17 Apr 24 – A Catholic Approach to the 2024 Elections

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour, Terry Barber, with Virgin Most Powerful Radio, where we spend an hour and talking about Jesus Christ and his truth of the gospel and how to get to heaven.

[1] Bishop Strickland, thanks again for taking time out of your busy schedule to be with us here on Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[2] Thank you, Terry.

[3] Thank you.

[4] And Bishop Strickland, this article really touched my heart from Crisis Magazine from a good holy person.

[5] priest, Father John A. Perricone.

[6] And he wrote this article.

[7] Now, this priest is deeped in to mystic philosophy.

[8] He's got like the kind of a same degree that, I don't know if it was Louvain, but a degree in tomistic teachings.

[9] So he's a sharp, you know, tomist.

[10] And he wrote this article about Catholicism about swords.

[11] What?

[12] I said, that intrigued me. What's he talking about?

[13] He said, our faith is about swords, not handholding.

[14] I thought, oh my gosh.

[15] Okay, let me read on.

[16] He said, the swords are the first directed at our sins and then directed at the evils of the world and in our church.

[17] So in that first sentence, he's basically saying that we have to cut sin out of our own lives first.

[18] And then we go out and evangelize.

[19] And it reminded me of a book called Soul of the Apostolate that I read when I was a teenager that said we have to have profound spirituality, get ourselves in line with Jesus Christ, and then we go out and evangelize.

[20] So he said this, it may seem like a lifetime ago, but some may still recall the habited Catholic nuns, right, you know, that we do.

[21] But do you remember one that spoke at the Republican National Convention in August of 2020?

[22] It was Sister Deity, who we've had on our show many times.

[23] held up a rosary and exclaimed, This is our most powerful weapon.

[24] I remember that.

[25] I loved it.

[26] With lightning speed, a post appeared on social media from a priest.

[27] He moaned that the good nun's declaration was unfit statement for Catholics.

[28] Because he moaned, he says, we are a religion of peace.

[29] So Bishop Strickland, this priest got the connection that when Sister held up the rosary, that this was our weapon of choice, that somehow this is some kind of violent thing.

[30] And I saw that secular people say that, but it shocked me because the rosary is a spiritual weapon.

[31] Padre Peele said that.

[32] Give me your take on that when you saw that.

[33] Well, I totally agree with what you're saying, Terry, because strength is not violence.

[34] No. And that's what Sister D .D., I, I, I totally agree with what you're saying, Terry, because strength is not violence.

[35] totally applaud her speaking that's what we all need to remember that the weapons of war the violence in the world is not strength uh the truth is the strength that we need yes and and so you know the there are many priests and many you know many Catholics would have the attitude that agreed with this priest oh we're all about peace but what that fails to remember is the truth.

[36] Yes.

[37] The truth is when we fail to defend the innocent, when we fail to speak up the truth in the face of false messages, when we take pacifism to an extreme, then we fail to really ironically we failed to be living the truth yes you could say you could argue that jesus christ um in allowing himself to be crucified i mean you could take the argument that he was against peace i mean if you if you want to take that argument to its full logical conclusion Because the reality is when you are not speaking the truth, you allow false messages, which easily become violent to take over.

[38] And so the reality is we've got to be strong in the truth and recognize that that really is our greatest weapon.

[39] Those who think having the largest stockpile of bombs in our modern world or the largest army in the time of Christ, that really isn't power.

[40] That really isn't what gives us strength.

[41] And that's what we need to remember is to be truly strong is, I mean, I think the Blessed Virgin Mary gives us a beautiful example of what strength.

[42] and her son is all about, is the strength of really being rooted in the truth.

[43] Well, said, Bishop Strickland, I don't have the gospel in front of me, but I know you have it for today.

[44] Would you be so good to read it and then give a little teaching on that gospel, please?

[45] Absolutely.

[46] A reading from the Holy Gospel, according to John.

[47] Jesus said to the crowds, I am the bread of life.

[48] Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.

[49] But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe.

[50] Everything that the Father gives me will come to me. And I will not reject anyone who comes to me because I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day.

[51] For this is the will of my father, that everyone who sees the son and believes in him will have eternal life.

[52] And I shall raise him on the last day.

[53] The gospel of the Lord.

[54] Praise to you, Lord.

[55] Jesus Christ.

[56] Lord Jesus Christ.

[57] And really, Terry, this gospel ties in with the message of truth that this priest is speaking of.

[58] When Jesus says, I am the bread of life, he's reminding us that nothing else is.

[59] None of the power, none of the influence, none of the pleasures, none of the things that the world offers is ultimately.

[60] the bread of life.

[61] And that's a critical message of truth that we need to be reminded of, that the world doesn't give us that, and the bread of life is what we need to exist to be, to flourish.

[62] And so Jesus is sharing that truth, and he's willing to share it as we will continue to read John's Gospel chapter 6.

[63] He's willing to give it to the point of pouring out his own life in order that we have him as the bread of life.

[64] It really all ties together because when we soften the truth, we begin to lose touch with Christ.

[65] And thus, we really begin to lose that nourishing presence of the bread of life that he is.

[66] And we begin to life gets darker.

[67] The the world gets darker.

[68] And I think we're seeing that in too many ways.

[69] The John's Gospel chapter 6, which speaks so much of the Eucharist and how Christ is the bread of life, is so important for our time.

[70] For us as Catholics, absolutely, to give us the strength to be those who are warriors of truth.

[71] And I'll use that word.

[72] A lot of people will say the same thing that they said about Sister D .D. holding up the rosary.

[73] We need to be warriors of truth, not warriors of violence, but have that same strength of the warrior.

[74] I mean, it's like St. Michael, the archangel.

[75] He owes up a flaming sword.

[76] And too much of Christianity these days is wimpy and weak and not.

[77] having the strength that it needs, the strength that Christ showed us when he carried a cross when he easily could have just given up and died before he ever got to the crucifixion hill.

[78] I think all the whole story of Christ shows us that we've got to be strong in the truth.

[79] And that's what Sister Dede is saying.

[80] That's what this gospel is saying, that it all weaves together.

[81] And when truth incarnate is our bread, then we are truly alive in the truth that he has shared with us.

[82] And it's just a message that sadly, too many in the church.

[83] And that priest, you know, that criticized Sister D .D., he can point to an awful lot of bishops who are on his side.

[84] An awful lot of theologians, it would say, oh, yes, Father, we've got to correct this.

[85] And we need to be people of peace.

[86] But we need to recognize, to me, Terry, it ties in again to what we were talking about the other day, is the reality of suffering.

[87] When we're not strong in the truth, suffering increases.

[88] The ways people are abandoned to violence, the ways people are taken.

[89] advantage of the ways children in the womb are slaughtered when we're not strong in the truth and warriors for the truth then the darkness becomes stronger and it begins to you know eliminate that very peace that people are are claiming to be for to be for the peace is not to say we just lie down and let ourselves be trampled over because that becomes of violent encounter that we see too often throughout human history.

[90] We need to be strong in the truth.

[91] Well said, and we're going to continue when we come back from our break to talk about the article in Crisis Magazine called Catholicism is about swords, and we're going to have some great stories about the saints coming up.

[92] Stay with us, Emily.

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

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

[95] Welcome back indeed, Good Bishop Strickland Hour, Terry Barber, with Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[96] We're chatting with the good bishop about an article from Crisis Magazine called Catholicism is about swords.

[97] The priest is lamenting the last, especially 50 years.

[98] It goes back further, but he says that we have nothing short of kneeling before the enemy.

[99] And what I think in this article he points out, the enemy is the world.

[100] And I think that his point is that we have gotten too close to the world.

[101] And I think I've read this to you several times, Bishop Strickland, about Bishop Sheen.

[102] He said, if I were not a Catholic and I were looking for a true church in the world today, I would look for the one true church which did not get along well with the world.

[103] In other words, I would look for the church which the world hates.

[104] The point is, after 50 years, for the last 50 years, it seems that the Catholic Church has gotten closer to the world's views on a lot of topics.

[105] And in the past, we have had a stronger dichotomy between Holy Mother the Church and the world.

[106] And he said, this unchecked male male deity besetting Mother Church has left our Catholic people, really as lost.

[107] He said, a Trojan horse has invaded the way of the city of Christ's pride by looting and pondering the church's rich inheritance of doctrine and moral law, liturgy, and tradition.

[108] And as the enemy rolls out from the horse's belly, they stacked in Ephesus with singular purpose.

[109] Many Catholics found themselves helpless and destitute.

[110] Indeed, a generation of Catholics watched in horror as the honor of God and his church were mocked.

[111] Before you respond to that, I saw lots of things like this happening when I was younger, even in my 20s, where they were tearing statues down, tearing communion rails out.

[112] And, you know, I knew that it wasn't right, but I didn't really understand why they felt like they had to do this.

[113] And I think a lot of Catholics have to be.

[114] felt like the rug was pulled out of our, underneath our feet in the sense of doctrinal issues.

[115] What do we believe anymore, Bishop Strickland?

[116] So I think the priest made a good point about a Trojan horse.

[117] Your thoughts?

[118] Absolutely.

[119] And it calls to mind something I read just recently from Cardinal Pachelli, the future Pope Pais the 12.

[120] Oh, okay.

[121] I didn't know his name.

[122] Okay.

[123] This was said by Cardinal Pachele.

[124] So this is before he was Pope.

[125] So sometime before the mid -1930s, when Pope Pies the 12th, I think he became Pope around 39.

[126] Okay.

[127] Anyway, it's prior to him being Pope.

[128] And to me, we're living what the future Pies the 12th lamenting.

[129] as a cardinal.

[130] And it's very brief, but very pithy.

[131] I hear around me reformers who want to dismantle the holy sanctuary, destroy the universal flame of the church, discard all her adornments, and smite her with remorse for her historic paths.

[132] to mean what the future Pope Pius, the 12th is talking about, we've seen play out since that time.

[133] And like we were saying earlier, the maladies that we're recognizing, they're reaching a crescendo like never before when documents came out of the Vatican that not that long ago, people would have been saying, who wrote this?

[134] Where did this come from?

[135] But we're living out exactly the future that Cardinal Pachele, the future Pope Pius the 12th, really lamented, a dismantling of the Holy Sanctuary?

[136] You speak of it.

[137] We witnessed that as kids.

[138] The destroying of the universal flame of the church, discarding all her adornments, And I can imagine people even taking that quote and say, oh, see, they're just worried about statues and altar rail.

[139] But what Cardinal Pichelli is speaking of is a church herself allowing and some promoting the attack on the sacred.

[140] The attack on like we've talked about many times, supernatural faith.

[141] It all becomes natural, it all becomes horizontal.

[142] It all becomes about us, and it's not about looking to God and humbly kneeling before God Almighty and his son, truth incarnate.

[143] Right.

[144] It really is.

[145] And this priest, and I want to thank you, Terry, for sharing.

[146] We had the video of Father, what was his name?

[147] Oh, yeah, he's a seminary professor.

[148] I can't think, I should.

[149] Let me see.

[150] But anyway, these priests are strong.

[151] Yeah.

[152] We need our support.

[153] They're speaking with clarity.

[154] Yes.

[155] That not enough bishops are speaking.

[156] Right.

[157] And I applaud these priests that are willing.

[158] Sometimes they get in trouble with their bishop.

[159] Yeah.

[160] Because they're speaking truth.

[161] They're using that two -edged sword that the truth is that St. Paul speaks of that we need in the time.

[162] The truth has a sharp edge that's going to affect us one way or the other.

[163] It's either going to clear away the weeds of false teaching or it's going to come back at us.

[164] and teach us a lesson that the truth will prevail.

[165] Yes.

[166] And I think so thank you so much for highlighting these priests that are willing to speak up.

[167] Yeah.

[168] Because we need them.

[169] We do.

[170] We need every disciple who's willing to to speak up in the truth of Christ.

[171] And his name is Father Kirby.

[172] I watch his homily every Sunday because every time I listen to this man, preach he has such great love for Jesus Christ and he just just tells it like it is and I really am inspired by him so Father Kerb let me let me say Terry also in connection with that you just said something that reminded me and I think it's something that pasturally people need to hear I was just talking to some people that are not in the diocese where I was just you know people faithful Catholics and They were talking about their realization that, you know, the mass is more than a great homily.

[173] I mean, the priests need to be encouraged to give the best homily they can.

[174] Right.

[175] But this couple was talking about the reality that they've come to, which I think it's important, to recognize who's there at mass. And I'm not talking about the priest.

[176] I'm talking about Jesus Christ.

[177] Amen.

[178] Amen.

[179] To that altar.

[180] Bread and wine become his body, blood, soul, and divinity.

[181] Yes.

[182] And this couple gets that.

[183] But they had a great insight that helped me to encourage, and let me just say this briefly, that probably many Catholics that are trying to stay strong and trying to stay committed and trying to hang on to the truth, they find themselves.

[184] in parishes, maybe it's a good priest doing his best, but the homilies are lacking.

[185] Sometimes it's because the priest has a strong accent.

[186] He may be saying great things, but the people can't understand because of the accent.

[187] Maybe he's just not a skilled speaker.

[188] For whatever reasons, what occurred to me, and this is what I shared with this couple, was thankfully they already get it.

[189] So there, they said, we're going to continue.

[190] to go to Mass, to worship God, to celebrate the presence of Jesus Christ really there, and, you know, just kind of endure a homily that's lacking.

[191] And what I suggested to them, and what you remind me of, everyone has access to the Father Kirby's that are out there.

[192] Yeah.

[193] There are many good, solid priest whose homilies are available on website.

[194] and on YouTube and in all kinds of different ways, that's what I would encourage, if people that are listening right now find themselves in a place, and even if Father, maybe they're blessed with a great homilist and a priest that gives great homilies at Sunday Mass, they can still further enrich their faith by going to some of these online homilies and listening to them, Maybe as they're driving to work, or maybe if they didn't get a decent homily from their parish priest to supplement that with listening to one of these great priests that are out there, I think that that, like we were talking about, the wonder of the internet certainly can be used for evil purposes and it is, but can also give us a great tool.

[195] And it really, I think people need to remember that rather than just saying, you know, because people are tempted, and that's what this couple was saying, they were talking to another couple that were tempted to quit going to Mass because they weren't getting anything out of the homily.

[196] What I would urge is, of course, never stop going to Mass because Christ is there.

[197] Exactly.

[198] Even when when it's not celebrated very well or very reverently, Christ is there.

[199] if that priest is validly ordained.

[200] And the more people of faith and knowing that he's there that come week after week, that can help strengthen a weak priest.

[201] But if the homily's not any good, make the effort to find, because we do need to nurture our faith.

[202] We need good homilies that look at the readings and look at scripture and help us go deeper because the scripture is Christ as well.

[203] So I just encourage people not to be pushed away from the church, but to stay committed, to know that Christ is there and to supplement their experience of homilies, even if they're a great one, to hear a second great one from someone like Father Kirby just helps to nurture their faith.

[204] I couldn't agree more.

[205] I've got to tell you, I exercise, I go for walks.

[206] If I'm alone, I'm listening to a homily or some teaching.

[207] And it just edifies me to know that it's at my fingertips.

[208] I mean, this phone that's in my hand is more powerful than anything I had as a youngster in a sense of getting information to me. Good or bads, but we can do it for the good.

[209] I want to just continue on with this article because Father makes some other good points.

[210] I think this says our faith is about swords, not.

[211] hand holding, he said that he quotes the meaning of John of the Cross saying that as steps leading souls into the ascent of Mount Carmel, each level of the mountain is stripping of us all of our magnifies that self and its conceits.

[212] So in other words, we're purifying ourselves.

[213] And sometimes this is just as some of the mystics have said, we have to say no to ourselves and it seems like in the church today saying no to ourselves is like why would we want to do that because it's the Catholic way of spirituality if you can't deny yourself and pick up your cross and follow me you're in trouble stay with us family we'll be back with more on the Terry and Jim on the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[214] Stay with us and now back to the Bishop Strickland Hour Welcome back We're talking about an article from Crisis Magazine.

[215] Catholicism is about swords from Father John A. Perricon.

[216] And he says some things that are a little derogatory to people dressed like you as bishops, Mr. Strickland.

[217] So it's a little critical of our shepherds.

[218] He says this.

[219] He basically says the growing number of faithful will not stand idle any longer with what's happening where we've been compromising too much.

[220] He said with characteristic Catholic hearts, they do not react harshly to shepherds who sleep.

[221] He said, with hearts trained on the heart of their king, they refuse to wag their fingers at guardians who cheer the Trojan horse while expelling the Savior's faithful little ones.

[222] No, they have risen simply to be about the work of restoring the beauty of God's Holy Church.

[223] And then he quotes someone I never heard of the late to mystic scholar Dr. Frederick Willam and voiced all this with the lyrics expressed.

[224] Wait to you hear this, people.

[225] Put your seatbelt on.

[226] He says, Catholicism is, and then he quotes, Mexican Jesuit Father Miguel Pro, blessing his Marxist firing squad in Mexico with stumps of his hands after the barbarians had finished cutting them off.

[227] It is Spanish soldiers charging communist trenches with fixed bayonets and rosaries.

[228] he says catholicism is about an army marching through history chanting the to -daydom which is like a prayer of thanks and praising god catholicism is about swords and then he quotes some saints and i want to get your take on this he says it's also about st nicholas striking the heretic arias at the council of nicaea for denying the divinity of christ Bishop Strickland, I'm going to ask this real quick.

[229] Did anybody ever get punched at any bishop's conferences you were at?

[230] I don't think so, right?

[231] Not that I saw.

[232] I didn't think so.

[233] I'm being a little facetious, but you know, this happened at sometimes in history.

[234] He says, it is St. Ambrose denying entrance to the emperor Theodos into Milan's Cathedral for perpetuating the Thessalonian massacre of ten.

[235] thousand citizens in the year 389.

[236] Now Bishop Strickland, that is the kind of leadership we're looking for when a bishop will say, Joe Biden, I know you're the president of the United States, but I'm responsible as a follower of Christ, especially as a shepherd, as a successor of the apostle, to share with you the gospel in the life you're living right now and proclaiming all these horrible things about unborn babies.

[237] You are not to receive Holy Communion until you repent of that position.

[238] Now, is that going to happen in today's church, Bishop Strickland?

[239] I don't think so.

[240] But it did back in the fourth century.

[241] Well, it should happen.

[242] And as I've said many times, for the sake of the truth, for the sake of the nation, and for the sake of Joe Biden, who is just one more child of God.

[243] And just one more child of God.

[244] God, called to be a child of God.

[245] For the sake of all, the truth, like you said a moment ago, it doesn't get stale, it doesn't get outdated.

[246] It sets us free and we desperately need the truth.

[247] And every candidate needs to be, you know, as they're being elected or as they're right, running for office.

[248] They need to be urged to stand for the truth and stop these compromises, all the political maneuvering in order to get votes.

[249] I know that people say, well, you won't get elected.

[250] Well, we need to change that.

[251] And I think it will only change if it becomes more and more clear that these false candidates who simply, you know, are like comedians that change in order to get elected, and then they do things that are totally the opposite of what they promise to do.

[252] To get ourselves out of this quagmire, we've got to be strong in the truth every one of us and to be willing to confront people in the truth, maybe not punch them.

[253] But to confront them with strength, knowing that the truth is our strength.

[254] Right.

[255] Well said, Bishop String, talking about the truth, you're the one who suggest that we, as part of our programming, plug in the catechism and teach people the fundamentals of the faith.

[256] I couldn't agree more with you because that, to me, has been one of the challenges in the church where people are adults and they have maybe a third grade.

[257] education on their faith, if that.

[258] And they might be scientists.

[259] They might be lawyers.

[260] But when it comes to the most important thing, the relationship with God, somehow they missed out on being catechized.

[261] So I would like to, if you're with your blessing, continue on our catechism journey with our listeners, taking chapter 12 about baptism and confirmation from the St. Philip Institute, which is a diocese of Tyler, Texas.

[262] puts this catechism out.

[263] You can get your own copy by going to the website, St. Philip Institute.

[264] Well, we are right on chapter 12 right now.

[265] And some of this stuff is, you might be mundane to certain people.

[266] But you know what?

[267] I've been studying the catechism for 60 years.

[268] And guess what?

[269] I'm still going to study it all the way until I'm dead.

[270] Why?

[271] It really helps me understand who God is and my relationship with him.

[272] So that's why you keep encouraging people to do this.

[273] So we're on question number seven.

[274] What is the sacrament of confirmation?

[275] And the answer means strengthening.

[276] It is the sacrament to which Christ strengthens us, not a sacrament simply for confirming our faith in him.

[277] Confirmation is the sacrament that perfects the graces of baptism and strengthens the union with Christ's mystical body the church.

[278] Confirmation also gives the grace to be a public witness of Christ to others, both by sharing and defending the faith and word and deed.

[279] The church sees a connection between confirmation and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

[280] Can I just review something, Mr. Strickland?

[281] I stand corrected.

[282] While I was reading that, we did that last week.

[283] I caught myself.

[284] I have to tell people, God uses the weak to confound the strong.

[285] I've said things today that I said, this is the Terry and Jesse show.

[286] This is the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[287] I didn't start the gospel, but I'm convinced, and I really mean this, that God could use someone a lot better than me, but he wants to use the weak, and that's me. So we are going to go to chapter 13, which is on the Holy Eucharist, which is very appropriate because we've been talking about the Eucharist.

[288] So when we come back, we're going to cover what is the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and much, much more as we continue on with our catechism lessons here on the Bishop Strickland Hour on Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[289] I can still say this, folks, that I'm too blessed to be stressed.

[290] We'll be back in a moment.

[291] Stay with us.

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

[293] Welcome back, indeed.

[294] I have the honor of sharing a chapter and a catechism on the Holy Eucharist.

[295] You know, what a great way to start.

[296] The Eucharist, it says, is the sacrificial offering of Jesus' body, blood, under the form of bread and wine.

[297] The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life.

[298] receiving the Eucharist, we consume Jesus' body blood to have eternal life.

[299] Now, Bishop Strickland, I'm going to bring something up.

[300] Maybe I've never brought up to you.

[301] But when the bishop's conference was promoting the Eucharistic revival that's coming out this summer, I was glad to hear that.

[302] But one of the bishops talked about Jesus being in the bread and the wine.

[303] And I couldn't believe I heard that being interviewed on EWTN.

[304] He was so wrong in the sense that Jesus.

[305] is not in the bread and the wine, as we said under the forms of bread and wine, at the consecration, there's no bread, there's no wine, and to have a bishop say that Jesus is in the bread and the wine, it really articulated to me a huge problem in the church.

[306] Even at the levels of bishops, they can't articulate something is basic on the belief of what we actually believe about the source and summit of the Christian life.

[307] And you wonder why I'm going back to the catechism for us?

[308] I'm going to be quite frank, Bishop Strickland.

[309] There's guys that are in this church right now that are bishops who really have a lack of understanding of the fundamentals of the faith.

[310] Now, that's a little derogatory, but it's based on what I've seen in my lifetime.

[311] And that's sad.

[312] That's my thoughts.

[313] All right.

[314] No comment.

[315] with you, Terry, and I hope to be, I mean, as we've talked about, the formation, what hasn't been so great?

[316] No. Like catechises of just the average Catholic hasn't been very good for too many years.

[317] I hope to be humble enough as a bishop to be willing to be corrected.

[318] Yeah.

[319] When if I said something like that, I would want people to say, Bishop, that's not exactly what we teach.

[320] what we believe.

[321] That's right.

[322] I think it's because let me say, Terry, as we get into this, and there's really nothing more important for us to talk about than belief in the real presence and what that means and how it all works.

[323] And transubstantiation is a key term.

[324] It's the best term we have coming from Thomas Aquinas for describing what we're talking about with the Ukraine.

[325] But as I've said very often, the preeminent issue of life is the sanctity of the life of the unborn, the abortion question.

[326] I would say the preeminent issue for us as Catholics, for our ecclesiology, for our sacramental theology, for everything.

[327] the preeminent issue is the real presence, the Eucharist.

[328] If people believe and understand, then everything starts to fall into place.

[329] If people don't really believe or don't fully understand, then everything gets more and more fragmented, more and more diluted, more and more misunderstood.

[330] understood.

[331] So I really believe, and in many ways, you know, it's something that I repeat very often and you repeat, but when I say we should be first century Christians in the 21st century, one of the main ways we need to do that is clear, authentic, real, Eucharistic faith.

[332] The ones that were there at the last supper, all except for Judas the betrayer, the rest of them knew what we're talking about.

[333] They witnessed what the Eucharist means.

[334] They were there when Christ instituted it, and then they saw their eyes were opened to the fullness of what he meant, when the body and blood that they saw sitting before them, then went through his passion and death, then rose from the dead, and then came in the beautiful resurrection appearances.

[335] Really, Terry, if I'm moved to say at this moment, what I've said very often in homilies during the Easter season and other times.

[336] But with all, the beautiful resurrection appearances we're hearing about during the Easter season, every mass is a resurrection appearance.

[337] And the early disciples of the church, people like Justin Martyr, who were already 150 years or so into the history of the church, about a hundred years, a little over 100 years after Christ, they knew what we're talking about.

[338] That faith, It's been the golden thread of Eucharistic faith that has held the church together.

[339] It's been the plumb line of the truth that has guided the church through all the centuries.

[340] And that really, I believe, is what it's the battleground.

[341] And I think that's the proper word like we were talking about earlier.

[342] It is a battle.

[343] We can't pretend it's not.

[344] It's a battle for the truth.

[345] It's a battle for the real presence of Christ at every Catholic altar.

[346] And we can't allow this deluded idea to more and more delude people in that delusion.

[347] It can't, we can't allow it.

[348] We can't passively sit back and allow people, even if they are bishops.

[349] We can't allow them to crucify Christ all over again by denying his real presence in the Eucharist and by treating it as if it were just another piece of bread.

[350] I guess, you know, we both get fired up.

[351] We do.

[352] But I have to say some more.

[353] Yeah, please.

[354] I read just recently that about communion in the hand.

[355] Yeah.

[356] that the Protestant reformers who were denying the real person, that's one of the pillars of Protestantism that this supernatural idea that the Catholic Church had was wrong.

[357] Right.

[358] It's just the symbol.

[359] It's just an idea.

[360] That's not what Christ said.

[361] That's not what our faith is.

[362] But they specifically said, we insist on communion in the hand.

[363] That's right.

[364] I read that.

[365] Yep.

[366] In order to get your dispute.

[367] diminish the faith in order to convince people, it's just a piece of bread.

[368] See, and that's the reason.

[369] Go ahead.

[370] I keep going.

[371] You've got to be fired up because I read the same thing.

[372] That's the reason we need to insist on it for the church to return to the practice of communion on the tongue and to the practice of consecrated hands handling the Eucharist and the vessels because the Lord is there.

[373] And those who wanted to deny that he's there, they're the ones that said, let's have communion in the hand.

[374] Let's emphasize, it's just a piece of bread.

[375] It's just a symbol.

[376] And there are too many within the Catholic Church that are saying the same thing.

[377] And have been saying it for decades.

[378] And they've made a lot of progress.

[379] But they will never eliminate the church that knows the real presence of Christ, our Lord, in the Ukraine.

[380] Wow, I, Rob, yes, yes, I've read the same story and it got me. I said, why would we come?

[381] This is how they made a disbelief by communion in the hand.

[382] Now, I mentioned something at the mission last week, and I gave the statistic that by the time our young people are 23 years of age, 87 % of them are not practicing their Catholic faith.

[383] And I suggest, and I want to get your take, but I believe, I told the church that if you get your kids to fall in love with Jesus Christ and the Holy Eucharist and have a love for the Eucharist, they will not leave the Catholic Church.

[384] Because a team of wild horses won't be able to drag them away.

[385] Thank you.

[386] And I told him, I said, you're starting perpetual adoration.

[387] Bring your children to Jesus' feet at the Eucharistic throne there and give them the opportunity to have that relationship with our Lord and the Holy Eucharist.

[388] Because I guarantee you, even in my own life, as a teenager.

[389] I started going to Daily Mass when I was 14 when I knew about the real presence.

[390] When people were trying to invite me to go to Protestant churches, I would say, I even knew it as a Paul.

[391] I said, well, tell me, what do you believe about John 6?

[392] That's a 14 -year -old.

[393] Oh, wow, that's just symbol.

[394] I said, not for us.

[395] We're Catholics.

[396] We believe in the real presence.

[397] I don't want nothing to do.

[398] I said, I'm not going to settle for a symbol.

[399] So here's my point.

[400] We have, we're going to cover this next, the next time we, you and I are together.

[401] we have oh you know what i just realized we got a few minutes to continue because what you just said fired me up about about communion in the hand and i read in 1973 the document not in latin but in english translation that there had to be certain circumstances it was in any indult so it was not the ordinary means of receiving all the communities on the tongue but if these characteristics are there and there were like five of them i'll just name three of them one there's no disbelief in the real presence so if the person really believes that it's Jesus then that's okay how do you figure that one out okay judgment of someone coming up number two that there's no potential distribution of safety about giving the Holy Communion in the hand that someone can't just take the Holy Sacred host and steal it well okay and then three they make some outward sign of reverence before they receive Holy Communion, whether on the tongue or in the hand, but if they're not doing that, that they're not following this instruction.

[402] So I have to say Bishop Strickland, when I read that, I saw this was a disaster, and now I see the fruits of communion in the hand.

[403] The first time I saw it was they came back from the Olympics of Montreal, 1976, and Canada, they were doing communion in the hand, and I was appalled at it.

[404] I said, why would they do that?

[405] Well, they got the end old.

[406] America followed, I think, the following year.

[407] Am I right around 77?

[408] 77, yep.

[409] So it was the following year.

[410] And look at, now, here's the other thing that bothers me. Many of my families who call me and say, the church is not allowing us to receive on the tongue.

[411] See, this is just a disaster.

[412] But before we get that disaster, I hear the music's coming on.

[413] Let's get a blessing for our folks who are in love with Jesus.

[414] Jesus and the Eucharist, please.

[415] Almighty God, we thank you for this opportunity to continue to learn faith more deeply and to share our faith.

[416] Help us to know that your son, as he promised, is with us until the end of the age, and he is especially with us in the Eucharist.

[417] Help us to be ambassadors of this truth for all the lives that we touch.

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

[419] spirit.

[420] Thank you so much, Mr. Strickland.

[421] I want to remind all of our listeners, if you'd like to become a monthly supporter, you get all these good Scott Hahn recordings, and you can just go to VMPR .org for $25 a month to get a couple hundred dollars worth of product sent to your phone or to your computer.

[422] Also, you can listen to all the podcasts, absolutely free by going to vmpr .org.

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

[424] for listening.