01 Feb 22 – The Role of Bishop in the Catholic Church

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name is Terry Barber.

[2] And what we do is we go through Bishop Strickland's tweets.

[3] We use the catechism of the Catholic Church as a way to share the fullness of the truth in the Catholic faith.

[4] Bishop Strickland, thanks again for another hour of sharing God's word with people.

[5] Thanks, Terry.

[6] I love you.

[7] Well, I'm going to go right to the tweets that you've been sending.

[8] I love this tweet from St. Anthony the Great.

[9] I've got to look up when he lived, because I don't know.

[10] I would like to know when he said this, because the quote is apropos for our culture right now.

[11] He said, and you tweeted this, a time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, you are mad, you are not like us.

[12] Bishop Strickland, I believe that that time is now.

[13] Yeah, I'm afraid you're right, Terry.

[14] That's one reason I shared that because it's crazy times, and we just need to keep turning to the truth and recognizing that Jesus Christ is truth incarnate.

[15] Amen.

[16] As we've said before, truth has a face.

[17] Yes.

[18] And that's the face of Jesus.

[19] And I think that really is a great way to focus it with not getting complicated, not getting complicated, not getting all caught up in different agendas and ideologies, but just say, look to the person of Jesus Christ, look to his example, look to the church that he established, look to scripture, and look to the catechism.

[20] Well said, and that's why this show is so important, I believe, for the whole church.

[21] I don't know of another bishop, to be honest with you, that takes the catechism of the Catholic church and teaches the flock on a radio station.

[22] So I appreciate you doing that because I'm convinced that there's a lack of catechesis in the church.

[23] I repeat that over and over again because I experienced it over 40 years of sharing the gospel where people seem to not know the fundamentals of their faith.

[24] And this catechism is really very good for teaching on that.

[25] Bishop Strickland, I know you quoted Pope Emeritus Benedict the 16th, and this was a statement that I think really shocked to some people.

[26] I don't know why it would shock people because it's very clear, but he said this, not all issues have the same moral weight as abortion, euthanasia, there might be legitimate diversity of opinion, even among Catholics about waging war, applying the death penalty, but not with regard to abortion and euthanasia.

[27] Can you explain why this is really solid Catholic teaching?

[28] Well, I think what it gets to is the value of individual human life and certainly the just war theory that's talking about a very complex set of criteria that But you're going to have different judgments about that.

[29] The complication with the death penalty, I believe, is that it really depends on the system that is operating.

[30] And so I think that's what Pope Benedict was getting at with that.

[31] With abortion of unborn children and euthanasia, I think why that's so clear without getting into a deep ethical or philosophical, but just sort of looking at it with common sense, it's, you're dealing with making decisions about individual persons.

[32] With abortion and euthanasia, you've got a person there that we know is the truth.

[33] With an unborn child, there's a person there.

[34] From conception, there's a person there.

[35] And then with euthanasia, it's clearly there's no question that there's a person.

[36] Right.

[37] But then the language becomes the value of that person and the quality of life of that person.

[38] The reality is that you've got, in both cases, you've got individual persons that are alive and decisions are being made by society or by individuals that that life can be taken.

[39] And I think that a lot of what underpins that for me is, the individual issue.

[40] It's an individual life that clearly this person is alive and to take that life directly, innocent life as well.

[41] That's a common thread with both the unborn child and the person with, you know, the euthanasia issue with an individual person.

[42] There's no question of crime.

[43] there's no question of a lack of innocence.

[44] And even when innocence is not there, it's certainly something to be taken very seriously, but just the clarity of an innocent person, the most innocent being the child in the womb, and then the innocent elderly person or the paralyzed person or the handicapped person in some way, then it gets really shaky because we start talking about quality of life and making judgments that ultimately have to do with whether that person has the quality of life where they can be allowed to continue to live.

[45] And when quality of life approaches those questions, it becomes really problematic because it's a subjective judgment call.

[46] If the person is alive, they should be respected.

[47] And they should be supported in continuing to.

[48] to live until their natural death or, you know, something intervenes.

[49] But, you know, the quality of life issues are very dangerous because that becomes a subjective judgment.

[50] One person may judge that anyone other person's quality of life isn't very good.

[51] Right.

[52] But the only person that can judge that is the person that is living the life.

[53] And We have to support that individual and recognizing that as long as there's life, there's a God -given value.

[54] And I guess that's what it comes down to, Terry, is really recognizing that God is the creator of life.

[55] God holds our lives in his hands, and to intervene in that is problematic.

[56] Well said, and you know, it's nice to hear Catholic laymen, even government.

[57] I have a governor in California who's baptized a Catholic, and it's just on the opposite end.

[58] Governor Newsom is wanting to have California as the capital for abortions, and he even said it, I've got a mercy on his soul.

[59] He even said that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, he will make a huge effort to say, bring, you know, come to California to get your abortion, which is pretty sick.

[60] But Florida's...

[61] I've heard those reports.

[62] Yeah, they're true.

[63] Yeah.

[64] It's true.

[65] And really, Terry, I know that anyone who listens to us knows that probably very few episodes go by when we don't talk about the sanctity of the life of the unborn, but they haven't got a voice.

[66] So I'm...

[67] That's true.

[68] I feel blessed to be able into some small way to be their voice and to say, we deserve a life.

[69] And what occurs to me in reflecting on it, I'm sure both of us reflect on it constantly, but there are so many choices that are made long before there's a child in the womb that there should be no choice to exterminate that child, to take their life.

[70] Some people argue for that choice.

[71] Choices do need to be made.

[72] And I think that's the area where we really have to work as a church and as a society to really help children and young people as they come to know the sexual nature of their lives, that they understand that choices have to be made about how they live as sexual beings.

[73] And God has revealed to us that that's only moral and appropriate in the context of marriage.

[74] Sadly, in a lot of settings, what I just said would be laughed off the stage or laughed off the screen because so many people operate as if sex is just a personal choice between adults.

[75] It's a toy to be played with.

[76] It's anything but something that is part of God's plan and very limited to a man and a woman committed in marriage.

[77] I think that a lot of the ills in our society, the brokenness of family come down to not really emphasizing to young people as they are growing up.

[78] To really be aware, be very conscious of the decisions you make regarding your sexuality and the choice to live an active sexual life.

[79] Too many people are making that choice and then making the evil choice of killing a child that may result from that.

[80] We've got to encourage people to make choices long before there's a child.

[81] even to be considered for their own good, and not just for the protection of life of the unborn, which is absolutely critical, but even for the good life of those young people that are so taught by modern culture that having a promiscuous sexual activity in your life is perfectly fine.

[82] It's encouraged.

[83] They joke about it.

[84] But instead, to recognize that is, not a path of fulfillment and happiness.

[85] And we just have to keep teaching people that.

[86] And the church hasn't done it adequately.

[87] And certainly modern society hasn't done it adequately.

[88] Well said, when we come back, we're going to talk about a couple of states that are protecting the unborn.

[89] And we're going to have you open up your catechism because Bishop Strickland in a tweet is urging Catholics do just that.

[90] Stay with us, Stanley.

[91] We'll be right back to this short break.

[92] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[93] We've been talking about defending life and the innocent.

[94] And yes, every week we talk about that because it needs to be talked about.

[95] I just think it's exciting that the Nebraska governor declared statewide of prayer to end abortion on the January 22nd, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

[96] I would ask all of our listeners to keep that intention.

[97] top of their list because by the end of June the Supreme Court should have a decision on this and we want to pray for our church and for our country that we will defend life also Florida their legislation advanced a 15 -week abortion ban supported by again a Catholic governor Bishop Strickland I got to blame you Texans for all this work because Texas did the heartbeat bill and it seems that everybody's in a pro -life other state is emulating the Texans so thank you very much bishop strickland well we'll take all the blame on that that we can get exactly we need to to lead the way yeah all of us and and i'm glad that we are doing that in texas just to acknowledge there is a heartbeat that's right and that no one has the right to terminate that heartbeat yep bishop strickland you give advice and this is your like your spiritual fitness trainer i i i this is a tuesday and i don't know if anybody has the Roman Missile, but in that Roman Missal, each day of the week is dedicated, like Monday is for the poor souls in purgatory.

[98] Tuesday is dedicated to the guardian angels.

[99] So I've been making a point whenever I'm on the radio telling people, focus on those days, like St. Joseph is tomorrow, Wednesday's, Thursday's the Holy Eucharist, the Passion is Friday, the Blessed Mother is Saturday, you know, the Holy Trinity is Sunday.

[100] This is what goes in my mind, and I want to encourage you to have that holy thought because I was taught that.

[101] So today, guardian angels, well, the unemployment rate for guardian angels is way too high.

[102] Let's put them to work.

[103] So that's a focus for today.

[104] Every Tuesday, make a special effort every day, but especially Tuesday to collaborate with your angel.

[105] Bishop Strickland, you were advising people to study the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 66 and 67.

[106] And you talk about public, revelation ended with Jesus.

[107] This is the teachings of the church.

[108] And you said any contrary claim of private revelation is measured against the fullness of truth revealed in Jesus Christ.

[109] Do you mind if I read that paragraph 66 and then you can comment?

[110] All right?

[111] Please do.

[112] I'll do it.

[113] Paragraph 66 in the catechism of the Catholic Church.

[114] The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive covenant will never pass away, and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[115] Yet even if revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit.

[116] It remains for Christians' faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of centuries.

[117] I'm ready.

[118] Well, really, it just emphasizes what is also called the Deposit of Faith.

[119] That is public revelation.

[120] And like we were saying a moment ago, Jesus Christ is that public revelation.

[121] That's why it ends with him.

[122] And even as I've talked about this, people sometimes are not as clear.

[123] because the, as they correctly say, well, the Gospels were written after Jesus already had returned to the Father.

[124] I mean, and that's a great point.

[125] Jesus was with us for approximately 33 years.

[126] He died on the cross.

[127] He rose from the dead.

[128] He ascended to the Father, where he is seated now at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.

[129] And the The New Testament was none of the New Testament existed when Jesus returned to the Father.

[130] So it people question, well, wait a minute.

[131] The public revelation continued.

[132] But really, if we understand the New Testament, it's not, it's, it's only reflecting on the fullness of revelation that is Jesus Christ.

[133] It's telling his story.

[134] And then the letters of Paul continuing to talk about the message of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior and His Lord and Savior.

[135] So what the church came to very quickly as she began to develop was an understanding that God had completely revealed himself in his son, Jesus Christ.

[136] He is the fullness of revelation.

[137] And so in the way this paragraph 66 speaks of it, it's like getting to know a person.

[138] And I think that's a beautiful way to frame it.

[139] Oh, yeah.

[140] Jesus Christ, a real human being also fully God, fully God, fully man, but a real person that we can continue to get to know more deeply because he is the incarnate son of God, the mystery of God incarnate among us.

[141] And so we can literally say, we will never come to the end of the mystery of Christ.

[142] And so human history will continue to unfold with all of us continuing to more explicitly, using the language of the catechism, more explicitly know him.

[143] But it's him that we're called to know Jesus Christ.

[144] And the next paragraph that we can get into is really, in a sense, with a universal call to holiness that Gaudium at Spez speaks of, the Second Vatican Council, it really is a reminder that all of us can continue to grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ.

[145] All of us are called, in that sense, to be mystics.

[146] I always say that I haven't had any mystical experiences.

[147] I haven't seen an apparition or heard an allocution or or any of that.

[148] But in prayer, we're all called to, in some way, be mystical, to know the mystery of Christ in a mystical way.

[149] In receiving him in the Eucharist, we need to reflect deeply on exactly what is happening, that we are receiving the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ into us, to nurture us, to be that daily bread, that heavenly bread, that heavenly food, that nurtures that heavenly aspect of who we are, even in this life.

[150] Even as we're living in this very mortal world, we're called to immortality.

[151] And so this paragraph 66 is really speaking of the glorious revelation of who God is and who we are called to be as his children.

[152] Right.

[153] Very good.

[154] And you did say paragraph 67 covers this.

[155] Throughout the ages, there has been so -called private revelation, some of which has been recognized by the authority of the church.

[156] They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith.

[157] It is not their role to improve or to complete Christ's definitive revelation, but to help live more fully by a certain period of history, guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sense of fidelity, knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations, whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the church.

[158] And then it adds Christian faith cannot accept revelations that claim to suppress or correct the revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as in the case of certain non -Christian religions, also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such revelations.

[159] I'm glad that was put in because even in my own lifetime I've heard about revelations that change what you know it's a false apparition if it's not consistent with the magisterium of the church your thoughts about paragraph 67 bishop strickland well terry as you said in that that second paragraph of 67 i think the key words or any revelation that claims to surpass or correct the revelation of which christ is the fulfillment is simply declared to be wrong by the church.

[160] It's compared to the deposit of faith.

[161] It's compared to the fullness of revelation that is Jesus Christ.

[162] And if it surpasses in some way or attempts to correct that revelation, then it has to be rejected as wrong.

[163] That's what the church has done through the ages in navigating a lot of heresies and a lot of controversies, especially in the early church.

[164] The deposit of faith was not the solid understanding that we have come to to know and that is captured in the catechism there were i mean the area and controversy oh man the majority of the church understanding of false understanding of who christ is yep well said bishop strickland this is something that i really appreciate you tweeting about when what i would consider good solid priest are condemned for doing something that really isn't wrong or undermining the church.

[165] It's being real.

[166] It's telling your superiors really their concerns.

[167] And Father Bus wrote a letter in Chicago to his cardinal, and he got in trouble for it.

[168] And I've read the letter, and I think people can, you know, go to complicity.

[169] clergy .com to read it, but you tweeted this, that you re -read Father Buss's letter, and you said, I see nothing disrespectful in the tone or in his actual words.

[170] It is a heartfelt cry.

[171] That's a good way of describing it, from a priest who is hurting deeply and speaks for many, many others.

[172] He should be comforted rather than being disciplined.

[173] Bishop Strickland, before you act on that, my friends who are priests, they tell me that the bishop, but you correct me if I'm wrong, the bishop is supposed to be the spiritual father for the priests and the diocese.

[174] That he's supposed to build them up and if they need to be corrected, to correct him.

[175] But if you're a spiritual father who's building them up and trying to, you know, confirm them in their priesthood when they do things good or correct them when they did something wrong.

[176] The priests that I talk to, like this priest here, feel like they're being undermined by their spiritual fathers, and it's not leading them to a closer relationship with Christ.

[177] I'm sorry, but that's what I hear for years from my clergy friends, and they feel like the bishop has not supported them in their proclaiming what I call a deposit of faith.

[178] Well, Terry, I think it is an issue that we have to pay attention.

[179] to.

[180] I get criticized for speaking out, but just like the voiceless unborn, sometimes the priests don't have a voice.

[181] And I don't claim to know the direct circumstances.

[182] But as I tried to say in the tweet, I read the letter.

[183] I didn't see it as disrespectful or threatening in any way.

[184] Certainly, we can respectfully disagree with points that are made.

[185] But To call it disrespectful, I just, I think we have to recognize that we need to speak up in those issues, I believe.

[186] And like you said, every bishop is supposed to be the spiritual father of the priest that he serves with.

[187] Amen.

[188] We'll have more with Bishop Strickland Hour right after a quick break.

[189] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[190] I have a tweet from Bishop Strickland.

[191] I actually know Father Billy from St. Henry's parish in Buckeye, Arizona.

[192] We've had them many times on our radio show.

[193] He's a late vocation.

[194] As a fact, if you go to our archives, when you hear his conversion, he worked for the Peace Corps, and he has a story being on a bus when he saw an injustice take place.

[195] It was part of how he said, you know what, I'm going to help people.

[196] I'm going to, I think I'm going to call to a Catholic priest, and he went to the seminary after working with the Peace Corps.

[197] And he's a a very straight -talking Catholic priest, and Bishop Strickland, you actually tweeted his talk.

[198] You said, this is you again.

[199] I mean, none of us are perfect.

[200] We're all repenting of our own sins and saying that we need to do better, because if you can't say you can do better, then you're probably not doing very good.

[201] You said, I must be the first to confess my shame at the truth that this priest preaches.

[202] I have not done enough.

[203] the evil snow of abortion continues to blanket our nation in the world and then you said watch this and let us resolve to do more for the innocent tell us exactly what you liked about Father Billy and what he said that you think it would be good for people to see what he has to say well he had a lot of good things to say but I guess what really struck a chord with me was his comparison, which we've all heard many times before, but his comparison to Nazi Germany.

[204] Yeah.

[205] And him asking himself as a young man, how did that happen?

[206] How did people turn a blind eye to what they must have known was something at least that needed some investigation if it wasn't totally obvious that it was an atrocity being committed just in their neighborhood or in the area where they lived.

[207] So I think that he made a very strong point, and we just have to be stronger, and that's why I said, I haven't done enough.

[208] I try to speak up, but we just have to continue to convert hearts, and that happens when good people recognize, that evil is happening and we speak up and we say this can't continue we I think there are multiple areas where we are called to do that but always the very first place is to speak up for the unborn and the ways that they are treated as a commodity treated as not human of disposed of at a whim sometimes and there's the thing is that real compassion is never going to as I think I said in that tweet or I know I've said before but murder is never the solution no and it is murder it is taking of innocent life and we need to just continue to help people understand that so that we can get busy with taking care of all the ways that people are not respected in other ways in our society.

[209] Bishop Strickland, you don't go a show without talking about pro -life, I get it, or the Eucharist or our Blessed Mother, and I appreciate that because that's the fundamentals of our faith.

[210] You have a tweet here, it says, as we seek our very necessary Eucharistic revival, we must recognize that a priestly revival is essential as well.

[211] The scandalous acts of a few priests have tarnished the priest, priesthood, but the priesthood must still be held in great esteem because these men bring Jesus in the Eucharist.

[212] Now, we can't have a church, I'd like to tell the German church that, without the priesthood, because we have to have the Eucharist.

[213] And I just want to throw something at you, and then you give me your point.

[214] It seems to me that holy priest, holy people, if we can get the priest to have reverence for the blessed sacrament, I remember, remember as a child the reverence that father had for holy communion and for say in the mass and we were silent in the church we couldn't you know just talk like we were in a hall he made it very special what we were doing there and as i grew in my faith that was inculcated into my faith reverence and it seems that i'm just going to make a suggestion and you correct me that maybe as part of the formation for seminarians they should read the full document of the same Second Vatican Council on the liturgy because I make a joke when I say, will the real Vatican 2 please stand up?

[215] Because when I read the document of Vatican 2 and then I see what's going on, I go, why don't we just go back to the Vatican 2 document and implement that?

[216] And I think that would help the revival of the church.

[217] Am I on to something?

[218] I believe you are, Terry, something vital to the church.

[219] And I was just talking with one of our young priests, today.

[220] And it just occurred to me in our conversation that we're really, with all the controversy about the Latin Mass, we have the Latin Mass that was, I guess, more or less the same from Trent until the early 1960s with the Vatican Council.

[221] Then, so that's, you could say, phase one, then you have actually what the documents of Vatican II talked about with the liturgy.

[222] And then after Vatican II, the documents were written, Sacrosanctum Conchilium, one of the primary ones that talks about the mass and the Eucharistic liturgy.

[223] Then you have a lot of experimentation, and you end up with basically the mass that I grew up.

[224] up with that I was formed with in the seminary.

[225] And like you said, we sort of jumped from what did the Vatican documents really say to what began to be experimented with.

[226] And a lot of changes happen.

[227] I mean, the Vatican two documents say that Latin should be preserved.

[228] They are in black and white.

[229] Latin should be preserved.

[230] It said there should be the vernacular.

[231] but Latin should be preserved.

[232] It talked about continuing to have Gregorian chant.

[233] So going back to the documents, I think, is something we really need to do.

[234] There's a lot of controversy about the Second Vatican Council.

[235] And I've always said that it is a council of the church.

[236] Amen.

[237] Of course, we support it and we believe in what the documents say.

[238] But there was a lot of experience.

[239] in those years when I was a kid and the years preceding when I entered the seminary in 1977.

[240] And I remember hearing about some of that, even as a young kid in a rural missionary parish, some of those things about using different things than bread and wine for the Eucharist and all sorts of questions were raised.

[241] That time of experimentation, I think, honestly, did some damage because some things got experimented with that weren't as clearly rejected as they should have been.

[242] There was a real focus, and it seems to be very strong, even in the church now in 2022, that the mass is about the gathering of the people.

[243] And really, if we look at what the mass is, it's Christ offering to God the Father.

[244] And that's what we need to refocus on.

[245] Absolutely, the people are gathered, and they are there to fully and actively participate.

[246] But I think that's one of the key phrases that is used in the documents, but it got misinterpreted, experimented with so that it began to mean the people are all about all this activity.

[247] Full and active participation is, I think, something we need to really study.

[248] anew, and I believe it really is getting at recognizing what we were talking about earlier, that personal call to holiness to everyone that is there.

[249] I think what the council was trying to do is to overcome this idea that, oh, the holy people, the priest and deacon, and maybe the women religious, the nuns, the brothers are there close to the altar.

[250] They're the holy people.

[251] And we're just, the rest of the baptized are all just spectators.

[252] Full and active participation, I believe, was about recognizing that everyone should be deeply engaged in this wondrous mystery that, yes, the priest is presiding over.

[253] And as you just pointed out, we must have the priest in order to have the presider at the mass. That was kind of experimented with, where priests would go out and sit.

[254] in the congregation.

[255] Thankfully, that, at least in my experience, that never really took off and became something that was normally practiced, but it did get experimented with.

[256] Some people would argue for that today, but if we really understand the great mystery, and frankly, the fruit of a lot of the experimentation, I think we have to acknowledge is a vast percentage of Catholics that don't even believe in the real presence, don't believe that bread and wine become the body and blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.

[257] And if we lose Christ's presence in the Eucharist, which we will never lose because he's really there, but the more that gets diminished and fewer and fewer Catholics really embrace that, it makes me think of the prediction of at that point, I think it was still just father, Rod Singer.

[258] I think it was in 1969.

[259] I just saw that recently.

[260] Yes.

[261] Radio interview?

[262] His quote that he said the church would be much smaller and there would be fewer priests.

[263] That's right.

[264] We seem to be headed in that direction.

[265] Yeah, I agree.

[266] Yeah, I've played that quote on our air many times because I think it is true.

[267] And I thank you for that clarity because Abbott Bonifist, Luke, who was an abbot in a Ukrainian monastery in 1993.

[268] I had the opportunity to record three hours.

[269] And the reason I recorded this is he was at Vatican II counsel.

[270] And he was working with Archbishop Bunini before the council, during the council, and after the council.

[271] So I thought, well, he's the last living father of Vatican II other than Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger.

[272] Well, when we come back from the break, I'm going to tell you what he said in regards to the implementation of the Vatican 2 document, and you'll be surprised in what he said, not me or not even Bishop Strickland, but someone who worked on these documents has something to say about the implementation and how it went south when it should have gone north.

[273] More with the Bishop Strickland hour after a quick break on Virgin Most Power Radio.

[274] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland hour I made a promise about Abbott Boniface I want to say this First of all, his summary of three hours is this That it wasn't implemented well It wasn't he said Most of the guys that are dead would be turning in their graves If they saw how it was implemented And he named a bunch of things that shouldn't have happened But I'm going to give it away, Bishop Strickland All's you have to do with people is go to VMPR actually call this number, 87752621, and they'll have a download of that three -hour interview.

[275] I remember when I did it, even the Vatican called in an order.

[276] They wanted to hear what he had to say, so it was pretty amazing.

[277] So I'll give that away.

[278] Do you want to make a donation great?

[279] Bishop Strickland, we just celebrated one of the great saints of the laity, St. Francis DeSales.

[280] He was a great, great saint right at the time of the Reformation, introduction to devout life.

[281] I put it on cassette tape 30, 40 years ago because it's such a good book.

[282] You tweeted this that he said, to grow in holiness.

[283] You just talked about the universal call to holiness.

[284] It seems like this is a good time to bring it up.

[285] That's the second Vatican Council's clarion call for holiness, not just the priest or the sisters, but everyone.

[286] He said this, and this is an introduction to about life, this is great advice.

[287] Do everything calmly and peacefully.

[288] I need to hear that.

[289] Do as much as you can as well as you can.

[290] Strive to see God in all things without exception and consent to his will joyfully.

[291] Do everything for God, uniting yourself to him in word indeed.

[292] walk very simply with the cross of the Lord and be at peace with yourself.

[293] Bishop Strickland, we live in a world right now where fear is rampant with the COVID, with the threat of war in the Ukraine.

[294] People are on their edges.

[295] Seems to me that this might be a good little thing to put in your medicine cabinet window when you go to use your bathroom up there, have this little saying to grow in holiness and read that every day.

[296] what are your I mean obviously you liked his comments but wouldn't this be good for our culture absolutely um to know christ is to know his peace to know his hope and uh you know as saint francis de sales was a um a great bishop and uh spiritual writer that um it was interesting I read something that I hadn't known before, but that really introduction to the devout life came from his letters, basically, to a spiritual directee.

[297] And it was finally compiled into a book.

[298] And I think it's just a reminder that with all the fear and the confusion in the world, we have the answer, we have truth.

[299] incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ, as I like to say, truth has a face.

[300] And to know that he's present, really present in the Eucharist, that's the best formula that I can give people to allay their fears, to be more calm, to be more at peace, and, you know, to trust in God's will.

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

[302] If we will embrace it, all the mystics indicate that, I mean, St. Faustina, especially in divine mercy, God's mercy is abundant.

[303] He's just longing for us to wake up enough to his truth, to do our best, to repent of our sins.

[304] We don't have to, he'll perfect us.

[305] We have to seek that perfection, but we have to open our hearts and say, say the fiat that the Blessed Virgin Mary said.

[306] So everything that St. Francis DeSales speaks of is about that universal call to holiness that we were talking about earlier.

[307] Well said.

[308] And Bishop Strickland, I know that you've been tweeting, you got a good tweet for Pope Francis, and I did the same thing when I heard that he talked about pets and how people are having pets and they're not having children.

[309] I thought that was brilliant for him to say all that because I see it right here at our chapel.

[310] We've got people walking their dog and the dogs that can't walk during baby strollers, not babies, but the little dogs.

[311] I mean, I see it almost on a daily basis out here.

[312] And so what Pope Francis said was, you know, he basically said that this is in a general audience that stop having pets in your laps and have babies.

[313] And I thought that was a good message for the church today.

[314] Is that why you sent it out?

[315] Yeah, I agree, because there is that culture, certainly animals are a beautiful gift from God.

[316] And I love pets, but they should not take the place of children.

[317] And too often they do in our modern society, people that could easily.

[318] afford to have children, choose to just have pets, and then lavish things on them as if they were children.

[319] It really isn't healthy, much less the right thing to do.

[320] And I like the way you said, thank you, Holy Father, for this clarity.

[321] And that's pretty much what I'm looking for the Pope to confirm us in our faith.

[322] And that is a statement that confirmed me in my faith, that children are always more important than pets.

[323] Thank you for that.

[324] Bishop Strickland, you have a tweet here.

[325] He said, important.

[326] The West needs to remember that our bishops do not derive their authority from the Pope.

[327] They are not the Vatican's regional managers.

[328] I like that statement.

[329] They are successors to the apostles in their own right.

[330] They have their own teaching authority.

[331] They are shepherds of their sheep.

[332] Could you explain the role of whether you're the bishop of Tyler or the bishop of Tucson, Arizona, or that your authority is in that diocese and that's what you're shepherding.

[333] Is that a fair statement to say that that's, you know, really what your job is as a shepherd for that diocese and that you have to make those decisions as a shepherd for your flock and not really be, and what I'm just asking the question, when you said that, you know, you don't derive your authority, you have authority that when you were ordained as a bishop, can you explain your authority in the diocese of your own, of Tyler?

[334] Yeah, absolutely.

[335] It's authority that comes from God.

[336] I mean, that's how the church is structured.

[337] And in my understanding, the greatest respect for the Roman pontiff, the Petrine Office, is to do my best to, to be responsible for the authority that I've been given.

[338] Yeah.

[339] That quote comes from a great article that I tweeted separately that talks about the importance of understanding the role of the Pope.

[340] And he has a tremendous responsibility and does call for respect and obedience to the Petron office, but always with the proper balance of understanding the role.

[341] of the local bishop.

[342] And I think there's been a lot of blurring of that, and that's basically was the point of the article that I tweeted, was the idea that the Pope is really answering all the questions.

[343] I mean, the deposit of faith is there to guide us in the basic questions of how we our lives.

[344] And the individual bishop, I have the authority and the responsibility to shepherd the flock in the 33 counties that make up the diocese of Tyler.

[345] The article points out that the Pope has the authority to name bishops.

[346] And once that happens, then it's really divine authority.

[347] I have to look to Christ to his truth, like we were talking about.

[348] before.

[349] When we come to know Jesus Christ, we're coming to know truth incarnate.

[350] And it's my obligation to know Christ more and more deeply and to be guided by the truth of the catechism, the Word of God, the deposit of faith to help guide the people in my flock to recognize the sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage, the sanctity of every person, the value of every human life and the basic values that should guide us.

[351] Yes, it's my responsibility to do that.

[352] And so a proper understanding of that, I think, is the greatest respect that we can give to the Pope who sits in the chair of Peter at any given time.

[353] Well, said, I always think of courage is contagious.

[354] When our leaders have courage, like yourself speaking up for the deposit of faith, Bishop Strickland, it gives myself and our listeners courage to say, hey, I can stand up too, because look what our leaders are doing.

[355] And I think of that quote, I think it's Campion who said it, when good men do nothing, evil abounds.

[356] And the point of it is, is our leadership and our church should inspire us as lay people, this is my take, to stand up for Jesus.

[357] This is the stand -up for Jesus moment in the church because I know I said this last week, but who's influencing who?

[358] Is the church influencing the world to bring them to Christ?

[359] Or is the world influencing the church to bring them to a worldly view?

[360] My take on it right now, Bishop Strickland, is we've got too much influence in the world inside the church.

[361] And I think what I'm looking for as a layman is strong leadership like yourself where you don't have your personal opinion it's all about the deposit of faith that you're laying out for us and in teachings.

[362] One more thought.

[363] I think you're going to be seeing your seminarians.

[364] I think I heard you say that before the show.

[365] I wanted to bring up last week if people could support your seminarians financially.

[366] I would like people to go to the diocese of Tyler and make a donation there because you've got quite a few seminarians for a small, small diocese.

[367] and financially it takes money to form these priests.

[368] So, Bishop Strickman, can you tell us how people can help with the funding of your seminarians?

[369] Well, sure, Terry.

[370] I mean, we can certainly accept any donation that people want to send to us.

[371] The people of the diocese, as I said last week, are very generous.

[372] But thankfully, we have, we're maxim.

[373] out.

[374] And we have more men that are interested.

[375] So if people hear this and are inclined to help from wherever they're hearing it, certainly we would be glad to accept that support.

[376] Awesome.

[377] And I'm right there behind you, Bishop Strickland.

[378] Let's get a final blessing for all of us.

[379] And hopefully next week we'll do this again, God willing.

[380] So if you could give us a blessing to our listenership.

[381] Almighty God, we ask your blessing for everyone participating and to this program that we may all be guided by the wondrous truth that is incarnate among the beast of Christ.

[382] Amen.

[383] Folks, you can listen to all the podcasts on Virgin Most Powerful Radio from Bishop Strickland and all the other shows.

[384] And we look forward to doing this again next week on the same time, same station.

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

[386] This is Terry Barber with Virgin Most Powerful Radio, saying, have a great week.

[387] God love you.

[388] Thank you.