Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00 In June of last year, the pope promulgated a document entitled I Clay's yeah, and <inaudible> to church in Europe. Holy Father has a message here that's worth pondering carefully. I have a very long quote. For the sake of time, I've cut and Spice Public John Paul the second when the son of man comes at least fine any face on earth, we find safe in our countries and this year of ancient Christian tradition. This is an open question which clearly reveals the depth and the drama of one of the most serious challenges which we are called to face. The age who are living in can seem to be a time of the wilderness. Many men and women seem just oriented, uncertain without hope. A feeling of loneliness is prevalent. Many people will not lacking material necessities feel increasingly alone, left to themselves without structures of affection and support. There's a selfishness, a growing overall lack of concern for ethics and obsessive concern for personal interests and privileges. This is accompanied by kind of sear of the future as something bleak and uncertain. Do you dwell a dread then with desire. Among the troubling indications of this fear or the inner emptiness, they grips many people in the loss of meaning in life. The signs and fruits of this anguish include in particular the diminishing number of bursts, the decline in the numbers of locations to the priesthood and the religious slides and the difficulty is not the outright refusal to make lifelong commitments including marriage.
Speaker 0 02:18 Any Europeans today think they know what Christianity is if they really do not know it at all. Often they're lacking in knowledge of the most basic elements and notions of the state. Many of them baptized live as if Christ did not exist. The number of the unbaptized is growing. The great certainties of the face are being undermined. Various Forms of agnosticism and practical atheism are spreading. There's a deep crisis of conscience and of Christian moral practice. We are witnessing the emergence of a new culture largely influenced by the mass media, which is in conflict with the Gospel and the dignity of the Human Person Living Wednesdays and Jesus becomes increasingly difficult in a social, in cultural setting in which that faith is constantly challenged and threatened in many sorts of settings. It is easier to be identified as an agnostic and as a believer. The impression is given that an unbelief is self explanatory, whereas belief is neither obvious nor taken for granted.
Speaker 0 03:45 There's also a vague and deviant religiosity. There are evidenced signs of a flight to spiritualism and above Sladek search for extraordinary events. Often those need of hope believe that they can find peace in fleeting and absence in substantial things. For example, with the Paradise Commas, by science and technology, with the selfish pleasures of Consumerism, oh, it's imaginary and artificial euphoria produced by drugs or even with attraction of oriental philosophies with the quest for forms of esoteric spirituality, those the different currents of the new age movement. All these however, are allusions totally incapable of satisfying that yearning for happiness, which burns in the human heart. The disturbing signs of going hopelessness does continue and intensify. Occasionally manifesting themselves also informs aggression and violence. At the root of this loss of hope is an attempt to promote a vision of man apart from God and apart from Christ. This sort of thinking has led to man being considered as the absolute center of reality.
Speaker 0 05:06 A view which makes him occupy falsely the place of God which forgets it is out man who creates God, the rather God who creates man, so getting the fullness of God has led to the abandonment of man. European culture gives the impression, a silent apostasy on the part of people who have all they need to live as if God does not exist. Close quote, I say Curl Christ, Pope John Paul the second when the son of man comes, will he find say center. This is an open question. What's clear is deals get gap in drama. One of the most serious challenges which we are called the face, European culture gives the impression of sign apostasy on the part of people who have all they need. Live has this. God does not exist in many social settings is easier to be identified as an unbeliever and it's a believer impression given is it unbelief? Self-Explanatory. Whereas belief is neither obvious, never taken for granted. Living One's faith and Jesus becomes increasingly difficult in the social and cultural setting in which that safe is constantly challenged and threatened. Living a Catholic life becomes increasingly difficult. When I say this, constantly threatened and challenged,
Speaker 1 07:00 okay?
Speaker 0 07:01 Isn't that just as true for us as it is for the Europeans? Isn't our face being constantly challenged and threatened right here? Are we immersed in the same apostasy ourselves? When the son of man comes, will he find faith in our hearts?
Speaker 1 07:24 <inaudible>
Speaker 0 07:26 God sends us love letters from heaven, still the holy scriptures and they gathered us kind of shout, what do you read? The sports page? He became, man, he suffered and die for us. We keep on sinning and get annoyed. If someone suggests who had her a pant, I do panics. He waits quietly. The cabernet is for us and we ignore it and slip on the TV. The story is always the same. It's a story of man abandoning God. It's never got a banning man. God won't abandon us. God hasn't abandoned us. He knows how we can sickle. We are after all he's got. He knows everything, so being the good God that he is, he's actually given us a sacrament that among others things is specifically meant to strengthen us in order to keep the face in spite of the kind of challenges and threats we need.
Speaker 0 08:38 This present darkness as a traditional theology textbook puts it quote, when temptations are dangerous to the state, our create or even extraordinary to Shackman gives the right gives the right to obtain help from the God clothes. Clothes that shocked me of course is the sacrament of confirmation regarding this point. The words and the catechism of the council of Trent seem as if they were written yesterday. Well, if ever there was a time demanding the diligence of pastors and explaining the sacrament of confirmation in these days, certainly it requires special attention and they're found in the holy Church of God, many by whom this sacrament is altogether omitted. Both very few seats could obtain from it. The food are divine grace, which they should derive from it by his participation. Closed quo, the catechism of the council, the train. Let's make sure those words aren't true of us today.
Speaker 0 09:50 Let's try to come to deep understanding and appreciation of the sacrament of confirmation, which of course like the other six sacraments was instituted by the lord himself to give cranes to mankind 17th centuries ago. Saint Nokia, who was pope from three 11 to three 14 give a beautiful explanation of confirmation glow in baptism. Man is enlisted into the service in confirmation. He's equipped for battle in baptism. We are ready, regenerated onto life by conservation where sort of sides to the combat consummation arms and makes ready for conflicts. Close quote, Pope saying, now kid, what is the pope saying? But Baptism, we're enlisted into the ranks, the church militant like conservation or arm, and they ready for that spiritual battle. How are we armed? Made Ready for spiritual battles? The catechism of the cops, the trend list, three effects, a confirmation halves on those who are receiving the grace of strength and increasing grace and the character of a soldier of Christ. Let's take a quick look at each.
Speaker 0 11:19 The first effect, the grace of strength. The catechism says, the confirmation likes Catholics quote stronger <inaudible> all those salts of the world, the flesh and the devil. Well, their minds are fully concerned and say to confess and glorify the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Close quote. In other words, the sacrament gives us a supernatural ability to keep the face come. What name? Second effect, an increase in grace can understand what a difference this increasing grace makes. Just consider the clear example. The apostles who are so weak antenna that even after three years with our Lord, they fled at the beginning of his passion or holy patron. Saint Peter himself was so intimidated by serving girl to the actually deny used use disciple with our Lord. And then even after Easter, even after they've seen our lord resurrected from the dead, where do we find the apostle locked up in the upper room for fear of the Jews.
Speaker 0 12:30 But then after Pentecost, after they're filled with all the grace, the holy ghost, the Pentecost, not only did they come down out of the room, they traveled, trot the whole world, preaching the Gospel and counting it. Good fortune to suffer abuse, beatings, torture, even martyrdom. So the name of Christ cause asked the difference. This increase of grace makes. That's the kind of change the Helicos makes. My soul that's concerned if we participate with it. Third Effect, character of a soldier of Christ. Character is like a brand. It's a spiritual brand. It's an indelible mark that should imprinted on the soul for the person receiving it by the sacrament itself. The character of conservation concerns is to our Lord in three ways as priest, prophet, and King, the late great father John Hardness. Jay Explains how the characters confirmation conforms this trial, Lord as priest, by giving us the strength to their suffering in union with our Lord.
Speaker 0 13:40 The sacrifice things that we love out of Love, start crucified. Lord, who loved us first. That's the character. We can slim it to us. Our Lord is priest, the character confirmation and slimy us to our Lord. His Prophet supernaturally strengthens our will to be able to claim to the truth safe in spite of any obstacles. It supernaturally strengthens our intellect so that we never doubt the truth of our faith. It's by the attacks, by the rationalist and unbelievers. It supernaturally strengthen us so that we can profess and defend the true faith effectively. Irrespective of our natural chaos or lack thereof. It makes is possible for us to have an absolute certainty about the space. Now, this isn't sort of a brittle obstinance certainly like us, fanatic has, this is certainly like a little cad has when his father's word was a little kid say, my dad told me so, so it has to be right, huh?
Speaker 0 14:42 God is our father. He loves us with an infinite burning love and he's absolute truth himself so that we know that anything he says has to be true. Whether we can explain or not is yours active? That's that kind of child life. They are certainly is based on this childlike trust and love of God. The father. That trust enables us to see that are safe. It's worth being embarrassed for. It's worth being locked for. It's worth being attacked for. It's worth dying for because we love God as our father and we don't ever want to betray him. It's a question of love. God loves us and we love him and we're not ashamed of that. We can not going to apologize for that. The character confirmation gives us the strength to face. We witnessed by our words, our actions to his loving relationship. We can compare it to another relationship, a love, a marriage.
Speaker 0 15:46 Any decent man would gladly to send his wife and his family even onto death. Huh? We all know that. Imagine a man that's married, a wonderful woman, and yet when someone teased me about that and made fun of her, he actually apologize for being love with his wife or took off his ring. But what we think of them, well, I'm not can say from the pulpit boy, okay, how about us a William? There's to show our face in public. Are we embarrassed to say grace in public that we embarrassed to make the sign of the Cross in public? We embarrassed to let people know that we're Catholics. We take exception to their mocking our holy religion.
Speaker 0 16:39 Don't ever be ashamed to follow Christ. We need to be witnesses. Don't ever be ashamed of our holy face. As our Lord says in St Matthew's Gospel, whosoever therefore sure like knowledge lead before. Man, I also acknowledged him before my father, but whosoever shall deny me before I man, I also deny him the also my father who is in heaven. It's a promise and it's a threat. The character confirmation conforms us to our Lord is king by giving us a supernatural quality of leadership, which enabled us to direct others on the path of salvation. A personalities supernaturally strengthened, enabled us to witness to Christ in the world and in the church enables us to be able to withstand that examples. Scandal, sit down and even gives us the ability to track the enemies, the Cross of Christ to his service. So the three effects of Saquon, the conservation, our first, the which we were able to resist the temptations as deductions and blatant attacks.
Speaker 0 17:54 They come to us from the world and the flesh and the devil. Second and increase in grace. What's your interior? Your supernatural life increases in every way, but especially in a sense becoming spiritually mature or spiritual adulthood. Third, the character of a soldier of Christ by which we are conformed our Lord in three specific ways. First, we're strengthened so we compare suffering and Sacrifice and union with our crucified savior. Second, a wills are strengthened so that we to the true faith come up may our intellects their strength and so now we don't doubt the truth say in spite of attacks and we are all so strengthened overalls that we can profess and defend truth safe effectively. We're also given a supernaturally strong personality and supernatural gift of leadership so that we can witness to Christ and lead others on the path to salvation. What are we saying?
Speaker 0 18:50 We're saying that the character of confirmation gives us supernatural powers to keep the faith and only to keep the faith, but to spread the safe. This holy faith that we've done nothing to deserve. Police got the power to spread it to those others who so desperately need what we've been freely given. With all that in mind as your priest on the challenge, everyone here by this time next year, everyone here should set a goal. Everyone here this concern, I don't care what her, she set a goal to have at least one convert a one song the way Catholic back in church or both. I'm serious. I'm serious. As a heart attack, you have that power. If you don't do it, who will start exercise and all these spiritual powers that are good lord gave to you. God will use you as an instrument if you just let him.
Speaker 0 19:53 The first time around, he started with 12 guys from the hip part of the Roman Empire and he overthrew the whole world. That's exactly the same person right there in the tabernacle. It did that that time and there's a lot more than 12 people. I'm speaking to right now. We're not shooting to the whole world. Just one person had one year. He'd start today. Remember when the church militant the church Milton, that's not the church. Flip on the TV and veg out the church. Now keep in mind that we have the true faith by the mercy of God, not because of big shots and certainly not because we deserve it. We don't. No one deserves to have this face. We don't want what we really deserve and we don't want anyone else to get what they really deserve either. The quest is basically pretty simple. We just just stand there and watch people fall into hell because we're too nervous to cowardly to say something, do something for them. She, we know something they don't know. We have something they need. We know something they need to know. They need our help and if we don't tell them who will.
Speaker 0 21:16 Once you started gathering them, let's talk Konrad classes in January. Don't ask me how he likes to get it done. He'll have to provide. Okay. Today we started with a cop's description of the apostasy. Let's close with some comments and father heart. Well, never, never in my judgment, in the 2000 years of Christian history, has the sacrament of confirmation been nor necessary, more indispensable to remain supernaturally alive. So I've said this many times, I'd repeat a thousand times over. Ordinary Catholics cannot survive in our day, and the verb is cannot survive. Only heroic Catholics who have been strengthened by the Holy Spirit and the sacrament of confirmation will survive. We have this power. We have this strength, but how this needs to be said, we need to use the power that we've got. We dare not. We dare not be slaves of human respect. We must courageously outspokenly clearly profess our faith to everyone whose life we touch. In other words, we're not really true. Have received the SAC would have confirmation. We are to live this Sackman by following in the switch steps of Jesus crucified. Close quote, Father Heart. Have we merely received the sac confirmation or are we living the sacrament by following in the footsteps of Jesus? Crucify when the Senate man comes. Well, he's fine. Any chase on her one year, one person. Okay. <inaudible>.
