25 Jan 22 – The Deposit of Faith Is Real

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name is Terry Barber, and if this is your first time, we have two new stations up in Massachusetts tuning in.

[2] I want to welcome you.

[3] We do this once a week here at Virgin Most Powerful, and other stations pick up the shows, and we want to welcome everyone to our show.

[4] Today, I'm the title of this show is The Deposit of Faith is Really Real, and I say that because we need to know that we have truth and it's in the Catholic Church and it's the fullness of the truth.

[5] It's not this I have my truth and your truth.

[6] No, that doesn't work.

[7] We want to have what Jesus Christ has taught and that's fully taught in the Catholic Church.

[8] Bishop Strickland, welcome to another hour.

[9] Thanks, Terry.

[10] Bishop Strickland, one of your tweets that you sent out got my attention big time when you said, the world grows wary of Catholic leaders who fail to guard a deposit of faith and then you said every bishop has made the same promise and I want to ask about that promise every bishop that you say everyone so I stumble in weakness daily like the rest of us but my weakness is no excuse all shepherds must seek to live up to the reality that we are successors of the apostles That's a big responsibility, my friend.

[11] I'm not success for the apostle.

[12] I'm a layman, but I want to ask you why you did that tweet.

[13] And also, tell me about the promises you make when you're ordained or to becoming a bishop.

[14] Well, really, Terry, that's the reason I shared that is because I did make a promise and every bishop does at his ordination.

[15] I don't know how long it's been part of the.

[16] right, but there's one of the promises guard, you promise to guard the deposit of faith.

[17] Wow.

[18] And at a time when so many in the church and beyond the church, so many clergy and so many laity are really questioning basic elements of the deposit of faith or rejecting elements of the positive faith.

[19] We just, we have to speak up.

[20] And as we were talking before we went into the recording, you as a husband and father, you're not a bishop, you're not an ordained clergy, but at a level, you're a Catholic leader or you should be.

[21] And I'm sure you are that you take seriously leading your own family, leading your circle of friends, being a Catholic man. In that sense, we all have the responsibility to live the truth, to guard the deposit of faith.

[22] And people ask me sometimes, what is the deposit of faith?

[23] It really is what Jesus Christ has revealed with his very person.

[24] And it's captured that revelation in the Bible from Genesis to the book of Revelation, all of sacred scripture is about Jesus.

[25] We talked about that in the Catechism at one point.

[26] And so living Jesus is what the deposit of faith is about.

[27] And it's important to remember that the church has taught for many centuries.

[28] I can't pinpoint exactly when the church said this, but Early on, the church said, the public revelation, God revealing to his people, is closed.

[29] I can point to the catechism because I think we talked about it recently.

[30] We did.

[31] It's in the cation.

[32] Yeah, we did.

[33] But paragraph 66 speaks of that.

[34] And sometimes people are confused and you say, well, Jesus died, rose and returned to the father.

[35] and really the New Testament wasn't written.

[36] So what are you saying?

[37] The public revelation closes with Jesus Christ.

[38] It means that no new truth is revealed to us because Jesus is the fullness of that truth.

[39] He's truth incarnate.

[40] Yes, the Gospels were written reflecting who Jesus was and what he did on earth.

[41] of after the time of Jesus.

[42] And certainly the catechism came along in the 20th century when it was finally compiled.

[43] But all of that truth has already been revealed.

[44] So through sacred scripture and through all the documents through 2 ,000 years of church history, the deposit of faith is captured in papal encyclicals and all sorts of things that are further.

[45] understanding the basic truth that Jesus Christ revealed.

[46] So it really isn't complicated, but it's immense what we have and what a beautiful deposit of faith we've been blessed with.

[47] It answers the questions of humanity.

[48] Amen.

[49] Who is God?

[50] Who are we?

[51] Why are we here?

[52] Where are we going?

[53] It answers all those questions, that's what the deposit of faith answers.

[54] And early on, the apostles knew, and most of them did die for it.

[55] They were willing to die rather than deny the truth that Jesus Christ had revealed to them, and the church is the repository and the font of that truth.

[56] It isn't just locked away in a vault, it's to be shared, it's the good news.

[57] So it is the repository, but also it's our mission in the 21st century, as it was in the first century, to share the truth of Jesus Christ for all humanity.

[58] Well said, Bishop Strickland, it reminds me of a great saint of our church in the fifth century.

[59] His name was Saint Pope Felix III when he said, not to oppose error is to approve it, not to defend truth is to suppress it, and indeed to neglect to confound evil men when we can do it is no less a sin than to encourage them.

[60] Bishop Strickland, I have to say, in my opinion, you're not going to be condemned for being quiet about your faith.

[61] No, really, I'm serious.

[62] And I thank you for that.

[63] even when you talk about President Biden, who's a Catholic, your heart goes out to him.

[64] You have a desire that he will go to heaven.

[65] And you love him enough to tell him the truth about his faith where he's in error, okay, just quite frankly, where he thinks abortion is okay, you've made it clear to him.

[66] Look at Joe, with all due respect, when you have your exit interview, I want to at least be there to be your advocate to say, look, I told you that killing unborn babies is murder.

[67] You can't do that and you need to repent and believe in the gospel.

[68] That's charity.

[69] And so I just think that you seem to be willing to tell anybody anywhere on the planet about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, even if it means some people criticizing you.

[70] And I'll just be right frank with you.

[71] Father James Martin, Jesuit priest, and I respect Father Martin in this sense.

[72] He's a priest, but I don't respect him when he crosses over the line to try and teach something that's not part of the deposit of faith when he says scripture's wrong regarding homosexuality.

[73] Come on, that's just wrong.

[74] Now, I say this because I don't hear many bishops speak up like that, because you know you're going to get heat when you say things like what you just said.

[75] And I think just last weekend, Father Martin was again going after you for certain things that you're saying and really all you're doing is teaching the faith that thank you for taking the heat in the kitchen well as a successor of the apostles that's part of the job description as i understand it yep as we've said i think i said a moment ago they all died except for john and he was he experienced a lot of martyrdom i mean he was imprisoned and you know all of them made great sacrifices and most of them ultimately their own life.

[76] They died in order to share the truth.

[77] And like you said, Terry, really my family and my friends that I've grown up with, knew me as Father Joe for so many years here in Tyler.

[78] They're all amazed at what's happened to me. I'm amazed at what's happened to me. I'm a quiet guy.

[79] I'm a go -along and get -along kind of guy.

[80] But when I became a bishop, and it didn't happen immediately, but it has just continued to deepen in me that I have a responsibility, and we really all do.

[81] It's not just bishops and priests and deacons.

[82] It's the responsibility of every baptized person to bring others to Jesus Christ.

[83] He's the Lord and Savior of every human being that has ever lived and that will ever live.

[84] That is hard to fathom.

[85] We're talking billions and billions of people, maybe beyond billions even.

[86] I don't know.

[87] But we're talking every person that ever lived.

[88] I was just reading in Genesis today, the beautiful story of Abram, becoming Abraham.

[89] And God tells him, look up in the sky, count the stars, count the grains of sand.

[90] Your ancestors will be numbered greater than the grains of sand that all the stars in the sky.

[91] And he's talking about all humanity.

[92] Certainly, it's formed with the people of Israel, the chosen people.

[93] They have a special place in the heart of God because they are the original chosen people who came to know God as the one true God, not a God of this, not a God of the sun or the moon or all the pagan idols that people had, but the one true God, creator of all.

[94] And through the covenant with Abraham, he invites all human beings in his kingdom.

[95] Well said, Bishop Strickland, we come back, we'll have more on the Bishop Strickland Hour on Virgin Most Power Radio.

[96] Stay with us.

[97] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[98] Bishop Strickland was talking about the deposit of faith and defending that as a bishop that he made a promise.

[99] Bishop Strickland, last week I got all excited, which is very unusual for me to be excited.

[100] Just joking.

[101] Hey, let's face it, I sent you an article from Catholic World Report regarding a cardinal in Mexico, a couple bishops and couple priests who stood up to the secular government of Mexico and said, no, abortion is wrong.

[102] No, same -sex marriage is wrong.

[103] You can't be supporting this.

[104] and the government is coming down on them and they're going to be paying a heavy price of fines and possibly prison but I read the article and the bishop just said kind of like what you just said look I don't have a choice this is what our teachings are on these topics and if you want to do whatever you want to do well then do it because I'm not going to change do you remember the article yes very inspiring and we need more bishops.

[105] We should be a worldwide chorus of the truth of the deposit of faith.

[106] And we pray that we will be because that's the responsibility we've been given.

[107] And I take it very seriously.

[108] And it, you know, really, Terry, in a way, it's kind of selfish because I'm worried about my own skin.

[109] You should be.

[110] I mean, we all should be deeply concerned about fulfilling God's will for us.

[111] And God's will for us is our salvation.

[112] I reflect a lot recently on that phrase from the Our Father, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[113] We should just make that certainly the Our Father, but that phrase is especially just something we repeat often.

[114] God, your will.

[115] I mean, I pray for it constantly, Terry.

[116] And if it was God's will that we stopped doing this and that I don't say another word and that I'm not bishop any longer, if it's God's will, I signed up for that.

[117] Yeah, you embrace it.

[118] Whatever is God's will.

[119] Amen.

[120] And so it gives you a lot of freedom and a lot of strength.

[121] And as I've said numerous times on my tweets, I'm too weak.

[122] I get fed up with myself sometimes.

[123] I'm not strong enough.

[124] You look at some of the great figures in sacred scripture or the great saints through the ages.

[125] I mean, Joan of Arc was a little girl, basically, probably about 14 years old.

[126] And here she's going into the army.

[127] And we just need to be strong and joyful.

[128] and really unshakable in the faith that we know.

[129] And really, Terry, this year we've declared is the year of the Immaculate Virgin Mary and the Eucharist for this diocese.

[130] Awesome.

[131] And that's where the strength comes from.

[132] Yeah.

[133] For all of us, if you feel weak, if you feel uncertain, spend some time with Jesus in his Eucharistic presence.

[134] gaze on his Eucharistic face, and you may say, well, I'm not feeling anything.

[135] It's not about feelings.

[136] It's about the truth that he is really there, body and blood, soul and divinity.

[137] And in his presence, you gain strength.

[138] I can tell you that.

[139] That's the only strength I have is Jesus Christ.

[140] Amen.

[141] Well, that brings me to another topic, the Diocese of Tyler, since you are the bishop.

[142] and you are responsible for a lot of things, but one of them is vocations for having new priests being formed in the diocese.

[143] So my question to you is, can you give us a little bit of an update on how many vocations you, how many seminarians?

[144] And I also know, and this is why I'm probing it, I want our listeners to be able to support those young men because I have to tell you, Bishop Strickland, I know that you're not sending them to a heterodox seminary where they're going to learn things that aren't Catholic.

[145] And so I want our people to support the Diocese of Tyler.

[146] So tell me a little bit about how many men are in formation and what are we doing to fund that because I know it's not cheap.

[147] Well, you're right, Terry.

[148] It's not cheap.

[149] And we're blessed with 18 fine men.

[150] information for the priesthood, from probably 19 or 20 years old to in their early 30s.

[151] Good men, solidly Catholic, studying hard, committed to being real priest of Jesus Christ.

[152] They are a great support to me, and I do my best to support them.

[153] Getting to the cost, it costs about roughly four.

[154] For everything that a young man needs that's being formed as a priest, it's about $50 ,000 a year.

[155] So if a young man is in the seminary for, I was in the seminary for eight years.

[156] I mean, of course, it was a long time ago.

[157] I'm sure it was a little cheaper.

[158] But for eight years, that's $4 ,000, I mean, $400 ,000 for eight, yeah, it's a lot of money.

[159] of thousands of dollars that the diocese has to come up with.

[160] And let's be honest, Bishop Strickland, not every one of them are going to be ordained.

[161] But you still have to spend the money to find out if they have a vocation to the priesthood.

[162] So my thought is, and I'm, you know, people don't have to do it now.

[163] I'm not asking you to write a check.

[164] But if you really wanted to write it to the diocese of Tyler, I don't think Bishop Strickland would say no. But I think that here at Virgin Most Powerful Radio, we want to support good seminaries.

[165] I'll give you a story, Bishop Strickland last Sunday here at the Anglican Ordinariate Mass that I go to.

[166] Two seminarians came to Mass, one from Las Vegas, and the other was from Orange County.

[167] And here's an interesting thought.

[168] They listen to your show.

[169] They know who you are.

[170] They respect the Diocese of Tyler.

[171] Now, they're not going to jump ship and go to Tyler.

[172] And that's fine.

[173] The point of it is, you're affecting those seminarians just by your teachings on the faith, and I think that's good for the church.

[174] I'm not asking all the seminarians to go, oh, go to Tyler, no. The ones that are going to Tyler, we need to support.

[175] And so I just wanted to ask the question about 18 men in the diocese of, how many hundreds of thousands of Catholics are in Tyler?

[176] Well, just over, about 120 ,000.

[177] Catholic.

[178] So that's a pretty good ratio.

[179] Are you kidding me?

[180] Most diocese don't have that kind of ratio.

[181] Okay, let me give you a ratio.

[182] We have five and a half million Catholics in L .A. Are you ready?

[183] I think we're down into the 50s right now for seminarians.

[184] And the archdiocese, I'm sure, could use 500 seminarians.

[185] Yes, of course they do.

[186] So we're blessed with 18.

[187] Good.

[188] And we can use every one of them.

[189] And like you said, these are solid men.

[190] Yeah, that's it.

[191] And I always tell them, if you feel called to another path, listen to that call.

[192] And I support that.

[193] I mean, we need priests that are called by God, not called by me, but called by God to serve as priest of Jesus Christ, his son.

[194] So any man that, as they say these days, discerns out of the seminary.

[195] I always tell them, and we had one recently that said, we had a good visit, and he said, Bishop, I just don't feel cold to this.

[196] He'd given it some good, serious time to really ask himself that.

[197] And I thanked him, and I always tell them when they first come and talk to me about entering the seminary, that even giving a day to discerning the possibility of being a priest of Jesus Christ is a blessing to them, and a blessing to the church.

[198] And so, yes, we need priests, but we need priests that know they are called.

[199] It's a beautiful life, but it's challenging like every life.

[200] And getting back to the cost of this, it's interesting.

[201] It costs about $50 ,000 a year to support a seminarian.

[202] The same thing it costs to support a priest, about $50 ,000 a year.

[203] Considering, and for the seminarians, it's mainly the cost of their education.

[204] For the priest, it's mainly their salary.

[205] And then housing and all the things.

[206] But it's about the same.

[207] The diocese of Tyler as a small diocese, 120 ,000 Catholics approximately, very generous.

[208] We have a wonderful program.

[209] The first capital campaign we did was because priesthood is so important, it was called priest for tomorrow.

[210] And Terry, I have to tell you, the response.

[211] of the people was tremendous.

[212] Awesome.

[213] And that is continuing to be paid.

[214] It was in a five -year pledge.

[215] We're about halfway through that.

[216] Great.

[217] People are faithfully, even with all the COVID and all the stuff people are dealing with, we're still on track to reach the $10 million endowment that we needed.

[218] That will help us to pay for future seminarians, as well as the ongoing commitment of the people.

[219] the diocese.

[220] But we do have, it's tight for a couple of years as we're waiting for that $10 million corpus to be deposited so that we can begin using the interest from that.

[221] So it's expensive, but what better use of our funds as a diocese or individually, what better use of our funds?

[222] I made a contribution to the priest for the tomorrow campaign.

[223] I don't make a lot of money, but I needed to step up.

[224] And it hasn't hurt me at all, as we usually find with the sacrifices we make.

[225] St. Anthony in the desert, we just read about him yesterday, and he heard the gospel and gave it all away.

[226] It's sort of a beautiful story.

[227] If you don't know, St. Anthony, the abbot, St. Anthony of the desert.

[228] You ought to look him up because he heard the gospel and gave his land and a lot of his wealth away.

[229] But he had a little sister.

[230] He said, well, I've got to take care of my little sister.

[231] And then he hears the gospel again and says, okay, he gave it all away.

[232] And had somebody, I think he sent his little sister to a convent.

[233] Yeah.

[234] Said, ladies, take care of my little sister.

[235] And he went off to pray in the desert.

[236] certainly as bishop i can't just sell everything i don't have anything to sell but i've got to stay with the commitment that god has given me but um it's just a reminder that when we use the the god -given resources in the the proper ways and ways that are godly that are faith -based that's where the blessings are and thankfully the diocese of tyler the people are very generous and very supportive, but it's a small diocese.

[237] And so we're, you know, we have the blessing, but the challenge of bordering on more seminarians than we can afford.

[238] So anyone who wants to help out, like you said, I won't turn it down.

[239] But I know we all have a lot of obligations.

[240] And I know a lot of bishops are working hard to build up their number of seminarians.

[241] It's all, it's by the grace of God, and it's listening to God's call.

[242] But we are blessed and have been blessed in the Diocese of Tyler.

[243] Well, said, Bishop Strickland, when we come back, we'll continue on your tweets.

[244] And again, if people want to make a donation, I'm not opposed to, just make your check to the Diocese of Tyler, Texas.

[245] And you can look it up on the internet for their address.

[246] It's tax deductible.

[247] Stay with us, family.

[248] we've got more to inspire you to fall deeper in love with Jesus and his church.

[249] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[250] Thanks again for giving us an update on the seminarians in your diocese.

[251] It's really inspiring to see what a small diocese is doing through the grace of God.

[252] Bishop Strickland, we titled The Show, The Deposit of Faith is Real.

[253] And all of us, you know, bishops, priests, lay people, we're all called to holiness.

[254] We're all called to evangelize.

[255] I saw what you did in a tweet with an article I saw the article from LifeSight News .com It said Catholic Governor Phil Murphy defends signing bill for abortions yesterday.

[256] He's the New Jersey governor and that bill will make killing babies in abortion right and the state allows it and then you ended up sending a tweet reaching out to him and I presume Bishop Strickland you're doing it out of love.

[257] and concern for this man's soul as a fellow Catholic.

[258] Can you tell us what you told him?

[259] Well, I said, I'm sorry, Phil, you're not a good Catholic.

[260] And I did say we need to pray for him.

[261] Yeah, of course.

[262] The secular culture is rather, I mean, we're supposed to go out to the culture and evangelize it to bring the light of Christ to a dark world.

[263] But sadly, the darkness.

[264] is sucking too many baptized Catholics into it, you know, it's in it, so I don't know this man, but I know that claiming he's a good Catholic and supporting abortion up to birth, that is, that's horrific.

[265] And he needs to wake up.

[266] Yeah.

[267] He needs to know the truth.

[268] And really, Terry, that I say that constantly here in the diocese that we need to really be strong and joyful and know for parents, for everyone.

[269] The greatest love, the greatest charity is to share the truth.

[270] And, you know, I don't do enough of it.

[271] None of us do.

[272] because there are people here in this town in Tyler.

[273] I mean, every one of them deserves the truth.

[274] Most of them are not Catholic.

[275] And they see me and I've actually had people come up to me when I had my bishops cassock on, which I wear frequently.

[276] And, you know, if I'm wearing my cassock and I need to stop by the grocery store for a loaf of bread.

[277] Oh, yeah.

[278] I do it in my cassock.

[279] I think people have gotten accustomed to it, but a couple of times people have come up to me and said, are you the Pope?

[280] I mean, you know, just innocent, they've heard of this Catholic stuff.

[281] They know there's a Pope, this guy dressed in a way that nobody else is in Tyler, Texas.

[282] So I said, no, I'm not the Pope.

[283] But, um, Those people that ask me who I was, they're God's children.

[284] Amen.

[285] They need to know the truth.

[286] If I was a better bishop, I probably would have said, do you know Jesus Christ?

[287] Do you know the truth that the Catholic faith is about?

[288] Why I'm dressed like this?

[289] It's my job to share him.

[290] Honestly, I just laughed and they went on and I went on.

[291] But hopefully at least it was a pleasant encounter.

[292] But I need to do a better job of sharing this truth because the world needs it desperately.

[293] It always has since the time that Christ walked this earth.

[294] And we know that he is ultimately the Savior of all.

[295] Amen.

[296] People need to know that.

[297] You know, Bishop Strickland reminds me what happens Sunday.

[298] My daughter, who's like, what, 26 years old, loves to kayak, and I do too.

[299] So we go to the lake on a regular basis.

[300] We were out there Sunday afternoon, and we saw some girls.

[301] They were from China, and the two girls were trying to kayaking, but they didn't really know how to use the oars.

[302] So I'm out on the lake, taking them how to kayak, and to row their little kayak, and they were very gracious, and I, you know, I was able to have a 10 -minute conversation with them, you know, and got them to, I asked them, you know, We're meeting with them to download Virgin Most Powerful Radio's app because they're young people.

[303] They're going to Caltech, which is a super school in California.

[304] And then when I got back off the lake, they come up to me and they spent an hour asking me questions.

[305] So I got to evangelize those girls and they grew up in atheistic communist China where they were the only child in their family.

[306] So we got into lots of topics, but I hope they're listening right now, girls, because I invited them to know about Jesus Christ.

[307] And if I can do it, anybody can do it.

[308] But they just, they told me, they made me laugh.

[309] They said, they said, man, we just wanted to, you're very, you know, like, we want to get to know what makes you so happy.

[310] And that was so funny.

[311] So I got a chance to chat with them.

[312] And why do I say that?

[313] because you never know these opportunities, folks.

[314] I know that if you get a chance to listen to the Terry and Jesse show today, we did a show on how to evangelize in spite of scandal in the church and in the world.

[315] See, we need to focus on teaching people the meaning and purpose of life.

[316] And in one sense, you need to know what's going on in the culture.

[317] I get that, but we don't have to dwell on it too much because we want to dwell more on reading God's word, spending time before the blessed sacrament, praying our daily rosary, you know, having a good formation in our life so that when those opportunities come up, it's like natural.

[318] I want to share Jesus with you.

[319] All right, Bishop Strickland, here's my next tweet that I want to bring up to you.

[320] This is one of your fellow bishops, and I'm telling you, man, he's like you.

[321] I've heard, I've read.

[322] Matter of fact, he gets in trouble for what?

[323] Proclaiming the Deposit of Faith.

[324] His name is Bishop Thomas Tobin.

[325] He's in Rhode Island, not New Jersey.

[326] Jersey Bishop, I'll just say, pray for him too, but I don't hear much of like what this bishop has to say.

[327] He said in a Senate, in a tweet you have, if the Senate process is to bear fruit, it has to focus on the person of Jesus Christ.

[328] Gospel value, spiritual vision, eliminate complex structures, mind -boggling instructions, and the secular corporate language.

[329] Bishop Strickland, the reason I ask you about that is I just saw, right from your bishop's conference, it was kind of embarrassing.

[330] I'll be honest with you.

[331] I was embarrassed by it.

[332] I mean it.

[333] When it said that we have to have, we have to kind of walk along people and just be, you know, kind of locking, you know, with kind of a secular approach of being with people, they didn't mention anything about the person of Jesus Christ.

[334] So I'm asking you, Bishop Strickland, And what made you promote this bishop's tweet?

[335] Well, I think he's spot on.

[336] It's about Jesus Christ.

[337] And, you know, the synod, which synod simply means coming together, gathering.

[338] And let's do that.

[339] Let's gather.

[340] Let's come together and share the message of Jesus Christ.

[341] Christ, the truth.

[342] And the beauty of the message of Jesus Christ is it's the answer to all the problems we have.

[343] People talk so much about racism.

[344] If we listen to Jesus Christ, we are all precious before God.

[345] We are all equal in the sense that we are all created equal, men and women, male and female.

[346] We are all children of God.

[347] And if we just made a 10 % increase in treating each other as children of God, many issues would diminish significantly.

[348] When, I mean, we just celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. yesterday.

[349] And a good man, a good man. and had an important message inspired by his faith in Jesus Christ.

[350] He wasn't Catholic, but he was a true Christian.

[351] And we Christians, I mean, both of us believe and know that the full deposit of faith is that the Catholic Church is the church that Christ established.

[352] We shouldn't, we should be humble about that.

[353] I have, there's nothing I've done that deserve.

[354] being a member of the church that Christ established.

[355] Amen.

[356] It's by the grace of God that I was born into a family, baptized into the Catholic Church, receive the other sacraments of initiation, ordained a deacon, priest, and now bishop.

[357] That's all by the grace of God.

[358] But Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the Savior of all.

[359] And that's what we need to share with others.

[360] We need to joyfully share that good news.

[361] And that's what Bishop Tobin was saying.

[362] All this coming together in synodality is going to have little effect if it's not about Jesus Christ and coming together around the person of Jesus Christ.

[363] And he is the only way, the only truth, the only life.

[364] He is the only Savior.

[365] It's not, you know, a menu of a hundred options of what God am I going to follow.

[366] That is blasphemy.

[367] That is not the Christian message.

[368] Like we were talking about earlier, Israel came to know the one true God.

[369] And Jesus revealed the one true God as the mystery of the Trinity, one God and three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit.

[370] That's it.

[371] He is God, the only God.

[372] And we need to call all people to that truth.

[373] That is God's will.

[374] Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[375] That's what we have to keep focusing on and believing that ultimately, as Christ is promised and the promise to Abraham, the covenant there, all the children of the earth will be invited into the kingdom.

[376] we have to acknowledge that in the mystery of how God has created us in his image and likeness, we all have the free choice, whether the world gives it to us or not, and whether people try to take it away.

[377] That was another tweet I sent, but ultimately, nothing can take away our free will.

[378] Amen.

[379] And many martyrs will testify.

[380] Well, said, when we come back, I've got a quote from St. John Paul to the Great.

[381] I call them the Great.

[382] And you won't want to miss his family.

[383] Stay with us.

[384] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland hour.

[385] I have to laugh, Bishop Strickland.

[386] During breaks, I get four or five texts.

[387] I get phone calls from Ireland just now, lady.

[388] I just, and I see you, folks, I'm going to tell you, there's no grass burning, growing under our feet.

[389] There's always something to be done in the work of evangelization.

[390] And I just laugh because I watch you.

[391] I think, oh, this man. He's the real deal.

[392] Bishop Strickland, I want to give some advice before I give this with Bishop, with St. John Paul 2's quote, my advice is, and this is a layman in the church, I want to tell our bishops, our leaders in the church as a layman, that it concerns me who's influencing who.

[393] Is the world influencing the church more than the church is influencing the world?

[394] and I think objectively, and I'm just giving you me objectively, I think the world has infected us to think more like worldly men rather than supernatural men.

[395] And I say that if you ever get a chance, you don't have to say, laymen, they're concerned that we're not working enough on the salvation of souls for the flock, then it seems like that that's what we would like to see more of in our church.

[396] Now, I'm speaking as just a dad, a grandfather now, but after 40 -some years of being involved, I just, my heart goes out to our leaders because it seems like they think we want them to be more like executives.

[397] And I know Fulton Sheen even talked about it in his priest retreats, you know, that were some kind of tin god or something up on the altar.

[398] No, we're supposed to be leading us to Jesus Christ.

[399] You know, this cult in a sense of, you know, this guy is this, you know, who cares?

[400] My big point is, please, Holy Father, please bishops, cardinals, priests, put back Jesus Christ as the center of our church and forget about the worldliness of the world because it seems that the world is really caving down on all of us and we're not looking for that.

[401] We're looking for you to give us Jesus Christ.

[402] Okay, I had to say it.

[403] I got it off my chest.

[404] All right, Bishop Strickland, you quoted St. John Paul to the Great.

[405] He said this, there is no evil to be faced that Christ does not face with us.

[406] That's consoling.

[407] There is no enemy that Christ has not already conquered.

[408] That's a great line.

[409] There is no cross to bear that Christ has not already born for us and does not bear with us.

[410] that's really consoling for us in today's church right now when we see us being attacked by even no don't get me wrong even the world yeah we know the world's going to attack us but you know Bishop Shreckland I see guys dressed like you attacking my Catholic faith so I want to ask you what made you promote this quote from St. John Paul well I mean, as you said, I agree.

[411] He's St. John Paul the Great.

[412] That's funny.

[413] He, what he says in that quote that I tweeted is another way of saying, Be not afraid.

[414] Yeah.

[415] Which is what he said always.

[416] If we believe and know who Jesus Christ is, there's nothing to fear.

[417] No. And praying, thy will be done.

[418] becomes the most joyful, freeing prayer that we could utter.

[419] Because we know God's will ultimately is our salvation.

[420] Amen.

[421] As is the mission of the church, the salvation of souls.

[422] That's what it's all about.

[423] And like we've said many times on your show, Terry, or on this show.

[424] Yeah, your show.

[425] Our show.

[426] Our show, yes.

[427] God's will that we be saved, it transforms this human journey.

[428] It transforms this world.

[429] We can go back to Adam and Eve before the fall and get a glimpse of what living with the salvation of our souls at the very heart of everything and all of our motivation, then we're back in the Garden of Eden.

[430] Not in heaven.

[431] It's not heaven, but it is God's intention for what prepares us for everlasting life with him.

[432] But through sin, through the use of the free will that God has given us, and that's the mystery.

[433] I mean, I remember as a kid thinking, why didn't God just make us do the right thing?

[434] And it works as well as, I'm sure, with your kids, if you tried to just make them do the right thing, it causes resentment, and it actually pushes us in the wrong direction.

[435] Amen.

[436] And God, our father, because of the mystery of how he's created us with a divine spark of His, life.

[437] We're created in his image and likeness.

[438] And part of what that means is that we've got to make our own choice.

[439] We need to be taught.

[440] We need to form our conscience.

[441] We need to open our hearts and minds to the truth.

[442] But God leaves us free to make the choice.

[443] And beautifully, his son, and what I've read recently from some of the mystics and the saints of old, if you pull all that together, Jesus is always pulling for us.

[444] He wants any opportunity to save us.

[445] He wants us to join him because he knows, as St. Augustine, I know we've quoted that before, our hearts are restless until they rest in God.

[446] Amen.

[447] God knows that better than we will.

[448] We will ever know.

[449] He knows just how restless our hearts are, how empty lives are, how dark our world is until we rest in him.

[450] It's really sad, Terry, with all of the ongoing pandemic that they, I guess they're going to start calling it an endemic.

[451] All that's happened in the past couple of years, there's so much darkness for people.

[452] Yeah.

[453] So much sadness, so much despair.

[454] suicides are up yes many people see the world falling apart around them yeah and it's tragic because they they don't know jesus christ and certainly we don't i mean christ tells us we've got to take up our cross and follow him if we wish to be his disciples um and we have to do that i mean both of us have had to take up crosses.

[455] I always remind myself that mine is only a sliver.

[456] Whatever suffering I'm enduring, it's only a sliver compared to what the totally sinless and guiltless son of God endured out of love for us.

[457] He carried the whole burden.

[458] But we do have to carry our burdens.

[459] But sadly, too many people are carrying the cross and the darkness of life without knowing Christ.

[460] And that is despair to carry the darkness and to be caught up in it and not know the light of Christ.

[461] So that's why we all have to get busy and to speak up joyfully.

[462] And because we care, because we respect the life of every person.

[463] and respect their freedom.

[464] Absolutely.

[465] Jesus says in the gospel to his disciples as he sends them out, shake the dust from their feet of any town that doesn't receive his message.

[466] And we always have to remember that.

[467] We can't overcome the free will that God has given another person, but we can lovingly and joyfully invite to the truth.

[468] That's the mission of the church.

[469] You know, Bishop Strickland, you made me remind me of what Fulton Sheen always said.

[470] It's in my head.

[471] The only value in saying yes to God is you have the freedom to say no. And I would end the show with another Fulton Sheen quote because it comes to our free will.

[472] There's a song they sing in hell, as Bishop Sheen says, I did it my way.

[473] And then there's a song they sing in heaven.

[474] I did it his way.

[475] And that comes back down to your free will.

[476] What are we going to do?

[477] You make a decision.

[478] And, you know, I really think that it's important that we actually make it really simple for people.

[479] Because life is not as complicated as the world says it is.

[480] You're absolutely right.

[481] Yeah.

[482] So let's keep it simple.

[483] Now, there's so much more this week.

[484] I can't get to all the tweets.

[485] I want to encourage people to get on Twitter with Bishop Strickley, because next week I'm going to add a couple more from this past.

[486] week as we didn't get to them.

[487] But I want to also remind people if you feel like, yeah, you want to help the Diocese of Tyler, Texas out with some funds for their seminarians, which is critical to the work.

[488] I'm going to be honest right now.

[489] Don't give money to parishes that don't feed you with the perennial teachings of the church, okay?

[490] People are getting trouble.

[491] I get in trouble saying that, I'm fine.

[492] You know why?

[493] Because it's true.

[494] They shouldn't get our support if they're not supporting what the perennial teachings of the church are.

[495] That's how I fail about it.

[496] So get right a check to Diocese of Tyler, Texas.

[497] Find out on the internet, just Google the diocese.

[498] There's an address there that you can send it to.

[499] And know that your money is going where your faith is.

[500] In other words, the deposit of faith is being proclaimed to these men.

[501] And think of this.

[502] This is something that always touches me when I reach out to young men as an older guy now thinking man these guys are going to be ordained god willing well beyond my death that the church is going to have these future priests like you're in your 60s bishop strickland some of these young priests are going to be ordained in your diocese probably going to your funeral i know i hate to say it but that's that's reasonable to think that that's life that's reality and that's what ultimately people need to remember yeah this life is short.

[503] Even if you live to be a hundred, that's not very long compared to eternity.

[504] And so we have this life to build ourselves, get strong enough to enter into eternity.

[505] And we only do that in Christ and in his truth.

[506] Well said.

[507] Now I'd like to ask the bishop, this is your first time on the show, folks, that you're listening.

[508] We always ask him to give us a blessing, especially praying for all the families.

[509] As St. John Paul too said, the way the family goes is the way the culture goes, could you give us your blessing, Bishop Strickland, please?

[510] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for everyone listening and participating in this radio program and all the families especially.

[511] Help us to see the good, the true, and the beautiful in every day, even as we face challenges and sometimes darkness.

[512] The good, the true, and the beautiful flows from you, and it will always draw us closer to you in the light of your son and the power of your spirit.

[513] May the Immaculate Virgin Mary intercede for all of us.

[514] And we ask this in the name of the Father, the Son of the Holy Spirit.

[515] Amen.

[516] Thank you so much, Bishop Strickland.

[517] Folks, you can go to our podcast at VMPR .org and listen to any of the Bishop Strickland Hour shows or the Terry and Jesse show or Jesus 9 -1 -1, practical apologetics.

[518] All of them are there.

[519] Pro -Life programming with Barbara McWiggin.

[520] Much more.

[521] Just go to VMPR .org.

[522] And I want to thank you for And I want to thank you for sharing the faith with your family and friends.

[523] May God richly bless your family.