05 Jun 24 – Harrison Butker: A Role Model for Catholic Men

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name is Terry Barber, and it's Wednesday.

[2] Boy, we got a great show ahead of us.

[3] We've got some clips that we want to play and much, much more.

[4] But we want to thank all of our listeners who support the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[5] And if you know any other radio stations who want to pick this show up, the way to do it is contact your local station and say, hey, why aren't you playing the Bishop Strickland Hour?

[6] It's formatting.

[7] for radio and that way we can get more people to join us in that and that really does help if people want to go to find more videos of Bishop Strickland on his YouTube channel Bishop Strickland just type in his name right Joseph Strickland on YouTube you can check that out Bishop Strickland I want to just say that I'm going to play some clips today from Raymond a Royal show from Thursday that I think really really articulate a challenges we have in our church, but I think we need to address these things.

[8] So we'll do that in a little bit, but I want to also get what Jesse and I call Soul Food, the Bible.

[9] We read today's gospel from Mark chapter 12, verse 18 to 27.

[10] If you could be so good, that'd be great.

[11] A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark.

[12] Some Sadducees who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and put this question to him saying, Teacher, Moses wrote for us, if someone's brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise of descendants for his brother.

[13] Now there were seven brothers, the first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants.

[14] So the second brother married her and died, leaving no descendants.

[15] And the third likewise.

[16] And the seven left no descendants.

[17] Last of all, the woman also died.

[18] At the resurrection, when they arise, whose wife will she be?

[19] For all seven had been married to her.

[20] Jesus said to them, Are you not misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God?

[21] When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven.

[22] As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses in the passage about the bush how God told him, I'm the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

[23] He is not God of the dead, but of the living.

[24] You're greatly misled.

[25] The gospel of the Lord.

[26] Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[27] Well, really, Terry, this gospel, once again, they're trying to trap Christ.

[28] And he, as always, I mean, he's.

[29] truth and wisdom incarnate, so he is able to handle their traps cleverly and clearly.

[30] But I think what strikes me about this gospel, he really reminds us, as we read the gospel here in the 21st century, that it's easy for us to be misled.

[31] And that's exactly what we see.

[32] much of in the world, the people that are, the Sadducees are challenging him because they don't believe in the resurrection.

[33] And so they're, they think they're being clever and challenging him to, okay, then how do you answer this question?

[34] And as Christ says, he says a couple of times, you are greatly misled.

[35] I think that's a wake -up call.

[36] for all of us to recognize that we can be misled as well by the world and even by false teachings in the church.

[37] We've got to look to Christ and to look to the truth and to look to the truth that he's revealed.

[38] As he says in the conclusion of this, God speaks of himself as God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

[39] He is God of a living.

[40] It reminds us that ultimately all life comes from God.

[41] And those who continue to live in God are truly alive.

[42] So it's for us in the Catholic context, it's the same thing.

[43] It reminds me of the best answer for, why we turn to Mary and the Saints and ask them to pray for us.

[44] It's because they're still alive.

[45] Yes.

[46] They're not dead.

[47] And our prayer to the Saints with Mary as Queen of the Saints, that's the greatest illustration that we know they're alive.

[48] Just like we ask, I think most people, Well, if they have any faith at all, they'll ask someone else here.

[49] I know I'm constantly having people ask me to pray for them.

[50] We ask each other to pray for us or pray for whatever need that we have.

[51] We do the same with the saints because we know they're alive.

[52] And that I'm reminded of that as Christ gives this answer.

[53] to the Sadducees to remember what the resurrection is about.

[54] It's everlasting life with God.

[55] And so the saints are alive with God.

[56] And that's what it means to rise from the dead.

[57] Well, said, I wanted to give us, if we have a chance here, we're going to, after the break, we're going to be taking some, some little clips from Raymond O 'Royles show on EWTN, and I want to recommend, I watch it every week, not on the network, I watch it on YouTube because it's more convenient, but every week he has such good content on that inspires you to fall deep in love with Jesus Christ, so I would encourage everyone to do that.

[58] And also I want to remind everybody that we have the men's conference coming up, the 15th of June Jesse Romero and Johnny Romero the Romero brothers Sons of Thunder I call them and this is going to be a great conference for you especially wives that have husbands who might not be on fire for the faith and they need a little push well Jesse and Johnny will do that and I'll be there also to give a little push so if you want to register your husband which I think would be a great thing for Father's Day go to vmpr .org Or call us at 877 -526 -21 -51.

[59] You can do that also.

[60] And don't forget the day before the 14th of June is our fundraising.

[61] No, it's actually a dinner for those who have been fundraising and supporting vmpr .org.

[62] If you'd like to go as a donor, call 877 -526 -2151 or go on the line to Virgin Most Powerful Radio .org.

[63] Bishop Strickland, I mentioned at the beginning of the show about your YouTube channel.

[64] I'd like to ask you again to tell those people who are new on this show what you do every week or maybe every 10 days.

[65] You do a YouTube show.

[66] What do you actually do?

[67] And how long would it be for those to listen to it?

[68] Thanks, Terry.

[69] It's about six or seven minutes.

[70] Try to keep it fairly short, and just talk about the saint of the day or like a feast like we just celebrated Trinity Sunday or Pentecost, things like that, just Catholic topics that are just a brief reflection to remind us of those treasures of our faith that in busy lives we can easily forget to, you know, to really focus on that and to appreciate the calendar that we have in the church, going through the different liturgical seasons and the different liturgical feasts.

[71] Got it.

[72] So that's what I talked about.

[73] We got about two minutes before the break, and I want to bring these other clips on.

[74] But I wanted to just get your take on something.

[75] Here in Southern California, one of the great universities.

[76] called UCLA, and lots of friends who are doctors who went to UCLA to get their doctorate and become surgeons.

[77] And this came out.

[78] More than half of the new UCLA medical students fail basic standards due to woke racial policies.

[79] So basically what we're saying, Bishop Strickland, and this is not just happening in the church, it's all over the world.

[80] They're lowering the bar for the doctors, just like they're lowering the bar for airline.

[81] pilots, it seems like every industry, even the Army, they have a lower place for bringing somebody on to be a military for the Army, for the Navy.

[82] It seems to me that we're going to be paying a terrible price, especially in this medical doctor situation, that the doctors that are going to be doctors are not going to be as well trained as the past.

[83] Your thoughts?

[84] well it's it's tragic it's really lunacy yeah I mean to say well we've got these other criteria for I mean I just flew across the Atlantic Ocean yeah you want a pilot who knows what they're doing you don't want somebody who fills a quota of some rather in unimportant ultimately what important about flying a plane is knowing how to operate that machine.

[85] It doesn't matter what color you are, what faith you are of whatever.

[86] Well said, when we come back, we've got more on the Bishop Strickland Hour, on Virgin, Most Power, stay with us, family.

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

[88] Welcome back, indeed, to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[89] All right, put your seatbelts on everybody because the Holy Father had a 60 -minute interview with 60 minutes regarding some of the issues of the church.

[90] And I appreciate some of the things he said about women's ordination to for Deacon and he said, no, can't be done.

[91] Okay, great.

[92] I'm glad it's clear.

[93] I wish everybody was on the same page in the church, but I want to play a clip regarding the question that's huge for this sexual abuse.

[94] You know, we all know that the McCarrick situation, Never really, just be honest with you, Bishop Strickland.

[95] I've never gotten a clearance explanation on who's involved with Cardinal McCarrick.

[96] And I know you've said this in front of the bishops conference.

[97] Guys, come on, who knew what?

[98] And it's bum's the word.

[99] And so the question came to the Holy Father regarding what is the church doing.

[100] And I was like blown away by his answer because, well, you'll see.

[101] Let's play the clip and then get your comment.

[102] Sexual abuse cases in the church.

[103] This was interesting.

[104] You have done more than anyone to try and reform the Catholic Church and repent for years of unspeakable sexual abuse against children by members of the clergy.

[105] But has the church done enough?

[106] It must continue to do more.

[107] Unfortunately, the tragedy of the abuses is enormous.

[108] And against this, an upright conscience.

[109] and not only to not permit it, but to put in place the conditions so that it does not happen.

[110] It cannot be tolerated.

[111] When there is a case of a religious man or woman who abuses, the full force of the law falls upon them.

[112] In this, there has been a great deal of progress.

[113] Well, Bob, I was shocked that, again, O'Donnell offered no follow -up here.

[114] The follow -up should have been, and even a casual viewer would understand this, how can you say the full force of the law falls upon anyone guilty of this when you, Your Holiness, protected your friend, Bishop Sanchetta, and the disgraced Jesuit Marco Rupnik, just this week.

[115] And I'm going to put it on the screen.

[116] The Vatican even used Rupnik's artwork on the website for a Marian feast day.

[117] Your thoughts, Bob.

[118] Yeah, I'm glad that he said this.

[119] I wish that we had to follow through on it, but it seems that clericalism that he constantly, denounces is at work when it comes to people who are close to him or at least are high up in the church hierarchy in one way or another.

[120] Well, Mr. Strickland, I want to get your tape because I always say talk is cheap as supply exceeds the demand.

[121] I want to see action.

[122] And from me as a layperson, when I see all these tragedies that are going on with sexual abuse and if you have the right friends up in the Vatican, nothing happens to them.

[123] That effect, they get promoted to other positions in the Vatican.

[124] So I was appalled at that statement.

[125] Your thoughts?

[126] Well, appalled is a good word.

[127] And as Raymond indicated, there should have been some hard -hitting follow -up questions, but of course that didn't happen.

[128] But the main thing is to follow -up in if the Holy Father really wants to hold that standard, of, and he said it before, zero tolerance, but if you're in the right position, I guess, or know the right people, then that zero tolerance doesn't apply.

[129] That is unjust, and it really is a mark against people who want to go after the Catholic Church.

[130] And the tragedy of abuse is certainly not confined to Catholics and priests, but people that want to go after the church, this gives them the machinery or the artillery to make their attack, because it's like, you know, how can you protect people that are, I mean, evil.

[131] I mean, I was just in Fatima.

[132] Yeah.

[133] And lords.

[134] And you see that art of this Father Rupnik all over.

[135] I mean, it's plastered over the front of the Lord's Basilica.

[136] And they're having a commission studied whether it should be removed or not.

[137] Frankly, it should just be removed because, I mean, the blasphemous evil that this priest has been proven to have.

[138] I mean, the nuns that were abused requested the removal of this art from this holy shrine of words.

[139] And a commission is studying whether that's the right thing to do.

[140] That certainly is not action to back up the words of the Holy Father in this interview.

[141] And it's, it really is appalling.

[142] and it's disheartening.

[143] It's like, how stupid do they think we are?

[144] To say the words don't match up.

[145] I mean, a child can see, you know, the words don't match up with the actions.

[146] And if there's some that get away with it because of what they know or who they know, it really traces back like you said to the whole mechanic.

[147] I think so.

[148] I mean, he's the poster child of that kind of duplicity.

[149] Yep.

[150] As long as that mackeric reality leaves, is left really uninvestigated, unclified.

[151] And, you know, as people have pointed out, the step of removing mccarrick from the clerical state, really just exempted him from the kind of trial that needed to happen.

[152] That's right.

[153] And really, I'll say it because I've gotten in trouble for saying things before, but there are too many cardinals, bishops, and other high -ranking officials, Monsigniors, in the church, that were going to be implicated if there was a real, McCarrick investigation.

[154] That's the right reason it's never happened.

[155] Yep.

[156] And I mean, I don't claim to have the information, but that's the only, just a reasonable person looking at all of this.

[157] I mean, McCarrick was a mover and a shaker.

[158] He was known for being connected to people.

[159] And so where are those connections and who is still in office that?

[160] that had those connections.

[161] And if the Holy Father really wants to put his money where his mouth is, then a lot of people need to be removed.

[162] But they're not going to be in the present situation because that's not how things are operating.

[163] Those words of the Holy Father are not how things are operating in the Vatican and in too many diocese around the world.

[164] Well, I hate to say it, but you're right, and it's very sad that you're right on that issue.

[165] We're going to play another clip, if we can, regarding the sexual abuse problem in the church and see what the Holy Father has to say.

[166] Yeah, excuse me, we did that sexual abuse.

[167] Now we're going to do the one about calling people who are conservative in our faith.

[168] In other words, we like orthodoxy.

[169] We want it right.

[170] He's going to say some things about us that I think are unfounded, but he's the pope.

[171] He can say it.

[172] I just have to agree with it, but let's play the clip.

[173] Of course, O'Donnell asked Pope Francis about his conservative critics, particularly those in the big old bad USA.

[174] There are conservative bishops in the United States that oppose your new efforts to revisit teachings and traditions.

[175] How do you address their criticism?

[176] You used an adjective, conservative.

[177] That is, conservatives.

[178] is one who clings to something and does not want to see beyond that.

[179] It is a suicidal attitude.

[180] Because one thing is to take tradition into account to consider situations from the past, but quite another is to be closed up inside a dogmatic box.

[181] You know what the right answer is and the one he should have offered was, let me stop you.

[182] We don't consider conservative liberal boxes when talking about the eternal deposit of faith of Jesus Christ.

[183] It is eternal.

[184] It is both liberal, conservative, and everything in between.

[185] It's the alpha and the omega.

[186] That's who we are.

[187] So I reject those political titles, Nora, let's move on.

[188] That's where you start.

[189] But to double down on them, you really are, you're placing, dare I say it, your critics and your friends in your own dogmatic box.

[190] That is, I think, to confirm the media narrative, that's never a good thing.

[191] But perhaps running counter to this here, I'm not even going to talk about, let's put the philosophical analysis aside, but running counter to the Pope's assessment, or Nora O'Donnells, a recent study of young priests in Germany reveals that they don't seem to have much of a stomach for the progressive German sonatal way.

[192] About 75 % of new priests in Germany oppose women's ordination.

[193] About 70 % support priests.

[194] celibacy.

[195] The study was organized by the Germans' bishops' conference and the Walsham Center for Applied Pastoral Research, and it surveyed priests ordained between 2010 and 2021.

[196] Bob, this poll and the organizers are chalking this up to these young men being out of touch with modern society and lacking creativity.

[197] What do you see here?

[198] Well, where do I begin, Bishop Strickland?

[199] I I mean, I think you're who they're talking about.

[200] We're talking about people who want to continue to proclaim the deposit of faith.

[201] And it's very sad that the Holy Father considers us, you know, where we just are, you know, suicidal.

[202] Is that the word he used?

[203] I think he said that.

[204] Yeah.

[205] That's strong language.

[206] Well, really, Terry, I hate to say it.

[207] But we're not the ones who are suicidal.

[208] What is suicidal for human civilization is the path that is being taken to dismantle tradition and come up with new ways of really dismantling the gospel.

[209] That's what's suicidal.

[210] And it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, I love the way, I, I really applaud Raymond de Royo for, I mean, that was bold for him to, to have this segment.

[211] Um, I'm glad that EWTN allowed him to air it.

[212] Yeah.

[213] Because, um, you know, there, there's a lot of pressure to not say these kinds of things and not question things.

[214] But.

[215] But I love the way they followed up with the survey of German.

[216] Yes, I want to talk about that.

[217] Yes.

[218] I mean, talk about the epicenter of the Synodal Way of is Germany.

[219] It seems to be the pilot program for what many in the Vatican want to do with the whole church.

[220] But thankfully, these priests, we were talking about holiness earlier, the priests know that the priests know that it's about a call to holiness.

[221] And if that's the case, that's where we have to be.

[222] I want to talk about those priests in Germany and also in America, the young priest.

[223] We have 11 priests being ordained on Saturday here in L .A. I know them all, and they're all very orthodox.

[224] So stay with us.

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

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

[227] Welcome back.

[228] Indeed.

[229] We just finished a clip from Raymond O 'Royle.

[230] talking about the Church of Germany.

[231] And he was talking about how these young priests from 2011 to 2023, their survey, and the bishop's conference in Germany did this.

[232] I'm sure they were like, what?

[233] How can these guys be so conservative?

[234] Something similar happened in America.

[235] I don't know if you recall, Bishop Strickland.

[236] They were concerned about all these new priests that are being ordained.

[237] They all want to wear casics.

[238] They want to, you know, they're kind of old school.

[239] and their theology, they didn't buy into modernism, and how could that be?

[240] But I'm just going to make a suggestion and see if you think I'm right on this.

[241] My friends who are priests today in the last 25 years that I know of told me, we realized what was going on, and we knew that we just had to zip her lip, be quiet, go under the radar, get ordained, and then we saw what was happening and we could do what we needed to do.

[242] Now, I believe in Germany, that's very similar.

[243] Those guys would not have been ordained if they would speak up because I know I have friends who would speak up in the seminary and they were removed because, like, a question that came up in their interview.

[244] What do you think about women priests?

[245] I don't believe.

[246] I think John Paul 2's 1994 document that says, you know, that it's in the discussion that there's no ordination for women, they would say, well, you're not a good candidate for the priestry because you're too rigid.

[247] Am I on to something?

[248] Yeah, absolutely.

[249] And if we look at history, to me, there's a really deep irony in Pope Francis using the word suicidal.

[250] Because when through the edges, when groups, sometimes very large, like Aryanism, have wandered from the deposit of faith, wandered from the perennial truth of the church, wandered from tradition, then they're the groups that are suicidal.

[251] Where are they?

[252] Where's the Aryan church of 2024?

[253] It doesn't exist.

[254] It died out.

[255] I mean, there may be some elements of Aryan heresy, and a lot of the heresies are alive and well, in our world, and sadly in the church, but those groups don't exist.

[256] I mean, there's no future.

[257] It's suicidal to walk away from the truth.

[258] That's what's suicidal.

[259] So I think it's ironic that that word is used.

[260] The priest that in Germany or here in the U .S., and I saw the same survey, one of the versions of it had a picture of me ordaining the last priest to ordained.

[261] Oh, my God.

[262] And I told him he was famous now, and he laughed.

[263] But those young priests have learned their theology.

[264] They know their faith.

[265] They know what is the lasting power of the church, and that is the young priest.

[266] universal called the holiness to turn from sin and to live the gospel that's what it's all about i i mean i think this probably gets both of us really fired up i mean we were talking about harrison butker and the the benedicton sisters who sadly uh said oh this young man's wrong we don't believe this What's happening to their order?

[267] Dying.

[268] It's suicidal.

[269] It's suicidal when the nuns leave tradition.

[270] Yeah.

[271] Because their groups are dying off.

[272] The sisters in polyester pantsuits or, you know, not wearing the traditional habits, they're dying off.

[273] Where are the communities that are growing and flourishing?

[274] the sisters that are wearing a religious habit.

[275] That's right.

[276] So suicidal is not hanging on to tradition.

[277] That's what gives us life.

[278] That's what gives us bigger.

[279] That's what gives us hope.

[280] That's what gives us a connection to God, the call to holiness.

[281] So really, it's deeply ironic and really sad that so many in the church of our age group or older, are they're the ones that are clinging to something that will not prevail?

[282] All of this talk about changing the gospel and all we need to change the church, it's not going to survive.

[283] Nope.

[284] And what will survive, you know, it will be the truth, the tradition, the call to holiness, the call to humble ourselves before Almighty God.

[285] And that's what we have to pray for everyone to embrace and not get distracted by the foolishness of thinking, oh, we can change things into our image.

[286] The more we do that, the more suicidal it becomes.

[287] Well said, and I will just say we need to pray for our leaders and make reparation for that.

[288] Bishop Strickland, we are going to cover a catechetical situation when we come back from the break.

[289] We want to do some teachings on the Mass. But one last thing that I want to bring up, possibly we have six minutes, and that is the Holy Father, you know, you know, was accused of making homophobic slurs in a closed -door meeting to the bishops in Italy.

[290] And I think of this that the Vatican issued a statement of apologizing for the Pope's homophobic terms that he was using.

[291] I kind of thought it would be good if the Holy Father acknowledged that, okay, I made a slip -up.

[292] I mean, we're all sinners.

[293] The Pope is included.

[294] But to say, I shouldn't have said that, I apologize, and, you know, I want to make it right.

[295] But it seems, again, that the church is coming out and apologizing for the Pope and that, you know, for this slur, CNN, all the liberal media people are coming out.

[296] We have the relic of St. Jude out here in L .A. Now we have people protesting at the St. Jude Relic Mass. that are saying the Holy Father is homophobic.

[297] And, I mean, they're coming out and saying, they're pressuring the church to say, look, you have to accept us.

[298] You can't say they say, this is not acceptable.

[299] So I wanted to get your take on that.

[300] This, to me, I mean, this isn't the first time the Holy Father's done something like this.

[301] We've known, and I'll just give you my take, and then I'll let that a biblical worldview says, no salacious talk.

[302] St. Paul talks about it.

[303] we shouldn't be using derogatory terms.

[304] And believe me, I've gone to confession for this, okay?

[305] I've done it because I'm human.

[306] So I'm not condemning the Holy Father in a sense of saying, but if you do it, you acknowledge it, and you ask for forgiveness and you move on.

[307] Your take.

[308] Well, Terry, I agree.

[309] And to apologize is that, you know, that's the way things seem to work now.

[310] Yeah.

[311] But I think a better catechetical moment would be a second.

[312] Yeah, I'm sorry.

[313] Yes.

[314] In that sense, to apologize.

[315] But to acknowledge, you know, I sin.

[316] We all do.

[317] Yeah.

[318] We need to repent of that and to, you know, to seek to live the truth as fully as we can.

[319] Yes.

[320] But, you know, it's just part of the mixed -up world we live in that these kinds of things happen.

[321] Yeah.

[322] So we pray for the Holy Father.

[323] And again, the church is being attacked.

[324] I want to just mention something from earlier in the show, and that is from a lot of anti -Catholics.

[325] They're utilizing a lot of the scandals that are in the church and pointing out how bad the Catholic church is.

[326] and as an apologist for the Catholic Church, it does make it difficult for us.

[327] I'll just be honest with you when they asked the question, what do you guys actually believe?

[328] You're all over the spectrum.

[329] You talk about the church being one really Catholic and apostolic church.

[330] I say, well, you have to make a distinction.

[331] This is what the church officially teaches.

[332] There are people in the church who are going to go off on their own.

[333] We've had that before, but that's not something that we will accept as the church teaching because we have what we call a deposit of faith.

[334] And this is why I think what you've been doing for years, Bishop Strickland, is giving people the answer to some of the challenges in the church to just go back to who we worship, go back to what the perennial teachings are.

[335] You made a promise when you were brought up to be a bishop in the church.

[336] Every bishop makes it to adhere to the deposit of faith.

[337] faith.

[338] It's simple.

[339] So I just want to let you finish this segment on how important it is for us to really know our faith.

[340] Absolutely.

[341] And we can't just rely on others and say, oh, well, so and so because like you said, there's a lot of contradiction.

[342] Where's the truth?

[343] It can't be all things.

[344] if it's true, this is right and that is wrong.

[345] So it does underscore, and it goes back to what we talked about earlier.

[346] Part of the call to holiness is the universal call to holiness means we all need to know the truth of our faith.

[347] We can't just say, I mean, it kind of goes with the idea that, oh, those are the holy guys, the ordained or the religious, they're the whole.

[348] believe people.

[349] We're all called to holiness, and therefore we're all called to know our faith and to speak out when we see and hear error.

[350] And we need to do that.

[351] We need to voice the truth and voice when false messages are out there because it's harmful for the contradictions to just lay there without anybody opposing it and saying, no, that's not what we believe.

[352] Right.

[353] Well said.

[354] And when we come back, I want to go into our catechetical teachings, which fits just what we just said.

[355] You need to know the faith.

[356] And we're going to talk on the mass, the source and summit of the Christian life, the Eucharist.

[357] And what is the mass?

[358] And much more so that we can have a better love for the holy sacrifice for the mass. We have to study it.

[359] I believe I'm studying it for a lifetime.

[360] I'm still learning more about the mass every day.

[361] Stay with us, family.

[362] We'll be back with more.

[363] Bishop Strickland Hour, on Virgin Most Powerful Rain.

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

[365] Welcome.

[366] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

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[373] Bishop Strickland, I'd like to be able to share a catechism each show.

[374] And sometimes I don't get to it, but this time I did.

[375] and it's taken from the way of Christ's student book presented by the St. Philip Institute from your diocese where you're from, Tyler, Texas.

[376] People can get a copy if they go to the website.

[377] And I like it because it's really succinct.

[378] It's clear.

[379] It reminds me of when I was a child, the Baltimore Catechism, question, answer format.

[380] I still think that's a really good format to learn the faith.

[381] I'm still learning it.

[382] So the first question, is what is the Mass the Mass is the community worship of Catholics when the priest makes or consecrates the Eucharist it is a re -presentation of the sacrifice of Christ so that we can participate in his sacrifice boy that I mean you can talk a whole hour on what is the Mass and they said it in a couple sentences but it's much much more even Bishop Strickland your take on what is the Mass?

[383] What would you like to add to that?

[384] Well, I think the key element there that really wasn't emphasized as much as it should have been when I was in the seminary, it's the sacrifice.

[385] Yes.

[386] It is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

[387] Amen.

[388] And I think it's Scott Hahn that talks about the reality that if, if, The death of Christ wasn't a, when he dies on the cross, if it wasn't a sacrifice, if it was just an execution, then that is meaningless for us in our faith.

[389] But we know it was a sacrifice, a loving sacrifice.

[390] In doing so, Christ really shows us, as he tells the disciples, as he tells the disciples, no greater gift than to lay down your life for your friends.

[391] He does it.

[392] He walks the talk.

[393] He says what it means to love, and he illustrates through his sacrifice, his death on the cross, his whole passion, but culminating in his death.

[394] And that's the power of the mass and the strength and the beauty of the mass is that, as it says in that brief answer, it's a representation of that reality.

[395] It's not, you know, many times the non -Catholic community will accuse us of re -crucifying crimes.

[396] And of course, that is not what the mass is.

[397] It's not crucifying him again, it's allowing us to benefit from and to share in the power of that once and for all loving sacrifice of the Son of God that happened 21 centuries ago, but still he's with us as he promised.

[398] I mean, like you said, Terry, there's so much to talk about with the mass. And it really is hard to bring it down to a few words.

[399] But as that response did in the catechism that we're reading through, the loving sacrifice of Christ, the power of his love is what the mass captures.

[400] And bread and wine become truly him, body and blood.

[401] soul, and divinity.

[402] It really is the very heart of our life because it's Christ himself.

[403] The bread and wine become the reality of our living Lord present among us.

[404] And really radiating out from that are all the other sacraments aspects of his living presence among us.

[405] But the beauty of the Eucharist is it's actually him.

[406] Yes.

[407] Really present.

[408] And believe me, as a priest who stands at the altar, takes bread and wine in my hands.

[409] I mean, as I know I've said before, the phrases that I repeat and need to repeat, dominus non -sum -dignus, Lord, I'm not worthy.

[410] Because how could anyone be worthy of holding bread and wine that become Almighty God?

[411] The second person of the Trinity, the eternal word, all the ways that we speak of Christ incarnate among us.

[412] it is it's beyond words it's something we can't really express but what we do need to do and that's why I often ask that we pray for our priests yes because to celebrate the mass in any way other than full of awe full of humility yeah full of reverence that is it's harmful to the individual priest and harmful to the church for the mass to be celebrated in any way than with being awestruck at what we're doing what the priest is doing and what we and the congregation are doing when bread and wine become the one who died on the cross and rose from the death, the fullness of the Lord.

[413] One thing that I always try to do myself and encourage others as we start our segments now each day with reading the gospel.

[414] And when we do that, we need to remember the Jesus that was there sparring with the Sadducees.

[415] day's gospel that we read and the question of eternal life, that same Jesus is the one who's on the altar when we go to Mass. So people that have had the blessing of being able to attend Mass, we know, and I need, I mean, it's easy because it's so tremendous.

[416] It's almost like it's hard for us to maintain an attitude of deeply understanding, but we need to strive for it because that same Jesus is there and wants to feed us with his own body and blood.

[417] The saints speak beautifully of the wonder that the Eucharist is, where Jesus doesn't only model for us what love is.

[418] He demonstrates it over and over and over again at every Mass, where he wants to not just be that example for us, but to actually feed us with his very life.

[419] I mean, the Eucharist is the most tremendous gift that God has given to humanity, because the Eucharist is his own son, demonstrating for us what love is and how do we love.

[420] And, you know, I don't have words adequate for it, but we just need to keep striving.

[421] Parents telling their children what's really going on.

[422] And I know that you do that with you did that with your children.

[423] You do that with your grandchildren as they're old enough to begin understanding And I guess I would say, and I think you've experienced this, like you said, Terry, we both are willing to be corrected.

[424] Absolutely.

[425] But I think you would agree, Terry, because I've seen you in action.

[426] I think parents and grandparents need to begin speaking about the wonder of the mass and the truth of what's happening very early in the life of their children and grandchildren.

[427] presuming that they will have a basic understanding that can grow as it needs to.

[428] I mean, we're both men in our 60s, and we need to continue to learn more deeply who is present in the Eucharist and how he is present there.

[429] But your grandchildren can begin to learn that as soon as they really learning anything else.

[430] And beautifully, I would imagine Bo says things that are really deep in a childlike way.

[431] He says things that are profound and make his grandpa really reflect more deeply.

[432] That's true.

[433] A little kid can four -year -old can do that for you.

[434] You know, Bishop Strickland, you made a beautiful explanation on the Mass. I just had Bishop Fulton Sheen as a young man. I think I was 14 listening to cassette tapes.

[435] of a priest retreat, and when I heard Bishop Sheen say this, it's one of those, you know, turn the light bulb on moments.

[436] He said that you're present at that one eternal sacrifice.

[437] What?

[438] I got that.

[439] I said, yes, Calvary is placed in Japan.

[440] He was saying Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York.

[441] And I was just like, wow.

[442] So every time I go to Mass, I'm present at that one eternal sacrifice.

[443] And I'll never forget someone who's, you know, he's gone to his eternal reward, but Father Ken Roberts, who was a good friend of mine back in the 80s, I printed a book called Father Roberts Answers Jimmy Swaggart.

[444] And he did a thing on Corpus Christi.

[445] And it was so beautiful how he talked about taking Jesus out to the streets.

[446] And then he talked about what the mass is and that how we as Catholics, if we only understand, the Mass, the churches would be packed every Mass because what takes place there, but we haven't done a good job explaining that.

[447] I think he was right, and that was 35, 40 years ago.

[448] So God bless you for taking the time to share the teachings on the Mass. We have a minute left, Bishop Strickland.

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

[450] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for all of us as we listen to Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[451] Help us to continue to answer that universal call to holiness that we all share from our baptism to really live the truth that you have shared with us and to strengthen us to joyfully face each day guided by your truth.

[452] We ask the blessing in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit.

[453] Amen.

[454] For those who enjoy the Bishop Strickland Hour, You can go to vmpr .org and download our free app, and then you can get all the podcasts of these shows, but also other shows called Ferry and Jesse Show.

[455] We can get Jesus 9 -1 -1.

[456] Lots of good programming.

[457] So keep that in mind.

[458] And may God richly bless you.

[459] Thanks for joining us here.