Father Simon Says - Metanoia! - March 5, 2026 [ENCORE]

0:00Well, let me tell you what you're listening to. Welcome to Father Simon Says on Relevant Radio with Father Richard Simon. I'm here to answer your questions. Have a question? Give us a call. 1-888-914-9149 as any question you may have about the Lord, the faith, and the church. That's 1-888-914-9149. This is, in fact, a radio show called, Father Simon Says on Relevant Radio. Welcome, welcome, good to have you back, provided your back. But I'm going to do a letter show today. I'm not going to do calls. I got so many letters. I got to catch up on. And they're really good letters. So, well, let's start. We'll pray in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindling them, the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit.

1:00They shall be created and you shall read the face of the earth. Lord, you taught the hearts of the nations by the light of the Holy Spirit. Grant us by that same spirit, that right judgment in all things. And evermore, to rejoice in His comfort through Christ our Lord. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are Thou amongst women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now, and at the hour of our death, amen. St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us and battle be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke and we humbly pray. And do thou, Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into Hell's Satan. All the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls, amen, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Well, let's open the big book on the coffee table. You know the one, the Bible. All right. Well, today, Thursday of the second week of Lent, we have a reading from Jeremiah, which is a little harsh.

2:00Curst is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength and flesh, whose heart turns from the Lord. Well, that's pretty tough. Then it goes on to say, more tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy, who can understand it. That's saying a lot more tortuous than all else is the human heart. I mean, you know, aren't most people basically nice than the Jeremiah saying, no, that we're not. And I've heard people say that the most patently clear doctrine of the Catholic church is original sin. I think that's kind of interesting. And the word for tortuous is deceitful, sly, slippery, steep or hilly.

3:03The human heart is, well, insidious, deceitful. That just, you know, what about everything is beautiful in its own way? Jeremiah is saying, no, it's not. And, you know, I often think that maybe, you know, the Lord loves us. And yet question is good sense sometimes because I know me. And well, except for the grace of God, I would be in real trouble. And I bet so with you. So this idea of a shrub in the desert, that's sort of thing. And well, I'm sorry, this is Bible. And well, beyond remedy, you can understand this. Let's look, I want to look at that word for remedy. Let's see. Okay. The heart is, you know, test the mind given according to ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

4:08I can't find that particular text that it's beyond remedy. I'm not sure that the text actually says that. It says, who can know it? We are desperately, the human heart is desperately wicked. And who can know it? You know, I think that that should remind us that the examination of conscience is a very important part of the spiritual. There's something I don't do nearly enough. It really is recommended every night with night prayer. And I always say an act of contrition at the end of the day. But the examination of conscience that to know yourself is very important. But honestly, that wonderful prayer that should be said to the Holy Spirit in preparation for the sacrament of penance,

5:11that we pray to the Holy Spirit that we might see ourself as God sees us. The good and the bad that we may be honest about ourselves. It's fascinating to me how we can lie to ourselves about who we are. I know I do it all the time. We can lie to ourselves about ourselves. So the human heart is very capable of deceit. And I aim to see it even at myself. That may be rather grim. But it certainly isn't the spirit of our age that we were not designed by God to be dishonest and deceitful. We were designed to be loving and honest and kind and merciful. It takes a little bit of work and a lot of grace to arrive at that. I remember a friend of mine, I think I've shared this before, but a friend of mine who was a great progressive sort and didn't believe all those ancient myths.

6:12But he did believe in the Garden of Eden. He believed that man had begun his tenure on this planet and paradise. And I said, you believe the story is about Adam and Eve, but you don't believe things like the resurrection. And he said, yes, I know there was a paradise, a Garden of Eden, because things weren't meant to be like this. I thought there was fascinating that we have this instinct in us that things aren't meant to be like this. And if we really look at ourselves, I'm not meant to be like this. I'm meant to be someone genuinely virtuous, genuinely kind, genuinely loving, and genuinely honest. So I think that that is a very interesting perspective. But moving along, then, Jeremiah's perspective. Now, I maintain that a lot of the parables, if not most of them, are really funny stories. And I think this is a very funny story. In Luke the 16th chapter of the 19th verse,

7:12there was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day, sumptuously each day, and lying at his door was a poor man. Lazarus covered with sores, we gladly have eaten a full of scraps that fell from the rich man's table. What makes you think this is funny? Well, moving along, we look at Exodus the 28th chapter of the 15th verse. Fashion of breast place, a breast of peace for discernment, the work of skilled hands. This is part of the high priests' kit, the high priests' appoint vestments. The work of skilled hands make it like the effod of gold and of blue and purple and scarlet yarn. And finally twisted linen, purple and fine linen. Purple was a royal color, but purple and fine linen. Well, then he goes on to talk about Father Abraham, have pity on me. And he says, I beg you, Father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father's house.

8:15He's still ordering the poor around. But I have five brothers so that he may warn them, unless they too come to this place of torment. Who's he talking about? Well, there was a fellow named Anis who had been the high priest, and Herod and the Romans were smart enough not to leave anybody in the high priest's job for too long. It was a position of too much power. The high priesthood was essentially a hereditary pose that was supposed to go to one of the descendants of Zadok, who was high priest to the time of the building of the temple, and time of David and Solomon. And it was a lifetime appointment, and it wasn't really called high priest, it was called the Great Priest, Hakoen Hagadol, the Great Priest, and the Romans, as I said, were smart enough not to leave that power.

9:16In the hands of one man, and so they would dismiss someone from the high priest, the Herod had done it for them, and they just continued it after Herod. And there was this fellow named Anis, who was a smart cookie, and he controlled what were called the Bazaars of Anis. The Talmud just speaks terribly ill of him. This is not just a Christian view of Anis. Hananya would have been his name in Hebrew. He controlled the Bazaars of Anis where they sold kosher, certified sacrificial animals at jacked up prices. They were making money coming and going, hand over fist, and he controlled the high priesthood. And when his tenure as high priesthood was over, he had his sons appointed high priesthood, then his son-in-law, K.F.us. The last of his sons appointed high priest was a fellow named Theophilus, who many scholars, and I think Dr. Pitri says this, that's probably the one to whom the Book of Luke and Acts has addressed your excellency, Theophilus.

10:20Makes sense. But think about it. K.F.us was the high priest when Jesus was speaking of, and he says he has five brothers, in other words, five brothers in law. Jesus is dissing the high priests. And I remember hearing a scholar saying that the Bible is wrong because, well, it talks about the high priest, there was only one high priest. No, at the time of Christ there were lots of high priests, because they only stayed in office for a little while, and they kept the title of high priest, even when they were out of office. So there was a bunch of high priests, and the majority of them came from the family of Anis, Hananya. So what's going on is that he's dissing that the rich man here, who's not named the poor man, is Lazarus, who's just like Joe Smith, laser. Well, he doesn't mention the name of the rich man, but, in fact, as we call him Dives, when I was a kid, because Dives is Latin for the rich man. Well, this rich man, I think, is clearly the high priest, Caiaphas, and he's talking about his five brothers, the brothers of his wife.

11:26And I think people would have just been laughing as Jesus disses the high priest in an oblique, but clear way. So I think another question about that, Abraham replies, well, my child, remember that you received good in your lifetime, Lazarus. Likewise, receive was bad, but now he's comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you, a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing, who might wish to go from our side to yours, from your side to us. I've heard people use that as a denial of the intercession of the saints, that they're completely separated from us, we can't pray and ask the intercession of the saints. I would like to point out that this is before the cross, that chasm has been bridged by the cross of Christ, so I think that's an invalid argument. But if they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.

12:31To me, one of the most interesting things in the scripture is when we read about Lazarus and Jesus, that the Jerusalem establishment, the high priest and the Sadducees and the scribes had decided they needed to hold on here. They decided to kill Lazarus as well. Hold on, forgive me for just, I saw something shiny. Okay, John 12-20, or 12-10 rather. Meanwhile, a large cause is after the resurrection, the raising from the dead, not the resurrection, but the raising from the dead more properly said of Lazarus. Meanwhile, a large crowd of Jews learned that Jesus was there, and they came not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead, so the chief priest made plans to kill Lazarus as well. The family of Anas wants to get rid of Jesus, and they're going to get rid of Lazarus to boot.

13:37Why? The Pharisees did not execute Jesus. They would never have handed a fellow Jew over to the Romans for execution. The Sadducees, on the other hand, Anas and his family, Jesus was bad for business. He had caused a riot in the temple, and if he kept up, he was going to dent into prophets and well, business is business. So, in fact, as the Pharisees came to warn Jesus occasionally about danger to him, so every Jew you meet today is a theological descendant of the Pharisees. Judaism is more properly called rabbinic Phariseism, so this nonsense that the Jews killed Christ, the Pharisees did not kill Christ. The Sadducees did, and Jesus said, they said, let his blood be on our house. They were speaking specifically of the priestly families who formed the Sadducee party. The Sadducees were almost exclusively the party to which the priests belonged, and these priests, they didn't believe anything outside the Torah, they didn't believe in life after death, they didn't believe in a spiritual world, and they said, let his blood be on us.

14:50And when the temple was destroyed, their reason for existing ceased. You'll still meet people who have the title Cohen, and they're descended from Aaron, but the priesthood rabbis are not priests. The priesthood of the Jews is not extinct, but it is almost negligible because there's no temple. So this is interesting to me that the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well. I mean, really, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, this guy goes into a cave in three days later he comes out, and claims that maybe he just got caught up on his sleep there. I mean, really, this guy, Jesus, is raising people that you believe that? They didn't understand that it was real, and that the idea of killing Lazarus who'd been raised from the dead to us strikes us as being ridiculous. But no, they didn't believe it, not from minute, and they didn't believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and that's why Abraham says even if someone should rise from the dead, they won't believe.

16:03If they're not persuaded by Moses and the prophets, will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead? And the Sadducees, they listened to Moses, but they didn't listen to the prophets. So Jesus is speaking of a very specific thing, and I think that people would have understood he was speaking rather directly and rather dangerously of the high priests, the family of Hananya, Annus. Well, all right, let us go to a break, and we will come back with letters. I'm going to do a letter show today, we won't open the phones for Collins, because I just got to catch up on the letters. So we'll be right back. The relevant radio studio line is sponsored by Catholic Order of Foresters, information about employment opportunities and their flexible premium life insurance plans available at relevantradio.com slash foresterm. I can't even walk without you holding my hand, the mountains to high, the valleys to high.

17:11All right, let us move on to letters. All right, I have got a letter, actually a couple notes from John, and he said, he said, first mass for Friday, March 11th, something jumped up at me. And I can't recall having read or heard as a proof text against Solafide. Of course, for those who don't know what Solafide means, it means faith alone, that certain groups, certain Christian groups believe in salvation by faith alone. What are that means? And usually they hear that, people hear that as sort of the creed, I believe in the creed kind of thing. Well, the only place in the scriptures that has the phrase faith alone in the original text is in the letter of St. James in which he says, so it is clear then that a man is not justified by faith alone.

18:13So there's whole segments of the Christian community that are built on this idea of faith alone. And when people come up and say, it doesn't matter what you do, if you're among the chosen and you're saved, you're going to have one saved, always saved. And I always tell them, gosh, I hope you're right. I don't think you are because Jesus seems to say that our good deeds are integral to our salvation. They don't cause it, but they are still integral to it. But so this idea, how do you see the Zika, the 18th chapter says, this was on Friday last Friday. He shall live because, you know, the just man, if he turns from his righteousness, will die because of his sin. But the sinner, if he turns to righteousness, will live because of, and the word is deeds of righteousness. And I think that his, John, I think of a point that it is a bit of a proof text, he shall live because of the virtue he has practiced.

19:19Let me pull that up exactly. Well, I don't think I need to. The word is said, I'm only the reverend note of my computer's work. Yes, Ezekiel 1824. If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices theiquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked shall he live. No, because of the unfaithfulness he will die. Oh, that's not the verse I'm looking for, but it's in there. But if this idea of the deeds of righteousness, let me pull this up, the word justice or righteousness is very, here it is, the Ezekiel 1822. The word for righteousness is very close to the word, it's exactly the same word as the right, as the, the word for charity.

20:21It's literally besetekah, besetekothel. It's his righteous deeds, it's his righteousness, it implies charity. So I think you're right, John, in the long run, that does apply to the solar, feed a discussion. And also, John mentions the idea of shibboloth, that we read that the word shibboloth or grain in Hebrew was used as kind of a way to figure out if you were on our side or their side, because there was a group that was trying to masquerade as being loyal to the cause of Israel. And they came from across the river and they couldn't say shibboloth, as it's shibboloth. So anybody who couldn't say shibboloth, they killed them. And interesting, in our GIs and the World War II used lala polusa as a shibboloth, it's going to be Japanese who were pretending to be fellow soldiers. The Japanese, until recently, could not pronounce else the way we do and they would, they would not be able to say lala polusa.

21:27So I think they do now. Of course, if you were a German, you could have used an unlock, boy, those are hard to pronounce. But thank you, John, that's good insight. Okay, where were we? All right, now I got a letter. Let's see. Hi, Father Simon. This is Dennis from Austin. One of your thoughts of seeing Tonto Marigold and Holy God repraise that name of communion. They're fine. You know, in fact, his Tonto Marigold really is thought of as a communion hymn. They're part of the verse of the Ponje Ling was sing my tongue, the Savior's glory. It's a Eucharistic hymn. So not a problem to sing Tonto Marigold. Should these be reserved for adoration and benediction? No, not necessarily. In adoration and benediction, Tonto Marigold and Holy God repraise that name, they're not required. They're especially Tonto Marigold is much recommended, but not required to the best of my knowledge.

22:27You know, the Tonto Marigold was part of a series of hymns written by St. Thomas Aquinas to celebrate a Eucharistic miracle. So I think the Tonto Marigold is most appropriately sung at the communion as well as benediction. But the Holy God we praise thy name is a German version of the Tadeum, Tadeum Lodamus. We praise you, O Lord, which was hymn sung when there was great rejoicing in any Christian community. So the Tadeum Lodamus, the voice of my head just wondered why everyone sings Holy God we praise their name so slowly. Well, they're Germans and we don't want to rush through this. It actually wasn't German, who grows her God will open day. It's a wonderful thing to hear. German congregation break into four-part harmony, spontaneous days. Those Germans, they sure can sing, not so much me, but others. All right, let's go here to, let's see here.

23:29All right, this was a call I got from a regarding another letter I got about someone not... doing a funeral as they wanted it done, but awake service. So this is this letter from Catherine. I heard you call us and had to share my past experience at my parish, assisting the deacons with the rights of the funeral of Christian burial. I used to facilitate on mornings the minor right of transfer of the body from the funeral home to the church for mass. After the short prayer service in the book, I would say a few words and end with a request to everyone to pray for the deceased because not everyone goes straight to heaven. You're absolutely right and our church believed some may go to purgative. We also believed some may go to hell. First I did this for many services. Often I received thanks for my words, but no compliments from anyone. Including the funeral directors until one day, the funeral director, the funeral coordinator stops me and tells me our pastor wants me to stop talking about purgatory.

24:32And just sticking to the script in the book, I ask why? And I'm told, well, he thinks it's just something we should not mention. So there you go, Father. This really does concern me if there is a purgatory. And if our prayers assist the souls in purgatory, which I firmly believe they do, I've told you about people I know who died, lived to tell about it, and they say they can hear all the prayers of humanity become one prayer before God, and that when we really pray from our heart that we stand in heaven with them. That we stand with them with the judgment. And you know, prayers, if traditional Catholicism has a point, as I say, I think it does. The souls in purgatory are desperate for prayer. And I wanted to mention this little grim, but they say that there is no one so dead as a dead priest. Ah, that sounds rather grim. No one so dead as a dead priest. In other words, we have no children who will pray for the repose of our soul.

25:36If you owe a dead of gratitude to a priest, pray for the repose of his soul, because those who are teachers are judged with a greater, a harsher judgment. We read in the letter of St. James. That's a really, that's why I'm always telling you to take what I say with a grain of salt. Because I'm going to stand before God someday and say, well, you said this Father Simon and led people astray. Oh, heaven for fend. Pray for the souls in purgatory. And especially pray for any priest who's ministered to you. And if there's a priest you don't like, a priest who is, you didn't deem a good man, pray even more for him because he needs it more desperately. What does Jesus say? Pray for those you don't like. He tells us to pray for our, well, I'll use the word enemies. So if there's a priest with whom you did not have a good relationship, pray for him because he needs it, you know, more than, more than a good priest does.

26:38So, you know, that's a grim saying. No one is so dead as a dead priest. Pray for the priest who gone before to whom you have a debt of gratitude. That said, I think we should go to a break and come back with a word of the day. This hour is sponsored by Ave Maria Mutual Funds, where financial goals are aligned with pro-life values and fund decisions are based on investment fundamentals designed to preserve and grow wealth without violating moral belief. More information at Ave Maria Funds.com. Well, we're back and we're going to the word of the day. You know, I promised a while ago that I would talk about metanoia, but then I saw something or repentance. But then I saw something shiny. I think was it the first, was it on Monday that doing that section about Jeremiah?

27:39Was it Jeremiah? No, it was, yes, no, it was Daniel saying, oh, we've sinned and we deserve it. So I thought I'd mention repentance. The word repentance in English is sort of a, not the best word. It means stop doing what you like and start doing what you don't like by, like, listening to long-winded sermons from mystical Germans who preach from 10 to 4. That's a quote from Gilbert and Sullivan, which I take to heart. But, you know, the repentance stopped doing what you like and start doing tedious things that are vaguely religious. That's not what repent means at all. The word repent in Greek is metanoia. It means have a new understanding. We read in Philippians the second chapter, have that mind in you which was in Christ Jesus. Metanoia. Let God change your mind. You know, I think it was also on Monday when the voice in my head played that funeral song that's so popular among many, I did it my way.

28:39That's the opposite of repentance. Repentance is to do it God's way. Repentance is to say, God, you're right and I'm wrong. Think about it. When you sin, you're arguing with God. I just don't like that person, Lord, and if you knew them as well as I did, you wouldn't like them either. Amen. God knows everyone perfectly and he loves every human being infinitely and he sent his son as a ransom for them if there was only one sinner in the world. All Jesus would have come to rescue, I believe. God's perspective on this person is either this horrible person who you don't like and maybe for perfectly good reasons. God loves them infinitely. Who's right here? You are God. Me. No, you're not right. I'm not right. God is truth. God is true that all others be liar.

29:41The Scripture says so when you sin, you're arguing with God. Lord, I know that the Bible says thou shalt not commit adultery. But let me explain this. I'm really lonely and you know that I see the only possibility of being happy is to chase around with this particular person. It's not going to make you happy. It's going to make it worse. Oh, no, you're wrong. You're wrong. No, it'll make it worse. Trust me in the long run and probably in the short run. God says adultery is not a good idea. Well, he's wrong about that. Honestly, when I mean when you sin, you are committing or when you sin, you are arguing with God and you know, God really is smart, really, really smart. And he's right about these things and he tells you about them because he loves you. So to repent is to allow God to convince us that he's right. It's that simple. Same time as Aquinas says nobody commits sin because they think it's bad. They think that it's it's a good thing. They're not going for the bad when they commit sin. They're going for the good.

30:49What do you mean they're going for the good if they're going for the good? How can it be sin? Because they are choosing to ignore God. They're choosing to not to let God change their hearts and minds and teach them the truth. I'm sure I shared with you a story of a repentance on my part that when my sister died of lung cancer in California, I developed a developed pro-life for Catholic in the early days of the pro-life struggle. I mean, she was a wonderful woman. I was very close to her. Well, she died of lung cancer, leaving adolescent children and a grieving husband. And I didn't smoke cigarettes, but I did smoke large stinking cigars, as I always point out. And I didn't smoke when I was out doing the funeral out of respect for them, but I got back to my rectory in Chicago. And I sat down on my big old overstuffed old armchair and I picked up a cigar. And a match and I looked at that thing and I looked at the match and I thought this is stupid and I put it down and never smoked again.

31:54I saw something as it was and I accepted that grace. Well, that's easy. It's easy. It's easy to admit you're wrong. And the God is right. I don't think it's that easy. If you receive the grace that he gives you, the grace to see as he sees, well, it isn't that hard, but most of us don't do that. You know, we insist on our sins. I often share the story of my driving down a road that said the road was out. The road was out. I'm amazed I lived. So, you know, if you're really thickheaded about it, want to do it your own way, God says, okay, but God will give you the grace to change your mind. And the great prayer, once again, forgive me for saying these things over and over again, but I think it's because I need to hear them. That the prayer of the pagan is God, give me what I want. The prayer of the believers, Lord, teach me your ways. So make that your prayer, Lord, teach me your ways.

32:55It's the prayer of the repentant sinner, Lord, teach me your ways. Show me where I am wrong about my own behavior, my actions, and about the people that I don't particularly like. So, let's go back to some more letters. All right. Okay, let's see. This is a kind of fun one. I got a letter about leprechauns. Let me see where I want to put the letter. Oh, hi, Father Simon. My daughter, nine years, and I are big fans. Oh, I bet she's not that big. She's only nine years old. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. On Monday's show, you mentioned that leprechauns are pagan idols. No, no, no, not pagan idols. They were nature spirits, malevolent nature spirits, and the old religion of the Indo-Europeans and the Romans and all that crowd. They weren't really interested in human beings. They thought we were kind of fun, and they would rattle our cage and mess with us, but they didn't, you know, they didn't party like us or want to benefit us. They were just these immortal beings, not eternal, and not all powerful, but they were, they were nature spirits.

34:08There are really only two religions in the world, two kinds of religion. There's theism and pantheism, and theism believes there is an all-powerful God outside of creation that brought everything into into into into being through his will, and that's that's theism. Then there's pantheism in which somehow the universe exists eternally, and there are spirits that, you know, these elements are personified and have spiritual identities. That's the idea of pantheism, and ancient Romans, for instance, they, their gods were nameless and faceless. They were called the Numinah, one of the most called Numin, not to be mistaken for that fellow in the Jerry Zinfeld, so I'll show if you watch it. Numin, it was this nameless faceless spirit, and Rome, the Romans would come into a place, and they would mention all these gods in the name of Zeus and the name of Hera and the name of, and any God that may be in this place, so they want to cover all the bases.

35:20That's the idea, and leprechauns, you know, leprechauns were part of this Indo-European religion. Indo-European, it seemed that there was a group of people, and the southern plains of Russia, who expanded out into the rest of the world, bringing their language and their religion. They went south to India, Persia, and even Afghanistan, they went west into Europe, south into Southwest, into Turkey, and most languages, I think most people in the world speak an Indo-European language. Well, this nature religion was very common among them, and the Celts, the Celts, the Answers of the Irish practice, this religion, and they believed in these nature spirits who could be placated and occasionally manipulated to give human beings power. And the leprechauns were part of this, as were the fairies, as were the banshees, and they were not idle so much as nature spirits who needed to be placated and avoided possibly.

36:28Now, they're not idols, but my daughter and I are wondering if we should remove all our St. Patrick's Day decorations that have leprechauns. I wouldn't worry about it. The cute little fellow who advertises green milkshakes, it has nothing to do with those nature spirits, and I don't think unless you're trying to consult them, placate them, or use them, I wouldn't say it's a danger. So, garden gnomes too, come onto that rubric, I wouldn't worry about garden gnomes. If you're worried about your garden gnomes, spritz it with holy water, so there you go. We don't want to offend the Lord, don't worry, he's not offended by having a cute little leprechaun. If you try to consult them, or use them to augment your status, that would be different. I hope that helps. Good grief. You know, we worry about things that maybe we shouldn't worry about so much. Let's see here.

37:34Okay, let me click on this. All right, okay. This is a tough question. How can we show love to those in same-sex relationships without approving of their actions? Is it permissible to give a gift or bring a meal to same-sex neighbors who just adopted a baby? Is it okay to drive my uncle to the hospital to visit his same-sex partner? Can we send a card to someone whose same-sex partner has died? What are Catholic guidelines in these sorts of situations? Well, you know, the definition of love, you should, to love is to will the good of another. Are you willing the good of another or are you willing you're good? You know, Pentecostals talk about something called the hindrance in the spirit. That God put a hindrance in my spirit. We see that in the scriptures that St. Paul hesitated to go somewhere. There was a hindrance in his spirit.

38:37And if you feel a hindrance in your spirit about something, that means you got to stop and pray about it. So, is it permissible to give a gift or bring a meal to the same-sex neighbors who just adopted a baby? Why are you doing it? Why are you doing it? Are you doing it for their good or so that you can get along with your neighbors, which would be for your good? I don't think it's necessarily wrong to bring a meal. I wouldn't bring a gift that's kind of tangible. You're bringing it, well, maybe a gift for the baby. You're bringing it to the baby. And if they know your position or if you are willing to be honest with them, remember I was on a... When I was in 1973 when I was a student, I packed on my back, I went to the Holy Land. Got caught in a war. It was very interesting. But I remember I was with a bunch of people who at the St. James Anglican Pilgrim Hospital. And there was a fundamentalist couple there from America. I think there were very nice people.

39:47And we rented a cab and a driver that would take us all up and down the Jordan Valley. It was very, very interesting, very delightful. At one point they knew I, they found out that I read the Bible and I spoke flu and evangelicalese. And they said, oh, you're one of those traditional cabins. I said, oh, no, I'm very, very traditional. You know that they brought it up. And I told them the truth. So, oh, we're so glad you're Catholic, but you approve of us. But I don't want to say we approve of you, but I don't believe the same sex relationships are from God. But I'm very fond of you guys. You're very nice, but I don't. If you're ready to be honest with people about this, you know, I just, we live in an age in which we can disagree, we can't disagree with one another. If we don't have the same opinion about politics and we don't have the same opinion about gender, if we don't have the same opinion about intimate relationships, well, then you're bad. You're a bad person.

40:50If you don't have the same opinion about, say, communion in the hand or communion on the tongue or the tridentine mass or the novice ordo, well, you're a bad person. You see, we can't talk to each other anymore. And that's not pleasing to God. So, if your conscience is formed and it's clear that you're living the Catholic life and that you don't believe this is a source of grace, be as nice as you can be to your neighbors, be as nice as you can be to your neighbors under any circumstance, be as nice as you can be, but be ready to love them. Well, we do love. We know you like them. We're either nice people. No, be ready to love them. That means to say the hard things to them and to be honest, to say, you know, you guys are great guys. I wish that you understood why we think what we think and we respect you and we're fond of you, but we don't believe that intimacy between people the same sex is a source of blessing or grace.

42:05We feel good, we make you happy or we make you feel happy, but in the long run, it's not the best. And, you know, this kind of emphasis on reprogramming children to accept what is detrimental to them in the long run is heinous. It's just heinous, but for the good of society and the good of individuals in this society, you need to be honest. And, you know, I often say to people, or often think I should say to people, do you want my opinion or do you want my agreement? Oh no, I want your opinion. Are you sure you want my opinion? If it doesn't agree with your opinion, will you talk to me later or will you hate me? You know, be honest. Do you want my opinion or do you want my agreement? I can't give you my agreement and I don't know that I should give you my opinion.

43:05Another hint, well, that has nothing to do with this, but I was just thinking, you know, that people ask you things like, well, how much do that cost? Or what do you think about this? You can always say, why do you want to know? Well, I just wanted to know. And who did you vote for? Why do you want to know? Well, I'm just curious. Well, you know, curiosity killed the cat. You're not going to tell me, again, why do you want to know? Is it because I have to agree with you? You want to know if you'll continue to associate with me? If I don't agree with you? Why do you want to know? You can ask that question of them. You know, and the idea that, well, if someone says something you have to respond, you can just look at them and say nothing. Jesus did it once when Pilate said, what is truth? So if Jesus could shut up in front of Pilate, you can shut up in front of your next door neighbor, trust me. All right, that said, we'll move along. Okay, let's see here. Yeah, he got a lot of people. That means to will they're good. And sometimes they don't want you to will they're good. They just want you to agree with them. Oh, let's see here.

44:13Okay, this is kind of a long-ish letter from Joe about praying the Mass in English. He enjoyed my segments on Mass hysteria. And I've heard you say on many shows how you prefer the English Mass. I don't know that I prefer the English Mass. I pray in English. And I don't know that we should pray in the language that we speak. It's just that we do. I think we've given people who've never been to a Latin Mass, the impression that you have to speak Latin, understand the Latin Mass on the contrary. You don't have to know Latin. In fact, is the fact that the Latin Mass is not in English is I think a valuable teaching moment. Seriously, Mass is about God and he understands Latin firmly. I really do think that if you're going to use Latin in the Mass, it shouldn't be for a show. It should have a purpose. If you're going to use English in the Mass, it shouldn't be for a show. It should be for a purpose. That English in the liturgy, when you're speaking to people, for instance, I think now it is pretty much required that we do the readings in the language of the people to whom the readings are being read. That makes perfect sense to me.

45:33I think that's an important thing. There are certain even the council said that the congregation should be able to sing the major parts of the Mass. That was the council father said that. And I think that's wise because it expresses our unity with the whole body of Christ throughout history. To be Catholic is not simply to be in a church that embraces all of your fellow believers in the world. Now, it stretches in time as well as in space. In other words, at Mass, I'm in union with everybody who has been a Catholic believer since the time of Christ. Universality has to do with history as much as with geography. We're in a universal church that stretches throughout the world. We're in a universal church that stretches throughout time. And thus the languages of our heritage are very important. We still pray in Hebrew in the Mass. I'm in an Al-Iliar in Hebrew. We still use a little Greek.

46:36Father Rocky, I think mentioned that on Monday in the Kirie, we often say the Kirie in Greek. There's remnants of Greek in the Mass. So we express even minimally our unity over history. So I think that's a very, very important thing. And I think that the traditional Latin Mass is a very beautiful thing. However, I also think that the Mass, the ordinary form of the Mass, when it is done properly by the book using the rubrics and is not simply a demonstration of fathers, theology, politics, or personal preferences, it is also a beautiful thing. Mass is beautiful. And the idea that it has never changed, that simply isn't true. Mass has changed with regularity over the history of the church. The most recent change in the 60s was rather complete and abrupt. And the dust is still settling on that, as you see from the current controversy.

47:40But I think that one of the glories of the Catholic Church is that one size doesn't fit all. You know, that we are very people think of Catholics as rigid and inflexible on the contrary. We historically have been very flexible since the Reformation a little less because we've had to be on the defensive more. But there are many variations in history, but there's much unity in history about the Mass. And I maintain that the Mass created Western culture because it was seen as a sacrifice, and Sunday obligation means you got to do it. Whether you feel like it or not, and the Mass was a moment that taught everybody that sacrifice has the purpose of life. It created our culture. And since we have gone to a Mass in which we, the clergy, decide as a form of entertainment, well, I think we have diminished and weakened the culture. So I don't think it's a matter of Latin or English. I don't think it's a matter of the old right or the new right. It's a matter of the understanding of the liturgy as the sacrifice of the Mass.

48:42And you know, it's a lot more complicated than we'd like to make it. But on the other hand, well, don't go anywhere because Drew is coming up in a very uncomplicated way. He will lead you in prayer in the largest prayer meeting in human history. Talk about universal. Good to spend the time with you, and I hope I haven't been confusing, which of course I'm good at.