Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:03 To bill two cities. Thirdly, city by the love of self, even though the contempt of God, the heavenly city, by the love of God, even to the contempt of self in the city of God, which is perhaps his most significant work, that great father and doctor, the church, st Augustan, explains the history of the world from creation until the very end of time. He points out that when we boil it all down and get right down to it in the drama history, finally, there's only two fundamental forces at play. There's only two camps into which y'all man finally find themselves sorted out. Thirdly, city of selfish man who loved themselves, even though the contempt of the guy and the heavenly city full of man who loved God, even under the contempt of themselves, the gospel today, the gospel of the wheat and the cochlear and this translation, the wheat and the weeds, some transportation, the wheat and the tares.
Speaker 0 01:04 It's about this very thing. The two cities, the wheat of course stands for the city of God and the Cockle stands for the city of man and the parable. Our Lord is teaching us that those two camps, those two cities will remain here on earth, next together, planted together in his fields until the end of time when it'll all be sorted out. Now, as we survey the fields in the Lord in which we've been planted, it's pretty obvious which city is reigning Supreme. Selfishness reigns Supreme. Nowadays, the culture death is it. Culture in which selfishness has been thrown and thrown is a very God. Just think of some of the slogans like it's my body or it's my choice. The culture of death is built upon the love of self, even onto the contempt of God or we're Catholic. We better stand out from the culture.
Speaker 0 02:02 Death. We better be known for our love of God even to the contempt of self and it should stand out. It should be obvious when people meet us. You got to notice that there's something different. Our families should be different. Our behavior, our calling style should be different or entertainment certainly should be different. Listen to what Saint Paul tells the Catholics of his day. Catholics who are also immersed in a culture of death. The ancient pagan culture, the Roman empire, and how exhorts and in today's epistle to stand out as Catholics, Saint Paul put you on therefore as the elect of God, Holy and beloved, mercy, kindness, humility, modesty, patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone have a complaint, again, one another, even as the Lord has forgiven you, so do you also, but above all of these have charity, which is the bond of perfection.
Speaker 0 03:04 Close quote st Paul, the members of the city of God must put on mercy, modesty, patience. He must bear with one another. Forgive one another, but above all, things have the bond of perfection which has chaired st Paul are mindsets that if we really love God, then we have to show it by how we treat our neighbor. He teaches elsewhere in the book of Romans, quote, he loves his neighbor, has fulfilled the law. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Let us never decide, decide, never to put a stumbling bra or a hindrance in the way of a brother. We were strong on of bear with the failings of the week and not to please ourselves that each of us pleases our neighbor for his good to Edify him for Christ. Did not please himself. The commandments are summed up in a sentence. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Speaker 0 04:02 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Let us never put a stumbling block in the way of a brother. We are strong. Ought to bear with the failings of the week. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to Edify him for Christ. Did not please himself. Look how different that selfless love is. Fill out that calls those who are strong to bear with the failings of the wheat that calls us to seek the good of the neighbor. Look how different that love is from the selfish love other city, a man to love of self under the contempt of God. Just consider it for a moment. Okay, let's use those ideas, those principles to see how we as members of the city of God ought to act in this culture of dad. For the sake of symmetry. We'll look at one application for man and one application for the women.
Speaker 0 04:57 First for the man, man are supposed to love and protect the weak. Now, although this might be a news flash for those in Hollywood and academia, man are the physically stronger sex, so what? Well, let's use that physical strength to protect the weak. Have you ever wondered how he got to the point where massacre and little babies like they're going out of style? We dropped the charity that's due to a woman, a society that won't protect its women, won't protect its children. It's as simple as that. Once we don't protect them. Once we don't protect the wheat, they become prey and that's right where we're at today and then in the city of God need to get serious about having a true Catholic love for women. That sure is not there in our society. For example, in the year 2000 Hollywood made 400 movies that same year in this country, the porno industry produced 11,000 movies.
Speaker 0 06:01 That same year, there were 700 million porno videos, rental. When movies, networks, websites, phone numbers, magazines and so forth are added up in the year 2000 the pornography industry grows between 10 and $14 billion, 10 to $14 billion. That's more than the combined totals. Professional football, baseball, and basketball. You don't need me to tell you that's not love and that's not protection of our women. That's totally degrading. That's last. We have a message to mandate from the culture life for the man who patronize this stuff, the man who loved themselves, even under the contempt of God, but those women and those magazines are somebody's sister or somebody's daughter. Those women and those movies, those are somebody's sister or somebody's daughter. How do you like that? If that was your sister, how would you like that if that was your daughter? We've got to get the message across to people need to quit messing with this trash and hardcore pornography isn't the only prob bots and these so called mainstream magazines, newspapers, TV programs, short sisters in ways that don't make the grade either.
Speaker 0 07:30 Gentlemen. If you're wondering whether or not he should watch a particular show, read a paper, et cetera. There's a rule of thumb that'll work every time. Just ask yourself, if I showed this to the blessed Virgin Mary, would it make her feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, or offended in any way? If I showed it to her lady, it wouldn't make her uncomfortable, offended or embarrassed in any way because if it would, then don't look at it. It's as simple as that. We can't have our feet in both camps to either the culture live or the culture. Yeah, it's the city of God or the city of man. There is no middle ground between heaven and hell. It doesn't end there. We need, especially to protect our women from the wrong kind of guys. All you fathers and brothers have a solemn obligation before God CHIPRA tech, the women in your family, basically.
Speaker 0 08:23 That means you run off the guys that need to be run off. That's a duty before God and something that you do. Whether or not the girls like, that's immaterial. It's your job. We don't care how the women feel about this part. For example, I know a captain, the guy who after his father was done, used to have a friendly little interview with his sister's boyfriends. He just set the boyfriend down and tell him to say, look this the Catholic family and that's my sister and we're going to get along just fine. Sounds. You don't get any big ideas. Four, we get eight big ideas. You better walk down that aisle and have a ring on her finger and it better be before a Catholic priest need you to understand if anything happens to her, it's going to get real Western. You better hope I get to you before the old man dies.
Speaker 0 09:10 People would ask him how his sisters take it. Well, he'd say the boyfriends. Now I understand each other perfectly clear. My sister hates it and she always gets mad and embarrassed when I do it, but I don't care. I'm her brother, she's my sister and it's my duty to protect her whether she likes it or not. You young ladies don't have to worry. Any guy that's really interested you will not be intimidated or run off by this. He knows how the game works. He also understands it will keep him on his best behavior. I'll tell you another story. Before I knew what my vocation was for sure. I went to interview with the father of a gal I wanted to take up, so when I arrived at his place he asked me to sit down at the kitchen table and he gave me a good long lecture just about how it was going to be in the world and how he expected me to behave.
Speaker 0 10:00 Ladies, that didn't bother me at all. I was glad and respect him that he did that. I was glad he cared enough about his daughter. I think the setup was particularly good and it would have run off the wrong kind of guys perhaps because as we were having a discussion, he was shotgun. I think that's a great idea. No, that's not why I'm a priest. Anyhow, gentlemen. Protection is only one aspect of the charity that's due to women. Catholic women should or Catholic men should always drive, connect with and feel safe and comfortable in their presence. That pencils in those old fashioned ideas like women and children first by getting up when your mother or a woman comes into the room using the proper kindness, speech, opening doors, even car doors, boys. Yes, we know they can open the doors. That's not the point. The point is that we're using our physical strength in a non threatening safe way to show honor and respect for her as a woman.
Speaker 0 10:58 Whether she likes it or not, the men from the culture life have to resurrect those good habits that make the weaker sex feel safe and controversial in our presence. Okay, so that's the application with man charity, compassion, thoughtfulness and protection of our sisters. Now let's look at the application for the women. This might actually come as a newsflash for some women. There's this symmetry in the world. Men are the stronger sex physically, but morally you're the stronger sex and in society, women either play the role of <inaudible>, which leads man to destruction and sin and selfishness or they play the role of the blessed Virgin, which leads men towards holiness and self sacrifice. That's the role that went in place and that's the strength that women have and it's an incredible strength. Don't kid yourself. It's incredible. You ladies set the bar, this culture, it's flat on the ground.
Speaker 0 11:55 Catholics have to set the bar high. What sort of woman in this culture is being held out as a role model? Is the ideal woman in our culture more like he or she more like the blessed Virgin Mary pre-task. The question is to answer it and that's having a terrible influence on hot girls and that means it's going to have a terrible influence on Arabella because Adam was perfect and look quick. Got him. Go on. Let me give you a really typical example of the kind of pro us visiting with a good friend of mine. She's from a big family, 10 kids, good Catholic, pro-life or rescue or someone, a very good woman. You think she know better. So here we are visiting and she comes out wearing an extremely tight shirt and shorts and I told her, you know, I'm good friends with the family.
Speaker 0 12:42 Hey, you know when you dress like that, you're going to cause even the good guys to have a prop. Well, here's the typical part of this conversation. How do you suppose she reacted? Well, I'll tell you, she started arguing with me. It'd be kind of funny if it wasn't serious. What does she know about what it's like to be a man? And I'm a God that she's known for many years is someone that she can trust. So she's arguing with me, telling me to get my mind out of the gutter and I said, look, sweet pea. I go to communion every day and I go to communion so I won't have these kinds of problems. But you are causing them problems, dressing like that. Then the typical response to that is, well, compared to how other girls dress, it's not that bad. Well, okay, that may be true, but compared to how I think it was dresses and what we compare it to, we compare it to the line and you're way over the line.
Speaker 0 13:27 You compared to Catholic girls, they want to be Saint. You're not even on the page. You're not even close. Then it comes to really crazy argument. Well, they don't have to look well. Yeah. Okay. The fact that the corner industry grosses billions of dollars per year is a big screaming clue, but there's plenty of men that are mighty, mighty, weakened its department, and besides what does that sound like? They don't have to look. That sounds an awful lot like am I my brother's keeper and whose line is that? That's cane, but after he murdered his brother, which is exactly what's going to happen to the life of grace and the soul of some poor man looks at you with lust and he's too weak to keep from falling. That's a perfectly typical conversation I've had lots of with good girls about this particular prop on personally convinced that most good women have no idea of the influence they exercise and this field.
Speaker 0 14:24 Let's look back. What does st Paul say? Does he say, am I my brother's keeper? No, that's not what st Paul says. He says, let us never put a stumbling block or hindrance in a way of a brother. We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak man are weaker here ladies. You can't understand it. You're not man. You have to take it on faith. I'm not up here preaching about this cause I couldn't think of something to say. I'm telling you how it is. In 1917 our lady of Fatima warned us, quote, certain fashions will be introduced which will offend our divine Lord very much. Those who follow God OD not to follow those fashions. The church has no fashions. Our Lord is always the same. Close quote, the blessed Virgin Mary. By 1921 1921 Pope Benedict the 15th was so alarmed that isn't cyclical.
Speaker 0 15:21 On the third order of Saint Francis, he noted quote, one cannot sufficiently deport the blindness of so many women made foolish by desire to please. They do not see to what a degree then decency of their clothing shocks every honest man in a fence. God, most of them would have formerly blushed for such a peril as a grave fault against Christian modesty, but now it doesn't suffice for them to exhibit themselves in public. In D they do not fear to cross the threshold of churches to assist at the Holy sacrifice, the mass, and even to bear the seducing food of shameful passions to the Eucharistic table where one receives the heavenly author, a period close quote to vicar of Christ. He was alarmed by women's fashions. Two paragraphs later he noted asking a third owner sisters quote, they'd be thoroughly convinced the best way for them to be of use to the church and the society is to labor for the improvement of morals and we ask of them by their dressing manner wearing it, doing models of Holy modesty for other ladies and young girls.
Speaker 0 16:30 Close quote, the vicar of Christ, Pope Benedict the 15th 1921 1921 Hey ladies, that's not just the role of third order of Franciscans anymore. That's your role. That's your role to be a witness for the culture, life in his culture, debt. You are your brother's keepers. You need to be example of Holy modesty in a culture gone wild was pornography. He need to never put a stumbling block or hindrance in a way of a brother. Men are weaker here. They can't handle him. Modesty, and thanks a lot Adam. They're not going to grow up and get over it. It's part of our fallen nature. They're not going to get more mature about it. It's the way they are. Men are very easily scandalized by name, honestly dressed or immodesty behaved woman. Now being scandalized, Jesse being he appeared with this big exclamation point over your head going, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 0 17:28 Being scandalized means being led into sin. The woman who dresses him asleep and causes men to fond impure thoughts is guilty of this sin called scandalizing the week. So suppose your Mazda addressable and came walking around through here and she do seduced 50 men to sin. Each one of us, 50 men is guilty of his own sin. There's no question about that. We're all guilty of our own sins, that's for sure, but here's the point. She's guilty of one mortal sin of immodest dress. Then she asked to answer for the 50 sins of impurity and because of where she's at in a Catholic church, she has a special malice of tempting man to sin in a church. That's a lot to answer for. It's serious. We can think about what our Lord said about scandal, something about millstone imitate our lady. Don't imitate <inaudible>. We as Catholics, the Catholic women have to be examples of Holy modesty.
Speaker 0 18:29 So what is modest clothing in the mind of the church during the reign of Pope Pius the 11th when there were a lot more different styles throughout the world, the Holy sea issued guidelines for women's dress. It's true styles change, but the principles never change. The principles never can change because if female bodies never change and men's weakness never changes, here's the principle. Clothing should tend to Vail rather than to reveal number two. No shear tight clothing. That means no tight sweaters, no tight bosses, no tight shorts, no tight skirt or pants. None whatsoever. Paranthetically I will remark that I did read an article before I went to seminary that would, that showed up very high statistical correlation between the rate of endometriosis and the tightness of women's clothing. Obviously, God doesn't even have the female body designed with the idea of tight clothing. Number three, no sleeveless dress is your blouse blouses.
Speaker 0 19:27 If you are one of those chompers, whatever you call them, wear a blouse underneath. Four neck line should be high, not less than four or two fingers with below the pit of the throat. That's the top of your sternum there and hemline should be below the knee. Okay? Coleen, you tend to feel rather than reveal, no shared tie clothing, no sleeveless dresses. Your blouses neckline should be not less than three two fingers with below the pit of the throat, hemlines below the knee. See all these statutes. Those are sayings. That's not accidental the way they're dressed. Lady, here's the rule of thumb for you. If you're wondering whether or not you should wear something, this works every time with the bus. Mother approve of me wearing this. What a bus mother approved me wearing this. Now I fully realize modest clothing is in fashion. The fashions are going to hell, but it's always in good taste.
Speaker 0 20:21 My job isn't to make you feel good. It's to tell you how to be good and I need to drive, but his attention to the fact that I'm practicing what I preach, okay? The charity a woman ought to have for brothers extends past this tomato's behavior and speech, not making eyes, all those old fashioned ideas for courteous behavior around the Marley, weaker sex. I'm convinced most good women have absolutely no idea the influence they have on Matt. For better or worse and more thoughtful cultures, this influence is taken more seriously. The traction men have for women is taken more seriously. I know a priest who was a missionary in Africa the first day arrived his mission, he noted something very distinctive after mass. He went up to one of the man and he said, why all you guys sit on the one side of the church and all the women and children sit on other side, his response, father at church, we're there to think about Jesus and how to get to happen, but if we sit with the women, we'll only be thinking about that.
Speaker 0 21:21 This had nothing to do with purity. It's a commentary on how very good and very attractive women are to men. I know up until the 1950s I'm aware of at least one parish back home in Montana that had exactly the same customer and it wasn't cousin Paragard and modesty. It was silly. They wouldn't be distracted. It's not a pure T issue. It's just the fact that men are attracted to women along that line, and I'm not trying to single anybody out here, but I'm going to explain it anyway. Think about why women get their hair done. It's gonna be attractive and that's good. Women's hair is attractive and that's not an impure way. It's just attract attractive. The Bible says that pear is the glory of a woman. God made women's hair attractive and that's good. We're here for an hour or so every week trying to give our undivided attention to God as the Holy sacrifice.
Speaker 0 22:07 The mass. You don't need me to tell you it's hard naturally speaking to keep from getting distracted. This is just one of the reasons why it's been seen as an act of charity to keep your hair covered in church so it's not attract attention to yourself so that your glory isn't shown in front of the Lord, but the men looking at you instead of him. It's an act of humility to prevent the tension that should be focused on God from being focused on you. A host, naturally speaking, isn't very attractive. It's white and featureless, but a woman. Yeah, it's true that the law that requires women to keep their heads covered in church, allow it stress from the old covenant to 30 years ago is no longer in force. That's true. We all know that, but the attraction that women hold for men that wasn't suddenly set aside 30 years ago, I only could argue, well, he doesn't have to look and besides a lot doesn't require me to clear my head.
Speaker 0 23:01 I grant all that. That's absolutely true. The charity calls us to never put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. He calls those who are strong to bear with the failings of the week. If we love our neighbor, we want to make it easier for him to grow in holiness regardless of what the law says. The idea then of covering your head and church is the same idea as modesty. It's an act of compassion to spare your brothers and Christ from being unduly distracted from you in a time and in a place where that's not appropriate. It's the love of God. It's expensive. So anyway, now we can see the symmetry from men and women who love God under the contempt and themselves in imitation of the blessed mother. The woman has to use her strength as a good moral example to guide and then towards holiness and imitation.
Speaker 0 23:50 St Joseph, the man has to use his physical strength to protect the woman from unholiness. The Nan has to watch what he looks at. The woman has to watch how she looks. Let's help each other as redeem brothers and sisters in Christ make our way through the minefields of this culture of death. Let's do our best to make the journey towards heaven easier for all those around us. Let's love God even under the contempt of ourselves. Two loves build two cities. Thirdly, city by love of cell, even under the contempt of God, the heavenly city, by the love of God, even under the contempt of cell, which city we live in, which city when we die.
