Latest / The Uncensored Catholic / Show: 111: THE CHRISTIAN UNDER SUFFERING

Transcript

Show: 111: THE CHRISTIAN UNDER SUFFERING · The Uncensored Catholic

0:51
A, Hey, y'all, welcome today's show. I hope you had a
1:03
wonderful New Year's. Well, today's New Year's actually this is New Year's Day,
1:07
and of course it's a very important feast day in the Catholic Church.
1:11
I hope you've been able to go to Mass. But you know, of
1:15
course we kind of celebrate New Year's at the stroke of midnight, you know,
1:19
last night, So I hope that was exactly what you wanted it to
1:22
be. I had a very nice, very nice evening, quiet evening,
1:26
but nice. Nonetheless, I'm not I think Father Spirago would be quite pleased
1:33
that I'm no longer one to necessarily want to go out to dance clubs.
1:38
He really did not like social dancing very much, I have to say,
1:42
or the theater. Not really want to go out and party anymore on New
1:48
Year's. But you know, if the right lady ever comes into my life,
1:53
which I hope it will, that's sort of like my New Year's resolution
1:56
for twenty twenty four. I'd actually like to meet the ladies so I can
2:00
go ahead and get started with a family and everything. You know, at
2:05
the age of forty six. It's not like in the mountains of North Carolina,
2:08
living in the middle of the woods, and my town population is seventy
2:15
in the summer. Well, no, I'm sorry, it's seventy the winter.
2:20
It grows to a few hundred in the summer. Our Catholic church is
2:23
not even really open year round. Our Catholic population is decidedly over eighty and
2:31
seasonal people from the north. So it's not like I got a lot of
2:36
socializing to do around here, let's just put it that way. But nonetheless,
2:40
I'm quite quite pleased with this holiday. I have a very hopeful feeling
2:46
for twenty twenty four, I really do. I think we've we're getting close
2:51
to hitting bottom. Things could certainly get worse before they get better, but
2:53
I think they're going to turn around pretty soon. And you know, history
2:59
tends in forty year cycles. It gets really bad and then it starts getting
3:02
better. Humanity seems to go toward Christianity and then away from it, and
3:08
back toward it and then away from it. I think things are going to
3:13
be better, if not this year, then very soon. And I think
3:19
this year is going to be the transformative year, you know, when the
3:22
pendulum swings. So far, there's sort of a pause before it swings back
3:27
the other way. And I don't know if this will be the year it
3:29
begins to swing the other way or if this is the year it comes to
3:31
the pause, But either way, I have a feeling that things are going
3:35
to get a lot better. Now, I want to tell you something I
3:38
started today, this being New Year's Day. If you're not a subscriber to
3:45
the Unsensored Catholic newsletter on substack, do so. I'm giving away every morning
3:52
I'm sending out for free to all my subscribers Gospel reflections, my commentary,
4:00
meditation and explanation of the daily Gospel could taken from the daily Mass readings that's
4:06
coming from my new book, which is We Get You. The exact title
4:12
A Daily Catholic Devotional Reflections on the Daily Mass January through June of twenty twenty
4:16
four by Judson Carroll. Yes, I've written them for each day January one
4:23
through the last of June, and now I'm writing the ones for July through
4:27
December. So if you sign up for the Unsinsored Catholic at even the free
4:31
subscription level, every morning you will get one of these in your inbox.
4:35
So if that appeals to you. I think it will. I mean,
4:40
you know, Feedbick's been really good on the book so far. Do so,
4:44
and if you become a paid subscriber, I'll send you a free PDF
4:46
copy of the book. Now, of course, you can also buy the
4:49
book in hard copy from Amazon dot com, or you can come directly to
4:55
me and buy the PDF for it. But really the cheapest way to get
4:59
it would be to become a paid subscriber to the newsletter, because that starts
5:02
at eight dollars a month, and if you even just pay for a one
5:05
month subscription just eight dollars, I'm going to send you the PDF for the
5:09
book, even though I sell it for nine to ninety nine. If you
5:14
want a hard copy, which you know I would recommend because you know,
5:18
well, I don't know about you, but I'm not really a tech guy.
5:23
I don't like to be online all the time. I love to have
5:25
a hard copy paper book in my hands. Okay, go to Amazon for
5:30
that. Now, if you buy from Amazon, I actually make less money,
5:32
So I'm telling you something. You know, if you buy the book
5:35
off of Amazon, Amazon takes their cut, which is I think fairly substantial,
5:42
and they only send me about seven dollars, so really that's the way
5:47
I make the least amount of money. But I kind of have this like
5:53
feeling that, you know, actual physical books have more of an input pack
6:00
on someone's life than an electronic copy. So, you know, I,
6:03
even though it really does cut me out of money, you know, God
6:08
willing, there'll be a conservative Catholic alternative to Amazon that will do print on
6:13
demand eventually soon, maybe even this year, and I'll switch because you know,
6:18
I don't like supporting Amazon that much, but it's the only game in
6:23
town right now. I want you to have a hard copy if you want
6:28
a hard copy, but you know, if you want a PDF, the
6:31
cheapest way to get it is to do a subscription to my substate newsletter,
6:35
Uncinsored Catholic. You can get that to someone as a gift. You can
6:39
keep it for yourself if you subscribe for more than one month. You can
6:44
have a copy of also my Conversion Story or another book that I've written.
6:48
I've written thirteen books. Most of them are on herbal medicine, you know
6:54
one that's sort of like well, I've got two that are kind of like
6:57
one foot in the Catholic World and one foot in the rbal world world.
7:00
The first is The Herbs and Weeds of Father Johann Kunzel. There's a Swiss
7:03
priest who wrote a classic on herbal medicine in the nineteen twenties. I worked
7:08
with a lady in Austria and we did a translation of it with a modern
7:12
commentary, because we're both herbalist, very Catholic book, very good erbal book.
7:16
The other is the Christian History of Herbal Medicine, and it is you
7:20
know, well, Christian history is predominantly Catholic. I mean, you know,
7:24
Protestism is sort of the new kid on the block. So you know,
7:29
tell me which one you want. If you sign up for the newsletter
7:30
and you say I want a different one of your books, I don't want
7:33
the Daily Gospel Reflections, that's cool too, I'll send you. You know.
7:38
If you do a one of the month subscription, you get one of
7:40
my e books. If you do a two month suscription, you get two
7:42
of them. You get the idea. I guess you could do a yearly
7:45
subscription, you get Well, I've written thirteen. My thirteenth is actually coming
7:49
out next week. So say a prayer and wish me well on that,
7:54
but I'll go in and send you all thirteen. You know, I'm not
7:57
going to send you twelve just because you did a one year subscription. I'll
8:01
go and send you all thirteen, you know, But you can enjoy that
8:05
advance copy before anyone else gets to see it. Actually, the new book
8:09
is going to be a foraging cookbook for all the wild plants that come in
8:13
in the spring. So maybe not appeel to everybody, but I've enjoyed writing
8:18
it, and you know, that's really a lot. That's a big part
8:22
of my lifestyle. I mean, I love to be where I live.
8:26
I love to go out in the woods. I love to hunt and fish
8:28
and forage. And I'm usually I mean, I'm almost like constantly praying while
8:33
i'm doing so, I'm playing the Rosary, I'm praying the Done Mercy Chaplet,
8:37
I'm praying the Memorary. I'm just praying, pray and praying as I'm
8:41
fishing, as I'm walking through the woods looking for plants. That is such
8:45
a part of I guess my spirituality, you know, is who I am
8:50
as a Catholic is so intrinsically connected to nature. I don't know that I
8:58
necessarily would even be Christian were I'm not an outdoorsman, because you know,
9:07
that's where I see God as in nature. It's different for other people.
9:11
But I mean, if I was like just a tech guy stuck on a
9:13
computer all the time, you know, if I was interested in popular culture
9:18
and movies and music and television of them of the moment. You know,
9:22
I really do love old music, you know, big band and country,
9:24
and you know a lot of stuff gypsy jazz and dixie land and blues,
9:31
I mean, you know, punk, rocky even you know, yeah,
9:33
I really get into music classical. I mean, certainly, but people,
9:39
a lot of people stage is very up on like current popular culture. I
9:45
don't. I don't want anything to do with it. I don't. I
9:48
mean I wish I didn't even know who Taylor Swift was. Honestly, nothing
9:52
about her that I like. And there's you know, she pops out because
9:58
she's you know, really support the Democrat Party and the pro abortion crowd.
10:01
So you know, that's the one that comes to mind, But there are
10:05
a thousand others that could fall right into that category. Certainly that certainly,
10:07
that demonic, horrible woman who calls herself Madonna, I mean disgusting. She's
10:15
a disgusting, vile creature. But people who focus on those things, or
10:20
people who are very moopic in their their their career or their social lives,
10:26
they're not. I think it's harder to be a spiritual person than it is,
10:33
certainly for me just to walk out in the woods on a foggy morning
10:41
and you know, climb up to the top of a mountain and see the
10:46
just beauty of God's creation unfold before me, or to you know, stand,
10:54
you know, I used to do a lot of fly fishing and where
10:56
you actually stand in the river or the stream or whatever would call it.
11:00
Now do tinkara fishing, which is actually a Japanese style of fly fishing,
11:05
which is really cool, but you rarely get into the water. Normally you're
11:07
standing on the bank and kind of casting at an angle, and it's a
11:13
great way of fishing. Really probably ought to do like a video series or
11:18
something on tinkara because I think it's it's the simplicity of a kid with a
11:22
cane pole and the finesse of a fly fisherman and the rod actually collapses down
11:28
you can stick in your backpack and go anywhere with it wonderful. But I
11:31
mean that's where I really, that's where I see, that's where I have
11:39
my best prayer time, my best thoughts, my best closeness with God.
11:43
Even honestly, I mean, I like to go to adoration, but I
11:50
wish there was a way to take the Eucherus with me into the woods.
11:52
That would be my adoration, you know. But of course you know it's
11:58
not it's not permissible. But if there was, if there was an open
12:03
air, like several pews in the woods and an altar and a crucifix and
12:09
a priest would come out to the wilderness every day at a certain time,
12:18
I'd be a daily Mass every single day. I mean, as much as
12:22
I love the beauty of a pretty church, you know, as much as
12:26
I appreciate, you know, being there with the blessed sacrament, if there
12:31
was some way to receive the sacrament in the woods, I tell you I'd
12:37
probably never leave because that's that's my place. That's that's where I feel most
12:45
at home, is in the woods or on the water, or you know,
12:48
somewhere in the wilderness. I'm not a I'm not a city person.
12:54
I'm not a indoors person. I never have been. I had much.
12:58
You know, give me the hardest work possible, as long as I can
13:03
do it outside, you know, without somebody looking over my shoulder. I
13:07
mean, I'll go cut down trees. I'll you know, dig ditches.
13:11
You know, I love it. Put me in a building with paperwork or
13:16
yeah, and make my living is an author, I mean, yeah,
13:18
I know it's kind of ironic, ironic, but seriously, when I'm in
13:24
the woods, I'm writing those books in my head. You know. When
13:28
I come in, I just write down what I've already thought through while I
13:31
was outside. Everything I everything about me is you know, leaves and wood,
13:39
smoke and fresh breezes. And you know that's that's just the way God
13:50
made me, and that's the way I'm wired. And I I think if
13:54
everyone could just get outside a little each even if you're in a city,
14:01
if there's a park, or if there's somewhere you can walk with some trees
14:03
or something. Just disconnect from technology. Don't even listen to my podcast.
14:09
I mean, just turn everything off and go listen to the birds sing.
14:11
Go look at the quality of the sunlight as it fielders through the leaves,
14:16
feel the wind, the breeze on your face, walk barefoot, you know,
14:22
feel the dampness of the earth, and that there's I mean the greatest,
14:31
the grandest cathedral, I mean Saint Peter's Notre Dome whatever. None of
14:37
it can compare to God's own creation. I mean, you go out on
14:43
a mountain cliff, like you know, five thousand feet or higher elevation,
14:48
and you stand there and or just sit down and you just see everything laid
14:52
out before you, like this big rumpled quilt and the wind in your face
14:56
and eagles soaring, or you go to sleep out there in the woods.
15:01
I love to sleep out in the woods with you know, not even a
15:05
ten or anything, just out in the woods looking up at the stars if
15:07
it's good weather. You know, it's the grandeur, it's all. It's
15:15
absolutely strikes me with awe, and I think that is what led me to
15:20
become a religious person and eventually become Catholic. But anyway, long story short,
15:26
I sign up for the Uncensored Catholic twos letter, and one way or
15:31
another you're gonna get my daily gospel reflections. I think it first went out
15:33
today and I'm really excited about it, and yeah, I mean I give
15:39
this to free subscribers. You know, it's it's this is part of my
15:43
charity, this is part of my own skill giving And don't want anyone to
15:48
have a financial barrier between them and you know, the Gospel of the day
15:54
and my commentary on it if they think that's valuable. But if you want
15:58
to support my work, or if you want a physical of the book,
16:00
then you can absolutely buy one or subscribe to the newsletter as a pay subscriber.
16:06
So let's get to the radio replies, question and answer for the day.
16:11
We'll do a couple of these. The person says, did not Saint
16:14
Paul acknowledge the various individual churches of his time? That's kind of a ridiculous
16:18
question. The Catholics to which Saint Paul wrote were as much united as Catholics,
16:23
and as those in London today are united in one church with the Catholics
16:29
of New York, Berlin, Italy and Australia. Non Catholics, however,
16:33
are not united, have not held fast to the traditions, believed practically as
16:37
they please, and have made a shipwreck of the faith as well as the
16:41
disciplinary unity. Yes, all the churches to which Saint Paul wrote were Catholic,
16:48
and they were all under the authority of the apostles. Otherwise he wouldn't
16:52
have been writing to him and telling them to maintain unity and to hold fast
16:59
to the teachings the church and obey their bishops and priests. You know,
17:03
person says. Tertullian says that as in the ocean there are many seas and
17:08
ports, so in the Catholic Church there are many churches. How can the
17:11
Roman branch exclude the other branches? Total misunderstanding of Catholicism. Tertullian had in
17:18
mind the expansion of the one Catholic Church to many sinners, and each branch
17:23
remaining united to the same legitimate authority. Person says, to my mind,
17:30
the whole of Christianity is like a will. Christ is the center, whilst
17:33
the various churches are the spokes they answer. Christ forms the complete will,
17:38
and as he identifies the Church with himself as his mystical body, the Catholic
17:44
Church is the complete will, hobb spokes and all of all the Christianity in
17:49
this world. And Christ prayed to his Father that the Church might be one,
17:55
as he and the Father are one. All non Catholic forms of professing
17:57
Christianity are broken and discarded, spokes no longer in the Will at all,
18:03
no longer in the Will at all as churches, while most of the members
18:07
of these churches disown all connection with the Wheel, which they abandoned at the
18:11
Reformation. Very true. Just actually just writing a gospel reflection earlier today.
18:21
And it was about when Jesus commissioned the apostles to go forth and teach and
18:26
preach and cast out demons and heal people in his name. And that's the
18:36
one true church, that's the one church with the fullness of the truth.
18:41
It was a Southern Baptist minister e Y. I don't guess his last name
18:49
really matters, but the first instance were e Y. I believe it agains
18:52
with an M. Anyway, he posited in about fifty years ago that every
19:00
person could read the Bible and the Holy Spirit would guide them in all truth.
19:04
They needed no church, there was no authority, they needed no one
19:11
to instruct them in doctrine and morals and theology. Well, let's assume for
19:19
a minute he's right. So there are about fifty thousand Protestant churches now,
19:26
all of whom disagree with each other on matters of morals and doctrines and theology,
19:32
and each of whom disagrees with the Catholic Church. But there's only one
19:38
truth. There's only one truth. It's the same truth that Christ gave to
19:44
the Apostles. It's the same truth that they wrote in the Bible, and
19:49
they passed on through the tradition of the Catholic Church. Before the Bible was
19:55
even finished. The New Testament hadn't even been written completely. Saint John the
20:00
Apostle is still writing the Book of Revelation. It had not been compiled,
20:03
composed, and published. The Apostles wrote the d d K or the Teaching
20:08
of the twelve. If there's one truth, you know, two plus two
20:12
equals four. It doesn't have equal three or five or twenty seven. You
20:18
only means one thing. The Bible says that God is the same yesterday,
20:21
today, and tomorrow. Well, that one truth has to be with the
20:26
original church founded by the Apostles, the church detailed and explained in the d
20:30
do Ka that says that Christians celebrate the Christian Sabbath of Sunday and no longer
20:36
observe the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday. Yes, it actually says that in the
20:40
d du K that we go to Mass and receive the eucharust which is the
20:45
true body and Blood of Christ. Yes, it actually says that in the
20:48
d dot K, the profession of Faith and Baptism. The Church, the
20:52
One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, is the exact same church, believing and
20:57
teaching the exact same things that the Apostles, those who learned directly from Jesus
21:02
did two thousand plus years ago. Every other Christian so called church disagrees with
21:11
the Catholic Church, and all disagree with each other, but there's only one
21:14
truth, so guess they are broken spokes. Every single church doctrine other than
21:25
the Catholic Church is inherently faults and I'm not being strided in that. You
21:33
know, faith, people believe in God, they trust in God, they
21:37
don't know what they don't know, but their doctrine is false. Only the
21:42
Catholic doctrine is true and by definition has to be see because because the only
21:48
church in the world was the Catholic Church for most of Christianity. If that
21:55
ey Mullins Miller or something I can't remember, if he had it right fifty
22:00
years ago. That means the church founded by Jesus Christ that wrote the Bible
22:06
had it wrong two thousand years ago. There's only one truth. It doesn't
22:10
matter what time it is right. He bases his belief off the words of
22:15
the Bible, a Bible given to him by the Catholic Church. If the
22:19
Catholic Church is false, the Bible can't be true because it was those very
22:25
apostles who wrote the New Testament. Jesus didn't write the New Testament. Jesus
22:30
gave us a church, not a book. The word of God in the
22:34
Bible comes through the Catholic Church, guaranteed against error by Jesus Christ, who
22:41
said, those who hear you hear me, and those who reject you reject
22:42
him who sent me. There's only one truth, There's only one valid church.
22:51
And the closer Protestants come to Catholic belief and doctrine, the more valid
22:59
they're teaching has become. But eventually they're going to be faced with the inevitable
23:03
conclusion that in order to be a valid Christian, a valid church in an
23:10
official, organized way, not just as an individual believer, they're going to
23:15
have to become Catholic and that will happen before the end of time. The
23:22
Body of Christ will be reunified. All the Protestant churches will disappear, fade
23:26
away. There will only be one Christian Church left standing, and it will
23:32
be the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. And the Muslims and Jews will
23:36
convert to Catholicism as well. We're a long way from the end of the
23:41
world, y'all. Hold on, It's going to be a bumpy ride,
23:47
all right. So then let's get to Father Sparrago. So Father Sparago now
23:51
addresses the topic of the Christian under suffering. This is one of those doctrines
23:57
that really differentiates Tholicism from protestansm not in its entirety. Certainly, the you
24:07
know, the old Pilgrim Protestants of New England were very stern and and you
24:14
know, emphasized the importance of suffering and embrace and carrying your cross. Yes
24:18
they did, Okay, that was one of the more valid aspects of their
24:23
teachings. Actually, even though they went a little to the extreme, we'll
24:30
say, punishing people for having fires in their fireplace on Sunday, or cooking
24:37
or walking too far or running when they thought they should be walking. Yeah,
24:41
that's not yeah, that that was taking away people's free will. Okay.
24:49
The Puritans of New England would put people in stocks and beat them.
24:53
Well, it's pretty pretty uh. These days they would be called a religious
24:57
cult and child Services would be taking their kids away. And you know,
25:03
if it was the Clinton administration, they'd have tanks breaking down their walls and
25:07
setting their compounds on fire. So, I mean, seriously, I had
25:14
an ancestor on the Mayflower. I'm very proud of my Pilgrim ancestors. But
25:19
these what we're taught in history classes in high school about the settlement and founding
25:26
of America is really mythical. And trust me, if Janet Reno had been
25:32
around when William Randolph was, you know, leading the Pilgrims, she'd have
25:37
had the FBI and the ATF and they're burning him to the ground and killing
25:40
everybody, you know, And I'm not saying that's right. I mean,
25:44
honestly, I would. I would be on the side of the Pilgrims in
25:45
that case. But they weren't that different honestly from like the Branch Davidians.
25:52
They were a religious cult. You know, sorry, that's the truth.
25:57
They weren't Catholic, they didn't have the fullness of the truth anyway, Father
26:03
Sparak. But you know, in contrast with today, with like Joel Ostein
26:07
and all those guys with a prosperity doctrine of God wants everybody to be happy
26:11
and rich, and the better a Christian you are, the more prosperous you're
26:15
going to be. That's anti biblical. That's absolutely satanic. Actually, that's
26:22
literally the message of Satan and not the message of God. Whether it's well
26:26
meaning or not, it has no validity in Christian doctrine whatsoever. So Father
26:32
Sparago says, man can suffer in body or soul or both. The Apostles
26:37
when they were scourged took acts forty one. For instance, suffered in the
26:41
body Judas when he threw down the pieces and of silver, and the temple
26:47
suffered in his soul. Holy Job suffered him. Both. Suffering is either
26:52
merited or unmerited. The suffering of the prodigal son was merited, those of
26:56
the patriarch Joseph were unmerited. Yet all sufferings are merited. By original sin
27:03
point number one, no one can attain eternal salvation without suffering. No one
27:07
is crowned unless he strive lawfully. That's from two Timothy. Even Christ had
27:14
to enter in his glory through suffering Luca twenty four, Yes, twenty four
27:21
to twenty six. Our Lord says, he that taketh not up his cross
27:25
and follow after me is not worthy of me. Matthew ten thirty eight.
27:29
The road to heaven is a rough one. In order to make the flex
27:32
that grows in the earth into pure white linen, it must be rubbs stretched
27:37
and thoroughly cleansed and woven. The corn has to be threshed and winnowed.
27:41
The pure gold has to pass through fire, not to suffer, as a
27:44
sign that no future happiness is in store for you. Suffering and holiness are
27:48
inseparably bound together. There is no good work that does not meet with obstacles,
27:53
no virtue that does not have to fight and struggle. For this reason,
27:57
God leaves no just man without suffering. God treats us as a physician
28:02
treats his patience. Those of whose recovery he despairs he leaves alone. But
28:07
those to whom he hopes to cure, he administers bitter medicines. As milk
28:12
is the food of children, so are the ore contradictions is the food of
28:17
God's elect To his chosen, God gives a sword on earth to pierce their
28:22
heart, and a crown in heaven to adore their heads. Yet God mingles
28:26
with the bitterness of suffering the sweetness of consolation. We see throughout the history
28:33
of Our Lady. We see throughout the history of We see this throughout the
28:37
history of Our Lady, which consists of alternate joys and sorrows. So too
28:41
we celebrate the seven joys and sorrows of Saint Joseph. All suffering comes from
28:47
God and is a sign of His love and favor. That's point number two.
28:52
We find in the lives of the saints that the more good works they
28:55
undertook for God, the more did they suffer. More did suffering assail them,
29:00
as in the case of Tobias and Holy Job against the Book of Tobad.
29:03
If that's not in your Bible, get a real and complete Bible.
29:07
Suffering seems to be the reward of good works performed. They are a precious
29:11
gift which will avail us all, which will avail us to all eternity.
29:18
To suffer something for God is in itself a great privilege and honor. It
29:22
is a better gift than that of performing miracles or raising the dead. Parents
29:27
often punish their children to cure them of their faults. If they see the
29:32
same faults in the children of others, they do not trouble themselves about them,
29:36
because they do not care for them. So it is with God,
29:40
the children whom he loves, he often corrects. Hence Raphael said to Tobias,
29:45
because thou wast pleasing to God, it was necessary that temptations should prove
29:48
thee agains from the Book of tobit when the Angel actually intercedes on behalf of
29:56
Tobias, which if Protestants still had that book in their Bible, they would
30:00
realize the roles of the angels, and the value of good works and suffering
30:08
and charity and everything that the Antichrist smartin Luther cut out of the Bible,
30:15
much of it's very much summed up in to Bias. Saint Paul says,
30:22
whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth and scourges every son whom he receiveth gold
30:27
and silver are tried in the fire, and acceptableman in the furnace of tribulation.
30:33
The greatest saint, the greater in most cases was the sufferings. Our
30:37
lady was the queen of martyrs. The apostles had to suffer much, especially
30:41
Saint Peter and Saint Paul. To be free from suffering is a bad sign.
30:48
Saint Augustine says, there is no greater misfortune than the good fortune of
30:55
sinners. He that does not suffer now will have to suffer hereafter. Yet
30:59
God sends us any suffering that is beyond our power of endurance. Saint Paul
31:04
says, God is faithful, who would permit, Who will not permit you
31:08
to suffer above that which you are able. It's in verse Corinthians ten thirteen.
31:12
The peasant knows how much his beast of burden can carry, and does
31:17
not load him beyond his strength. Will God, the all wise and all
31:19
merciful, lay more honest than we can bear. The potter does not leave
31:23
his vessels too long in the fires, lest they should crack. He who
31:29
plays on an instrument is careful not to take in the strings too much lest
31:32
they should break, nor too little, for they would produce no sound.
31:36
The physician apportions his remedies to the power of his patients. So the heavenly
31:41
physician sends us suffering in proportion to our power bearing them. There are some
31:45
people who make sufferings for themselves because they find fault with what gives them nose
31:49
calls for complaint. A lot of people complain, you know, even in
31:53
real suffering. Much complaining is a sign of faint heartedness and makes us more
31:59
sensible to That's actually very true. Y'all know I have some back issues.
32:05
You know, I had a severe back injury when I was nineteen. I
32:07
have a lot of pain to this day. And I've found, especially in
32:12
the last few years, that if I simply pray that you know, I'm
32:17
offering up my sufferings his penance, and I, you know, ask God
32:22
to help me carry my cross, I don't hurt his bad You know,
32:28
things get more tolerable. The more I complain and the more I focus on
32:32
it, the worse it gets. I don't even if I don't even get
32:38
massages or anything like that anymore. I found that the more focus, the
32:44
more tension I give the sore aching muscles, the worst they hurt. So
32:52
point number three, God sends suffering to the sinner, to bring him back
32:55
into the right way and to save him from eternal death. Many have been
33:00
converted by means of suffering, e g. Monassas in prison at Babylon,
33:06
Jonas the prodigal son, even even the wicked a chip I gave bride else
33:14
that name ac Chab. Anyway, the Third Kings twenty one twenty seven.
33:21
God is like a surgeon who cuts away the disease flesh that it may not
33:24
cause death. Suffering also brings about a disgust for earthly things and makes the
33:30
sinful pleasures of the world bitter. They destroy our dependence on earthly things and
33:34
take away the desire for enjoyments and pleasures in this valley of tears, and
33:40
turn our thoughts to heaven. Suffering again impresses upon our honest upon us our
33:46
own helplessness, compels us to have recourse to God in prayer. They teach
33:52
us the knowledge of ourselves and of our sinfulness. As the trees after the
33:57
winter flower and bring forth fruit, so does a man, after suffering bring
34:01
forth works pleasing to God. Suffering, says Saint Teresa, though very hard
34:07
to bear, are the surest way to God. I'm not sure which Saint
34:10
Teresa. That is, if you know, if you're Catholic, you know
34:14
there are many Saint Teresa's, so I don't know. God frequently sends bodily
34:20
sickness to the Center for the healing of the sickness of his soul. How
34:23
many there are who have been converted to God through the means of bodily sickness
34:28
e g. Saint Francis of ASSISI, Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The wise
34:32
man says, a grievous sickness makes the soul sober. That's ecclesiastses and sickness.
34:40
God knocks at the door of the heart and necks and asks for admission.
34:45
I am always glad, said Saint Ignatius, when I see a center
34:49
fall ill for sickness brings back to God. Interesting point. How foolish it
34:54
is, then, to regard sickness as a mark of God's anger. What
34:58
is really a mark of his compassion. God sends suffering to the just At
35:05
this point number four, God sens suffering to the just man to try him
35:07
whether he loves God most or creatures. Job, who had always lived a
35:13
god fearing life, lost all his properties, children, and his health,
35:15
and was delighted by his wife and his friends. Tobias had buried the dead
35:20
at the peril of his life, and given most liberal alms. God took
35:24
away a sight and left him poor and unable to earn anything for himself.
35:29
Thus God tries his friends. As the storm tests the tree whether it is
35:34
firmly rooted, so suffering tests the just, whether they are firmly established in
35:37
the love of God. As the wind separates the chaff from the wheat,
35:42
so trouble marks off the center from the just. Sweet herbs smell the sweetest
35:46
when they are bruised. True, so the just and most pleasing to God.
35:52
In the time of tribulation, God often takes away from us what we
35:55
love best and that which is injurious or dangerous, just as a father takes
36:00
from his little child a razor or a sharp knife. At the same time,
36:06
the sufferings of the just man are a great advantage to him. They
36:09
serve him as penance for his sins. They cleanse him from all imperfections,
36:14
increases zeal in the practice of good, in the love of God, and
36:16
in love of prayer. They also increase his merit in heaven and often to
36:21
his happiness in this world. By sufferings, the punishment due for sin is
36:25
canceled. Hence Saint Augustine prayed in this life, Old Lord burn scorch and
36:30
wound me. Only spare me in life. To come, think yourself happy,
36:36
said Saint Francis Xavier, if you can exchange the agonizing pains of purgatory
36:42
for the sufferings of this world. Sufferings also purify the soul from its imperfection.
36:47
Gold has tried in fire, so the soul is purged by suffering.
36:51
Every branch that bears fruit, God purges that it may bring forth more fruit.
36:57
John fifteen two. A sharp file cleanses iron from rust. A soap
37:01
cleanses the bodies. As soap cleanses the body, so suffering cleanses the soul.
37:07
Suffering also increases our strength, just as the blows of the hammer make
37:10
the iron stronger and harder. Toil strengthens the body, Suffering strengthens the soul.
37:16
The vessels that the potter places in the fire come out hard and strong.
37:21
Suffering also adds to our love of God, as the ark of Noah
37:23
was raised nearer to heaven by the floods that ever spread the earth. So
37:28
we are brought nearer to Heaven and to God by the floods of suffering.
37:31
As the gold leaf is spread out by the blows of the hammer, so
37:35
our love for God is extended by suffering. Sufferings detach us from the love
37:39
of earthly things, and make and destroy our love of this world. Hence,
37:45
Saint Augustine said, prayed, make all things bitter for me, so
37:50
thou alone mayst appear sweet to my soul. Sufferings also increase our gratitude to
37:54
God, for the loss of health and other gifts makes us value what we
37:58
have lost. Offerings also make us humble. The just must be tried by
38:02
evil so that they may not grow proud of their virtues. Sufferings also increase
38:07
the earnestness of our prayers. They compel us to pray. We see this
38:12
in the case of the Apostles in the storm tossed boat. The prayers of
38:15
David under persecution have become the prayers of the church. Long peace makes us
38:22
careless and sleck. The ox that is not stirred by the goad becomes lazy.
38:27
Sufferings are often the means of bringing us to the prosperity even in this
38:31
world. Witness Job Patriarch, Joseph and Tobias. The Lord maketh poor and
38:37
make us rich. He humbleth, and he exalteth from first kings. You
38:43
should be joyful, says our Lord. But your sorrows should be turned into
38:45
joy. Lastly, sufferings increase our eternal happiness, our present, momentary and
38:52
light. Tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly in external weight of glory.
38:59
That's from Corinthus. Yes, that's from Corintheses. The gests are ripen for
39:07
heaven by suffering as ears or corn, or ripened by the heat of the
39:09
sun. Jewels are rendered more beautiful by being ground and polished. When God
39:15
sends us some great troubles, to saying ignatious, it is a sign that
39:19
He designs great things for us and desires to raise us to great holiness.
39:24
Nay, the more we suffer in this life, the greater will be our
39:27
reward and the life to come to those who love God. All things work
39:30
together for good. Give yourself up them to God's guidance, For He allows
39:36
nothing to happen to you which will not be for your advantage, though you
39:39
may see it not. What pruning is to the fruit tree, suffering is
39:44
to man zero point five. Sufferings, then, are no real evil,
39:46
but are benefits from the hand of God. They are the means of bringing
39:50
us both to temporal and eternal happiness. God, who loves us tenderly,
39:54
has no other object than sending us sufferings but to make us happy. What
39:59
we count is an evil, but was the bitterness of the medicine that is
40:00
necessary for the health of our soul. There was really no evil in the
40:05
world except sin. Suffering can never really make us unhappy. Men can be
40:09
happy in spite of all kinds of suffering. We see this in Job and
40:14
Tobias and our Lady. Saint Paul said, I am filled with comfort,
40:17
I exceedingly about, abound with joy and all tribulation. You may think that
40:22
sounds I don't even know, high falutin. I mean, it sounds like
40:28
pretty words you know that really don't console one in times of suffering. But
40:31
you know what. Read A Man search for Meaning by Victor Frankel. Victor
40:37
Francle was a psychologist psychiatrist, I think, actually, but in his youth
40:42
he was a Jew and a Nazi concentration camp, and he went through every
40:47
kind of hell you can imagine, and many you probably can't and never wish
40:52
to imagine. And he wrote, we do not choose our circumstances, but
40:59
we choose how to respond to them. No matter what was done to him
41:07
and those around him, he found ways to be hopeful and to be happy
41:13
and to be kind, and he survived it, and he came out a
41:19
better man. We can and it's heart. It's so hard. You know.
41:25
I've been through a lot I don't talk about on the show. Sometimes
41:30
I talk a little bit more about things than I wish I did. I'm
41:31
not really one of this big on disclosure, but the trials and sufferings of
41:37
this life are probably you know, Just as I said, the only reason
41:45
I probably became a religious man was because my time spent in nature. Why
41:51
do I spend so much time in nature? You never wondered that. Well.
41:57
My parents divorced when I was about five, Dad, I have anything
42:00
to do with me. Within a few years after that, my grandfather had
42:05
als contracted als, and life was for my mother and the rest of my
42:10
family was entirely spent taking care of him. Grew up without a lot of
42:15
friends, no brothers and sisters. Only only friends I had with my dogs,
42:23
and I found peace and solace in the woods. At school, I
42:30
was for some reason targeted by teachers and they encouraged other kids to bully me.
42:37
I mean, I got the crap beaten out of me almost continuously for
42:42
the first ten years of my schooling. I mean, you know, kids
42:45
would come around a circle and knock me down and kick me into a puked
42:49
or broke a rib. I mean it was you know, nowadays, someone
42:52
would probably be arrested for that, but no, my family was resented because
42:58
it was, you know, an old family in the community that had a
43:00
little money and influence. And the teachers didn't like my mother because she was
43:05
pretty and had a college degree and all that, and they encouraged the other
43:09
kids to basically try to kill me on a daily basis. So the only
43:15
you know, afternoons evenings were sitting by myself in front of a TV,
43:20
or I was out in the woods. There was no family, there was
43:22
no friends. My mom was there for me as much as she could be,
43:25
and frankly, the rest of our relatives just made life hell for us.
43:32
For no apparent reason. The only piece I found was in the woods
43:40
suffering in many ways, maybe who I am? I'm a writer? Now
43:47
would I be a writer had I not had to, you know, spend
43:54
hours every day reading a book just to escape the hell that was my life?
44:01
Ohna, Probably not. I wouldn't be Catholic had I not had a
44:08
severe back injury that left me paralyzed for about two years, because I wouldn't
44:12
be Christian. You know, that was my conversion experience. It's in my
44:15
book Autobiography of Faith Confirmation Autobiography of Faith. The bad things that have happened
44:22
in my wife are the only reason that I have anything good to show for
44:28
myself. So let's wrap this up with point number six. For this reason,
44:32
we ought to be patient under suffering and resign ourselves to the will of
44:37
God. Nay more, we should rejoice in suffering and thank God for it.
44:44
We should say, with job, as it has pleased the Lord,
44:47
so it be done, less it be the name of the Lord, or
44:51
with our Lord in the garden of Eden. Not my will, but thine
44:53
be done. We should behave as a sensible man behaves when he is sick.
44:59
He willingly obeyed the injunctions of the physician. God has lightened our sufferings
45:02
for us, not only by his own example, but also by the a
45:07
promise of the by the promise of an eternal award. See how the apostles
45:12
rejoiced and they're scourging in Acts five forty one, the Christian undersurfing suffering undersurfing.
45:20
The Christians suffering should rejoice as a workman rejoices who labors much and looks
45:25
forward to good pay, or as a tradesman who amid the toilsome monotony of
45:30
his business, thinks of the delightful holiday that is not far off. We
45:34
must grasp suffering as men grasp stinging nettles, if they do not wish to
45:38
be stung firmly and boldly, not lightly or timorously. That's a great point.
45:45
You know. My next book's going to be Unforaging, and I've also
45:46
written a lot about nettles as a medicinal herb. Stinging nettles have these little
45:52
prickly hairs on them that have in them a venom that is much like ant
45:55
or b venom. That's why they stinged you. They really hurt if you
46:00
brush against him. If you grab the stalk and pull up, they don't
46:06
sting it. And the more confident you come in doing that, the less
46:10
you're gonna get stung at all. So, yeah, that's what he's saying.
46:15
Then they would do us no harm in suffering. We should repeat again
46:19
and again the glory of patry, the glory of God, the father,
46:22
Son, the Holy Spirit. Men too often grumble and grow impatient under sufferings,
46:27
that's for sure. If a man asks a return of something he has
46:30
lent us, we give it back with thanks. But if God does so,
46:32
we grumble who are discontented. God gives us health, God gives us
46:36
happiness. You know this, one of patients increases our sufferings. Besides offending
46:40
God, the impatient are like oxen, who kick against the goad, only
46:45
to wound themselves the more. Yet, is no sin to be sorrowful or
46:49
troubled under suffering, For our Lord in the garden of Olives was sorrowful even
46:53
unto death. We must never despond in evil days, for after sorrow and
46:59
suffering comes and gladness. By patience under suffering, we will quickly attain to
47:04
a high degree of perfection and lay up for ourselves a great store of merit.
47:08
I have certainly not attained to a high degree of perfection. Perhaps I
47:12
have not been patient enough, But good advice regardless. When we resign ourselves
47:17
patiently to the will of God amid contradictions, we are like a ship carried
47:22
on by a strong breeze and a and saill rapidly to the haven of eternal
47:27
rest. Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for when he has been
47:30
proved, he will receive a crown of life, which God has promised to
47:35
him. That love him from our willingness to suffer can be ascertained how far
47:39
we have advanced in perfection. The courage of a soldier displays itself not in
47:44
peace, but in war. The sinner murmurs under suffering, and the beginner
47:49
is troubled but is sorry for his impatience. The man more advanced in virtue
47:53
is frightened, but takes courage and praises God. The perfect man does not
47:58
wait for suffering, but goes bold to meet it. The perfect do not
48:02
ask God that may me be freed from temptation or from suffering. They desire
48:07
it and value it as higher as highly as the men of the world value
48:09
riches and gold and precious stone. Hence the prayer of Saint Teresa was either
48:15
to suffer or die. He who enables his faint Francis to sail, to
48:21
thank God equally for chastisement and for prosperity, has arrived at the summit of
48:25
Christian perfection, and he will find his happiness in God. We'll wrap it
48:30
up there. I'm not going to say this is an easy one. This
48:35
is not an easy one. This is the hardest teaching of Christ, that
48:42
you must take up your cross and follow him and suffer and be hated,
48:47
and have division and family and be scorned, and be even poor and sick
48:57
to find happiness in heaven. You know what, though, there really is
49:02
another choice. There really isn't. I mean, even the most wealthy people
49:10
will get cancer, will you know, be in car accidents, will lose
49:15
children, will mourn, will grieve, will be good through divorces. You
49:20
can either suffer unwillingly or you can suffer willingly. You're going to suffer one
49:30
way or the other. It's like Victor Frankle said, we do not choose
49:36
our circumstances. We choose how we respond and it's how we respond that makes
49:42
the difference. It will do absolutely no good to get angry, to go
49:47
out and yell and cuss and scream at God, to be miserable to your
49:52
family and your friends. After a point that there's no drugs or alcohol or
49:59
any thing that can make you feel any better. You know, look at
50:04
Hunter Biden's laptop. There's someone who spends hundreds of millions of dollars on drugs
50:07
and hookers, and he's a very unhappy, angry person. There's nothing,
50:15
there's no way out. You either do it willingly or unwillingly, and your
50:21
attitude you're you know, if you rely on God and pray and have hope,
50:27
it's going to help you through it, I mean a million times over.
50:31
And if you do the opposite, you're just hurting yourself and hurting everybody
50:35
around you, and you're not gonna get anything for it. You're not going
50:39
to ease your suffering one bit. So, you know, even as hard
50:45
as it is and contrary to human nature, why not do the one thing
50:50
that will actually bring some good out of it. It's like I told you,
50:54
it's an old saying and everybody's heard it, but you know, I
50:58
have a friend who's just been going through horrible, horrible stuff. I mean,
51:02
essentially, the mafia killed her father, they store a family business,
51:06
they've taken her home. She spends every day fighting at court, and I
51:09
mean she's gone through hell a thousand times over. And I told her this
51:17
old saying that I think everybody's heard, at least in America if you watch
51:22
any television or you know, read books or anything. It's I you know,
51:27
I don't know where the saying comes from. Some people say it's an
51:29
old Russian saying. Some people say it's Germans, some people say it's Cherokee
51:32
or another Native American tribe, but everyone's heard it. You have two wolves
51:37
inside of you. One is full of anger and hatred and resentment and aggression
51:45
and everything depression and sadness. The other is full of hope and goodness and
51:52
charity and you know, all the positive aspects, and they're fighting constantly.
52:00
The one you feed is someone that's gonna win. If you focus on the
52:06
negative, the angry, the bad wolf is gonna win, and it will
52:12
then devour you if you feed the good one by focusing, purposely focusing,
52:16
I mean, he actually says in the Bible. I guess it is Saint
52:20
Paul said, focus on what's good and lovely and beautiful. You actually train
52:24
your mind, you know, Victor Francle his concept of you choose at your
52:29
response. It's called logo therapy. It means actually retraining your brain not to
52:36
focus on the negative, to focus on the positive. That's actually what you're
52:39
doing, logo therapy. I guess this is correct pronunciation that wolf will then
52:45
protect you and serve you. So, I mean, it's absolutely contrary to
52:51
human nature, but it's the only way out. Focus on the good,
52:57
the positive. You know. I told my friend, you know, she
53:02
knows a lot of what I've been through, and a lot of it I
53:05
have not discussed at all. A lot of my life's been really hard.
53:09
We talk food all the time, and a lot of times she's like,
53:13
you know, you can't eat this much. You're not fat. You know,
53:15
why are you always talking about food? Food for me is a positive
53:21
distraction. I love to cook. I love to cook more than I love
53:23
to eat. When something happens that upsets me, I say a prayer and
53:30
then I have to lay it down or I'm gonna obsess over it. I'm
53:32
mean, think about it, and think about it and think about it.
53:35
No, God says, don't worry for it. Not, you know,
53:38
put your faith in the Lord. So give it to God. And then
53:42
I go find a new recipe that I've never heard of and interesting, you
53:45
know, like I'm really into Korean food recently, and I go find a
53:47
new recipe and maybe I'll find a YouTube video of someone cooking it, and
53:52
whether I actually cook it and eat it or not. I spent thirty minutes
53:55
or so distracting my mind from what was bothering me. And then I'm in
54:00
good spirits. I'm in much better spirits than I was, you know.
54:04
Beyond that, maybe I'll find some good music to listen to, or learn
54:08
to play a tune on one of the several instruments I've played. That's probably
54:12
why I play so many instruments, because I needed that distraction so many times
54:16
in my life. Recently, I've gotten a tap dancing for no other reasons.
54:20
If it's fun. I saw someone doing it one day on an old
54:23
movie and I thought, I mean, probably Gene Kelly, right, I
54:27
could have been Arthur Duncan on the old well, it probably would have been
54:31
Jack Emmill actually on the old Lawrence Wolke Show, because I really I have
54:36
a strong fondness for Jack Emil. He was a great jazz drummer and anyway,
54:38
he was a good tap dancer too, and he's just like like,
54:42
hey, that looks like fun. I can't dance. Why don't I learned
54:45
a few basic steps? And so, you know, if I'm starting to
54:49
go in a negative way, I definitely don't go to a doctor or take
54:52
a pill or pretend it's not happening, or try to treat the symptoms or
54:57
get angry or punch a wall or anything I would have done when I was
55:00
younger. And yes, my hands have been broken so many times in both
55:07
fights and punching walls that my knuckles are wreck and more than likely if I
55:14
ever break this hand again, I won't be able to use it again.
55:15
It's that bad, Okay, you know, I'll do a little tap dancing.
55:21
He gets a little energy out and it's fun. You know. You
55:24
put on some old you know, nineteen twenties through forties, you know,
55:29
early jazz to swing music, and start tapping your feet, do the timestep,
55:32
you know, do the shim sham shimmy. It's just fun. And
55:37
when you realize that those dance steps are actually invented by well, both white
55:42
and black folks, really on the heels of the Civil War when they were
55:47
in extreme poverty. And the same with jazz music and country and blues.
55:54
You know, this has been a human coping mechanism. It's for as long
55:59
as humanity has been around. It's just no one formalized it the way Victor
56:02
Francle did. Focus on what's good. Don't turn on the TV and watch
56:08
some horrible crime drama or the news. Watch a great old movie from the
56:13
nineteen forties or something, you know, Watch a Marx Brothers movie. That's
56:16
my favorite. I love the Marx Brothers. You know, they actually had
56:23
a pretty tough time grouch and Marx actually was not a very happy guy,
56:28
but he made everybody laugh. There's an old saying among Jews that to be
56:32
Jewish is to learn to laugh and cry at the same time. Pick up
56:39
your cross. The more you can willingly carry your cross and joyfully unite your
56:45
sufferings with Christ, the lighter that cross is going to become. And I
56:49
can tell you that from personal experience and know I am not perfect in this
56:54
regard. I feel every single day and I am sure I will for the
57:00
rest of my life. And when if you want to find a flawed human
57:02
being, look no further than this guy right here. Now, there's just
57:07
no self righteousness here. I am not preaching at you. I'm telling you
57:12
I have been as bad as any of have been. I've been through Helen
57:15
back a thousand times. And you know, if I've learned anything, it's
57:23
those who endure into the end will be saved. That's what Jesus said.
57:29
Just keep the faith, keep your chin up. As my old friend you
57:31
say, who was in Korea, he was an older man that kind of
57:37
mendered me a little bit when I was in my twenties. He say,
57:40
keep your chin up and your head down, buddy. Don't stick your head
57:45
up so far someone's going to shoot it off. But keep your chit up
57:49
anyway. In the words of Saint Padre Pio, pray, hope and don't
57:52
worry, and I will talk to you on tomorrow. Happy New Year.
57:57
Remember sign up for my subsecond News Tho the un since your Catholic if you
58:00
haven't for free daily Gospel reflections, and if you'd for them to your friends.
58:05
I'd really appreciate it. I need a Yeah, I'd love to see
58:07
the newsletter for the unsinstored Catholic really grow. Even it's all free subscriptions,
58:12
you know, it doesn't have to be paid. I'd really like to see
58:16
thousands of new subscribers in this year, so that I know the time and
58:21
effort and then I'm putting into it is really worthwhile. So if you appreciate
58:25
it, and if it means something to you, please forward to your friends
58:29
and family and encourage them to subscribe and listen to the podcast of course.
58:32
So anyway, y'all have a going I've talked to you morrow