Welcome to Become who you Are . Podcast . The production of the John Paul 2 Renewal Center . I'm Jack Rigert , your host , and I'm glad you're with me . It's kind of a difficult topic today in some ways , just because you know , on one podcast , if you this is the only one you listen to .
I'm not going to be able to dig into all the idiosyncrasies and the church is teaching on marriage and the family , but you know I do that . We do that every day almost here , on every podcast , so hopefully you've been listening for a while . If not , go back to some of the earlier podcasts .
We did a series called awe and wonder in the garden , something like that . Awe and wonder in the garden .
I'll put those , those podcasts , in the show notes for those of you who want to go back to , because the teaching on marriage and sexuality is so beautiful , so beautiful , so beautiful and it's always , you know , jesus always comes into the story and he always says dinner with everybody , always meet you where you're at , but he always loves you too much to leave
you there . So the gospel is always looking to what . Liberate you from sin . That's the number one thing . Liberate you from sin . Heal you body and soul . Why ? Because he wants you with him for eternity . This is an eternal love story . Everything that we do here has to has to keep our sight on where we're going .
Where do we come from in the beginning , you know so many times we've unpacked this . What was the model of marriage and the family , of love itself ? Where do we find ourselves here and where are we going ? So all those things make a difference . Now you would .
You would think that you know we have enough of a battle in this toxic culture that we live in , this toxic world that's twisting and distortion of the truth . That'd be enough to push back against the these government bodies that that want to push these gender ideologies and abortion and all these different things into our culture .
You think it'd be enough to have to fight the local schools and the libraries with all the porn , etc . Etc . You don't think there'd be enough to fight your own human heart ? Huh , that you know this battle between love and lust and we'd be looking . Okay , well , let's get some clear teaching at least from the church . Well , we have it .
Of course we have it . One thing we don't need is Pope Francis , his constant confusion , and he certainly hasn't done us any favors .
So I want to talk about a kind of a tough subject again today , which is his teaching now , and you know his official declaration , I should say , on the possibility of blessing same-sex marriage fiducia supplicans , and we're getting a lot of questions about that . You know , when we're going out to parishes and you're , you're teaching the .
You know the , the biblical teaching all the way from the very beginning on what marriage and the family is . You know , we've been unpacking theology , the body and John Paul's teaching for so long here and now we got to fight against Pope Francis again and it's really sad . So I'm going to just address those issues , try to clear up a little confusion .
So buckle up and get ready for the rest of today's episode .
Music Regis Martin , a professor of theology at franciscan university of stewburn , wrote recently in crisis magazine suppose you've been asked by Cardinal Manuel Fernandez , prefect for the dicastry for the doctrine of faith , to assist them in putting together an official statement on a possibility of blessing same-sex couples .
He's all in , of course , but would like it if you climbed on board as well . And never mind why he asked you in the first place . The point is he did so . What do you tell him to ? Go stuff it . No , that clearly won't do okay .
So you try and say it less rudely , as in thank you for asking your evidence , but the subject filled me with such dread and disgust that I'd rather not do it . Will that work ?
It hardly matters anyway , cardinal Fernandez having already gone ahead and written it himself , he then sends it over to Pope Francis who , approving what he wrote , signs the thing and bingo , instant a magisterial standing . He even gives it a name fiducia supplicans , on the pastoral meaning of blessings . So now what ?
Well , it goes out to the whole world , causing no end to confusion and consternation among the faithful . Even bishops are up in arms about it . So what happens next ? Well , let us again suppose that , in the midst of this catastrophe , the pope himself were to turn to you for advice . What am I to do ? He asked with some frustration .
Only the Germans and the lbgtq people like it , and none of them thinks it even went far enough . I can't cite us , can't satisfy everyone , of course . I mean , I'm not a magician . So what do you tell the pope ? If it were me , here's what I'd say . Your holiness , with all due respect , there are two things you must do .
First , get rid of Fernandez and then dump the declaration , end quote . I would tell the Pope something like this myself . Saint John Paul II , I'd say to him , inspires me to tell the truth . Pope Francis , tell the truth and tell the truth in love , but without any confusion . You know , the Gospel is not loaded with confusion . Jesus is the truth .
He said I'm the way , the truth and the life . Pope Francis , and you know what , I hope you're not doing this on purpose , this confusion , but let me give you the benefit of it out and just tell you what I find over and over again every day . You may not care , but here you asked me , so I'm going to tell you .
My heart goes out to families , especially those raising children . In a very toxic culture , young and old people alike have been repeatedly lied to about the very basics concerning the meaning of marriage , the family , authentic love and the true meaning of human sexuality .
In a word , modern culture has disfigured understanding of what it means to be a human person and the Catholic sacramental worldview . Pope Francis , remember we're talking about the Catholic sacramental worldview and what it means to be a human person . So you know we're not teaching some new philosophy , some new ideology .
All your job is to bring the beauty of the positive faith down Now . People don't have to accept it , they can walk away . They walked away from Jesus forever . People walk away from the church , but they walk away because they see what the Gospel is and they see what it says and then they say , no , I reject the Gospel , I reject God .
You know , that's okay , they're free will , that's their free will , but at least we don't bring confusion down to them . This has amounted this confusion to a full-blown crisis in marriage and the family , leaving many people , young and old , feeling anxious , depressed , unhappy .
Unfortunately , just when families need the church like never before , you haven't just gone silent on these things . You're bringing confusion into the church and the most important issues we all face . Marriage is facing family's face , individuals face .
This , in turn , has caused a crisis within the church , as she appears irrelevant or doesn't know what she's talking about . Just a smorgasbord . Everybody just pick it up . You know we've reduced love again down to a feeling and then , anyway , you sexualize this thing . It doesn't matter anymore .
Marriage is meaningless , seemingly unable to offer clear solutions to the people's pain and confusion . Many people are just simply throwing up their hands , walking away . But Saint John Paul II comes into the story and he writes this the history of mankind , the history of salvation , passes by way of the family .
We must do a better job supporting our families and help them become stronger , healthier and happier and in turn they make all of parish life more vibrant , healthier and happier . In the face of the many challenges facing families today , the church needs to stand up and do more to support them , to speak love in the truth and tell them the truth and love .
And the question always begins in the face of so many problems confronting families in the church today . And you know , I mean , where do we even begin ? But may I suggest that we begin with the truth . Is not the body of Christ dying a large part for lack of the truth ?
Who will stand boldly and proclaim with Saint Augustine you have made us for yourself , o Lord , and our hearts are restless until they rest in you ? In this creative restlessness beats and pulsates what is most deeply human the search for the truth .
John Paul said the insatiable need for the good to choose the good , to hunger for freedom , the nostalgia for the beautiful and the voice of conscience . John Paul the second rote in his first encyclical Redemptor Hominus . We must begin anew with seeking to see man , as it were , john Paul said , in the eyes of Christ himself .
The church must once again become more aware that she's the guardian of a great treasure which she must not waste but must continually increase . Indeed , the Lord Jesus said , he who does not gather with me scatters . The church thus appears before us as a social subject of responsibility for divine truth .
With deep emotion , we hear Christ himself saying the word you hear is not mine , but the father who sent me . Faith as an East , as a specific supernatural virtue infused into the human spirit , makes his shares in knowledge of God as a response to his revealed word .
Therefore , it's required that when the church professes and teaches the faith , that she should adhere strictly to divine truth . Consequently , we have become shares in this mission of the prophet Christ and in virtue of that mission , we must , together with him , serve divine truth in the church .
Being responsible for that truth also means loving it and seeking the most exact Understanding of it in order to bring it closer to ourselves and others and all its saving power , its splendor , its Profundity , joined with simplicity . This love and this aspiration to understand the truth must go hand in hand . It's so beautiful , isn't it ?
From John Paul the second , his first , and sickle go . He said he brought that with him from Poland , redemptor hominus . If anybody wants to read that much much of that came out of section 18 and 19 you can just go to the Vatican's website , type in redemptor hominus and read number 18 and 19 . That's so beautiful .
So what would I say again , pope Francis , to you ? You know , this isn't brain surgery . Just speak the truth , it's your job . Unfortunately , since you become pulp , you've you've mastered the art of confusion . Maybe that's on purpose . I hope not . We'll pray for you .
In Matthew 5 we read seeing the crowds , jesus went up on the mountain and when he sat down with his disciples , he opened his mouth and he taught them , saying you are the salt of the earth , but if salt has lost its taste , how shall it saltiness be restored ? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men .
Marriage isn't . The families and our culture at large are suffering devastating destruction for lack of the truth . When I present a parish mission and I speak about John Paul's theology , the body Tell them about . You know the biblical , the biblical view on marriage , the family , that Christ and the church .
It's so beautiful , it's so powerful , and I and I hear that and the most common comment is that that was so beautiful , that's so powerful . Why haven't we heard this before ? What do I share with them over these three evenings ?
Simply the salt , the truth of our Catholic faith , the gospel and all its glory , mercy , forgiveness , clarity , beauty and power to restore us . No doubt most people are familiar with John 1010 . I came that they may have life and have it abundantly . Yet that's only half of what Jesus shared in that verse .
In its totality , john 1010 says this Jesus said the thief comes only to steal , kill and destroy . I Came that they may have life and have it abundantly . In that one verse he's talking about the thief that will come only to steal , kill and destroy . He's talking about Satan , he's talking about the evil one .
But he came that they may have life and have it how abundantly . When our shepherds , pope Francis , watered down the faith , or more , when they are vague and inconsistent , the gate is left open and the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy . Already back in 1994 , in his letter to families , john Paul II wrote this .
Unfortunately , various programs backed by very powerful resources nowadays Seek to aim at the breakdown of the family . At times , it appears that concerted efforts are being made to present as normal and Attractive , and even to glamorize , situations or which are , in fact , irregular .
Indeed , they contradict the truth and love which should inspire and guide relationships between men and women , thus causing tensions and divisions and families , with grave consequences , particularly for children . The moral conscience becomes darkened , what is true , good and beautiful is deformed , and freedom is replaced by what is actually enslavement .
In view of all this , how relevant and thought-provoking are the words of the apostle Paul about the freedom which Christ has set us free and the slavery which is caused by sin . Again , pope Francis , I will remind you that Jesus was a pastor . He would go out and he would . He would spend time with people . He would did had dinner with people .
Don't forget that that he was . He was Astro-sized . The . The religious leaders of the day would say why is he speaking with sinners ? Why is he eating and dining with sinners ? Because he loves us , but he loves us too much to leave us there . He would always heal people and then he'd say what go and sin no more .
Pope John Paul the second spoke as one who has authority . This is for mark one , two , two when he's talking about Jesus . And John Paul the second was a true disciple of Jesus , as one who is united to God .
Huh , he was a bridge between the hearts of the faithful and the heart of Christ , a shepherd who spoke the truth with mercy , love and Compassion , and often with a twinkle in his eye . John Paul the second . I could see that twinkle in his eye now , a smile on his face , until Until , until the religious leaders of those days would which , would you know ?
He'd find out that they weren't speaking the truth and he would . I remember him getting off a plane one time and just Reaming out this , this , this , this priests from South America that was preaching , teaching , liberation , theology .
He was so comfortable John Paul was in who he was , a true son of God , that you instinctively understood that there was no facade about him . When John Paul the second , or with John Paul the second , what you saw is what you got . Pope Benedict the 16 wrote this fusion within him permits him to live his sacred ministry in a completely free and natural way .
It permits him to be completely himself as Pope . He was so full of the gospel that when he spoke . He just spoke the gospel With the foregoing , and with the foregoing in mind , it was with great sadness then , pope Francis , when I learned that you were set out to destroy the John Paul the second Institute for Studies on Marriage in the family in Rome .
And Make no mistake about it , the Institute has been destroyed due to a series of moves by Pope Francis To eliminate the former leadership of the Institute , as well as several noteworthy faculty of high caliber , who were Somerily sacked without any due academic process , and they have all been replaced by people who subscribe not only to a watered-down version of John
Paul the second's teaching , but are in fact at indirect odds with Catholic doctrine itself . This is intentional and a modal Approprio from Pope Francis Changed the name of the Institute to what the pontifical John Paul the second Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences Signal , signaling a desire to change the focus .
He clearly signaled that his intentions to gut the Institute when he named Archbishop Vincenzo Poglia the new Grand Chancellor and the president of the Institute . Archbishop Poglia is mostly known for his homoerotic mural that he painted in his cathedral and for bank erupting as the hyacinth .
The Archbishop was sent there and immediately went to work , replacing highly esteemed professors with the centers from Catholic doctrine , who even wrote letters stating that they were open to what homosexual relationships Any any surprise there ?
The new faculty and president are on record saying that natural law , natural law , this is natural law , that this is , this is natural law , that that that the ancient Greek philosophers understood .
Well , that must be rethought anew in the light of changing circumstances and have used this rethinking to openly call into question the church's traditional teaching on marriage and the family . Several former members have asked that John Paul II's name be removed from the title of the Institute , but to no avail .
Apparently , it's important to the new leadership that it's changed orientation be masked over by the Pantena of the former pontiff in order to give off the illusion of continuity . In other words , if they took the name of John Paul II totally off , then people would really get alerted to something Changed . Well , we know something changed there , dr Larry chap .
He blogs at Godia Mitzvah's number 22 . So Godia Mitzvah's 22 , you can find them there . He wrote this the world in which we live today , a world gone insane , does not need one more Christian church that preaches the gospel of the therapeutic , bourgeois self . The destruction of the Institute might seem trivial .
In the eyes of many , it might seem to be just one more of the thousands of reforms inflicted upon the modern church by quizlings of the hierarchy , but it is not trivial in the slightest . It's a very big deal owing to what it portends . And what it portends is a church that's thrown , it's heading to the ring of this insanity , and these are just my words .
We , we've just become another voice for the culture , for the world , economic form , for all these twisting and distortions . This lust has just been unleashed and these guys live out this lust and the selfishness . We hear about this all the time in the Vatican In the Vatican , unfortunately .
Well , st John Paul the second understood the crisis we face within the church , within the culture , within marriages and the families . He understood that this is a titanic struggle between the forces of the gospel and the anti gospel , with the nature of marriage and the family in the cross here's .
And he further understood that the Catholic Church is the last great hope for the world to avert catastrophe and a technocratic and dystopian future governed by a collection collective of concupiscence . Therefore , he started the Institute and the brave Cardinal Kefara collaborated on its Foundings . Well , cardinal Kefara , you've you've heard me talk about him often .
At the beginning of his work he was tasked with again founding the Institute for Marriage and the Family for John Paul II . He felt this battle already within the church and , of course , within the culture , and he wrote a letter to sister Lucia Fatima . He states this inexplicably , since I did not expect to reply , seeing as I had only asked for her prayers .
I received a long letter with her signature , which is now in the archives of the Institute . In that letter we find this written the final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be about marriage and the family . Don't be afraid .
She had it , because whoever works for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be fought against and opposed in every way , because this is the decisive issue . Well , why shouldn't we be afraid then ? Because she says Our Lady has already crushed his head . Our Lady has already crushed his head .
When Jesus came into the world , when , when he suffered his passion , death and then ascension into heaven , he sent down the Holy Spirit . He gave us the power . Now he took on sin and death and you know again , a person without grace . Without receiving this , this redemption from Jesus Christ , the sacrifice to the Father brings our humanity back into divinity .
What happens is our body and soul separated from that grace , is a default position is sin and death . And that's what you see here .
You see , pope Francis , that what you've come into and what everybody that that propounds the blessings of same sex marriage , no matter how you kind of couch it in your own confusing language , at the end of the day you're not helping those people . This is the point . Jesus again came into the story and he loves those people .
He loves people with same sex attraction . He loves people with in in in heterosexual relationships . He loves drug addicts . He loves gambling addicts . He adds everything . You know we all have our faults . Why does it always get down to sex , sex , sex . Because of what Sister Lucia said the last great battle is going to be over marriage and the family .
Why is it over marriage and the family ? Because it's the Amago Day . We were creating an image and likeness of God . So what can we do ? Well , first of all , you have to turn back to Christ himself . You have to receive that redemption . You know that's John .
Paul would say that the the battle is always the battle of the individual human heart , between love and lust , between being a gift to the world and grasping and taking and using . So where do we start ? First of all , we have to start with our own human heart . That's where the battle always begins , and so we start with prayer .
We started getting with our on our knees , we start with the sacraments and we start to fight that battle that John Paul said , that the battle of the human heart between love and lust . That's where it always , always starts . Be filled with that redemptive grace . Become that new person that that our baptism brought us into this .
You know this relationship with God . You know Jesus on the cross . What does he do ? You know he takes on our flesh , unites it with the divine and then he pours that out to us . This is what we're receiving . Always . Aim on where we're going here . You know , don't fall for the threefold concupiscence . Without grace what's going to happen ?
We're going to get dragged down . You know the pride of life , the , the concupiscence of the flesh and also the concupiscence of the eyes . You know it's a material world we grasp and we want to take . So here's the three part solution .
Number one again is the individual human heart , and we have to then educate our children to that and our young people have to understand that . They have to understand that , this battle of the heart . And then they have to understand the model , they have to understand theology of the body . Bring love and into your perishes .
You know , go to our website it's in the show notes and bring love and to your perishes . Lay this foundation down . If you don't lay this foundation down , you know , all of this teaching of Christ , all of the biblical teachings , somehow have been plugged up , almost , like Cardinal Caffara would say , like a spring that wants to flow , like a water spring .
You know , coming from the ground , this beautiful divine life and love just wants to pour out , but it's like a stone there that's just sticking it in there . Well , what's that stone ? That stone is education .
That stone is that young people have been beat up so much by these indoctrination camps , this twisting and distorting of our sexuality , of what the truth is . So we have to undo that , we have to unstop that spring so that it can flow again . How do we do that ? We speak the truth . We speak the truth and love .
It's really theology of the body that opens up . What happens is it touches that heart of theirs again and they look out into the world and their experience of life so far and it touches the gospel in a way . They have that aha moment . So we have to educate our young people . Bring love and to your perishes . It's an easy way to start .
Secondly , we have to be social political activists . We have to go out and we have to change and we have to run for or help people that believe in Christianity , that believe , have a faith in the biblical living out of the gospel itself .
And we have to change the school boards , we have to change the library boards , we have to get into city councils on county boards . We have to become social political activists because otherwise the laws are always gonna be taking over everything the laws and the schools , the laws and the culture . We have to be calm and live out our Christian faith .
So , first of all , what happens ? I have an understanding of marriage and the family . I go to Christ and the church to be filled with divine life and love . And then I have to go out into the world and I have to be a social political activist .
You know I don't like politics any more than some of you do , I'm sure , but if we don't do it , we don't expect anything to change . Number three we have to speak the truth . Be not afraid , john Paul . Be not afraid . Call out our enemies and then speak the truth . Let me leave you with this . This is from Matthew , chapter seven .
Jesus says ask and it will be given you , seek and you will find . Not gonna be open to you , for everyone who asks receives , and he who seeks finds , and he who knocks it will be open . Or what man of you , if his son asks him for bread , will give him a stone ? Or if he asks for a fish , will give him a serpent ?
If you , then , who are evil , know how to give good gifts to your children , how much more will your father , who is in heaven , give good things to those who ask him ?
So , whatever you wish that men would do to you , do to them , for this is the law and the prophets , the two great commandments Be filled with divine life and love and to become divine life and love in the world . Then he goes on in chapter seven , verse 13 . How are we gonna do the enter ?
By the neural gate , he said , for the gate is wide and the way is easy . That leads to destruction , and those that enter it are by it are many , for the gate is narrow in the way is hard . That leads to life , and those who find it are few .
And then , in 15 , and I would say this , pope Francis , to you , fernandez , anyone of these minions that are pushing this , jesus said beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves . You will know them by their fruits . That's why I brought up the example of the John Paul II Institute .
You will know them by their fruits . Are grapes gathered from thorns , or figs from thistles . So every sound tree bears good fruit , but the bad tree bears bad fruit , evil fruit . A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit , nor can a bad tree bear good fruit . Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire .
Thus , you will know them by their fruits . Pope Francis , don't be confusing . We know you by your fruits . Whatever you brought into the faith , just speak clearly . We need you to do that . We pray for you .
Jesus goes on to say not everyone who says to me , lord , lord , shall enter the kingdom of heaven , but he who does the will of my father , who is in heaven . On that day , many will come to me , lord , lord , did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name ?
And then I will declare to them I never knew you . Depart from me , you evildoers . And then everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat that house , but it did not fall because it had been found on the rock .
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell , and great was the fall of it .
And when Jesus finished these sayings , the crowds were astonished at his teaching , for he taught them as one who had authority and not as their scribes . Pope Francis , bishops today , cardinals , those of us in teaching positions in the church , parents , all of us speak the truth . Speak the truth in love and love others in the truth .
Keep your eye on the prize , keep your eye on where we're going Faith , hope and love . But love is not just love . Love comes from our faith . Faith is aiming toward God , who is love .
So once we understand that God is love , we have faith in him to fill us , so that we can go into the world and say , yes , this is how we're created , this is who we are . We're children of God , created in a mago day . Hey , god bless you . Talk to you soon , everybody . Bye-bye , music .