27 Feb 24 – Bishop Strickland Supports Bishop Cary on Fiducia Supplicans

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name is Terry Barber with Virgin Most Powerful radio each week.

[2] We have a couple shows with the good bishop to talk about how to fall in love with Jesus Christ and his bride, the church.

[3] What a wonderful thing to do.

[4] Bishop Strickland, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do what we do here together.

[5] Thank you, Terry.

[6] And obviously we start our show with what we call soul food.

[7] Jesse and I talk about it.

[8] That's the gospel.

[9] We can't do any better than that.

[10] And so this is Tuesday, the 27th of February, when this is broadcasting.

[11] And we're going to be reading from the Gospel of Matthew.

[12] It seems like this is the year of Matthew.

[13] And I'd like to ask the good bishop if he could read the gospel and give us a little commentary.

[14] Sure.

[15] A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

[16] Glory to you, Lord.

[17] Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples saying, The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.

[18] Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you.

[19] But do not follow their example, where they preach, but they do not practice.

[20] They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.

[21] All their works are performed to be seen.

[22] They widen their philacteries and lengthen their tassels.

[23] They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings and marketplaces, and the salutation rabbi.

[24] As for you, do not be called rabbi.

[25] You have but one teacher and you are all brothers.

[26] Call no one on earth your father.

[27] You have but one father in heaven.

[28] Do not be called master.

[29] you have but one master the Christ the greatest among you must be your servant whoever exalts himself will be humbled but whoever humbles himself will be exalted the gospel of the Lord praise to you Lord Jesus Christ well Terry there's a lot as always a lot in this gospel from Matthew yep and I think one of the things that's very important for our time is that we have to be discerning about what obedience means.

[30] And Christ is saying, yes, the scribes and the Pharisees have taken the seat on the chair of Moses, do and observe all things, whatever they tell you, but do not follow their example.

[31] To me, it seems that Christ is making some distinctions about what it means to be obedient.

[32] And obedience is ultimately, if we looked at St. Thomas Aquinas, it is about being obedient to God, ultimately.

[33] That's the reason that the scribes in the Pharisees have authority is from Moses, who was given the covenant, the commandments from God.

[34] They are following in that path.

[35] And the same is true for the rules.

[36] religious leaders of our day.

[37] Our authority comes from God.

[38] And yes, we need to respect that authority.

[39] But when any of us as leaders, then I'll put myself first in line, I'm a bishop.

[40] But if I do things or say things that are contrary to the law of Moses, to the commandments, to the teachings of our faith, then I believe that Christ is telling us we don't follow that example when the law is being preached.

[41] We follow what he's speaking of.

[42] You follow the scribes and the Pharisees because they are proclaiming the law of Moses.

[43] If they're not proclaiming the law of Moses, then you don't follow their example.

[44] And very often, it's a challenge for you as a father.

[45] It's a challenge for me as a priest and now a bishop, as a pastor at any level.

[46] to make our example match with our words.

[47] And to me, that's a lot of what Christ is saying.

[48] And to me, that's where the real spirit of obedience has to be, to not just follow words and say, well, I was doing what I was told or I'm just following orders.

[49] But really, word and example mean following a truth that is beyond us.

[50] and that is the challenge that we all face.

[51] So this gospel, I think, really importantly speaks to the reality that we need to be reminded of as well.

[52] Christ goes on to say, speaking of the scribes and Pharisees, he's pretty hard on the scribes and Pharisees.

[53] If we really read what Christ says, it doesn't sound like the Christ that is often the one being pushed.

[54] in the world and by too many in the church today, the version of Christ that we hear would never have said some of these things to the scribes and Pharisees.

[55] They were his religious leaders.

[56] They were the religious leaders of the religion that Christ was a part of, the Hebrews.

[57] They had the law of Moses.

[58] They had the commandments and the law and the truth that God had revealed up until that point.

[59] But he is constantly challenging them.

[60] And I believe we have to hear it that Christ is challenging us and challenging all of us, especially who are religious leaders, to live the truth, to be about the truth and not say, oh, well, I'm a religious leader, so somehow I'm exempt, or I just have to do what I'm told.

[61] We have to do what we're told from Christ.

[62] And Christ in this gospel speaks of lengthening tassels and wanting places of honor at banquets.

[63] And that is something that we have to guard against as well.

[64] It's a sort of a balancing act, I guess, because especially when I was first the bishop, and even now, sometimes I'm embarrassed by the honor that people give and say, oh, Bishop, you go first.

[65] store.

[66] You do this.

[67] But I always remind myself and try to remind them.

[68] And you can usually tell whether it's in the proper religious spirit that they're honoring the bishop, not because of this guy, Joe Strickland, but because of the office that I hold.

[69] Because that represents Christ.

[70] And I think there's tremendous confusion there in the world and in the church today.

[71] No, it's not about honoring an individual person, but it is about honoring the office.

[72] And I think probably our greater sin as a society today is the office isn't honored because the office holder isn't honorable.

[73] That's on me and every bishop, every religious leader, but we have to be careful about just being respectful when that respect hasn't been modeled.

[74] earned.

[75] So again, this gospel talks about a lot.

[76] Then finally, the question of call no man father and called no man master.

[77] Once again, what is Christ getting at?

[78] He allows the disciples in other places.

[79] They call him, Rabbi.

[80] What does Mary Magdalene say when she sees him resurrected?

[81] She Rebbe.

[82] But what Christ isn't saying, don't use these words so much.

[83] Once again, it really is the same theme throughout this gospel passage.

[84] Christ is saying, think about what you're saying.

[85] Go to the heart of it and do what is proper in regard to God being your only father.

[86] And the titles being only important as that person is representing our God, our God and Father.

[87] And so it's a challenge, once again, similar to Bishop, even for the priests that are called Father.

[88] A lot of the people here in the Tyler area still call me Father Joe because that's why they knew me for so many years.

[89] And I've always told them there's no lack of honor in that.

[90] They're not dishonoring me because they're not using the title bishop.

[91] But it reminds me of what both titles are about.

[92] Father, bishop, even your title as father of a family.

[93] It's to honor that one with the authority and the responsibility to lead the family to be the father of a family or to be the father or shepherd of a flock.

[94] So this gospel gives us a lot to think about for the Lenton season.

[95] I guess the final thing that I would say about this passage is that it reminds us, and this was said in other readings during the Lenton season, and we're reminded of this already, even as we're very early into Lent.

[96] We are reminded not to go on appearances.

[97] And Terry, isn't that antithetical to, it's the opposite of what the world's The world says, just make sure you appear good.

[98] That's all you have to worry about.

[99] Christ says, no, let your hearts be changed.

[100] Let your heart be good.

[101] And that's a challenge for all of us.

[102] So hopefully this gospel really reminds us to take seriously some of the challenges we all face.

[103] Many listening may say, well, I don't have any fancy title.

[104] But we can all get carried away with.

[105] Maybe you're just the foreman at your work.

[106] And if you misuse that authority and that position and lord it over the people that have a lower rank than you do, that's what Christ is getting at to not ever get so caught up in worldly authority that we forget that all true authority comes from God.

[107] Amen.

[108] Bishop, thank you for taking the whole segment to teach us about that Gospel of Matthew.

[109] It's very important.

[110] It applied to all of us, not just shepherds, but when we come back, I'm going to talk about a shepherd who took that responsibility you were talking about and had something to say about our Catholic faith.

[111] Stay with us.

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

[113] Welcome back.

[114] Indeed, we were just having commentary by the good bishop on the gospel of Matthew chapter 23.

[115] And I think of a bishop in America who took his responsibility very serious.

[116] It's the Oregon bishop.

[117] He's rejecting the blessings of homosexual couples and others in irregular unions.

[118] And he's really going out right now, Bishop Strickland, because it seems to me that those bishops who are saying, wait a minute, we can't do that.

[119] The church has never done this.

[120] I'm not, I mean, he's stepping out because the Holy See has been encouraging, at least everybody except the African church.

[121] They can make an exception and not worry about it.

[122] But this bishop in Oregon is making it very clear that we can't bless sin.

[123] And I just wanted to get your take.

[124] I would think you would be happy to hear more bishops standing like that.

[125] Is that a fair statement?

[126] Absolutely.

[127] And I already applauded Bishop Liam Carey for making that statement and being very clear that it's not going to happen in his diocese.

[128] That's his instruction to his priests.

[129] I know Bishop Carey, you know, I know a few of the bishops.

[130] He's a nice guy.

[131] And it just really dawned on me as I read what he was writing that he wasn't ordained to be a nice guy or because he's a nice guy.

[132] The Cardinals are not chosen because they won a popularity contest.

[133] Amen.

[134] Certainly.

[135] It's good for them to be kind and good men, but that really means that they need to speak the truth.

[136] And they need to be clear shepherds.

[137] Yes.

[138] And I really appreciate what Bishop Kerry did there.

[139] Other bishops, as I said, when I tweeted his article, let's pray that other bishops will stand up and simply be bishops.

[140] Be shepherds.

[141] Speak up.

[142] This letter that is being issued that a version.

[143] came out and then they're adding more signatures, I'm glad to be a bishop that signed this letter.

[144] The letter that I'm speaking of is the letter to basically reject this fiducius supplicans to reject it and say it needs to be removed.

[145] It needs to not be left as a document from the Vatican.

[146] I really don't expect the letter to maybe have that effect, but at least it expresses the true faith and the faith of a lot of people and a lot of priest and hopefully a lot of bishops.

[147] But the bishops need to shepherd.

[148] They need to speak up.

[149] And so I appreciate and hopefully the encouragement to Bishop Cary will help others to take the same kind of stand.

[150] I can imagine, as I even applauded Bishop Carey, I know that that may be a mark against him in the eyes of some people.

[151] Oh, Strickland supported you.

[152] That's not a good thing.

[153] But as I've said many times, Terry, I will always accept correction regarding what the church teaches, the doctrine of our faith, what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

[154] I'll always accept that kind of correction if necessary, but we need to speak up and speak together the truth that is the truth of Christ.

[155] Thankfully, there are many good things coming out from various people.

[156] I encourage people to read the articles from Christ's magazine, There have been some excellent articles there, just laying it out there the way it needs to be said.

[157] And I think that Bishop Liam Carey said it the way it needs to be said.

[158] Amen.

[159] Talk about saying it the way it needs to be said.

[160] I have a very good friend, and he's popular Father Gerald Murray.

[161] He was on the Raymond O 'Royle show last Thursday, and I encourage talking about Crisis Magazine.

[162] I encourage people to watch EWTN's Raymond O 'Royal.

[163] the world over every Thursday night because he's got great interviews there.

[164] And this one, Father Murray, tells Raymond O 'Royle about this women deaconesses.

[165] This would be a serious moment of heresy.

[166] He says, this is, and I think he nailed it, and I want to get your take.

[167] He said, this is an all attempt to use modern feminism as a new criteria for determining the meaning and revelation and the church teaching.

[168] He said it has to be rejected, and I think he says a bunch of other things on that show, but he also says he explains that the church has never administered the sacrament of holy orders to women, including the deacconate, and it would be against church teaching and tradition to do so.

[169] And he really lays it out.

[170] He quotes the 2002 Theological Commission that Holy See is already clarified on that.

[171] He points out the 1994 apostolic letter from St. John Paul 2 saying we have no right to ordained women to the priesthood.

[172] Bishop Strickland, when you hear a priest like Father Murray, doesn't it just warm your heart that there's someone that can articulate the church's teaching in a very clear manner?

[173] Yeah, Father Gerald Murray is very good.

[174] I've heard many of his interviews.

[175] I've been on Raymond DeRoyer with him.

[176] him.

[177] And he's very good, very clear, and not shy about speaking the truth.

[178] Too many of us are too shy about speaking up when false things are being said.

[179] In this idea of a woman ordination to the deaconate is just, as he said, it's heretical.

[180] It's in its, it's contrary to the truth.

[181] it really, as so much of this feminism movement, too much of feminism has actually denigrated women.

[182] Yes, I agree.

[183] Just as Paul VI said, when he promulgated Humane Vite.

[184] He said, if we don't follow the teaching of Christ, certainly specifically in that document about contraception.

[185] But we can apply it to simply following the truth.

[186] And when we don't do that in terms of the beautiful, role of women in God's plan.

[187] It just really is devastating when we don't follow that.

[188] And that's what we have to speak up for.

[189] It isn't some, you know, honor of women to bring them into ordination where Christ is ordained that it should be men.

[190] I think there are a lot of reasons.

[191] And it's not because men are so great.

[192] It's because we need to take that position when too often men are reluctant to be the religious leaders.

[193] I believe if every church collapses on the idea of only men are to be the leaders of the church, not because men are better, but because it's a God -given role.

[194] And when we collapse on that, look at so many of the Protestant churches.

[195] that have allowed women preachers and pastors, wonderful women, but it's not their role.

[196] Right.

[197] When women are doing something that's contrary to their God -given role, ultimately harms the church.

[198] It doesn't help.

[199] And those churches are losing membership and growing weaker, and we're in danger of the same.

[200] And it's not, you know, the true church that is the Catholic church, the one that has the guarantee from Christ to the gates of hell will not prevail.

[201] All these different aberrations of the church are not the true church.

[202] And we've got to stay true to Christ in order to stay faithful to his bride the church.

[203] I agree wholeheartedly.

[204] I think the Anglican Church is an example of back in 1976 when they ordained women to the deacconate.

[205] Their playbook is exactly the same going on in the Catholic Church now.

[206] They get the deacconate and they get the priesthood.

[207] So I think...

[208] And the episcopacy for them.

[209] Yeah, in the episcopacy, that's right.

[210] Great point.

[211] And again, look at the Anglican Church when they've lost 90 % of their membership.

[212] They're dying.

[213] Some people have told me that in the next 20 years, there might not be an Anglican Church because they're not reproducing.

[214] So I just think that that's the point.

[215] and I appreciate that.

[216] Bishop Strickland, I always laugh when Protestants make comments about the Catholic Church.

[217] And nine out of ten times, I go, they didn't get it right.

[218] You know, they say we worship Mary or, you know, all these things that we don't do.

[219] But I have to say, Jordan Peterson came out with a letter.

[220] Oh, we've got a couple of minutes, and we'll continue on the other side of the break on this.

[221] But Jordan Peterson slams the Holy See because of its fixation on climate change.

[222] He said the Catholic Church should be interested in saving souls.

[223] And I thought, did he read the last canon law?

[224] Does he know that what the church has said, that our existence is all about that?

[225] But he's not even a Catholic.

[226] And he says, whatever happened to picking up your cross and following me?

[227] Peterson responded, quoting Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.

[228] And he says, you know, the church has lost its faith in that.

[229] Bishop Strickland, he's a Protestant.

[230] But I think he's spot on.

[231] Your thoughts?

[232] Absolutely.

[233] I saw that, a clip of that interview.

[234] And I had the same thought that here he is, not even Catholic.

[235] Right.

[236] And he knows what the Catholic Church is about a lot more than too many of her leaders now.

[237] And we do, like we've said many times before, the last code and the code of canon law, the last canon says it's all about the.

[238] salvation of souls.

[239] That's the reason the church exists.

[240] Amen.

[241] That's her mission.

[242] That's her energy.

[243] That's what excites people about being part of the Catholic Church for the salvation of their own souls and others that they love.

[244] And to water that down and too often ignore it and worry about the planet, it really smacks of false gods.

[245] and worshiping the planet is not what we're called to as disciples of Jesus Christ.

[246] Yes, we care for it.

[247] Sure.

[248] Yes, we are called to be responsible stewards.

[249] But once again, all that traces back to, why are we responsible stewards with this planet?

[250] Because it's the home of the children of God, those called to be the children of God.

[251] even if the vast majority of humanity rejects God, that's what the planet's for.

[252] It's our home until we reach the kingdom of God, which is our everlasting home.

[253] So absolutely, the planet is valuable.

[254] It's beautiful.

[255] It shouldn't be mistreated.

[256] But the first value is each person created in the image and likeness of God.

[257] And the way human beings are being trashed, it far outpaces anything that is threatening the planet.

[258] Humanity is being threatened instead, much more seriously.

[259] Well, said, I would say, when we come back from the break, I want to ask your comments about a Olympia -Washington state is sponsoring a mandatory abuse reporting law, basically asking priests to break their seal of confession.

[260] And this seems to be pecking at the church every couple years.

[261] There's something trying to break there.

[262] And I'd like to get your take on that.

[263] And much more on the Bishop Strickland Hour on Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[264] Stay with us, family.

[265] We'll be right back.

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

[267] Welcome back indeed.

[268] Bishop Strickland, there's a new law coming through Washington State.

[269] They're trying to suggest that suggesting you want to make it mandatory that, you know, a priest that hears confessions, that anything that deals with, you know, any kind of sexual sins that abuse, that break a law, that the priest has to break the seal of confession and tell the state exactly what that person had said they did.

[270] And so I know this has happened in your own priesthood a couple times through different states.

[271] What are your thoughts about that?

[272] Well, as you said, Terry, I think it really is an attempt.

[273] You know, they come at it at the church at different cases here and there.

[274] And it's like pecking away at the church.

[275] And frankly, the church isn't strong right now.

[276] And, you know, that's one of the lines that we have to draw.

[277] Thankfully, I haven't heard any real strong movement.

[278] to say, oh, yeah, we need to just open this up and the seal of confessions archaic or something.

[279] But sadly, it wouldn't surprise me to start hearing those voices because we've seen so many things erode in a similar way.

[280] And really, Terry, I have to say, I'm sure people may feel like I just keep harping on the same things.

[281] But these are the topics of today that we need to consider and see the connections.

[282] But the way this fiducius supplicans, the whole world that that promotes of blessing people that are living, I mean, you know, the, what this, the state is wanting to open up the confession of serious sexual sins and crimes and abuses, I'm sure.

[283] But if we just need to think about the logic and the state.

[284] There are many fine legal minds that can start to really peck at things and start to unravel what the church teaches about the sanctity of the sacrament of confession.

[285] If we're blessing those who are in sin, that we're starting to undermine what confession means and how sacred it is when someone approaches a priest asking to go to confession.

[286] So I think we need to be on guard against anything like this and hold, I mean, priests are ultimately called to be willing to go to prison or to even sacrifice their life.

[287] hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

[288] But we've been in different times in our history as a church.

[289] That's where we've been in certain despotic regimes where they would insist on things.

[290] We're not that far from that happening in this nation, in other places around the world.

[291] And we've got to hold the line there because when a person can, confesses to a priest, and I've heard many confessions, and I go to confession a lot myself, those, that communication, the priest is there in a sacramental way, but the sins are forgiven by Christ.

[292] Amen.

[293] I think that it just all fits together with other things we've talked about.

[294] We're talking about God's authority over our souls and our responsibility to turn to God as our father, asking forgiveness as Jesus has taught us to.

[295] The beautiful sacrament of confession needs to be kept sacred and sacrosanct, and people need to be encouraged to approach the confessional.

[296] With repentant hearts, that's part of what's missing in the current movement to bless couples that aren't repentant at all.

[297] That denigrates the idea of blessing And it opens the door for people to say, well, if you're going to bless these people that are not repentance and still living a sinful lifestyle, then I mean, we can kind of flip things on their head and say, well, wait a minute, state, what about the people that are coming to get a blessing that maybe have done these kind of things?

[298] So I think we just have to be very logical and stay with who is the source of truth?

[299] Who is the source of all that is right and blessed?

[300] We lose sight of God being the source of truth, God being our father, like the gospel we read today talked about, then we're in trouble.

[301] And I think this threat to the seal of confession is just one more example.

[302] of people see the church as weak.

[303] She's not standing for the truth that she's stood for before.

[304] And I'm sure a lot of these secularized atheistic people say, oh, let's go after the church at this time, because we might be able to win where we've lost before.

[305] We have to be strong.

[306] Well, said, and you know, I know you're a canon lawyer, and if my recollection is good, there's a canon that there's a big penalty for a priest breaking the seal of confession.

[307] Am I right?

[308] Absolutely.

[309] A priest can be basically removed from the priesthood if it gets too serious.

[310] That is something reserved to a process.

[311] We actually had to do it a couple of times.

[312] It wasn't even clear allegations, but that's something that has to go to Rome to be sorted out.

[313] it's not even the individual bishop it goes beyond his capacity well great bishop strickland i want to go to a tweet that i thought was just really beautiful i mean i'll give you you already your comment said it was beautiful i think it was more than beautiful i think it was very uplifting regarding the holy eucharist and this is uh coming up the year for eucharistic revival and when i saw this I said, wow, this is beautiful.

[314] This is what the revival needs.

[315] Here's what she said.

[316] This is Nancy Charles.

[317] She says, the Eucharist amazes me. She's a convert, right, to the faith.

[318] Amazes me too, as a Catholic.

[319] We have all, it says, we have all these people who love Jesus and yet have no idea that he's physically in the church.

[320] Growing up Protestant, I never once heard of the U .S. Christ, yet all this time he's been here.

[321] I get so emotional when I sit with him.

[322] You can feel him in every fiber of your body when you're with him.

[323] It's always such an overwhelming experience.

[324] You look directly at him and you realize that you're staring at the beginning and the end of everything.

[325] I've thought about that.

[326] The alpha and the omega.

[327] Wow.

[328] The unmoved mover.

[329] The creator.

[330] himself.

[331] She's got a great mind, too.

[332] All I can keep hearing today when I sat with him was I chose you, Terry Barbara, you Joseph Strickland.

[333] What?

[334] Yep.

[335] All of us.

[336] Put your name in there.

[337] That message was for us all.

[338] He chose all of us.

[339] If he didn't, we wouldn't even exist.

[340] Well said.

[341] It's utterly incomprehensible to understand just how much love that is.

[342] He chose us, every single one of us.

[343] How can we have one who loves us this much?

[344] Bishop Strickland, wow, thank you for sharing that on your tweet.

[345] Your thoughts?

[346] Yeah, I thought it was an amazing testimony.

[347] And once again, it humbles me and all of us who are cradle Catholics.

[348] We need to be grateful that we have the Eucharistic faith that we have.

[349] and recognize that it's a grace, a blessing that none of us have earned.

[350] But once you have that faith, as I say, wild horses can't drag you from your faith in the Eucharist.

[351] And really, Terry, I think that it's so beautiful to hear this woman who is a convert to the Catholic faith.

[352] because like we've talked about in different aspects of what we've said just today, there's too much of a lack of faith.

[353] Too much of a sort of a lukewarm, wishy -washy idea of, there's nothing lukewarm or wishy -washy about a Lord who humbles himself to be truly with us in the most intimate way we can imagine.

[354] He's there, like, I mean, both of us have the opportunity to be a person in front of his presence by ourselves, just like this woman talks about.

[355] And also to actually receive him into our bodies.

[356] Wow.

[357] As she talks about, he affects every fiber of her being.

[358] That's literally the truth.

[359] Because, I mean, I remember as a kid, the posters on the cafeteria wall said, you are what you eat.

[360] Yep.

[361] For us as Catholics, we really need to think about that.

[362] Am I living as the body of Christ that I've been fed throughout my life since I was about six years old, six or seven years old, since I made my first communion.

[363] I've been receiving communion every Sunday.

[364] And since then, since priesthood, really since seminary on a daily basis, we, once again, Terry, I mean, this comes to mind for me for so many times.

[365] I'm sure you know what's coming.

[366] Yes.

[367] Of those who have received much, much as expected.

[368] We have received someone greater than Abraham, someone greater than Jonah.

[369] we have received the Lord of all into our own bodies.

[370] And we've had time to spend intimate time with Him in prayer, in worship, in petition, in whatever we need to do to share our hearts with his sacred heart.

[371] So this woman's testimony really warmed my heart and made me realize that I have to continually, I need to be on a lifelong quest of a deeper love for, reverence for, and understanding of our Eucharistic Lord.

[372] And that's why I urge priests.

[373] We who stand at Christ altar, we've got to be more aware of what we do, what the very core of our life is about.

[374] And it's too easy for us to lose that focus.

[375] Well, said, when we come back, we're going to turn over to the catechism, the way of Christ's catechism, and we're going to be on chapter 10.

[376] The four last thing.

[377] Stay with us, family.

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

[379] You're listening to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

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

[381] Indeed.

[382] Terry Barber here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[383] Actually, this is one of my favorite parts of the show, Bishop Strickland, where we get into the catechism.

[384] And the reason I say that, I've been studying the catechism.

[385] Well, I guess seriously, as a teenager, I used to have a thing about buying the Baltimore Catechism or any life of Christ, and I'd look at catechisms and, you know, questions and answers, and I always would learn something about my faith that I didn't know.

[386] And so when you suggested that we go and use the Catechism to teach people the faith, I thought, yeah, nothing's changed.

[387] People need to know the reasons for their faith.

[388] and we're on chapter 10 of a catechism that the diocese of Tyler, Texas, the St. Philip Institute of Catechesis and Evangelization published, and we're on question 10.

[389] This is a great question for our modern world.

[390] It says, does the church believe in the rapture?

[391] And he says in the book, we do not believe in the rapture.

[392] The rapture is an idea that true believers in Christ will be taken up into heaven.

[393] It's only about 100 years old too.

[394] just before a long period of tribulation preceding the second coming of Christ.

[395] The idea of the rapture was invented in the 19th century and is not part of Jesus' teaching.

[396] Now, I don't know what you can say about that, Bishop, other than saying so be it, but I think that was a real popular question because, you know, there's a lot of books that have been written about this in the last, even 60, 70 years in my lifetime.

[397] Well, the main thing I think that points out, Terry, as the catechism very simply answers the question, no, we don't believe in the rapture.

[398] It's a modern idea, relatively modern idea.

[399] I think it's a good example of how we as believing Catholics need to navigate all the modern ideas that we, we're dealing with, we simply say no when it's contrary to our tradition, to the catechism, to the Word of God, and to everything that the church is taught previously.

[400] And the list of things that are falling into that category of, oh, well, we have a new idea, or we have a new interpretation of scripture, or we have a new concept.

[401] the list is getting long, but the answer doesn't have to be long.

[402] It's simply no, no, no. Amen.

[403] I'm going to shift gears in a few minutes we have left.

[404] Chapter 11, beautiful chapter on the sacraments and the liturgy.

[405] You know, there's an old saying, it's in Latin, but I can say it in English, the way you worship is the way you believe.

[406] So this is an important topic.

[407] It says through the liturgy, the people of God are able to participate in God's life in Christ's work of redemption, especially in the sacraments.

[408] Great question.

[409] You know, what is the liturgy?

[410] The quick answer is the liturgy is the church's organized public worship of God.

[411] Liturgy means the work of the people.

[412] Catholic liturgy is the work of people in two ways.

[413] first it is the work of God's sanctifying his people second it is the worship of God done by the church worshiping God is the main job of the church that was quick your thoughts well that's that's a good basic statement and what what occurs to me as you were reading it Terry we all need to understand that certainly the heart of the liturgy is the Eucharistic liturgy of the Mass. Radiating out from that liturgically are some of the universal prayers like the morning prayer and evening prayer, the priest and religious pray.

[414] Those are part of the liturgy as well.

[415] And then to recognize that the rosary, and any other kind of devotional prayer is not part of the liturgy, but all of those are like rays radiating out from the very center, which is Christ.

[416] I mean, if we understand, I mean, what the church teaches beautifully is that the liturgy is the source and summit of our life in Christ.

[417] of our Catholic faith.

[418] And so I think it's very helpful to me and hopefully to share it with others, that perspective, that it's like the mass is the core, the heart of the liturgy.

[419] Within the heart of the liturgy is the heart of Christ himself.

[420] Is Eucharistic presence?

[421] Is sacred heart really there with us to bless us, to say, strengthen us to nurture us to be members of his body our sacred heart beating there is christ so the liturgy is the very heart of the eucharistic liturgy is the heart of the liturgy of the church there are other elements of that that are there the the qualification for something to be liturgical yeah is that it's not just a personal prayer, but it's a public prayer of the church.

[422] And that is, you know, mainly, I mean, like I had the chance to visit a monastery in Oklahoma Clear Creek Monastery during Advent.

[423] And they live a liturgical life.

[424] And I think it's important for all of us who don't live that, at least in the same way, to recognize that doesn't mean it's all the Eucharistic, liturgy, but in a sense it is all the Eucharistic liturgy, but they have other kinds of liturgies.

[425] They have basically every three hours, prayers that they offer throughout the day, even in the middle of the night.

[426] And that life of prayer revolves around the Eucharistic liturgy with the very center of that being Christ.

[427] So maybe an image that might be helpful is to think of ourselves as like the solar system is arranged by God with the sun in the center, in the planets revolving around it.

[428] We need to live our lives like that image of the solar system, with our lives revolving around the center, what should be the center of our lives, and that is Jesus Christ in its Eucharistic presence.

[429] Do I always do that?

[430] Do any of us live up to that challenge to live a Eucharistically centered life?

[431] No, I fail, but we all need to keep going back to working toward that.

[432] and recognizing, I mean, if you look at a lot of the saints, their lives are very Eucharistic.

[433] Not in the sense that they're at mass all the time, but they're living what the mass is about all the time.

[434] They're living with Christ at the center of their lives.

[435] Wow, you know, I think of the power of the mass. If only as Catholics really understood it, I encourage people, we do over 200 funeral.

[436] a year here at our Sacred Heart Chapel.

[437] And what I'm finding is many of them didn't realize they should have a mass offered for the repose of the person's soul.

[438] They think they just want to have a memorial and remember Uncle Jim or whoever died.

[439] And when I communicate to them, they should have a mass and rosary.

[440] And most of them will acquiesce and say, oh, okay, I guess that's, oh, yeah, that's where we should do that.

[441] But one of the things I'm doing now is I'm asking them to remind him on the year, one year anniversary or the second year, every year, once a year, how it's a good practice to have a mass offered for their relative who died?

[442] And I just had one yesterday for a little young man who died as a teenager.

[443] And they brought their, they didn't do it at the local parish.

[444] They just wanted to have a celebration of the mass here at our chapel.

[445] And I think of over 120 people showed up to have, you know, participate in a mass that was specifically offered for the repose.

[446] of her son who died a year ago on the anniversary.

[447] So I just thought, she gets it.

[448] She understands the power of the Mass. And Bishop Strickland, the reason I say I wish we could understand that as a church, some people say we have 20 % of the Catholics that are baptized who are going to Mass on Sunday.

[449] I don't think it's that high.

[450] I really don't think it's that high.

[451] I think we're optimistic.

[452] And I think we've got a lot of work ahead of us to really encourage.

[453] our listeners and to encourage family and friends to study the sacraments and the liturgy, which we're doing right here.

[454] And I want to ask our friends you're listening, go to our website vmpr .org.

[455] You can see all the shows that Bishop Strickland has done.

[456] I knew the shows that we've done on Virgin Most Powerful.

[457] Forward those to your friends and so that they can be educated on the faith.

[458] And I think that this is how we spread the faith.

[459] Before we end, Bishop Strickland, and we're going to ask you to give us a blessing for all of our listeners, especially our listeners who have loved ones who are sick or ill who need our prayers.

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

[461] Sure.

[462] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for all of those in special need as we talk about our faith and the catechism and remind ourselves of the treasure that we have.

[463] Many come to us expressing special needs, special blessings they ask for.

[464] And we ask this blessing for all of those who have asked us, Terry and I, or anyone who's listening, for special prayers, for a burden that they carry, a challenge that they're facing, an illness that is threatening their life or the life of a loved one.

[465] Let us trust that prayer is strengthening for us and guiding us closer to the sacred heart.

[466] of your son.

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

[468] Amen.

[469] I also want to encourage everyone to go to Bishop Strickland's YouTube channel.

[470] I put this every time.

[471] Why?

[472] Because it's like six or seven minutes.

[473] It's a short little message to people on some aspect of the faith.

[474] And then you get the message quickly.

[475] So Bishop Strickland, how do people do that?

[476] Just go to YouTube.

[477] Bishop Joseph Strickland is a what the channel is called, and you can see all the videos that have been posted would start before I've met.

[478] Excellent.

[479] And I encourage you also to go to VMPR, look at all these years that we've been doing shows with Bishop Strickland, teaching people the basics of the faith.

[480] And we know there's a great need for knowledge of the faith, because we've seen, and I'm sure you have yourself, your family members, friends, people don't know the fundamentals of Catholic faith.

[481] That's why I'm excited that we get to go through a catechism.

[482] We get to go through tweets.

[483] We get to go through how does our Catholic faith apply in all of our aspects of our life?

[484] And this is the beauty of the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[485] Also, I want to, I should have mentioned this.

[486] I'm remiss.

[487] This whole show was brought to you by Tan Books.

[488] Dan Books has got a lot of good books.

[489] Go to vmpr .org.

[490] Click on the Tan Books logo to shop for all your Catholic book needs and like I said if you go to the logo of tan books on our website vmpr .org you buy a book hey buy a book but go through our website they give us a little commission to help pay our bills here at virgin most powerful radio also just a quick note the spiritual warfare conference coming up next month where bishop strickland will be here it's been sold out for you know two weeks but you can still get the streaming rights you can go to vmpr .org and click on the spiritual warfare conference you won't miss a word i don't care if you're in australia texas wherever you can't come you can still watch it via the video and then you own that and you can share it with your friends and family i hear the music that means we're at the end of another hour that i hope inspired you because it inspired me they love jesus even more especially on the topic of the holy eucharist the source and summit of the christian faith i want to thank you all of our listeners who support us here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

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

[492] We'll see you again tomorrow.

[493] Same time, same station.