17 Jan 24 – Cardinal Pell Inspired Bishop Strickland

[0] Welcome to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[1] My name is Terry Barber with Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[2] And I always get fired up when I talk about the Catholic faith with the successor of the Apostle.

[3] Anyone.

[4] It doesn't necessarily be Bishop Strickland, but I realize that my faith is apostolic.

[5] You know, that I can find out who ordained Bishop Strickland.

[6] Then I can go find out who that was, who ordained him.

[7] And I can link it all the way back to 2000.

[8] years.

[9] That's something that as a young person, I remember finding it very reassuring that our church has apostolic roots.

[10] So, Bishop Strickland, thanks again for another hour here for taking the time out of your busy schedule.

[11] So welcome.

[12] Thanks, Terry.

[13] Thank you.

[14] I wanted to bring up a topic that Cardinal Pell, he passed away just about a year ago, and he's been on our program with you.

[15] And I I think it was right after he got out of prison.

[16] Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was my recollection.

[17] And he talked a little bit about his ordeal.

[18] And he fought the case and won it.

[19] You know, so he's, they accused him of some mismanagement of sexual nature.

[20] And it was found that it was, you know, not true.

[21] But he spent over a year in prison for it.

[22] And this is a man who has really, I know him back, I think it was 1996.

[23] I thought about it because I had to ask a couple of my kids where I had four little kids at the time and they were in a 15 passenger van with Cardinal Pell.

[24] He was the Archbishop of Melbourne and we were taking him around Southern California to the Getty Museum and different places.

[25] And I had to tell the story.

[26] This is the man who had my, and I got to think about this.

[27] We're in America.

[28] He's got my six -year -old daughter in his lap, right?

[29] and we're singing American folk songs while I'm driving down the freeway.

[30] Now, Father, Bishop Strickland, we have seatbelt loss.

[31] You know, we have all these things, you know, all this stuff.

[32] And we're just having a grand old time.

[33] I didn't say a word.

[34] I said, you know what?

[35] My kids are having a great time with this Archbishop.

[36] And he's like, he has a similar approach because I've seen you with young people.

[37] They connect with you as you have interest in them.

[38] And you're willing to engage with them.

[39] That's what Archbishop Pell did in 1996, and that's how I met him, and we became friends.

[40] And so the reason is because Father Fesio asked me to, he said, his friend Cardinal Pell, Archbishop Pell needed a date in L .A., and he wanted to see the sights.

[41] And he said, well, Mr. Barber would be happy to do that, and he was right, I was.

[42] But I bring this up because his life, you know, he was a football player, a rugby player.

[43] He's a big dude.

[44] He's six foot four, rough and tough.

[45] And, you know, he became a Catholic priest, obviously, and a spokesman for truth.

[46] I remember watching him on TV shows on YouTube with controversial topics, whether it was homosexuality or women priests.

[47] And he never budged, and he was calm about it.

[48] And they would attack him, and he would just refute them with the truth and what the gospel teaches.

[49] and it didn't seem like he was rattled.

[50] And I wanted to get your take because you met him via the radio.

[51] Maybe you met him in person.

[52] Did you meet him in person?

[53] No, I never had the chance to meet him in person, but I did have a couple of Zoom kind of sessions where I had a chance to have a conversation with him.

[54] Good.

[55] And of course, you know, the Australia connection is significant because I'm sure I've mentioned here that my mother was from Sydney, Australia.

[56] He ended up the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney toward the end of his life.

[57] So, yeah, Cardinal Pell, a great man of the church, just a great man, and very kind of unflappable in speaking the truth of the church.

[58] He did his best to tackle some of the financial corruption, and that ultimately is what got him with false accusations, spending time in prison, not because of any financial, but they used a smoke screen to say, oh, he did this abuse that I was really pleased that the court ultimately said that this was absurd what he was accused of.

[59] And it's even more absurd that he ended up spending, I think, 17 months in prison this absurd allegation against him.

[60] But thankfully, toward the end of his life, he was freed, and he wrote, I haven't had a chance to read his letters from prison, but I understand that they're very significant.

[61] And I remember in our conversation with him, he talked about his experience with the guards and how kind they were and how much he appreciated their humanity.

[62] Yeah.

[63] And that really struck me that here's this man rather than being bitter about being, falsely accused and falsely imprisoned for more than a year, here he is, kind of like you said earlier.

[64] I mean, you know, the guards were not children, but he was open to them.

[65] He saw their humanity.

[66] He appreciated their humanity toward him.

[67] And I'm sure that a lot of that was because he treated them as human beings and treated them as valuable and worthwhile children of God.

[68] I mean, that reciprocal back and forth doesn't always happen, but it's certainly, that's what we're called to do as Christians, as we seek to model our lives on Jesus Christ, to treat people with respect to recognize their innate value.

[69] And I think that the Cardinal Pell really was a great example of that.

[70] You know, Bishop Strickland, Father Robert Seriki, Serico, from the Acton Institute, who I'm a big fan of.

[71] He did a, he's done work with the Cardinal Pell for years.

[72] He said, ask yourself, how many other people in the church have taken on the homosexual lobby, the climate change, tixters, you know, the people, he takes them all on.

[73] Cardinal Pell did.

[74] And all of it, he said, the pastoral personalities of many priests and bishops seen preconditioned to avoid things that clash, cause debate, or conflict.

[75] Pell was a dramatic exception.

[76] And you know what I'm going to say, Bishop Strangler?

[77] Maybe I'm wrong.

[78] But I know if he's inspired me, my question to you as a bishop, when you hear Cardinal Pell doing these things, did it empower you or did it just say, oh, well, that's fine.

[79] What impression did Cardinal Pell have on your life as a bishop?

[80] Oh, he inspired me to really know that what I try to do.

[81] We've got to speak the truth with charity and clarity and not let anyone silence the truth of Christ.

[82] It's not about an individual being silenced.

[83] It's about the truth that Christ lived, died, and rose to share with us.

[84] It's about that truth being silenced or distorted.

[85] And so he truly did inspire me. And I know that he inspired a lot of people.

[86] Yeah.

[87] He did.

[88] And, you know, before his death he had written a letter that was prophetic and you know it was an untimely death but you know what you can't really say that because god from all eternity called him home but i would i would ask our listeners to say a prayer for him because we don't know if he's in heaven a year later and i can guarantee you knowing what i know of him he would he would ask you right now to have a mass offered for him and let's be honest if he is in heaven and you offer that mass for him our catholic fate says it's going to go to the next person who's in need in purgatory.

[89] So I don't think he would mind me asking our listeners to pray for the repose of Cardinal Pell.

[90] Absolutely.

[91] All right.

[92] Before we move on, which we're going to move on to the catechism, I just wanted to mention something you tweeted because I didn't get it in the last week.

[93] And that was, you said second book of Maccabees Chapter 6, verse 18 to 31, the martyrdom of Elizar.

[94] Elizar was 90 years old.

[95] Okay, I'm 67 now.

[96] 90 years old, that's an old man. But he was willing to die rather than defile the laws of his Jewish faith.

[97] You point out in your tweet, his story gives us an example of disciples of every age.

[98] And then you said, let us be like Elizar and simply say no to anything that's contrary to the faith.

[99] Amen to that.

[100] It seems like especially today.

[101] Yeah.

[102] Well, that's why I shared that because that story in Second Maccabees is very inspiring.

[103] And it was written in the book of Maccabees because I'm sure that the Jewish faithful that knew of the story of Elie Azar were inspired by this man who was, and said very clearly.

[104] You know, because they're, I mean, you might say, well, it's just a matter of pretending to eat a little meat and, you know, placating the rulers, but he knew that it would be bad example.

[105] I mean, that's what our faith would teach us.

[106] So, and we need that kind of inspiration.

[107] We need people like Elie Azar who remind us nothing supersedes the value of being faithful to God, especially, and we've said it many times, I mean, we're both in our 60s, and that I can say, and I know you say the same thing, part of the realization that we have, a good part of our life is behind us.

[108] We don't know how much, nobody knows how much is ahead of them, but, you know, younger people in their 20s and 30s, they assume they have a lifetime ahead, which hopefully they do.

[109] But a lot of our lifetime is in the rear view mirror, but that.

[110] We need to remember that, and I think Cardinal Pell was another example of what Elie Azar did.

[111] He, he in his last years, was very strong and very focused on sharing the truth and being willing to take the hits for sharing the truth and standing for that truth.

[112] So it's really a perennial, ageless call that we have.

[113] And, you know, we pray that not just because a person's old doesn't mean they're wise, but we need to pray for that wisdom.

[114] Well, Sam, we come back.

[115] I got another inspirational story to share with you.

[116] Stay with us.

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

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

[119] Welcome back to the Bishop Strickland Hour.

[120] Yes, I chew gum and I walk at the same time.

[121] Bishop Strickland, that's a great story that you just told us and it's inspiring from the Old Testament and I want to give another story that you tweeted.

[122] I love hearing about young people engaged in the faith because you know you think about I mean statistically this is a bad statistic 87 % of kids that by the time they're 23 are not practicing their Catholic faith that's horrendous we got to knock that off we got to stop that Well, I'm saying I'm proud to know Curtis Martin with the Catholic students that he's running out there.

[123] He's got it all over the country at colleges, and he used to record my Scott Hahn recordings at Stumonville in the, I think, 1990.

[124] And now he's running the students program that gets people involved in their faith.

[125] They had 20 ,000 Catholic students singing to Salve Regina.

[126] Gina, I saw it.

[127] I think I listened to it two or three times because it was so inspiring.

[128] And you tweeted about it.

[129] Are you, the reason you tweeted it, is that the same reason you were inspired by it?

[130] Absolutely.

[131] And I've had the chance in the past, not that larger crowd.

[132] Yeah.

[133] But I had the chance to celebrate mass for the focus group in their gathering.

[134] And it's so inspiring to see the numbers, but also to hear.

[135] young people who, you know, frankly, know the Solveira, Gina to be able to sing it.

[136] And to hear these young voices raised up in worship and song, I mean, it's very inspiring to celebrate mass as a priest where too often in a parish setting, you know, you say the Lord be with you and you kind of go and with, you know, sort of a, you know, not so enthusiastic.

[137] But to have, you know, 10 ,000, it was about 10 ,000 when I was there.

[138] Wow.

[139] But to have 10 ,000 young people responding.

[140] And, I mean, the Second Vatican Council talked about to be engaged in the mass, full and active participation.

[141] That's what it's about.

[142] And so it is inspiring to see young people.

[143] And I think we always have to remember that, that there are many good stories.

[144] out there.

[145] There are many faithful families and faithful people and faithful young people like the story that I told, I mean, he's not one of the young people any longbirth.

[146] He was a young person that, you know, had this moment of really conversion.

[147] Yeah.

[148] And became a really strong Catholic.

[149] We need to celebrate that.

[150] We need to always remember, yeah, there's darkness and there's there's division and there's confusion.

[151] We need to do our best to eliminate all of that because it harms people.

[152] That's right.

[153] But one of the positive things that we can do is always remember the good things.

[154] I mean, things like Focus that continues to grow.

[155] That's so important campus ministry for young people that are looking for connections and that beautiful ministries of some of the, I mean, we're blessed in Texas to have Texas A &M with a, I was able to go recently in the fall of this past year to the dedication of St. Mary's.

[156] A beautiful church holds 1 ,700 people.

[157] Wow.

[158] And it gets filled on the campus there of Texas A &M University, the Aggies there at College Station, Texas.

[159] We need to highlight those.

[160] stories of inspiration in the young people, young men going into seminaries, women going into the convent.

[161] I mean, there are some great stories that even in the midst of all the confusion and all the, like you said, what, 23 -year -olds that are walking away from their faith.

[162] There are others that are deeply inspired to live their faith.

[163] And we need to support them and highlight that, hopefully inspiring those that may be kind of weakening to get stronger and to get more committed to Christ.

[164] Yes.

[165] You know, storytelling, over the past 44 years of putting out Bishop Sheen's life is worth living, and then Dr. Scott Hahn and all the other ones we've been recording, 30 million recordings around the world.

[166] I think of a young man who I met from South Korea at church, and I ended up hiring him to replicate cassette tapes, and he ended up joining the Carthusians.

[167] Now, Bishop Strickland, the Carthusians are tough.

[168] I mean, they're the order that's never been reformed in the entire church.

[169] And I saw their schedule, man. It's not easy.

[170] So he ends up joining, you know, the order out of right from working with us, and he's now Father Superior.

[171] In about two months ago, maybe I told you this, a young man who worked for me also here at St. Joseph Communications and this was like oh gosh six months ago he ended up going into the Norbertine order well he found out that wasn't his call that happens you know you go into the order and didn't work out but he wants a more contemplative order so who does he write to the Carthusians the one he writes to the father superior who worked they have something in common they both worked at St. Joseph Communications.

[172] Separated about 35 years, or however many, 85, whatever that, I guess that's 40 years.

[173] Oops, okay, we're getting old.

[174] But the point of it is, now he wants to become a Carthusian monk.

[175] And, you know, God willing, he'll move on.

[176] We've had girls that became members of the Sisters of Life in New York with Cardinal O 'Connor.

[177] They worked for us and they wanted to become nuns.

[178] Several, several, I can't think of how many young men are born.

[179] priest but I think of this and it's all through the grace of God but you know you said that young man that you told the story of when he was at a retreat I got to tell you how many priests who tell me over the years it was Bishop Sheen who got me to become a priest it was Scott Hans series on Hebrews his Bible study in Hebrews that made me think of me are this or that and I think of it because God it grace builds on nature as St. Thomas says and so I I just want to encourage our listeners to encourage, especially when you see a young man at the church, just ask him, have you ever seriously considered becoming a priest?

[180] And, you know, sometimes I've said this to young guys.

[181] I said that actually today, to the server at the church today.

[182] And he goes, oh, I want to be a teacher.

[183] Okay, that's all right.

[184] But you know what?

[185] I asked.

[186] And I probably asked more than most.

[187] But I saw he's, you know, going to graduate from university and have his good degree.

[188] and I just, he's always serving at mass, why not ask him?

[189] See, and this is what we probably should be doing as lay people and not pushing people, but just asking, have you ever seriously considered doing this?

[190] And sometimes that's all they need to say, you know, but I don't know where to go.

[191] Well, you met the right knucklehead.

[192] That's me. I can give you some direction on some good seminaries.

[193] So I think that you're, and you're, you were a vocation director.

[194] He's talked about me knowing about you.

[195] Yes, I knew that you were a vocation director.

[196] Bishop Strickland, would you say that's a good idea for lay people to do that when you see some young man or young woman to talk about maybe the convent or maybe a vocation for a young man to the priest?

[197] How would you approach that?

[198] Are I just too direct?

[199] Oh, no. I think we need to, certainly, with a great respect that they may like this young man, said, oh, he wanted to be a teacher.

[200] That's great.

[201] But I've often said that once a vocation director, you're always a vocation director.

[202] That's good.

[203] As Bishop, I often would ask servers or young people, you know, consider the possibility.

[204] When I visit a family, it has boys and girls.

[205] I encourage the boys to consider priesthood and the girls to consider the convent, at least to pray about it.

[206] In my experience, and I would say you would say you're a layman.

[207] with a wife and children and grandchildren.

[208] I'm a lifelong priest and entered the seminary at 18.

[209] But the point is, find God's plan for you.

[210] Find what God is calling you to do.

[211] It doesn't make life always easy or turn out the way you expected, but it makes your life fulfilling.

[212] And, I mean, really that's what we all need to be doing.

[213] I mean, ultimately, our vocation is eternal life with God.

[214] Yes.

[215] But how we journey through this life, it reminds us that this journey is not just something to get through, to get to heaven.

[216] It's important, this journey.

[217] It's beautiful.

[218] And I would say, you would, you are a different man than the one who got married, however many years ago.

[219] Oh, yeah.

[220] Because of experiences, because your wife has helped you grow and challenged you.

[221] You've challenged her.

[222] That's what life is about.

[223] And to find the, I feel very blessed that at 18 years old, I really didn't know what I was doing, but I gave it a chance.

[224] And by the grace of God, each year through the seminary and as a newly ordained priest, and through the years now, my next.

[225] anniversary in June, it'll be 39 years.

[226] The, you know, there's, I couldn't imagine a better path than the one that I've lived.

[227] It hasn't always been easy, but it's, if you're doing what God made you for, then it's going to be fulfilling, it's going to be joyful, it's going to be meaningful.

[228] So I love to encourage young people to consider it.

[229] That's what I always said as vocation director.

[230] At least pray about it, consider it.

[231] I mean, many young men feel no real significant call to the priesthood ever, and that's fine.

[232] Many young ladies never would seriously consider going into a convent.

[233] But they would, it's good to at least.

[234] pray about it and say, Lord, I'm open to whatever you call you give me. And then you have people like Father Donald Callaway that we both talk to.

[235] And, I mean, took a very different path, had a tremendous conversion story, and then ends up as a Catholic priest.

[236] I've known many wonderful priests through the years who said the last thing they ever wanted was being a priest.

[237] And if I might add something, my wife and I both were, she was, in the convent before we got married.

[238] I was in a monastery in my early years and we both agree that that was very important for us to test our calling to religious life.

[239] Yeah.

[240] And we don't regret taking that time.

[241] Actually, we deepened our relationship with Jesus Christ.

[242] Why?

[243] Because of the formation we we received.

[244] So I wouldn't encourage that.

[245] What I always said to the men that were considering entering the seminary my message to them was always the church will benefit from whatever time.

[246] If you genuinely open your heart to the question of a vocation to the priesthood for men, then you're going to benefit and the church will benefit from you entering into, I mean, you know, some men go through lots of years of formation and they're ultimately, they discern out, as they say.

[247] They determine they aren't going to be ordained a priest.

[248] But any time that they give, whether it's a month, a semester, or many years, they will benefit and the church will benefit from young people that have taken seriously God's call in their life and asking and really praying to know that call more deeply.

[249] Well, that's been my experience.

[250] we come back we're going to open up our catechism folks you're listening to the bishop strickland hour on virgin most powerful radio stay with us and now back to the bishop strickland hour welcome back to the bishop strickland hour indeed we're opening up our catechism of the catholic church which actually is the catechism from the st philip institute called the way of christ i have the student book so i would encourage you to pick it up from the diocese so you can go to saint it would be ST for sate dot philip institute of catechesis and evangelization they got great resources there now bishop strickland we're continuing from last week on chapter eight the church and um we're talking about how is the church catholic catholic means as according to the whole or universal the church is catholic because the church proclaims the way of jesus whole and entire the church is also Catholic because Jesus established the church for the whole humanity the church is made for all men women extended across the whole world now with St. Aaronais in 107 AD I read that in my catechism is that when the word Catholic was first appeared because they were all over the Christians were all over so that's an important fact I wonder how many Catholics really understand that even that fact what does the word Catholic mean universal your thoughts Yeah, I think it is important, and it goes back to the other elements, the marks of the church, one holy, Catholic, apostolic, the, the Catholicity of the church, the universality, really to me echoes that it's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, it's that oneness for everyone for all time, and that the universal and the church is the same everywhere.

[251] in those basic teachings.

[252] It's not like, well, this part of the club does this and that part of the club.

[253] If it's Catholic, then this is what the church proclaims.

[254] And so that universal nature of the church is very important and very powerful if we really recognize that truth of what the church is.

[255] It's not, I mean, having grown up in and worked in this corner of Northeast Texas, many churches aren't Catholic.

[256] Many churches are part of, and they're great people.

[257] Many of them are very strong Christians.

[258] I've always said that.

[259] We don't have any guarantee that we're going to be wonderful Christians because we're Catholic.

[260] Right.

[261] Do have the guarantee that we're part of the church that Christ established.

[262] And we benefit from that universal nature of the Catholic Church in ways that the Protestant groups, the evangelical Protestants, don't benefit from because they, I mean, they sort of celebrate the fact that they're not united, they're separate, they're independent, and certainly as Americans, we value independence a lot.

[263] But again, if you remember that Jesus Christ is the head of the church, and really his body is the structure of the church, it's the mystical body of Christ, then the universal reality of the church becomes very easily understood because there's one Christ.

[264] So the church is going to be applied in all the cultures and all the different languages in every aspect of humanity, it's one church.

[265] And I think there's a great value in that as the church is with all the divisions and all the challenges that we face to continue to go back to being that universally present body of Christ.

[266] Well, said, you know, this morning we did a show called How to Share Your Faith with anyone, talking about giving people formation on how to give their personal testimony.

[267] Matt Arnold, convert to the Catholic faith, 28 years ago, was in the RCIA program, and what really opened up his mind was when the priest who was teaching the class talked about that the church is apostolic.

[268] And he went, wow, that makes, because he wanted to say, You know, this just came along.

[269] You mean the Catholic Church goes all the way back to the time of Jesus Christ?

[270] That was instrumental in his conversion.

[271] And that's not the only person I've heard him say that.

[272] Oh, I think it's, again, every one of these marks of the church are very significant.

[273] But that apostolic nature of the church rooted in the apostles, in the original man that Christ himself chose.

[274] And through the ages, that connection, again, that that's a value and a rootedness in Christ that is very significant.

[275] And the apostolic succession is really, I mean, what we know is you don't have the mass without apostolic succession.

[276] And it, again, it, it, it, it, all of these sort of point back to Christ himself, that Christ chose the apostles and the church is apostolic because it's, the leadership is, we're chosen by Christ.

[277] Amen.

[278] And to the tremendous call of, and challenge of being a successor of the apostles.

[279] Yeah.

[280] I need to continue to reflect on that.

[281] and pray about what does it really mean to be a successor of the apostles and like i've said many times and i know you've quoted but to be it to me that's part of it's it's sort of exploring more deeply what it means to be first century christians in the 21st century love it because we need to keep that apostolic character of the church very strong and very clear it's not it doesn't get diluted.

[282] It can sometimes, I mean, the church goes through her struggles through the centuries.

[283] And things can get confused as they are now.

[284] Things can get conflicted and divided.

[285] But the best way to work through the divisions and the confusion that we're seeing is to go back to the apostles.

[286] I've known many, and I know you have as well.

[287] Terry.

[288] Many converts and many Catholics who have become deeply Catholic by studying the church fathers, the patristics.

[289] And why are they significance?

[290] Because they were so close to the apostles.

[291] Many of them actually, and that was sort of in the early church, you could say they had bragging rights.

[292] Well, I knew, I knew this apostle personally.

[293] Or I knew some, knew this apostle personally.

[294] I mean, that was a real thing in the early church.

[295] And it makes sense because you wanted to be associated with those who actually walked with Christ.

[296] And so the faith of the church, let me share a story, talking about stories that to me ties it all together.

[297] And again, it's not about me as a person.

[298] I'm just Joe from East, sexes.

[299] But I do have a significant calling as an ordained bishop to be a successor of the apostles.

[300] I had the chance to visit at a retreat during Advent and I visited Clear Creek Monastery with them, yes.

[301] Northeast Oklahoma, a Benedictine monastery, very traditional.

[302] Many people would not be, would not find their life attractive.

[303] But I thought, it's not my life, but it's a beautiful life of prayer with St. Benedict and the Benedict and rule, Laura at Labora is what they're about, which means prayer and work.

[304] And believe me, I witnessed about 60 men there in the monastery there in Clear Creek on a thousand acres.

[305] They work, the land, raising cattle, raising pigs, chickens.

[306] They do a lot.

[307] of that kind of work and they pray throughout the day.

[308] But what I wanted to get at was at being there as a bishop, I was just there to pray with them and wasn't really an organized retreat or anything.

[309] So I was just taking my own personal time to prayer, to pray.

[310] And I was joining them for their common prayer, which is not every hour, but several times during the day.

[311] and when I was there in chapel with them the monks would I was there in a special chair that they gave me at because I was a bishop because I was a successor of the apostles and they didn't know me from Adam but they knew I was a successor of the apostles and their reverence toward me was because of that but it was humbling to me because here I am sitting there and I was sometimes confused by their prayer because I'm not very familiar with it.

[312] Beautiful, but I'm, you know, trying to find out what page they're on and everything.

[313] But as they're coming in, two by two, these 60 men, some old, some young, just the variety of any group of 60 men from, you know, probably late 20s to 70 plus, but they're walking in two by two.

[314] And they would all, bow to me as they came into their place for that hour of prayer.

[315] And I knew they weren't bowing to me as Joe Strickland.

[316] They're bowing to my apostolic office.

[317] In that way, I was pleased to honor the Christ and his apostles as they were.

[318] Yes.

[319] It was very humbling and a reminder for me that I've got a lot to live up to because here they are bowing to me. me because I'm a successor of the apostles.

[320] It reminds me to be the best successor of the apostles that I can be.

[321] Beautiful.

[322] Before we take the break, we don't want to go any show without talking about the unborn.

[323] I just read the report for 2003.

[324] Abortion killed 44 .6 million people worldwide more than any other cause of death.

[325] Now, Bishop Strickland, we constantly talk about the unborn.

[326] This is why.

[327] Look at the tragedy every year.

[328] That's what we know.

[329] That's not even including an abortifation type abortions that are not recorded.

[330] So this is a huge number.

[331] And if we don't speak up for the unborn, I think it's got to be a sin of omission because they're crying for help.

[332] Nobody can help these kids by themselves.

[333] They can't do it themselves.

[334] Somebody has to stand up for their dignity.

[335] Am I on to something?

[336] Absolutely.

[337] And Terry, I would put in a plug for the pro -live march in Washington.

[338] That's what I was going to have to see.

[339] In other places, I'm going to, I'll be blessed to be at the pro -life march in Washington.

[340] Right.

[341] I encourage people to go.

[342] I can't go to Washington.

[343] There are other around.

[344] That's right.

[345] We got the one in the West Coast.

[346] San Francisco area.

[347] Stay with us.

[348] We'll be back with.

[349] And now back to the Bishop Strickland Island.

[350] welcome back indeed the last segment of our show Bishop Strickland if I counted how many times you describe our love for Jesus Christ and you notice I bow my head every time you say our Lord's name because I was brought up that way it's constantly I think it's great that we can bring that tradition back that when we say Jesus Christ we bow our head because I'll tell you why in the Anglican Ordinariate which I'm a parishioner here at the Sacred Heart chapel.

[351] The priest does it during the liturgy.

[352] He bows his head.

[353] And I don't know if we still do that, but I just think it's a wonderful sign of our reverence for the name of our Lord.

[354] Are you with me on that?

[355] Absolutely.

[356] And we need to, we need to reverence the name of the Lord and really encourage that because there's so many times that the name of God and the name Jesus Christ, not used in a reverent way at all.

[357] Even by believing people, it's almost like an offhand comment that people make.

[358] And I think we need to really look at that and encourage people to remember this power in the name Jesus Christ.

[359] I consider one of the greatest compliments that I've received is someone I was talking to recently said, you know, you remind me of Billy Graham.

[360] That's right.

[361] And they said the reason was, because people would tell Billy Graham and his son that continues his legacy, Franklin Graham, doing a great job now.

[362] But Billy Graham, very often people would interview him.

[363] And I know we've talked about him before also.

[364] Because he would be there and pray with presidents or whatever party.

[365] That's right.

[366] But Billy Graham, they said, well, was always talking about Jesus.

[367] And when this person told me, you remind me of Billy Graham, because you're always talking about Jesus.

[368] I said, thank you.

[369] Because that's, I mean, he's the founder of our church.

[370] He's our Lord and Savior.

[371] He's the Lord of all.

[372] So I think we need to talk about Jesus.

[373] And to use his name as the Lord God, the Son of God, and not use it in any way that is lacking in reverence because there's power in the name Jesus Christ.

[374] I mean, you can read about that in the acts of the apostles.

[375] That's right.

[376] And I want to endorse a little book because we just did a show on the, I think it's the 3rd of January, the Holy Name of Jesus.

[377] And I want to mention something that's kind of interesting.

[378] That feast was taken out right at the Vatican 2 Council.

[379] And St. John Paul 2 in 2002 put it back into the last.

[380] liturgy.

[381] And I know people will laugh at me, but there's a little booklet from tan books.

[382] I read it when I was a teenager.

[383] It's called The Wonders of His Holy Name by Father Paul O'Sullivan, O .P. So he's a Dominican.

[384] And this reveals the simple secret of holiness and happiness.

[385] And when you hear someone use our Lord's name in vain, what I've done and, you know, I just simple, I say, Jesus, mercy, Mary, help.

[386] I just pray for them, that's just a natural response.

[387] And I don't say it, Now, I might be a little too vocal, but I say it out loud.

[388] So when the person hears me, they get the message.

[389] What they did was I kind of prick their conscience.

[390] But I don't say it like sternly, Jesus, mercy, Mary.

[391] I say, Jesus, mercy, Mary, help.

[392] And they get the message.

[393] And I've never had anybody get mad at me to saying that.

[394] So consider doing that, folks.

[395] It's just an idea that has worked for me. All right, in this last few minutes that we have, Bishop Strickland, this is a big question and I think the catechism here answers it quite well how does the Catholic Church view other Christian denominations?

[396] You're in the neck of the woods where you've got you're a minority unlike I am in Los Angeles but it says Jesus Christ established only one church which assists in the Catholic Church the Catholic Church as the fullness of truth and the means of sanctification other Christian denominations have broken away from Christ's church.

[397] They possess some truth, some means of sanctification, such as scripture, sacrament of baptism.

[398] Still, they reject tradition, the sacraments like the Eucharist and Holy Orders.

[399] Thus they are in various states of imperfect communion with the church, founded by Jesus Christ, which is the Catholic Church.

[400] Catholics are called to lead fellow Christians to the fullness of the fullness of the church, the truth in the Catholic Church, a Catholic faith.

[401] I like that last statement because we've had a false idea about ecumenism.

[402] You know, we say, well, communism, are you telling me what you think?

[403] I'll tell you what we think and we get along.

[404] No, no, no. True ecumenism is sharing the fullness of the gospel with our brothers, what we call our separated brothers.

[405] Your thoughts?

[406] Well, absolutely, Terry.

[407] And once again, the broken records back, the fullness, the fullness of truth is Jesus Christ.

[408] Amen.

[409] And so if we can agree that he is Lord and Savior of all, becoming more Catholic is to become closer to Jesus Christ.

[410] And I like the imagery, a very Catholic imagery, but his sacred heart is sacred to all.

[411] And to come to a fuller understanding of the truth of the church is to come closer to his sacred heart.

[412] And one thing that I would emphasize, Terry, I'm sure there are non -Catholics listening, and I would encourage that.

[413] And probably many people that have non -Catholics in their families, especially living here most of my life in an area where it's predominantly non -Catholic, about 10 % at the most of this population is Catholic.

[414] One thing that I think I'm always reminded of that we as Catholics, we have the fullness of Jesus Christ.

[415] And we have the Word of God, the Bible.

[416] We have the sacraments.

[417] We have the teachings of the church throughout the ages.

[418] We have the fullness of the truth.

[419] We're, I mean, it goes back to something I'm sure both of us heard from our parents.

[420] Of those who have received much, much is expected.

[421] And I think it's a humbling reminder to a, us as Catholics.

[422] And what I think a way of really reflecting on that is to really applaud and be humbled by the holiness and the apostolic fervor of non -Catholics who don't have everything that we have, who don't receive the body and blood, soul, and divinity of Christ himself.

[423] well said be the most on fire yeah with the truth of christ so hopefully those non -catholics who are on fire with the truth and many Catholics are certainly but anyone who is a deeply believing christian and living that truth profoundly we need to celebrate that we need to rejoice and we need to say yes there are separations but we can't let a desire for unity in any way dilute the powerful truth of Jesus Christ.

[424] Well said, we've got about four minutes.

[425] I think we can squeeze one more question.

[426] What is the meaning of the church statement outside the church?

[427] There is no salvation.

[428] This paragraph says, all salvation comes from Jesus, the head through the church, his body.

[429] Jesus does not save someone if the person knows he founded the church and rejects her.

[430] That's a key point.

[431] Rejecting the church is rejecting Jesus Christ or founder.

[432] Those who do not know Jesus and his church through invincible ignorance will be judged according to how they respond to what they know of God and His grace.

[433] Thus, the church is responsible for going out and proclaiming Jesus Christ and his church to many.

[434] No, to all, to all nations.

[435] Wow.

[436] I think they, I mean, that's a very common.

[437] complicated question, and they answered it very simply.

[438] Now, the big catechism has a more explanation, but your thoughts on that.

[439] Well, I think the key is that the talking about the invincible ignorance, that if someone truly doesn't know, God is not going to hold us accountable for something you don't know.

[440] That puts the obligation back on us as those who do know to evangelize.

[441] Christ says, the great commissioning, go out to all the nations, baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[442] That's our apostolic call, not just for the apostles or the successors of the apostles, but for all of us who know the truth.

[443] We all have some obligation to share that truth and to live that truth so that other people see that Jesus Christ is our Lord, and he's guiding our lives.

[444] I think that that answer in the catechism really reminds us that, again, it comes back to being faithful to Christ and conforming our lives to the truth that he's revealed to us.

[445] That's what it's about.

[446] And, you know, the reality is that many Catholics may not be very Christian.

[447] at all.

[448] If it's just a creed in Catholicism, like we've talked about, sort of a club I belong to, and I occasionally do Catholic things.

[449] But if it's not about a deep commitment to Christ, then we're one of those who has received much and much is being expected.

[450] If we're not doing our best to respond to that treasure, the pearl of great price that we've received, then, you know, I mean, that's what motivates me, and I'm sure it motivates you.

[451] I mean, that's what we're obligated to do.

[452] We've received so much.

[453] We've got to share that.

[454] And if we refuse to, then we're in trouble.

[455] Yeah.

[456] Because we know what the truth is.

[457] For those who don't know the truth, to the degree, whatever degree of truth they know, they're obligated to live by that.

[458] And I would say to continue to learn more of the truth.

[459] You know, I imagine both of us, and maybe as teenagers, we even did it ourselves.

[460] But I think of teenagers especially as that, oh, don't tell me about these rules.

[461] If I don't know, then I'll have to worry about it.

[462] But you can't intentionally say, I'm not going to find out the truth, so I'm not obligated by it.

[463] That's in a sense rejecting the truth right there.

[464] but it's an ongoing journey for all of us.

[465] Amen.

[466] Catholic is not some sort of guarantee, but it gives us the fullness, I guess one way I would say it, is the whole toolbox of grace, and sacraments, and Word of God, and all the things we need for our salvation to truly live our Catholic faith.

[467] Well, said, when I hear the music coming on, So I want to remind everybody to go to the March for Life in Washington, D .C., or on the West Coast in San Francisco.

[468] Just Google March for Life, and you'll find that Bishop Strickland will be there at the prayer breakfast in Washington, D .C. So I thank you, Bishop Strickland, for taking the time to share the gospel.

[469] Is that, I'm thanking you to do your job.

[470] In other words, this is what you were meant to do to give people Jesus Christ.

[471] And I thank you for taking that time to do that.

[472] I want to say that if you go to our website, vmpr .org, download the free app.

[473] You can listen to all the shows that we have on Virgin Most Powerful Radio.

[474] And in the future, we're going to have more information on Bishop's new website.

[475] Hey God, Richly, bless you and your family.