Latest / Catholic Spirit Radio / Good News #177 051025: Celebrate the New Pope: A Historic Announcement and Reflections on Faith

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Good News #177 051025: Celebrate the New Pope: A Historic Announcement and Reflections on Faith · Catholic Spirit Radio

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Welcome to Good News on Catholic Spirit Radio, a program for teens and almost
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teens to better understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ is relevant in their
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lives, and it's a place where your questions about faith and religion can be answered.
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And now, here's your host, Deacon Al.
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Good evening, and welcome to Good News. I am Deacon Al Lundy,
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a permanent deacon of the Peoria Diocese here on Catholic Spirit Radio every
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Saturday and Sunday evening to bring you the good news of Jesus Christ through
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the readings of the scriptures of this weekend's Sunday Mass.
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And boy, what a week it's been.
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We're assuming now that you're listening on Saturday or Sunday,
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but we're taping this program on Thursday, and we are just a few hours after
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having found out we have a new pope.
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White smoke rose up in the Vatican today, and we now have Pope Leo XIV,
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Robert, now I'm going to say his American English name wrong.
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I don't have it in front of me.
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You know the name, John? Do you remember it? We're just a few hours away and
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I've forgotten his name already.
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I'm so used to calling him Pope Leo, which by the way, was my guess in working with my brothers.
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I was thinking Leo, My youngest brother was thinking he would just keep his own name.
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That hasn't been done in centuries with the Pope, but they're allowed to do that.
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Like Prisocki, Prisocki, Privost, Privost, sorry.
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Yeah, Robert Privost from, they say Chicago, Illinois, but actually he's from
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Dalton, Dalton Riverdale, which are like a Bloomington Normal up in the South
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Chicago area, about 10 miles from where I grew up.
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So he's a local boy. In fact, Bishop Tilka from Peoria Diocese is also from that same area.
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So I don't know if they know each other or not. Probably not.
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But that's kind of cool to have that connection.
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So let's pause for a moment. I think this is a good opportunity for prayer for
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our new Pope and for the Church.
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So let's do that. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
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Heavenly Father, we praise your name. We thank you for the blessings of this
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day, especially the blessings of a new pope.
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We ask that you send the Holy Spirit to fill the heart of Pope Leo XIV.
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Let him be healthy, happy, joyful shepherd of your church.
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Let him lead us all through the battles of sin on this earth to be with you for eternity in heaven.
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We ask all this in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father,
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the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
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Amen. So, good luck, Pope Leo. We're rooting for you.
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We would love to see what kind of person you are. We really don't know that much about you.
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Spent a lot of time in Peru. In fact, dual citizenship.
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U.S. and Peru, has spent the last several years working for Pope Francis as
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the head of the department that vets the bishop nominees for the pope.
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So he knows his way around the Vatican, he knows his way around Peru,
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and around ministry and missionary work. So I think that's a good sign.
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Those are some characteristics that you want our shepherd to have.
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So really excited, so glad they only took a couple days to get the job done.
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You know why we have conclaves? You know, they lock them in, they sequester them.
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That came from centuries ago when the church couldn't decide who they wanted.
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There was a big uproar over who was going to be the pope, and it was getting very divisive.
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And the people in the town where the election was taking place were getting
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pretty tired of hosting all these religious emissaries.
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So they walled them in and said, we'll let you out.
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I mean, the villagers walled them into their meeting place and said,
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we'll let you out when you make a decision.
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And from there came the idea of conclaves, of locking them up,
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sequestering them from the outside influences so that they can do their job and want to leave.
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They definitely make it uncomfortable for them to be sequestered.
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Their meals, I just learned about this, Their meals are prepared by those in
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the religious life, again, to try to avoid outside influences.
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The kitchens are separate from the meeting room, and there are lazy Susans built
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into the walls. So the food just passes through the wall and appears they don't
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actually talk to anyone.
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And they're even selective about the type of food they serve.
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For instance, they can't serve ravioli.
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Now, think about this. Why would you not be able to serve ravioli at a conclave
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if what you're trying to achieve is secrecy?
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They didn't want people passing messages hidden in the pockets of the pasta.
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That's how serious they are about really sequestering them from outside influence.
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So I know there's a movie out there about the conclave. And I just want to remind
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everybody, movies are not real life.
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Okay? I guess there are parts of the movie that are fairly accurate.
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The ending, however, is ridiculous, just completely ridiculous.
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So it's just like any movie.
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Spaceships don't explode in outer space. Cars don't explode when you shoot them with a bullet.
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That kind of stuff, you know, movies tend to exaggerate.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Coming from a family of police officers, I can tell you that
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as much as you would like cars to blow up when you shoot them,
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they don't actually do that.
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Yeah, I know. It takes all the fun out of all the Clint Eastwood films.
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But it's an interesting process. It's a centuries-old one.
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And now the history of the church continues, just as it did before.
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And we'll see what kind of a shepherd our new pope is.
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And I wish him well. I hope it goes well. I have to admit, I hope he's a little more conservative.
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That wouldn't bother me a bit. The fact that he opened today with prayer,
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with the Hail Mary, I thought that was a really good sign.
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I like a priest who's committed to our Holy Mother.
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And the fact that he went back to the traditional papal cape when he stepped
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out on the balcony, I think that was a sign to us that he's going to lean a
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little towards the conservative side.
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And I think it's okay to be,
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socially liberal in some cases. We are a loving church. We are a loving church.
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But I think a little conservative common sense is always a good thing as well.
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So we'll see how things go, right? We'll just keep praying for the continued
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goodwill and good health of the church.
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It is definitely spring, John.
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Oh my gosh, it is definitely spring. The flowers, the trees,
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It's just gorgeous outside.
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And I was riding home today from a morning meeting and went past one of the local nurseries.
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And because it's Mother's Day weekend, they are crammed with plants.
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I mean, just crammed, overflowing with annuals and perennials and hang baskets.
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And so I got home and my wife was just doing a few odds and ends around the house.
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I said, drop everything, let's get back in the car. I said, we're gonna go plant hunting.
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And we did. We came back with all kinds of stuff. So I had time to get one of
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them planted before I came here today.
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So I've got like eight plants waiting for me back home to get planted in the next couple days.
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I'm building a butterfly garden in one corner of my yard, and I got a bunch
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of stuff for the butterfly garden.
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So we'll see how that works out. Had my first hummingbird yesterday.
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Spring is here. It's early. I usually don't see hummingbirds till like late July, early August.
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And I had a hummingbird yesterday. So yeah, good stuff. And I had a mockingbird.
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I had a northern mockingbird. I haven't seen a mockingbird in my yard ever.
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And I've lived in the same house for 25 years. First time we've ever had a mockingbird.
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So just really cool to see. I've got a little app now that one of my bird feeders has a camera.
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And so when a bird lands there, right? So 23 different species of birds in two weeks.
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That's insane. That's so cool. I'm just having a ball watching this.
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So, anyway, we're going to pause for a couple minutes, hear from some friends
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at the station, and we'll come back with good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ,
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from the scripture readings of the fourth Sunday of Easter.
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Stay tuned. Good news will be right back on Catholic Spirit Radio.
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You have blessed Your Church through the life and ministry of Your faithful
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Sheen. He has written and spoken well of Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ,
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If it be according to your will, for the honor and glory of the Most Holy Trinity
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More info at icatholicmobile.com. Hello, this is Steve Gleason with your one-minute
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What is the life expectancy of any human organization to exist under one rule
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of law? Well, here's your three best friendship tools for Catholic evangelism.
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Number one, the deceit of dominance.
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Kingdoms, empires, and societies all come and all go. Why? Moral decay,
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a blind eye, and defiance to the order of a civil society.
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Secondly, history. Kingdoms such as the Persians, the Greeks,
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the Ottomans, even the Roman Empire made it for around a thousand years.
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But soon, they all find themselves failing, imploding, and finally splitting.
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Ah, but there is one that has survived, the Catholic Church,
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and under one rule of law.
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Thirdly, my take, a promise. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would infuse the apostles
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with a divine glue that would hold his church together.
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It is a human impossibility that the Catholic Church would persist through time, terror, and trouble.
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Well, the Rolling Stones have lasted 60 years, the Atlanta Braves about 150,
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the teetering Southern Baptists about 180, but we're still here 2,000 years
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later and the best is yet to come.
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Find me online at Smarty Pants Catholic Evangelism.
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And welcome back to Good News. I am Deacon Al Lundy.
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So, our readings today, they're following the same path that we've been on really since Easter.
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We'll be hearing from the book of Acts, we'll be hearing from Revelation,
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and then also from the gospel according to John.
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And what an apropos time of year because we just, last week,
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we talked about the gospel where Jesus makes Peter the human head of the church,
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the shepherd of the church, the steward, in fact, of Christ.
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So stewards in the biblical days, that was your most trusted servant.
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When the head of the household had to be away on business, as they were gone,
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then the keys to the food and the money and things of that sort were given to
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the steward, the most trusted servant.
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And they were responsible for making sure that others got paid,
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got their food at the appropriate time.
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Well, the Pope, Peter, was made the servant.
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When Jesus says, I'm giving you the keys to the kingdom, that's the authority
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to care for the kingdom, God's kingdom here on earth as well as the kingdom
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in heaven, in my absence.
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And then when he returns, Christ will take that authority back.
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So just last week, we heard Peter being made the steward of the church,
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and now we have a new steward.
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So that tradition that started with Peter has continued now for 2,000 years.
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And that's so amazing. No other church has that lineage to Scripture and to the apostles.
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The Catholic Church has. Orthodox comes pretty close, but for some reason,
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the Orthodox Church let go of the chair of Peter.
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But as far as the rest of the apostolic succession, they kept that.
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So, let's begin with our reading from the book of Acts.
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So this is just a reminder. What's happened here is Luke is the author of Acts.
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Luke was not only a physician, he was a historian. And so he knew that the last
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of the apostles were dying off during his time.
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He traveled with Paul and some of the other apostles. So he started going back
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and interviewing other witnesses besides the apostles so that he could document
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as accurately as possible the life of Christ leading up to his passion,
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death, and resurrection.
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So this is after the resurrection now, and he learned this from the time he spent with Paul.
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It says, Paul and Barnabas continued from Perga and reached Antioch and Pisidia.
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And on the Sabbath, they entered the synagogue and took their seats.
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Many Jews and worshipers who were converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas,
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who spoke to them and urged them to remain faithful to the grace of God.
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On the following Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
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When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy,
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and with violent abuse, contradicted what Paul said.
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Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, It was necessary that the
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word of God be spoken to you first.
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But since you reject it and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life,
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we now turn to the Gentiles.
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For so the Lord has commanded us, I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
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that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth.
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The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this, and glorified the word of the Lord.
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And all who were destined for eternal life came to believe, and the word of
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the Lord continued to spread through the whole region.
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The Jews, however, incited the women of prominence who were worshipers,
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and the leading men of the city stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas
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and expelled them from their territory.
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So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
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The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
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Thanks be to God. So we see that Paul and Barnabas, this is very early in their
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partnership and they're traveling throughout the region, spreading the good news of Christ.
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And they start by first telling the Old Testament and then they go into the
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New Testament, what would be the New Testament.
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And yet the Jews still rejected them. So, if the Old Testament was the Jewish
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belief, and Paul started with that and they rejected that, what was the chance
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they were going to accept the New Testament of Jesus Christ?
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So, it seems kind of odd that they were so set against Paul and the story that
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Paul was telling that they even rejected their own faith.
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And this is why Paul says it's necessary to understand first the Old Testament
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before you can understand the New.
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So our second reading is from Revelation.
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And Revelation, of course, comes from the Apostle John.
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John writes, I, John, had a vision of a great multitude which no one could count,
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from every nation, race, people, and tongue.
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They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding
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palm branches in their hands.
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Then one of the elders said to me, These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress.
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They have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
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For this reason they stand before God's throne and worship Him day and night in His temple.
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The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst
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any more, nor will the sun or any heat strike them.
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For the Lamb, who is the center of the throne, will shepherd them and lead them
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to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
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Hallelujah. So this gives us an idea of the temperament of heaven.
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What will heaven be like in a spiritual field?
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There will be no hunger. There will be no thirst. There will be no sadness.
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It's a place of great joy. Christ in the scriptures often likens heaven to a
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banquet, to a wedding reception even.
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And so John is just telling what he saw in his vision of heaven.
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He saw those who were saved, baptism, he talks about salvation through water,
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who are now washed clean, that happens during purgatory, and now they're standing
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before the throne of God in praise.
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And I'm shocked at the number of people who say, well, how could you do that?
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How, you know, why would that be any fun? Why would I want to go to heaven to
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stand around and praise God all day?
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And what really tickles me, these are the same people who will go to a sporting
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event and think of nothing, think nothing of standing all day,
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cheering for their favorite football team.
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That's not unusual, but praising God for hours on end, that sounds horrible to them.
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What has that football team ever done for them?
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Really? I mean, and yet we keep all this praise on athletes and on movie stars
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and TV personalities and things like that.
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And the thought of spending an hour on a Sunday in church, really pouring out
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your feelings towards God, well, I can't do that. that doesn't sound like any fun.
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I just can't get through. I can't understand that kind of mentality.
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If God isn't worthy of your praise, no one is. No one is.
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Certainly not an athlete or a movie star, because what have they actually done?
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I'm sorry, it's fun to watch sports, but it's a game.
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Oh, but these people, they risk their body. That's a choice.
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That's a choice. It does nothing to improve my life, you know,
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and we already know in 10, 15 years, it's going to destroy their lives because
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they're going to be a physical mess.
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So, our bodies just aren't made to do that kind of abuse.
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So, who's really benefiting here? Certainly, certainly not the people worshiping them.
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So be careful about your choices, folks. Really think about who's deserving
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of your adulation and who actually gets it, because it's not the same person.
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And I'm so happy to see attendance at church starting to rebound again, and that's wonderful.
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But I'll ask, if you're not going, please go to church.
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Please come back to God. And if you are going, don't just show up and say,
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I went to church, it's Sunday, I had to go because it's Sunday.
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Participate. When you pray, I mean, I'm quite a ways away from some of you.
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I'm like dozens of yards or more away.
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It'd be nice to hear you. We have prayers going on, response, sorrel song.
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Everybody sings the opening. Most everybody sings the opening hymn.
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And we get just a few minutes into Mass, and now we're in the Responsorial song,
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and what I hear sitting in the sanctuary is.
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Come on, guys. These words are important. These are the words,
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the Psalms are the prayers of Christ.
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These are the prayers of the Jewish people from the Old Testament.
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When it says that Christ went off to pray, these are the prayers that He used.
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We're being offered the opportunity to share in the same prayers that Christ
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said. I want to hear some voices.
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You know, when we talk about praise and glory, and Scripture talks about the
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angels in heaven praising God's name, they're not up there going,
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you know, they're belting it out.
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They're really, they're pouring their heart and soul into their prayers.
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Jesus, when he prayed, prayed so hard, he would sweat blood. We barely break a sweat.
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You should come out of church empowered and invigorated and a little hoarse.
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I wouldn't mind having more people come out of church saying,
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I sang so loud, I prayed so loud that I lost my voice.
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That's the kind of praise that Christ is worthy of.
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So our last reading is from the Gospel according to John.
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It's a rather short one. Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice.
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I know them, and they follow me.
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I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
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No one can take them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater
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than all, and no one can take them out of my Father's hand.
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The Father and I are one. The Word of the Lord.
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You know, very, very short from John, an unusually short passage.
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But so important, and especially so important at this time that we now have a new pope.
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You know, last week when Jesus was handing that authority over to Peter,
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as he talked to Peter and said, do you love me?
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Three times. To make up for the three times that Peter had rejected,
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pardon me, rejected him during the Passion.
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So he asked Peter three times, do you love me? And every time after Peter responded
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yes, Jesus didn't say, go out and run my church. He didn't say,
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go out and boss people around.
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He didn't say, go out and make a bunch of rules.
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He said, go care for my sheep. Go feed my sheep. Go tend to my flock.
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That's the same thing that the Holy Spirit says to the Pope every time we enter into a new papal era.
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None of these men come to this office with the idea that they're going to tell
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bishops what to do, or tell priests what to do, or even tell you and I what to do.
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They're here to serve, not to be served. They understand that,
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but I'm not sure all of us do.
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That these men have given their lives in service to their God and to God's people.
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So let's cut Leo a little slack here as he gets started, and let him show us
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his love and the love of Christ through his service.
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So in today's gospel, we hear that same message.
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I know my sheep, they know me, I care for them, they follow me.
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I give them life everlasting.
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This is a God of love. This is a church of love and caring. And this is a pope of love.
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Don't think of Catholicism as a bunch of rules. It's two. It comes down to two.
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Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength.
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Love your neighbors yourself.
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The rest of it is just organizational stuff.
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It's just to keep us all on the same page, as it were.
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Not to control our lives. We control our lives.
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Christ asks us to control it in a way that does honor to Him.
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Something to think about this week as we enter into a new time of history in our church.
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And may Almighty God bless you, protect you from all evil, and bring you to
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everlasting life. Amen.
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