy Spirit.

[463] Amen.

[464] Thank you so much.

[465] God bless you.

[466] Thanks for supporting us here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[467] God love you.