#518 Jesse Romero's Spiritual Awakening; "One Lord, One Faith, One Church"

I'll just add here real fast I have followed Jesse Romero as I presented parish missions and I came after him and when they told me the last person that presented was Jesse Romero , I always knew I could speak the truth and I didn't have to hold anything back . So , jesse , it's a pleasure to be with you .

Jesse is a resident of California , retired Los Angeles deputy sheriff , three-time world boxing police boxing champion and a two-time USA kickboxing champion . Him and I could just talk about that maybe for the next half hour or so .

Jesse makes the sometimes complex teaching of faith understandable with his straight talk , his straight approach , speaks with a sense of urgency on Christ-centered Catholicism as the solution to our problems . He has a degree from Mount St Mary's College in Los Angeles , an MA in Catholic Theology from Franciscan University in Ohio .

Jesse's been a cradle Catholic who experienced an interior conversion through the reading of the Gospels . Through his preaching , ministries been lighting hearts on fire for the Lord in Catholic parishes since 1998 . Recipient of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Award in 2010, . Defender of the Faith Award in 2014, .

Jesse was inducted into the Catholic Sports Hall of Fame in 2015 . He hosts two radio podcasts daily . That's a lot , jesse on Virgin most powerful radio . Jesse's motto is love God , save souls , slay error . I'm sorry , my eyes are getting old . Jesse , slay error . I'm going to say that again Love God , save souls and slay error .

Hey , thank you so much for being on the show , jesse .

Some , perhaps not the majority , but many I call them truth seekers are searching for answers in these kind of evil days that we're experiencing , and we understand there's a spiritual battle going on . They're looking for something , jesse , but unfortunately , you know , there's a lot of churches , isn't there ?

There's a lot of places they can go and they're saying why should we go to the Catholic church ? You know I speak about this all the time . You've got an incredible book that just came out One Lord , one Faith , one Church and you've really done a great job unpacking some of that .

But I want you just to start out , jesse , just give us a little feeling of why you wrote the book , what you're feeling about , you know , with the confusion going on today , and then we'll kind of work into the book on today and then kind of , we'll kind of uh , work into the book .

Just out of curiosity In fact it was kind of a dare of a friend at work I started reading the Bible . I said , eh , what's with this book ? Who's this Jesus guy ? Anyhow , you know , I've heard about him all my life . I'm Catholic . I've grown up with statues and images of him going to Mass . So I just said I want to learn for myself who he is .

I'm kind of curious . That's what happened . I rolled my sleeves . I began earnestly reading the gospels , probably at the age of 26 . I immersed myself for about a year just soaking myself in the gospels every night when I got back home from work . And all I can tell you is . I had this rush of reason .

I had this understanding that Jesus Christ is absolutely real . There's nobody like him . Everything he says is true about himself and at that moment , like guys use that word , you know , I have a man crush on Jesus . I read Matthew , mark , luke and John and I fell in love with Jesus Christ . I'm 62 years old . It's been about 40 years .

People said , oh , that's just a phase Jess is going through , and this phase has just gone deeper and deeper and more profound throughout the passing of time .

And I've noticed also , when I really surrender my heart to the Lord Jesus Christ in my mid to late 20s , I noticed that a lot of Catholics that left the church and they had that experience Like I had they would call it a born again experience they had that experience outside the Catholic church and other Protestant denominations and at that moment I just started

to begin at . I began asking myself , uh , well , if , if , uh , if this is happening all over the world in different places , then why be Catholic ? So I remember one day I went to the library and I spent eight hours , literally eight hours . I asked the librarian if she can point me to the section of history books and encyclopedias and I went over there .

I spent a whole day like 10 hours history books and encyclopedias . And I went over there . I spent a whole day like 10 hours and I read 24 different encyclopedias under where it says CH Christianity . I sat there a big stack like this . I spent 10 hours and I researched what church was started by Jesus Christ . I read 10 different encyclopedias .

It took me all day . I remember the librarian asked me . She said different encyclopedias . It took me all day . I remember the librarian asked me she said young man , what are you researching ? I said I want to find out which church Jesus started . Oh really , are you a seminarian ? Are you a ?

And so , jack , I began doing this research and just amassing this research and putting it on Word files , put it in my computer , and there came a point in time where I just hear so , so much from people that I've talked to .

I used to be Catholic , but now I go to fill in the blanks yeah , years , I need to put it in a book and put it out there so people don't have to spend 10 hours in a public library looking through 24 encyclopedias under Christianity and Xerox the pages . That's all there was back then .

Xerox machines and Xerox the pages and laminate them and put them , take them home to a binder . I said I need to put that out there , so that's , and laminate them and put them , take them home to a binder . I said I need to put that out there . So that's . My wife said get that out there . People need to know this .

I mean people like , for example , I just people like Candace Owens .

Steve Ray told me he goes Jess . I would have been a Catholic years sooner if somebody would have shown me and proven to me that Jesus started the Catholic church . Nobody ever did that . That's why Steve Ray forwarded the book . He goes , jesse , you're doing a big service to Protestants .

We love Jesus , a lot of us , but we think that all churches are the same , and in this book you show that there is one church , started by Christ . Period . End of story .

That's where you got that , because I thought that was outstanding , because you're not being preachy man . You just opened it up and and this is this is our literature out there . You could find this and this is the definition for catholicism . I got goosebumps . Let let me . Let me just add to that you know um a lot of similar stories , you know .

But we're hearing a lot of people . I think I call them truth seekers , Jesse . I don't know what the percentage is again , but people are seeking the truth . I think what's happening today ? They see so much evil , like I mentioned in the opener , that they're looking for the truth . So you have people like Tucker Carlson , Russell Brand .

They're becoming Christian , or they are Christian or becoming Christian or waking up again . Now , Russell Brand , you know they're becoming Christian , right , or you know they are Christian or becoming Christian or waking up again . Now .

Russell Brand got baptized , but he's not Catholic , but not yet at least , but he's praying the rosary you know what I mean and he's doing these things . They need something like this . So if you're going to , if you're really a truth seeker , what's going to happen ? And I think you may have had the same experience .

I came back into the church in my late 30s and I went to graduate school , and I'm just going to see if you did the same thing . I went to graduate school not just to learn information , brother , because I was already in love with Christ . I wanted to know , you know , where did this come from ? Where did Catholicism , does it really have roots ?

And that's what you show here , that's what you're talking about . It's got roots , it's got some and it can't change . Right , it can't change because if we're truth seekers , the truth is the truth and we know this and we want to find something that's not going to change .

I love some of these events and this will be the last thing I say before I throw it back . I love some of these evangelical preachers that I start to respect . When COVID came and everything shut down , they wouldn't shut down , but at the end of the day , when those preachers leave , their congregation is left without that word anymore .

But when my pastor leaves , right , the priest leaves , or he does something wrong or he gets thrown out . Even that doesn't change my faith . You know what I mean . It's too bad . I feel bad .

Catholicism is Christ-centered . Protestantism is pastor-centered , preaching-centered , pulpit-centered , and that's why you've got Protestants that go church shopping , because they want to go to the most exciting , youngest , most vibrant pastor who sweats and shouts and there's a lot of theatrics . So Protestantism it really is .

That's why they smashed the altars at the Reformation . They got rid of them . Protestantism is pastor , is preaching-centered , man-centered . Catholicism is Christ-centered , eucharist-centered .

I started to read the early church fathers , I see that man , they were fighting these heresies . They were fighting the same stuff we're fighting now , jesse , maybe not as bad . Bishop Anthonatius Schneider said to me recently .

I told you right before we came on that we're in unprecedented times just because we've thrown out truth , but when we start to walk back into truth you pointed it out so well . Maybe we can go into this . I love the way you brought it out in John's gospel . You know , you said look at you know Jesus was here for 33 years .

John's gospel he takes 25% of it and just shows you that last supper scenario and how he's passing this down . He wants this . He's setting a base here , isn't he , brother ? I mean , he is setting the base and before that , of course , you know he has Peter as the rock , so maybe you could touch on that .

I mean this is the solid foundation we're sitting on .

You know people think he's asleep . He's not asleep , he's guiding the ship towards heaven . Sometimes we have amazing hosts , bishops and priests , and sometimes not so amazing , but the faith is anchored , it's based on the person of Jesus Christ . As Archbishop Fulton Sheen says , catholicism is Christ , in other words .

That's why , as a Catholic , when you see a Catholic with a rosary , a crucifix , around his neck on the wall , we don't see a statue of a Pope or your Bishop or the Cardinal or a priest or a deacon or a nun or a mother in jail . No , we see the image of Jesus Christ . He's the source and center of Catholicism . He's the apex .

He's the King of Kings , lord of Lords , popes , bishops , priests , deacons , nuns , come and go . Jesus Christ is here today , yesterday and forever . The second point that I want to make is that Jesus Christ promised he would be with us always , until the end of time . That promise is really only fulfilled in the Catholic Church .

He is here in a very mysterious way , in a sacramental way , in the Holy Eucharist , in every golden tabernacle . When you walk into that church it could be on a weekday nobody's in there , maybe just you and the janitor . If you see a red light on that sanctuary , that red light indicates that that's Jesus's porch light . He's home , he's there .

He's kept this promise , matthew 28 , 20 , I will be with you always , until the end of time . We can't spiritualize and say , oh , he's with me in a spiritual sense , like Protestants . No , he's here physically , on planet earth .

This is his Eucharistic reign in every single Catholic church around the world and that's what sets Catholicism apart from all the other religions . They talk about God . We literally have Emmanuel , god , with us in every single Catholic church . In that golden tabernacle Everybody else sings about God . Praise to God , we have God in every Catholic church .

That's what sets us apart . That's why the target of Satanists , witches , sorcerers and the occultists to go and steal and vandalize Catholic churches is the Catholic church . Because the enemies of God . Is it a wonder why over 400 Catholic churches have been vandalized , firebombed , destroyed , you know , graffitied since Roe versus Wade ?

No , because the devil knows and the enemies of God know the PO Box of the one true church . This is not happening to the Presbyterian churches or the Methodist churches or Episcopalians , because the Satanists and occultists and the pro-bords they know that they're not the church of Christ , they know they're a man-made church .

They know the Catholic church is the one true church . Even Hollywood knows it . This is why all of the Hollywood blockbusters every time you see a Hollywood diabolical exorcism possession blockbuster who do you have on the opposite side of Satan , possession demons ? You've got a Catholic priest in the Catholic church . You don't have Joel Osteen .

You don't have Franklin Graham . You don't have anybody from the TBN channel . Because Hollywood knows historically , though they don't like us they know who is the one true church the Catholic church started by Jesus Christ in 33 AD in Jerusalem .

You know , right , and you know when God is first forming a nation called Israel and then he takes that nation and then he has a new covenant with them and this becomes the church . You know , and he's pulling us through this , you know , in your book , on page 41 , I love this you know , it's a reminder St Paul says he warned us about the wolves .

He warned us about the wolves coming right from the very beginning . We knew that the attack and it reminds me of what you're saying right now . Right , the wolves come from the outside , the wolves come from the inside , but they're attacking the church .

I think , just for people that don't know their history , just take them back a little bit to the founding of this that this is an institution that has not been broken for 2,000—I mean , the apostolic succession has been 2,000 years and just remind them—look , I don't want to put down my Protestant brothers and sisters , my evangelical brothers and sisters , but there's

a reason , right , that we get excited when we're talking about the Catholic Church , even though I know there's some wolves in it right now , jesse , and there's no doubt about it . But that's why I think this is important , because this isn't the first time .

This won't be the last time , but this has deep roots and it's been coming down to us like no other institution for this many years .

This is why we have to be careful today and this is why the popes and the bishops , you know all the way through , their job is to protect this deposit of faith given to you and me today , right so that when we go to receive that Eucharist , we know how to do it , the priest knows how to consecrate it properly .

You know , everything starts to unfold for us like it did 2,000 years ago . This is what Jesus wanted to preserve .

I think this is what people don't understand sometimes , and that this was one church for 10 centuries , right before it went to East and West Maybe you can touch on that and then for another 500 years before anything else started to really , you know , splinter .

So for those of us that don't know our history as well , just take us back just a little bit , like that .

Satan threw a rock and broke this glass into two parts in 1054 AD , called the East-West Schism , when a Catholic bishop from the East , called Bishop Phocius , separated himself from under the papacy , opposed the papacy , opposed the church in Rome headquarters , basically , and took a large swath of Catholics with him and they all started calling themselves , in 1054 AD ,

eastern Orthodox , eastern Orthodox . So that was the first rock that Satan threw at this window that was completely intact . So now , in 1054 , this window's broken in two . You got the Western , the Catholic Church , with the Pope , and then you got the Eastern Orthodox , which , by the way , they have fractured within 27 national Orthodox churches .

That again , they don't have a magisterium , they don't have a unifying voice , they don't have one person who speaks with the authority for all of them . You've got the Russian Orthodox , the Ukrainian Orthodox , the Ruthenian Orthodox , the Greek Orthodox , the Byzantine . So the Orthodox , that's not the solution . They themselves have divided into 27 national churches .

Now , the big blow I would call the big rock that was thrown at the window that shattered the body of Christ into pieces was Martin Luther , a Catholic priest 1517 from Germany . He's the one that started what's called the Protestant Reformation . I call it the Protestant Revolt . His battle cry was the Bible alone and faith alone .

We don't need a pope , we don't need sacraments , we don't need priests , we're all priests . We don't need the tradition of the church . And so Martin Luther in 1521 was excommunicated .

He burned the pole with this excommunication , posted 95 theses against the church and from that point on now you have in 1521 , you got the Catholic Christians , the Orthodox Christians and the Lutheran Christians . He started the first Protestant denomination called the Lutherans .

But talk a little bit about that . I mean , you name it after yourself . He's got a little bit of a pride . I didn't realize some of the things that he said . Jesse , you pointed out in the book it was very good . I mean , people need to read this , it's really good . And there's some things in there that people won't know .

I mean , he was a look at I'm not going to take the words you , you , you describe him . You , you did a good job in your book . And look at , I'm not trying to be mean , but it's . You need to point out that this guy had some flaws too . It's not like he started some grandiose .

You know , you know church , right , that was going to be perfect because he was perfect .

He had his eyes on a Catholic nun all the while he was going through this revolt against the church . Luther was also bombastic , very bombastic .

If somebody is going to say something , I'm not going to read something into it , I'm just going to take it Especially in a homily .

Luther admits that he added things to the Bible so he could come up with his doctrine of justification by faith alone . He admits he was caught . Cardinal Cajetan told him you added into Romans , chapter 3 , verse 28 , words that are not there in the Greek Septuagint . He admitted it . He said yeah , I did .

Why he says he goes I don't need you papists to tell me that . I added I know I did . He says because that's what St Paul intended to write , basically is what he said . So he's , you know , 1500 years later , trying to correct St Paul .

So , when you look at the 40,000 denominations plus and counting , this is why , for example , the Reformation impacts everything . This is why we're weak in America as American citizens . Why is it that we can't stop the abortion machine ? Why is it that we can't stop the homosexual LGBT lobby ?

I'll tell you why Because we're not united , because everybody has a different take . No , my pastor says this , my denomination permits this Because there's not a unified voice in Christianity . This is why , again , the conservative , the patriotic movement in America is weak . The left , the left is cobbled together under lies and propaganda and falsehood and Satan .

But those of us that people of faith and patriots , because the church is split and there's no unified voice , we can't even agree on something like homosexual marriage that it's wrong and abortion .

You know , catholics , christians and Catholics going to the center on things like exactly what you just said , especially on abortion , and so well , maybe that chemical pill is okay to take it home for an abortion , maybe this , maybe that . I think , jesse , it's so splintered I don't think they think they can get elected unless they take those positions .

This is a very sad thing and I think this gets back to the danger that we're in today that we were created as one nation under God . This is what this conversation that we're having today is so important , because if we don't get our act together , if we don't realize that a baby's a baby , we can't agree on that , we can't agree that .

You know , right from Scripture , you know , in the Sola Scriptura says that you know Genesis 1 , genesis 2 , just read that , right . And yet we can take it and twist it and distort it . Right , do not kill . Well , it's not really a baby , it's not this . No , no , no , no .

We know , we know today , you know science has brought us to the point where we know that's a child . If we can't agree on these things , jesse , we're not going to be able to turn this around and , unfortunately , we're going to all pay a price because we're not standing in the truth again , right , we're not standing in the truth of our faith .

monarchiesies . That was called the two swords theory . And so this is why europe , this is why it enjoyed this , this , this , uh , this beautiful time of catholicism , because europe on even the kings , the secular kings , they were beholden to the moral authority of the Pope when it came to faith and morals .

And now that's been obliterated , because Catholicism essentially has no voice in America other than individual Catholics . And now we're a country where we separate church and state , church and state . That's a Freemason , you know . That's a Freemasonic idea that's been inserted into American politics and into the life of America . It's not a Catholic idea .

You got Pope speaking out against separation of church and state . That's not a Catholic principle . You have Pope saying the church and the state must be together and it's the church that must influence the state . And that's again that's one of the reasons .

The two big blows against the body of Christ were number one Protestantism in 1517 , the denial of the church's authority . 200 years after Protestantism , about 300 years , with the Freemasons and the Enlightenment movement , 200-300 years after Protestantism . Now you have a rebellion against the supernatural .

So Protestantism rejected the authority of God and the Enlightenment and the Freemasons and the French Revolution now reject the supernatural , and so that's where we're at today . In America . Most you know the hippies that are running this country . They what ? They reject the authority of God . I won't mention any names .

They reject the authority of the Catholic Church and they also reject the authority of the supernatural . What's happening in America is most of the politicians that run this country . The movers and shakers are babies of the supernatural . What's happening in America is most of the politicians that run this country . The movers and shakers are babies of the Reformation .

They're offspring of the Reformation . They're offspring of the Enlightenment . Reject the authority of God , which is the Catholic Church , and reject the supernatural .

And we know that we're building the city of man right now , and it's a very dangerous time for all of us again , because we know where this heads . This heads to tyrants . When you take God out , like you're describing right now , this is going to get very mean . This is going to get very mean because a lot of people get hurt , a lot of people die .

We've seen this in Europe . You know John Paul II , you know , fought against Marxism , communism , all of these things , and spoke about the enlightenment . Basically , take God , you know , out . And Bishop Sheen talked about that . You brought him up earlier . Bishop Sheen said that you know we're no longer . You know we've rejected Christendom .

He said listen to me , listen to me , not the church's teaching through the ages . He said we've rejected Christendom , which means our society , our laws are no longer based on truth . He saw this coming too , jesse , and I think this is where we're at right .

Now and again , when people are searching , we need to have the confidence and we need to have information like your book , like Athanasius Schneider , coming out that says there's a reason that we can speak confidently about the truth . You know , because we know this in our heart . And if we don't do it , who's going to do it , jesse ?

Where are we going to go with all this ? The other thing I would just mention quickly to people you pointed out Calvin was Catholic . You know , people don't realize that Henry VIII was Catholic . You know , right ? So all of these changes that you're talking about , these people came from Catholic roots , took it upon themselves to make these changes .

These are men who decided to reject everything that you said , and I think this is so important , right ? All of these figures were Catholic . They were Catholic-based . It didn't just come out of thin air , did it ? You mentioned the Middle Ages and stuff . It was all Catholic , right , and people don't know this because we don't know our history or our roots .

Okay , because we're followers of Christ , okay . The fact is , as I said at the beginning of the show , my pastor at my parish , holy man , I love him . He's my confessor , my counselor , but he didn't die for my sins . He's not on the cross , he's not on the end of my rosary or my crucifix .

My bishop , my cardinal , my archbishop , the pope , they're men that have the authority of Christ , they have the governance of the church , but they're not the saviors of the world , they're not the messiahs . As a Catholic Hebrews , chapter 12 , verse 2 , we keep our eyes on Jesus , the author and finisher of our faith .

He's the center of our faith , he's the apex of our faith . Men come and go , priests will come and go , bishops will come and go , popes will come and go . Jesus Christ remains yesterday , today and forever . And also one thing that separates the Catholic Church from other religions , I would say of four things . Number one Marian apparitions .

Number two miracles of the Eucharist . Number three the incorruptible bodies of saints that have been dead for hundreds of years and their bodies are completely incorrupt .

And number four there's been over 400 well-documented cases of people being raised from the dead at the prayer of a Catholic saint like Saint Catherine of Siena raised her mom from the dead by praying at her bedside . No , mom , I don't want you to die . Please , please , lord , lord , bring her back . Boom raised her from the dead by praying at her bedside .

No , mom , I don't want you to die . Please , please , lord , lord , bring her back . Boom raised her from the dead . St Vincent de Ferrer it's documented that St Vincent de Ferrer raised 27 people from the dead in his priestly ministry . And so the Catholic Church .

There is no other religion where you have these type of miracles People being raised from the dead , bodies of saints that are incorruptible after hundreds of years of being dead , mary coming from heaven appearing to human beings and giving them a prophetic message .

And number four miracles of the Eucharist , where the Holy Eucharist physically , biologically , chemically turns into a piece of a beating human heart with human veins and human blood . That hasn't happened in any other religion , but for the Catholic Church .

It starts to bleed in his hand . Jesse , I saw that they did tests on that . The government had the Italian DNA experts and stuff do tests . It was a beating heart . It was a heart muscle . In fact , all four quadrants of the heart were in that host . It was amazing to see .

But I would say what happens all the time are the hearts of individual human beings that are looking for the truth that step into Christ , like you did , like I did . People's hearts get changed , jesse , we talk to these people all the time . I think , at the end of the day , this isn't just more information we're talking about . This runs through our DNA .

We're seeking something more , aren't we , as we're starting to ? I know that your time is short here as laity , jesse . We need to Bishop Athanasius Schneider . Like I said , I just talked to him . I'm talking to you now . You've got these great books coming out . We need to study this . I think the one or two things that I always remember from Vatican II .

People can put it down a little bit . You know , we can say you know it probably had some problems . But the one beautiful thing that I always remember , two things I should say universal call to holiness for all of us and for the laity to raise up Jesse . What do you think about this ?

You know , at the end of the day , bishop Sheen again would say who's going to change the church ? Who ? Bishop Sheen again would say who's going to change the church , who's going to bring the light back in ? It's going to be the laity . And he said to make sure your priests act like priests , your bishops act like bishops .

And the reason I bring this all up is when you look out at the landscape today , we have all of these people looking for the truth . We have people saying , well , why should I go to the Catholic Church ? She seems confusing now too , which can be true . Why should I go to the Catholic Church ? She seems confusing now too , which can be true .

Right , we've got some confusing messages coming out of the Vatican right now . But at the end of the day , we need to all get educated and we need to be able to help those people . What would you say , jesse ? Education ? You mentioned a lot of things already Prayer , get back to the sacraments . We have to take it upon ourselves , don't we ?

But this is really what I want to know from you . What can we say as lay people ? In other words , I feel compelled because I see something wrong in the church . Right , maybe they bring a Father James Martin and throw out Bishop Strickland . What am I allowed to say ? What could we say , jesse ?

Because we want to be careful , we want to be respectful of the office of the Pope , right , because of everything that you just said and everything that your book says . But , on the other hand , we have to stand for the truth and we're called to do that . Any advice for us , jesse ?

You can confront a bishop , you can confront the Holy Father in a letter or personally . Just do it respectfully , understanding that they have an authority that comes from Christ . Don't do it mean-spirited . Second thing I would say is the most important thing is worry about your domestic church . Too many people want to save the world .

You know , I'm going to change the White House . I'm going to change the governor's mansion so they don't steal that election again . I'm gonna change the chancery office . Oh , I don't like that bishop . Guess what ?

The only the only thing you have the power to change is yourself , yes , and your domestic church yes , you know , for people that look at our audience , knows what the domestic church is .

We have to take that seriously , right , take it into our own hearts and then really listen , seriously , right , take it into our own hearts and then really listen . I love St John of the Cross would say look , if you want wisdom , he said , become a person of love .

He said , then sit in silence , sit in prayer and listen , listen , listen and mortifications , detached from all this , you know , from pornography and overeating and over this and over that , not to be a prude Catholics aren't prudes , right , we've been given these things to enjoy these pleasures .

But detach from them , don't replace them for God , right , and then walk out and then live that faith , jesse , and not be afraid to speak on these things . But first you have to educate yourself , right , we have to know what we're talking about if we're going to speak on these things .

If you want your prayers to be heard for the conversion of your spouse , your children , your neighbors , those in the parish , different people you're praying for , If you want to see the grace of conversion come into their life , then you have to be as holy as possible and live in a right relationship with God .

Should we get it from Sophia Press ? Is that the best place to get it from notes Should we get it from Sophia Press .

I have an internet radio station . It's called Virgin , most Powerful Radio . It's vmprorg , vmprorg .