17 May 22 – Speaking Out for the Unborn

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] You're listening to Virgin Most Powerful radio.

[2] And Bishop Strickland is on every week to talk about the issues of the day and to teach us the faith.

[3] And it's just great to have you again, Bishop Strickland.

[4] Thanks for taking the time.

[5] Thanks, Terry.

[6] Always good to talk about Jesus.

[7] Amen to that.

[8] Bishop Strickland, we get, right now, Roe v. Wade's decision supposedly got leaked out of the Supreme Court.

[9] Never in our 250 -year history has this happened, and it seems like the pro -abortion people are doing all kinds of crazy things.

[10] They're going into Catholic churches to disrupt us in our mass, and lots of horrible things are graffiti our doors, and it just seems like this whole issue of the sanctity of life now is being stepped up to another level, and I wanted to hear from our bishops for clarity on this, And so you tweeted something, and I'll read it to the people, and I want to understand why you're so passionate about this.

[11] You tweet to our illustrious president, who's a baptized Catholic, President Biden.

[12] You said, Mr. President, this is very clear.

[13] You are wrong, completely wrong.

[14] And as you continue to push this agenda, the pro -abortion agenda, you push division in this nation to a breaking point.

[15] And then you said, I pray.

[16] that your hardened heart will open to the sanctity of life for the unborn child and for the mother.

[17] Now, before you answer this, I recorded and put it on our radio show that President Biden actually acknowledged verbally that that is a child in the mother's room, which is just a question of when we can terminate the death of that baby in mama's womb.

[18] So getting back to your tweet, why did you do that?

[19] Well, it needs to be said.

[20] And for some reason, it seems that because Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are so -called Catholics, and I use that very specifically.

[21] They're so -called Catholics.

[22] They're not living the Catholic faith.

[23] They're not living a relationship with Jesus Christ that respects every person.

[24] including the child in the womb and the mother whose womb they're in, everyone, every single person.

[25] And it's like these so -called Catholic politicians are getting a pass from the church, from the bishops and from the church as a, as the body of Christ, as the mystical body of Christ.

[26] We've got to speak to that.

[27] And, you know, it's certainly not.

[28] just the president, but he loves to claim his Catholicism.

[29] Nancy Pelosi claims her Catholicism.

[30] And it really struck me in reflecting on all this that non -Catholic politicians would probably get more pushback for saying some of the things that these Catholics, but it's like it's hands off because they're so -called Catholics.

[31] That's simply contrary to Catholic teaching.

[32] And it's contrary to truth is the reality.

[33] What really struck me with President Biden, speaking of the child, they're frankly giving up on pretending it's anything but another child.

[34] I guess the argument, oh, well, it's not a person yet.

[35] Well, what's a child going to be?

[36] I mean, it's just, you know, they keep trying to find ways around the basic simple truth.

[37] And it really is pretty simple.

[38] I know that women find themselves in very tragic situations.

[39] And yes, we need to be there for them.

[40] But whatever the tragic situation, you can't.

[41] argue that murder is moral.

[42] And that's basically what the argument is.

[43] Just because the person is tiny and they happen to dwell in a womb, then there are programs.

[44] They have no rights.

[45] They have no, it's like they're just totally ignored.

[46] Someone even says, and silly things, senseless things get said.

[47] Somebody was talking about, I don't know who it was, but that, oh, there needs to be a conversation between the child, the mother, and the doctor, and it's their pride.

[48] The child didn't get a chance to speak up.

[49] Forgetting someone, aren't you?

[50] If that was the case, even then, I mean, it's like, oh, well, yeah, go ahead and kill me. That's my voice.

[51] My vote, yeah, I'll die.

[52] That's okay.

[53] I'm not worth much.

[54] I mean, it's just totally unhinged from reality.

[55] And that, Terry, I think, is what we're facing is people have decided, this is what I want my reality to be.

[56] And so we just are unhinged from the reality.

[57] And I just talked to a priest this morning called me up from, I'll say, outside of Texas.

[58] that's all I need to say.

[59] But it wasn't a priest of this diocese.

[60] It wasn't even a priest in Texas.

[61] But he called me and said, Bishop Strickland, why aren't the bishop speaking up more?

[62] And I said, well, Father, you make a good point.

[63] And it inspired me to speak up some more.

[64] I've tried to speak up already.

[65] But the reality is, it's simply not reality that is going on, and what the Supreme Court justices need our prayers and our support as bishops, they're faithful Catholics.

[66] They're much more faithful than many of the elected politicians.

[67] And people get into all the politics and how dare these unelected judges.

[68] But that's part of our system.

[69] The Supreme Court has been since the beginning, the judicial branch has these unelected judges, judges that have been bedded very carefully, sometimes extremely.

[70] It's amazing sometimes that these justices even have made it to the Supreme Court.

[71] But now they're being threatened, and very little is being said by the elected officials, and certainly nothing being said by their Catholic bishop, where they're located.

[72] It's just we've got to be stronger in the truth.

[73] We've got to be certainly not attacking, but strong in the truth.

[74] Because what I'm reminded of, and we've talked about it before, but if you really think through these issues, it does remind you of Nazi Germany, and too many people didn't speak up.

[75] That's right.

[76] There's a Protestant pastor that lived during that time, and he said Martin Niebuhr, I think, is its name, and I'm probably not pronouncing it correctly, but a Protestant pastor there in Germany, and he made the point that I didn't speak up because I wasn't a socialist.

[77] I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist.

[78] I didn't speak up because I wasn't part of this.

[79] group and then he says and then they come after me and there's nobody there to speak up and that is what we have to be very aware of um we talked months ago about there's a video that i would encourage people i'm sure you can go to youtube and if you have enough information but there's a video the the title is sing a little louder.

[80] And it's basically about a train going past this church, a train full of people being taken to extermination camps in Nazi Germany.

[81] People are singing in the church.

[82] And they instead of, I mean, people are upset and they're looking at the window and there's this little drama that goes on.

[83] And the pastor says to the organist, let's sing louder.

[84] And that's kind of where we are.

[85] It's like we want to ignore this and let's keep going as if everything's okay, the world is far from okay.

[86] It doesn't mean that we need to all be consumed by fear, but we need to be stronger in faith and recognizing like the Immaculate Virgin Mary has said to us constantly, we need to get on our knees and pray.

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

[88] I'm glad.

[89] the bishops did call for prayer and fasting and absolutely but we've got to speak up against injustice as well and the greatest injustice going on is the the lack of value of the unborn child and as i've said before um if that isn't a value then what life is yeah and every life is threatened and there are many lives that are threatened.

[90] Pope John Paul II says it.

[91] Archbishop Sheen says that there are many voices.

[92] And we need to have those strong voices now because the strong voices of hate and evil are consuming our world.

[93] And too many of them are, you know, saying things that are antithetical to Jesus Christ and to what the Catholic Church teaches, and then claiming to be Catholic.

[94] It just, it doesn't work both ways.

[95] I hate to tell them, but it doesn't work both ways.

[96] Jesus says the sheep and the goats will be separated.

[97] We're all challenged to be part of the group that is part of the sheepfold, the flock of the Lord.

[98] I've got to turn from sin.

[99] We all do, but Jesus makes it very clear that the possibility of being judged as one of the goats is very real and we can't ignore that.

[100] Thank you, Bishop.

[101] You've got a biblical worldview on life and that's what we do here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[102] When we come back, we've got more to talk about defending human life from conception to natural death.

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

[104] Stay with us, family.

[105] We'll be right back after a quick break.

[106] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[107] It's always refreshing to hear a successor of the apostle teach with clarity and charity because we need that today, especially when it comes to the abortion issue.

[108] And Bishop Strickland, I live in California, obviously, but there right now has a bill that's out to allow post -birth, failed abortion babies to be killed even after they're born.

[109] So it's just going to that extreme out here in California.

[110] But I got to tell you, I'm not going to say the name of the deacon because he's about a deacon in your diocese, and you tweeted it, so you obviously agree with him.

[111] But I can tell you right now, Bishop Strickland, if some clergyman did that in certain diocese, wait until I read this, folks, and then you're going to say, wow, he didn't get silenced because he spoke the truth.

[112] to me, I noticed that the requirement for you as a bishop, and correct me if I'm wrong, is anything that's the truth about the Catholic faith in defending life or whatever teaching is right in line with the catechism, even if it's inconvenient, you're going to support that, correct?

[113] Well, we have to.

[114] That's my job description.

[115] Yep, there you go.

[116] Now, here's what the deacon said.

[117] Let's be completely honest.

[118] Joe Biden is a heretic.

[119] Wow, that's strong.

[120] an apostate.

[121] Any bishop who doesn't acknowledge that call him to repentance, I love that, to the sacrament of confession, and insist he correct his error as a professing public Catholic is wrong.

[122] Sorry, this is a time for truth.

[123] Man, that is very, very clear, Bishop Strickland.

[124] I mean, that's one of your own deacons in your diocese, but it's the truth, is it not?

[125] Absolutely.

[126] That's why I retweeted it because, yes, it's strong, but it needs to be strong.

[127] It's clear.

[128] And, you know, this argument that it's been in the church for too long that, oh, well, it's my personal opinion, I mean, it just doesn't hold water.

[129] You can't say, oh, I'm personally against murder, but go ahead.

[130] If that's what you choose to do, if you identify yourself, as murdering people, then, you know, that's your business.

[131] That's basically the lack of logic.

[132] I started to say, that's the logic.

[133] But it's not logical.

[134] It's just, it doesn't make any sense.

[135] It's like, well, they're in the womb, so that murder doesn't count.

[136] And in people, you know, so many different things are said, people say, oh, well, Jesus didn't talk about abortion, but Jesus says, love that.

[137] neighbor.

[138] He says things like love your enemy.

[139] It, Jesus didn't talk about abortion because the practice in that time, as I understand it, was what they called exposure.

[140] They would just, you know, in the Roman Empire, the pagans, those who had no real faith in the one true God, they just said, well, I mean, basically infanticide what they did because they didn't have the technical expertise that sadly we do have to be able to extract that child from the womb.

[141] And I saw something recently.

[142] This was a doctor testifying before Congress.

[143] You've probably seen.

[144] I know there have in various videos.

[145] And talk about hardened hearts.

[146] I mean, he held up this gruesome looking.

[147] I mean, it looked gruesome for whatever you're doing.

[148] And I'm sure some of the medical instruments that are truly used to help people, I mean, especially for orthopedic surgery and all, it can look pretty, you know, pretty gruesome or pretty dramatic.

[149] But he's holding up this instrument that basically is used to dismember a baby in the wound.

[150] And he's talking to these elected officials about it.

[151] And it says the room was silent, but they don't do anything about it.

[152] It doesn't change their hearts.

[153] Talk about how can you witness that?

[154] How can it be rubbed in your face?

[155] And then you still vote to say, oh, well, abortion is okay.

[156] and you're worrying about which trimester and all of that.

[157] I mean, for years, we've been just trying to reduce the availability of abortion.

[158] But really, what needs to happen is it's not available at all.

[159] And I mean, here in the city of Tyler, there was graffiti on the public's, the courthouse square.

[160] Wow.

[161] It says no return to net had an image of a coat hanger.

[162] Yeah.

[163] You know, that is an atrocity.

[164] Absolutely.

[165] I mean, to, I mean, you know, maybe that's actually factually true.

[166] But if a woman is that desperate to murder her own child, not even using the medical technicians, I mean, that is an act of desperation.

[167] But we can't say, well, let's just make it easier.

[168] We've got to respect that woman and help and to respect.

[169] the child.

[170] And really, these are just paper tiger arguments that they use just because they don't want to acknowledge this is a real human being that has the value of every other human being.

[171] So they say, oh, well, you just want them to be born and you don't care after they are born.

[172] That's simply not true.

[173] And the church does a lot, a lot of Christian people offer opportunities for women who will choose to put their child up for adoption, who choose to respect the life of the child and then say, okay, help me because I can't handle having another child or having a child at all.

[174] Absolutely, we've got to do that.

[175] But murder isn't the answer.

[176] And really, Terry, to get on a more positive side of this, we do need to look to Jesus.

[177] Amen.

[178] He tells us God is love.

[179] And if we love him, we've got to live his word.

[180] His word says, thou shalt not kill.

[181] So it's not a huge sort of complicated, convoluted argument.

[182] We love God.

[183] We're called, if we love God, we will keep His commandments.

[184] We will keep His word.

[185] One of those commandments in the Word of God is thou shalt not kill.

[186] So let's just follow those simple steps and say, we do love God, and we will cease killing the innocent unborn children and find ways to support the woman and support the child.

[187] that's where humanity needs to move.

[188] And we've got to pray, but we've got to speak up as well.

[189] Speak up with love and respect for every person.

[190] No one needs to be attacked.

[191] And that is never what Christ is calling us to.

[192] Love of the other person is calling for a change of hearts.

[193] And really, I'm reading a book right now.

[194] now that really inspired me in speaking of in the Catholic Mass, whether in English or Spanish or Latin, we have a hymn that is where the, it's after the preface of the mass and before the Eucharistic prayer proper begins, holy, holy, sanctus, sanctus.

[195] In Spanish, Santo, Santo, Santo.

[196] And if you look into that a little bit, that, of course, it comes from the book of Revelation.

[197] That is the proclamation of the angels in heaven.

[198] And what was pointed out is Christ has made it possible for us to join the angels in that hymn of praise to God.

[199] Holy, holy, holy, sanctus, sung -to -s, and we need to really recognize beyond everything else that Christ has done for us, and it's tremendous.

[200] He's saved us from sin and death.

[201] He's given the opportunity for everlasting life.

[202] But he also offers us in the Catholic Mass the opportunity to join, literally join our voices with the voice of the angels.

[203] That should inspire all of us as Catholics.

[204] I mean, all of this lunacy about not believing in the real presence.

[205] We need to really, if people are wavering on that, believe and pray that Jesus will help you believe he's really there more profoundly.

[206] We've got to call Catholics back to that faith.

[207] And I'll tell you, Terry, and the people that I talk to, it all begins to fit together.

[208] If you believe he's really there in the real presence, that Jesus Christ, the eternal son of God, the same one who performs all the miracles and gives the great teachings that are recorded in the gospel, the same Jesus who died in the cross and rose from the dead, that he's there on the altar, body and blood, soul and divinity.

[209] If you know Jesus is there, you're not going to embrace the murder of unborn children.

[210] So to me, it all begins to come together.

[211] You can't, if you do that, you're schizophrenic.

[212] You're living a dual life.

[213] Maybe some people are.

[214] But the people that I talk to who want reverence at Mass and have a great devotion to the Mass, whether the novice order or the Latin mass, they are people who reject the idea that murdering an unborn child is okay, that it's the right of the woman to make that choice.

[215] It doesn't fit together.

[216] No. Because the Lord of Life is guiding us, and if we know he's really there, and if we humbly approach him with reverence and awe, he's going to help us recognize that life is from God.

[217] Life is from God, Father, Son, Son, and Spirit.

[218] So I mentioned that about Sanktos, Sanktu, Sanktus because the more we can deepen that faith, the more we will recognize how precious life is and how brief it is and how we need to treasure every moment and do our best to live as those who worship God.

[219] Certainly at mass, the greatest prayer, greatest worship.

[220] But really, we're called to honor and praise God and all that we do.

[221] Well said, Bishop, when we come back, I'm going to get a comment from another archbishop up on the West Coast who's basically saying the same thing you're saying.

[222] I just want to acknowledge him because you guys, you actually tweeted saying that thank you for, you know, another bishop speaking out.

[223] But I want to remind people about a rosary rally that you've already started in your diocese.

[224] So those who are listening in the Tyler area, Bishop Strickland, can you tell us a little bit about what you're doing with the rosary?

[225] Yeah, it's a, it's a state expression of what is an organization for the whole country.

[226] America needs Fatima.

[227] And this is Texas needs Fatima.

[228] California needs Fatima.

[229] I think Delaware is another state.

[230] Delaware needs fat.

[231] We all need Fatima.

[232] Amen.

[233] The truth that the Immaculate Virgin Mary offers the children at Fatima with some very challenging warnings as well and some secrets that are still unfolding.

[234] But that's what it is.

[235] Great.

[236] Well, I'm glad you're doing that.

[237] It meets Fatima.

[238] Great.

[239] We come back.

[240] We're going to talk about an archbishop speaking in defense of life.

[241] Stay with us, family.

[242] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland.

[243] Our Bishop Strickland was just telling us about a rosary for Texas and I wanted to mention in California on May 28th I'll be joining Father Don Calloway at a football stadium called Hugh Stadium in Sacramento 20 ,000 people are going to be there praying the rosary for the restoration and purification of the priesthood and we asked ourselves that Virgin Most Powerful Radio what can we do to help inspire priests to live out their vocation and I decided to give away Bishop Sheen's called and chosen priest retreat from 1978.

[244] He did in Ireland and it's really simple.

[245] You can do it right now.

[246] Go to our website vmpr .org.

[247] People can download that priest retreat.

[248] You can have it but more importantly give it to your local parish priest to confirm him in his faith and his priesthood.

[249] That's what we're doing and it's simple as that the people at the stadium will have a little card they take their phone out they scan it with their phone and they get the download and this is what we're doing I want to thank our listeners at VMPR who support us because we couldn't do this without your support Bishop Strickland I gave a tease I said you know this show is all about life the title is the real story about Roe versus Wade I want to also recommend to our listeners Father Frank Pavone Priest for Life was on today and he was very insightful about the movie Roe versus Wade that exposed so much about what happened back in 1973 and I want to encourage people to go to our podcast of the Terry and Jesse show.

[250] You'll find it very interesting.

[251] But Bishop Strickland, Archbishop Sample up in Portland, Oregon said something that it sounds like you would say, and you did say it, but it's just nice to have other bishops speak out because when you do this, you're a marked man. So here's what he said, Bishop.

[252] In his verbal comments in response to the Scotus League, Biden makes reference to a person's choice to abort a child.

[253] He said it.

[254] It's a child.

[255] So, Mr. President, please remind us again how your support for abortion is consistent with your Catholic faith.

[256] Man, he called him out of Bishop Strickland.

[257] You know, as a layman, when I hear Bishop speak like this?

[258] It's like refreshing because I realize that we've been reading readings from the good shepherd in the gospel of John that to me is a good shepherd because he's doing Mr. Biden a favor by calling him to repent and believe in the gospel.

[259] And you tweeted thank you Archbishop, enough is enough.

[260] Thanks for saying yes, we believe.

[261] yeah i was very glad to see that and and we really just need to do that more yeah and i know archbishop sample and he's a very smart man a very holy man yeah he is and he wasn't attacking anyone no he was i mean god is love and we've talked about before love and truth are or one because they both flow out of God.

[262] And when it's true, it's the loving thing.

[263] And that's what we've got to really remember, that real love is about sharing and living the truth.

[264] We all fail.

[265] We all get caught up in false things because we're sinners.

[266] And hopefully not in mortal ways and serious ways, but we're sinners.

[267] And that means that we are not as pure with the truth as we need to be.

[268] But that's real love is pulling people to the truth, not attacking, not undermining, not devaluing.

[269] But because they're valuable, because every person is valuable, we need to call them to the truth.

[270] That's the reality of this is what Jesus did.

[271] Jesus, if we look to his example in the Gospels, he's constantly reaching out.

[272] We talk about the marginalized Jesus did that, but he didn't reach out to them and just bring them in and say, don't change, just be what you were.

[273] He calls people to change, to metanoia is the word that's used, to a change of being, a change of your whole direction, a conversion.

[274] Amen.

[275] That's pro -called to.

[276] We just recently, in one of the daily readings, we heard, we know that there's liturgically a feast that celebrates the conversion of St. Paul.

[277] This was the reading from Acts where St. Paul's conversion happens.

[278] It was a change.

[279] Yes.

[280] He was breathing murderous threats, as the book of Acts says.

[281] It begins with him breathing murderous threats.

[282] and that passage ends with him proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord.

[283] That conversion is available to every person on the planet.

[284] And that is something that needs to be emphasized today as well.

[285] The readings today for Mass reminded me that it's about everyone.

[286] Today's reading from Acts says that passage, I think it's Acts 11, that says, that they first began to be called Christians.

[287] And that call to Christian to be part of Christianity is what is the universal call to all humanity.

[288] That's why the Christian church is called Catholic because it's a universal call to all people of all time.

[289] And exactly what happened to Saul, who becomes part, Paul, that conversion experience is available to everyone.

[290] It's an ongoing journey for all of us.

[291] Paul didn't become a sinless man. He had squabbles.

[292] He had issues even after his conversion, but he saw the truth.

[293] He saw the face of truth, and that is Jesus Christ.

[294] That's what we all have to call people, too, to that encounter with Jesus Christ, to be changed.

[295] by knowing him.

[296] He's changed me. Amen, me too.

[297] Not perfectly.

[298] I'm still a work in progress, but I'm a better Christian than I was because of Christ, because he's called to me and said, Joe, you need to be a better man. You need to be a more holy man. You need to turn from sin and live my gospel.

[299] He says that to all of us.

[300] And by his grace, we have the opportunity to respond.

[301] So Jesus, I believe, if he were to return right now, he would say, don't give up on anyone.

[302] He didn't give up on anyone.

[303] He would say everyone has that opportunity to, for a change of heart, for a conversion.

[304] That's true for all of us.

[305] It's an ongoing journey.

[306] but we need to face it head on in this time because who knows what tomorrow is going to bring.

[307] We don't need to be people living in fear because Christ has conquered fear.

[308] Sin and death are what we fear and he's conquered sin and death.

[309] But we need to embrace his truth and share it with others.

[310] Call people to Jesus.

[311] I just want to jump up and say, amen, brother.

[312] I mean, really, this is Catholic teaching, folks.

[313] Since you quoted today's reading, May 10th, this is when this recording is taking place, and the 17th it'll be playing to our people.

[314] We have the Feast of St. Damien of Malachi, and I think of the good shepherd that he was.

[315] And let me see if I can make the relationship and then tell me if I'm on to something.

[316] He took care of the folks who had leprosy.

[317] Nobody wanted to touch them.

[318] Nobody wanted to even acknowledge that they had souls or that they were people, people.

[319] And what does he do?

[320] He goes and ministers to them, knowing that he probably will die from leprosy, which he did.

[321] And I think of the leprosy that we have right now with the life of the unborn, that we don't want to touch them.

[322] We don't want to have anything to do.

[323] Keep it out of my eyesight.

[324] I don't want to know about it.

[325] And, you know, I think that's the connection.

[326] Now, why do I say that?

[327] You tweet something from Pope Pius the 12th, which Dietrich von Hilderan called the doctor of the church in philosophy.

[328] He said that.

[329] And I just want to say he said something very clear.

[330] And I really like clarity from our clergy, whether it's the Holy Father, a pope or a bishop or a deacon.

[331] It's great to hear real clear teaching.

[332] And what you quoted was Pope Pius XVI saying, and I think this is important, the child in the womb, has the right to life directly from the state.

[333] No, no, excuse me, from God!

[334] Not the state.

[335] Not from society or any human authority.

[336] That's our basis for protecting the unborn.

[337] You don't have a right to kill God's creation.

[338] And Dietrich von Hilderban said this, and not in your tweet, he said, the greatest problem of the 20th century, I read this in Bishop Athanasius' book on the Mass. He said, is that man is worshipping man rather than God.

[339] Absolutely.

[340] So this quote that the Holy Father, back 70 years ago, made it very clear why we're passionate about this, right?

[341] Absolutely.

[342] And it's interesting that you bring up the Mass because for us as Catholics, it is the greatest prayer.

[343] It's the encounter with the incarnate word, both spoken and on the altar.

[344] It's all about Jesus Christ.

[345] And we need to joyfully, vigorously invite people to the Mass, to know Jesus Christ, body and blood, soul, and divinity really present.

[346] And the more we have that attitude, the more it will help us to truly believe.

[347] I celebrate Mass daily.

[348] Good.

[349] And that's the heart of my work, really.

[350] Yes.

[351] Be celebrating the Eucharist and to spend time in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

[352] Terry, I think one of the things that both of us, I'm sure, hear from people is a lot of despair, a lot of fear, a lot of concern.

[353] about the mass, really in whatever form.

[354] Yeah.

[355] Novos Ordo or the Latin Mass. And what I would encourage people to do is to really come closer to Christ, to really, we have to prepare ourselves to be in his presence.

[356] And really every mass gives us that opportunity.

[357] if we will just seize that opportunity.

[358] And for those who are concerned that there's not enough reverence, bring the reverence yourself.

[359] Amen.

[360] Know that he's there.

[361] You'll have an effect on dangerous and sometimes for me. We'll be right back with more with the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[362] Stay with us.

[363] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[364] I always have a big grin on my face.

[365] People say, why are you so happy?

[366] Well, you know, when you hear the truth, it should put a smile on your face.

[367] Bishop Strickland, talk about always don't fear.

[368] Well, the Bible says the same thing.

[369] Trust.

[370] And you're always talking about the truth.

[371] And there's another bishop who talked about that years ago.

[372] His name's Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

[373] And you did a quote, a tweet.

[374] And the venerable Archbishop Sheen said, we do not know what the future holds.

[375] I love this last line here.

[376] There is only one thing that we do know.

[377] That is that if truth wins, we win.

[378] And if the truth, ah, but truth can't lose.

[379] And I like that.

[380] Truth can't lose.

[381] And I just think that that's a theme for your own diocese.

[382] You're constantly referring people.

[383] What is the truth?

[384] So I think you're right on par with Sheen.

[385] Is that why you sent that out?

[386] Absolutely.

[387] And the great thing is truth is a person.

[388] Amen, Jesus Christ.

[389] Through Jesus Christ, we have to know him more deeply.

[390] Amen.

[391] And it's interesting.

[392] I was having a talk with somebody recently.

[393] We talk a lot about relationship.

[394] And the depth of our call to know Jesus Christ, we need a better word than relationship.

[395] Because relationship is, I mean, it's in magazine.

[396] It's just so.

[397] It's so mundane.

[398] It's so simply human.

[399] Yep.

[400] And our intimacy with Christ is at a whole, or it's called to be at a whole other level.

[401] It's a, it's a, um, an incarnate relationship.

[402] And that's what's beautiful about Jesus, the divine son of God.

[403] As we say in our creed at every mass on Sunday, um, he's God's only begun.

[404] and son, the eternal word, but he becomes one of us.

[405] And let me, I didn't really think of this until just now, but I really want to promote June as humility in the sacred heart.

[406] Awesome.

[407] Because Jesus, a real human being, a real God and real man, all at the same time, we will never fathom that mystery.

[408] And that's what we have to keep in mind, like we were talking about the liturgy, when we approach the mass, we need to just remind ourselves, I am going now, as we are going to church or as a priest, if I'm going and getting vested, we need to just keep reminding ourselves, I am going to encounter the God man who lived among us, fully God and fully man. And if we keep that spirit of mystery, it will help us to really enter into the liturgy of whatever form in the proper way.

[409] We're going to worship God the Father to give thanks for the sacrifice that his son made of his very life, a life that he had taken on for all of us, a life incarnate.

[410] So I really would encourage all of us during the month of June, and even starting now, to really prepare ourselves to seek deeper humility.

[411] Because the humility of Jesus Christ is just constantly overpowers our experience of him.

[412] He, the eternal word, God's divine son, humbles himself to become a microscopic, newly conceived child in the womb of Mary.

[413] He humbles himself to go through that whole process that we all went through called gestation in the womb of our mothers, where gradually over nine months, he takes on human life.

[414] It's already there.

[415] And he, that continues to blossom as he is born as a child, as a boy born to his mother, like we were both boys born to our mothers.

[416] You know, they say, it's a boy.

[417] It's a girl.

[418] It's nothing else, by the way.

[419] Only boy or girl, only male or female.

[420] That's how God made us.

[421] And Jesus entered into that.

[422] We need to just continually return to the wonder of that truth.

[423] Jesus Christ is truth incarnate.

[424] He's love incarnate.

[425] And he knows our human experience.

[426] and he calls us, like I said earlier, to that Sanktus, Sanktus, to be able to join the eternal praise of God in heaven.

[427] That's why he came to us to free us from the bondage of sin and death.

[428] So all of that, he is humility incarnate.

[429] And we need, there's so much arrogance in the world today.

[430] There's so much pride and self -importance.

[431] There's so much tendency, as you mentioned before, to create the world in our image.

[432] We're not the center of the universe.

[433] You think?

[434] You need to get over it.

[435] We are not the center of the universe.

[436] And many of the philosophical and theological battles through the ages come down to that basic point.

[437] We need to humble ourselves before God.

[438] And I would encourage people you know there's a people question you know about going to communion i'm not going to tell you how to go to communion but seek the most humble approach yep to your lord and king jesus christ as you receive him receive him as humbly and as full of all as you can and you're on the right path, whatever way humanly, it after all, it's just our human reality of how we're receiving him.

[439] But if we spiritually seek to go deeper into the mystery and to receive him with as much reverence as we can muster and with awe leading us, then I'm confident that more and more people will receive him with great awe and with great reverence.

[440] And that, is humbling.

[441] We need to humble ourselves before the king of the universe, even as we approach going to mass, not just approaching the altar.

[442] It should be a deeper and deeper humility and reverence.

[443] And all of that will nurture us to be able to fight for the truth, to respect every person, and to call every person to the truth, and to deal with these issues like abortion and euthanasia and all the threats to the truth and the human life that we deal with in our world today that's why Jesus gave us his body and blood, soul and divinity so that we could be strong enough to live as his body, to live as his mystical body in the world.

[444] So to me, Terry, like I said before, it all comes together because truth is one.

[445] Exactly.

[446] It's not okay, this compartment in that compartment, this element of truth and that element of truth.

[447] Jesus shows us truth is an incarnate person among us.

[448] It's Jesus, God's own son.

[449] We look to his face to see the face of truth.

[450] I love it.

[451] And that just confirms the tweet you did with Bishop Sheen.

[452] I only take one little paragraph.

[453] It says, only those who live by faith really know what's happening in the world.

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

[455] And then right below that tweet, Bishop Strickland, you're giving us advice, and it's right at the end of the show.

[456] You say, what do we do in the face of so much evil in the world?

[457] And you said, we repent, we pray, we seek reparation, atonement for our own sins, and the sins of the whole world.

[458] We turn to Jesus and ask his mother, Mary, to join us in prayer for divine mercy.

[459] We can all feel powerless, but we are not because of prayer.

[460] Bishop Strickland, what a way to end the show.

[461] You gave us the antidote.

[462] Fall in love with Jesus.

[463] Live your Catholic faith.

[464] And we have the truth.

[465] Absolutely.

[466] And so many great saints, many of them martyrs that have gone before us that have lived exactly what that talks about.

[467] Yeah.

[468] Awesome.

[469] How about a blessing from you to our listeners, please?

[470] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for all who are participating in this hour of reflecting on the wondrous gifts you've given us and revealed to us through divine revelation incarnate, your son, Jesus Christ.

[471] Help us to turn to him more and more completely, always knowing that his mercy washes over us when we have the humility to ask for that mercy.

[472] May all the saints and especially the Queen of Saints, the Immaculate Virgin Mary, intercede for us.

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

[474] Amen.

[475] Folks, I just want to encourage you to go to our website for all of Bishop Strickland's recordings or podcasts, and it's under v .mpr .org.

[476] And also listen to Father Frank Pavone's show today.

[477] This is May 10th on the Roe versus Wade issue.

[478] He has some very, very interesting facts that I haven't heard from anyone else.

[479] Just go to vmpr .org, and you can listen to all the shows.

[480] And I want to also encourage you to pass these shows on to your friends and family.

[481] I get reports for people saying it was my uncle.

[482] It was my friend who turned me on to the network.

[483] And, man, I'm hooked.

[484] I have a letter from a gentleman who said this to us, that someone did exactly that thing.

[485] and he said, I thought you guys were way over the top when I first heard you and that you were like, like, who are these guys?

[486] You know, these guys are radical, but in a good way.

[487] And what he meant, and this is a young man, his letter saying, I started listening and now I realize you guys are right because you won't compromise.

[488] He said, I've listened to all kinds of other shows and they're helping me at EWTN, they're theologians, they're apologetics, they're pro -life people, but none of them were like you because you guys just talk straight, talk Catholicism.

[489] and you don't hold anything back.

[490] And as a young man, I'm looking for that kind of answers on my Catholic faith.

[491] So what I love about it, he sent Jesse and I a rosary.

[492] So he's re -evangelizing us after we evangelized him.

[493] And I couldn't do it without our support of our listeners.

[494] And I want to encourage you if you want to become a supporter of VMPR in proclaiming the truth with charity and clarity, there's a monthly donation of $25 a month, and I give out hundreds of dollars worth of doubt.

[495] downloads absolutely free of Dr. Scott Hahn, Tim Staples, Father Bill Casey.

[496] I mean, the list is huge.

[497] And if you go online to vmpr .org, you can do that.

[498] And I want to end our show like we do with the Terry and Jesse show.

[499] And that is, what state should we be living in?

[500] Bishop Strickland, you made it clear.

[501] The state of grace.

[502] If we live in his grace, there's nothing we can't handle.

[503] so if it's been a long time more than 30 days since you've been to confession I like to encourage people to go to confession I encourage myself to go I know the bishop goes because we're sinners last time I looked yeah all right thanks again our Bishop Strickland and when we come back next week we'll have another one -hour show with the good bishop helping you understand your Catholic faith and better to live it with heroic virtue because that's what we need today in the world we're living in.

[504] And again, thanks again for supporting us here at VMPR.

[505] We couldn't do what we do without you, our listener.

[506] Until the next week, may God richly bless you and your family.