[music] Man: "Mother Angelica Live!" brought to you from the Eternal Word Television Studios in Birmingham, Alabama. [music] <i>Mother: See in you, the love,</i> <i>the compassion of Jesus.</i> <i>The most glorious work of all,</i> <i>to praise God in His Kingdom.</i> <i>Anyone moved by the Spirit...</i> <i>Anyone who lives in love,</i> <i>lives in God</i> <i>and God lives in Him.</i> [music] <i>What a wonderful thing</i> <i>is our Church.</i> <i>This whole network</i> <i>is built on trust.</i> <i>The essence of evangelization</i> <i>is to tell everybody,</i> <i>"Jesus loves you!"</i> <i>We're all called</i> <i>to be great saints.</i> <i>Don't miss the opportunity!</i> (applause) Mother: Well, hi there. This is Tuesday. Of course, you knew that early this morning, didn't you? (audience laughs) But sometimes as it gets darker, you forget what day it is. I don't know about you. Are you that way? As long as we don't forget the season, we're in good shape, you know, but, I was telling the sisters this morning, at lesson, that so many people today, in today's world, are not family. They're not family, and I wonder sometimes why, you know. We should be family all the time. I feel very close to our television family. See, I feel like you're a part of me and I hope I'm a part of you, and what makes it though, really? We're talking to each other. See, that is the secret, I think, of why we have family and why we don't have family. In the old days when I was a kid, as hard as my mother and I had it, at least when we went to my grandmother's to stay, they had supper. and supper was always long for my grandmother. And if you go to Italy today, or anywhere, they expect you to sit there for 2 or 3 hours. You know, you go to Germany-- The last time we were in Germany, I, I thought we'd never leave. (audience laughs) And they never said a word, and they kept saying, "Is there anything else we could do for you?" I said, "No. "f I eat anymore, you're going to have to carry me out." (audience laughs) But nobody seemed to care. It happened in Italy. I went with some marble people it Italy, and we sat in this long table. I think we got there at 7, and it was 10:30. Nobody said a word. In, in America, of course, we have--everything has to be fast, you know. They kind of come and look at you and then they say, "How long will you be here?" (audience laughs) You're through eating, you know. (audience laughs) But see, I think it's because there are some people and some nationalities--and we used to do it in America. We used to sit around and talk, even after a meal, and, and television changed that. See, it really changed that. Now we don't even talk to each other. We maybe talk at each other, you know, but we've lost that camaraderie with our family. You say, oh, my family's fighting all the time. Well, maybe you're Italian, that's all. (audience laughs) We never fight. We just talk loud. (audience laughs) I think there's a difference, you know. Some nationalities would say, maybe the English, "Would you please pass the spaghetti?" We'd think you were sick if you said it that way as an Italian. We'd say, "Hey, what are you going to do, eat the whole platter? Give me that." (audience laughs) Now, there is a big difference, isn't there? But it can be family in both ways. You see, it's different culture, a different everything, and I think in America we ought to start that again. I told the sisters yesterday, I said, "You know, starting Monday, we're going to have an hour together. We're going to do absolutely nothing but talk." And they all looked at me like, "How long?" (audience laughs) They always ask the right question, you know. I said, "1 hour. " "1 hour? " "Yeah, 7-8. " "Well, what do we do? " I said, "Nothing. We're going to talk. " "Oh. What do we talk about? " I said, "I don't know. We just talk. " See, we all have what-do- we-do-itis, don't we, huh? Even when we're together we've got to do something, but the most important thing in our life is not to do. The most important thing in our life is to be something to each other, and that's why I would like to initiate a good time in families, just to talk to each other. I know you're going to, you're going to probably begin with saying, (sighs) "Well, what do you want to talk about?" (audience laughs) I don't know. I wish I weren't here. (audience laughs) Well, if you just get started, talk about something that, funny that happened, or tragic, or about someone who had a hard time that you heard about, someone at work who found out today they have cancer, they have 3 months to live. You, you could say a prayer for them. See, just talking together is a lost art. Isn't it, huh? See, and on a bus, what do the, what do the leader do on a bus? They've got to make you do something. "Here, you want to, you want to do something? Here, sing this song." (audience laughs) "Well, I don't feel like singing." "Well then pray. Let's pray together. " "Okay. " "So, we're going to pray 7 hours and a half," (audience laughs) which is wonderful, but some are sleeping, you know. They've already said their prayers, and then somebody comes up and says, "Look at the beautiful scenery, isn't it exciting?" (audience laughs) And you're looking out the window and you don't see a thing, (audience laughs) 'cause you just passed it. (audience laughs) So we're very awkward, extremely awkward when it comes to talking. We're like strangers. You know, you, some people never meet a stranger. They're always up in there and, "How are you, and, you know, can I do something for you?" But a lot of people, everybody is a stranger, and it's their family. You start out with your family. Here in this Wonderful Book we call "The New Testament," what did Our Lord do as soon as He entered the active life? He formed a family. He left a family and formed a family of apostles. He picked them out one at a time, 2, 3 at a time until He had 12. They ate together, they went out and slept under trees. Everywhere He went, they went. When they were hungry, twice He Fed them, and a whole crowd. See, and, and it's, it's understanding, understandable that Jesus tried to form family because when the Masses were there, 5000 men alone, not counting women and children, He said, Peter came to Him real smart. He said, "Look, (laughs) these people are hungry." He didn't say he was hungry. He said, "These people are hungry. Send them home." See, and Our Lord spent days with them and He didn't want to do that. He said, "No, you feed them." He says, "We don't have anything." Now, what happened? The apostles felt that anymore time with these people was a waste. They were tired of people, and Our Lord said, "What do you have?" He said, "We don't have anything. We have a couple--this young boy here has a couple of fish and 2 loaves." Isn't it wonderful, out of 5000 people, the only one that had any sense was this little kid? (audience laughs) He brought his lunch. Believe me. (audience laughs) He knew, he was probably there before and thought, "This is a long session, and I like this Man, Jesus, this God Man Jesus. I'm going to bring me a lunch for 5 days," and he has about 3 days left. and the Lord said, "Bring him here." And this little boy was unselfish. He said, "Okay, you can have them," gave all he had, and the Lord multiplied them until everybody had all they wanted. 12 baskets that big left over. Jesus was always family-oriented, so much so that the Greatest Miracle of All, the Eucharist, was done at a meal. See, He had His apostles there. I know His Mother must have been there and other disciples. He wanted them together at His last night. See, so we, we in America have, we've forgotten what it even means to talk to each other, and even if your, your, your children are gone, why, why don't you talk to each other before you put on your TV? See, and it's going to be hard because we don't know what to talk about. See, we're, we're like robots that get fed by electricity. That's what the, the television, radio--and I'm not against it. We're in it-- but try, try to, to bring your family together by speaking to each other lovingly about unimportant things, unimportant things, and funny things. Today Sr. Mary Agnes sat in a chair. She didn't know it was full of water. (laughs) (audience laughs) I thought that was hysterical. I mean, she was soaking wet. Sympathy she didn't get, (audience laughs) because we were laughing about it. Now, that's a silly thing, but that's okay. Start with silly things. Just show that you want to be there because you love each other, see. That's another thing that we have totally, totally forgot. Family not only means being together. It means that we know when we're together, we love more. We manifest love when we're together. When you and I are together, right here, on television, there's people watching throughout the world, and I feel I'm home, with you. See, I really feel I'm talking to my family, because God has designed it. For some unknown reason He has designed that I talk to you and you listen. That's family, see, because we talk about the Only One worth talking about--Jesus. Try talking about Jesus. Say, "Well I don't know Jesus that well." Well, you need to talk a lot then. Get this good book called the Scriptures. Get the New Testament, and find out something. and I want to, I want to just, I just opened the Book while we were eating supper, 'cause I didn't know what to talk about. I'm still not too sure, but here we are, (audience laughs) (laughs) And I, I, I opened up to the 4th Chapter of St. Mark, 4th Chapter, about the seeds, the seeds. Well, let's look at it and see if our families are bearing fruit, okay. How do we think? Here we go. It said, "He began to teach by the lakeside." Isn't that a nice place to go, huh? Just nothing there but sand, lots of people, and the water, "But such a huge crowd gathered around Him and He got into a boat." (laughs) I think that's great. You see this massive crowd coming, and they couldn't see Him. So He got in the boat and, on the lake, and He just sat there. No big deal. The people were all along the shore at the water's edge. Can you imagine that? Doesn't that sound beautiful, huh? You can read this to your family. It'd be nice the kids that can read, say, why don't you read this? See, something you read fixes in your imagination. Well let's see what happened. "And he taught them many things in parables." Now, you know, we had a Bishop here from Peru. I never had anybody here that the people were so struck by, and he didn't say one profound thing. (laughs) I mean, he was so simple. He'd say, "Now, this is Tuesday," and well, we all knew it was Tuesday, (audience laughs) and he said, "Now today we think about the angels," and the people were mesmerized at that point, and he talked so simply about the angels and how we have to, and how, the name he calls his angels, and all the things they do. We have heard those things since we were that high. We forgot them. I've known that bishop 36 years. He never forgot it, and after Communion; he was awesome. He would say a Communion prayer. You know why? He wasn't sure the people were saying it, and he led them in this Communion, same prayer every morning, and we got letters saying, "Oh, what a wonderful bishop." He, (laughs) I, I stood there amazed. He was so simple, so simple, but you know what came out of him? Not what he said. It was his holiness, Jesus in him flowed out, and people were coming, and, and he sang a song. (laughs) On a Tuesday Night he had a flute. He, he practiced ahead of time and they recorded it ahead of time. He made a few boo-boos. You know, these little recorders are easy to make mistakes. Did he care? Nah. People loved it. He didn't care. He was singing to his people, and he was singing about his Peruvian people. He wanted everybody to know how wonderful they were. I said to him, and I'll never forget what he replied. I said to him, "Bishop," I forget now how it started. I said, "You're going home," and he said, "Oh yeah." He said, he said, "You know, Mother," he said, "The people will come Sunday. They walk 5 hours," 5 hours, cold. This is their winter. It's cold, below zero. They put on their best and they walk 5 hours. Now, they haven't eaten anything, and they get in that church, and, he said, "Mother, you know, we have no windows." I said, "You have no windows?" He said, "Well, we have the opening, but no glass." I said, "No glass? " He said, "We couldn't breathe if we put glass in there." He said, "The people have walked for miles, in snow, in, in mud." He said, "We can't have glass," and he said, "Monday morning it takes is about 4 or 5 hours to clean the mud and all," and he looked at me with the most beautiful eyes and he said, "But the people, Mother, they're so clean." He said, "They've all been to confession, and they're so clean." You know what amazed me about that? It was, it was amazing to me that he didn't mind the mud. He didn't mind at all that they have to scrub that place 4 or 5 hours. Their souls were clean. That's, that's what attracted everybody to this bishop. He wasn't, he didn't care. He, he rose above the mundane, but we don't call it mundane. We call it the real world, but it's not. What's here is the real-world, the love of people is the real world, the concern for souls is the real world, and, and see, that's what he, that's what amazed me about that bishop; his love for souls was so great. That's all he cared about, and that's what Jesus cares about, see, and you can tell. He's here by the lake, and ya'll have been, and ya'll are from New Orleans. How many here are from New Orleans? A few of you, huh? Well, if you get near the gulf, boy, you can smell that fish on the shore, can't you? Well, imagine a fisherman that's just been out all night, all day, all night, all day. He doesn't smell like Chanel 5, No. 5. You know what I mean? (audience laughs) He can't. He's got fish in his boat, he's wet with fish water, everything, but Jesus didn't care. What did He do? He went and sat in the boat. We're so superficial. We, we love people for the wrong reason, and now we see that the people were there and He taught them, He said, "Listen," He said, "Imagine a sower going out to sow." Now, these are fishermen. That's a strange parable to talk about to fishermen, and now it happened he said that he sowed, but some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up. I would like us to see where are we in this parable. You've all heard the Word. Some of you born Catholic, some of you oldsters, like me, really were taught the faith from 1st Grade or before, but where is the seed now? Where is the seed you heard last Sunday? Say, "Sunday?" Yeah, Sunday. "Oh, what happened Sunday?" You went to Mass. "Yeah, yeah, I did." You heard a sermon? "Yeah, it was very good." What'd he say? "I don't know." (audience laughs) "You expect me to remember?" But you said it was very good. Well, you can't-- Those things slip by you, that's all. Where's the seed? What happened to the seed that was sown in your garden Sunday? Well, it says here, "The birds came and ate it up." Now, He said, "Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil, and sprang up straightaway. That's when you came home Sunday and said to your kids, "What a sermon! I mean, that was some kind of sermon," and the kids said, "What'd he say, mom?" "Well, it was very nice. "I can't remember it all. But now today we're going to be good. I think that's what the sermon was about." Oh fine. Okay, here's comes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and the seed is, (makes noise) gone. It had soil. You thought that sermon was great, sprang up, but there's no depth, and when the sun came out, it scorched, didn't have any roots and it withered away. This is Jesus talking. Isn't that wonderful? He got so simple. So you've got to say to yourself, "Well, maybe I was in that category. "I didn't have any roots. "I didn't really think to myself, I'm an uncharitable human being. I'm always gossiping about somebody. I'm always talking about somebody else's sins to everybody else." I, if a sermon was on charity or love, then you have to say to yourself, I've got to change. I have to change. So if you went home to your kids, you'd have a lot to talk about, and say, "Hey, why don't we all change? Why don't we all say nice things about each other, huh?" Now, when you take out the garbage, why don't you just take it out quietly and don't complain? "Yeah, but I'm always taking it out." Shhh. Don't complain. There's nobody else around. You're the strongest in the house. Do it for Jesus. Now, see, now Our Lord's going to tell you what's going to happen. Now, some seed fell into thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it, produced no crop. And then some seeds fell on rich soil, and growing up tall and strong, produced a crop. Well, some yielded 30, 60, and even a hundredfold. A hundredfold would be if you heard something or you read something, and your whole life would change. Many of you have had conversion experiences, come from a sermon, came from anything; something you read, something you saw, somebody who had cancer and accepted it with great courage and strength, and you had a conversion experience. That's a hundredfold. So now, he said, "Listen, anyone who has ears." I think that's funny. (laughs) We have ears, but we don't hear, and that's not because we're deaf. We don't want to hear. That's why you have nothing to talk about in your family. We don't want to hear. Well, it said, "When He was alone, the 12 together with the others formed His company." He Formed Family. Now, the poor apostles didn't... Did you understand what I just read, huh? You all understood? That's good. The apostles didn't. (laughs) I hate to use these 2 priests, but that's all I got, or 3 priests; what would happen now if all of you understood and the 3 priests didn't? (audience laughs) I mean, wouldn't you think that's strange, huh? (audience laughs) See, the, the public seemed to go home. They were tickled about this whole thing. Well, no, the apostles. You don't mind me using you, do you? They're humble priests, see. (audience laughs) Besides, they're friends of mine, and I, (laughs) (audience laughs) I wouldn't say that to a stranger. (audience laughs) "So finally He said to them," He knew, He knew they didn't understand a thing. He said, "Do you understand this parable? If you don't, then how will you understand any parable?" Now they're all very quiet, 'cause they didn't understand. In another book, St. Luke and St. Matthew, it says, "They went to Jesus and said, "Jesus, (sighs) would you explain the parable of the seed?" And that will make you feel good, 'cause you understand, and they didn't understand, and I think the reason is, Jesus wanted us to understand. He said, "What the Sower is sowing is the Word," the Word of God, and those on the edge of the path where the Word is sown are people who have no sooner heard it, then satan comes, oh, and carries away the Word. You ever have the Word, and you come Home, you're so enthused, or you go to your office or your workplace, and then somebody just knocks you down. We have a little gnat here that keeps rolling around my eyes and my nose. So, if I go this way, I'm not waving. (audience laughs) Did I get him? I did. (laughs) (audience laughs) Isn't that interesting? (audience laughs) Oh well. (audience laughs) (laughs) I think that's hysterical. This is the only TV program where you can, (makes noise) (audience laughs) flick something, an ant. Was that an ant? But anyway, satan comes and carries away the Word. People will discourage you. "What are you, a fanatic? "You've got to talk about Jesus all the time? Do you know anything else?" I'd say, no, I don't. What's so bad today is, in some offices you're not allowed to have a picture of Jesus, you're not allowed. That's why we sell these cross pins. They've got a little cross on the clip. See, they can't even see that. You, you, you almost have to sneak around if you have an office, and put it in the desk drawer and just pull it out once in a while and look at Him. You can't, in some hospitals you can't have a crucifix if you get federal funds. So we're, we're, we're slowly getting to that kind of atheistic society, see. It says here, "satan carries away the Word. Similarly," He said, "Those who receive the seed on patches of rock are people who when they first hear the Word, they are so excited. They welcome it with joy, but they have no roots." See, it doesn't stay, "And they do not last, and then some trial comes along or some persecution and they fall away at once." Oh, huh? Do you ever hear, "I'm so good. I go to Mass every day, I go to Mass every Sunday, I take you, I go to confession every week, and this happened to me?" Did you ever hear that? Terrible. If a persecution comes and it's hard, what do you do, see? So Our Lord is telling us why we're not family. Then He said here, "There are others who receive the seed in thorns. They have heard the Word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches," oh, "and all the other passions choke it." Ooh, that's a big statement. You've heard the Word, but all the worries of the world. Aren't we packed with the worries of this world, huh, the lure of riches? I know many wealthy people who are so humble, and then there are others who are so taken up with the lure of riches and other passions. What passions? Lust, greed, ambition, adultery, lying, cheating, all of these things that are so common in the world. And I've noticed in the last few months and year, people tell you what they think you want to hear. It's not--they don't mean any truth. I asked why something, you know, we expected something a week ago and it wasn't there, and I called up, and they said, "Oh yeah, we mailed it already." (laughs) The postmark (laughs) didn't say that when we finally got it, and I would have appreciated it if they said, "Well, we haven't had a chance to mail it. It'll probably be a week late." I would have appreciated that, but see, we think nothing of lying. We just don't. I told you one time about taking off postage stamps that have already come to you and just weren't canceled. You take them off real slow, you know. (audience laughs) (makes noise) Well, what do you do with it? (audience laughs) Do you put it in the basket? No. You use it for your next letter, (audience laughs) and I'll make a bet. That's kind of stealing, isn't it, because that postage was there? It carried that letter to your home. So it's finished. Ah-ah. If it's not cancelled, we take a lot of time taking it off and using it again, and we don't think anything of it. (makes noise) Now, and it says, "When you're all upset and other passions choke the word, you produce nothing. "And there are those who have received the seed and rich soil and they hear the word, accept it and yield a harvest, 30, 60, and a hundredfold." Well, I think our families are kind of like that now. We're not yielding family harvest. I know your kids have run away or they're here or they're other way, but husband and wife can just talk, but not about the problems. Talk about the Lord. The One we are to live with for eternity gets the least of our time. Count the time you spend, football, oh, I don't even want to mention that, basketball, baseball, we have a lot of sports. You spend hours and hours and hours. (sighs) Are you telling me that you don't have a half-hour for your Creator whom you will meet one day, be judged, and spend Eternity with? See, that's, that's a kind of not bearing fruit. I have nothing against sports. I used to be a drum majorette. Did you know that? (audience laughs) You can imagine me being a drum majorette. (audience laughs) But I was. Nobody in school thought I was a little bit sour and un, un, what did they call me? I can't really tell you what they called me, (audience laughs) but I, I had a teacher one time who gave a 20 minute sermon on this particular student who was not at all what she could be, and I was rather sour and sad and I didn't like people and I didn't want any of these girlfriends. I thought, that's nuts. They just take a lot of time and what do you got at the end? Nothing. I was a nice little kid when I was young, (audience laughs) and so, (audience laughs) you know, everybody started complaining about me; my mother, my, you know, "Why don't you do something?" "Okay, I'll do something." So, I went and I, I practiced baton. I could throw it in the air or catch it in front of me, behind me, and everywhere else. (audience laughs) I broke a rib doing it, but I didn't care. (audience laughs) (sighs) So I got so good at it that I got appointed to lead the band. I didn't know anything about music, but, I led the band. (audience laughs) I kept time, and we would go walk down the road and parade and all the rest, went out football, and all this other stuff, see. Now, why'd I tell you that? (audience laughs) I had to have a reason for telling you that, but I can't remember, but anyway, I was not going to waste any more of this time that I was, everybody was complaining about, (sighs) but I realized that didn't change me. You know, I, until I found Jesus, nothing changed me, see, nothing changed me. It was a waste of time, but I, I was trying to please my mother, my grandmother, my uncles, and my, my teachers, and all the kids around. I even got brave one day and joined the circus. (audience laughs) For one week I joined the circus. It was one of these shrine circuses in town, you know, and I, I brought all the circus people in and I brought them back, (audience laughs) made $25 the entire week, and the only thing I did that was exciting was, there was a little elephant there, and the big elephant, and, and I said to the trainer, (sighs) "I always wanted an elephant hair." I thought, why would I want an elephant hair, but I wanted an elephant hair. Well, he said, "Just go pick one out." (audience laughs) I said, "Really?" What a thrill, you know. This little elephant's about that big, and so I went and... (makes noise) (audience laughs) you should have heard the yell from him. His mother turned right... We almost had a stampede. (audience laughs) I thought, that was silly too. I mean, I got so--I tried to get involved in the world, but I didn't get a thing out of it, not a thing. I felt the same after all these shenanigans as I did before. I felt the same. I wasted time, see, but until I knew Jesus, only then could I love, only then could I care, and only then did it matter, see. I think there are a lot of you out there just like I was, and that's where we, we all were or we all are, because we do waste a lot of time, and we're not family, to anybody. And we have a call. Hello. Female caller #1: Hello, Mother. Mother: Where are you from? Caller: Florida. Mother: Oh, good, and what is your question? Caller: Yes. Mother, you were talking about the family. Mother: Yeah. Caller: And that, you know, we should talk to each other, sit down and talk to each other. Okay, my husband and I live in Florida. Our two children live in New York. At the time that my husband and I moved to Florida our children weren't talking to us. My daughter's 32 years old. She's married, and my son, he's 23 now. My daughter hasn't spoken to us in 8 years. My son hasn't spoken to us in 6. We have tried, we've called, we sent cards, we've sent letters, I've asked family to talk to them. They, they claim that they were mad that when my husband I moved to Florida that we didn't let them know. That's true, we didn't, because 3 years prior to our moving to Florida we had had a disagreement with our married daughter and at 17 years old my son just walked out of our house and went to live with her, and she, she didn't try to call us, tell us anything, she never sent him back home. She kept him, and I couldn't get him back, okay, and my husband, in the meantime, my husband, he became disabled. He had 3 back surgeries and the doctor said it would be better for him if he was in a warmer climate. And we figured, what do we have there? They won't talk to us. In 3 years they wouldn't speak to us when we were there. So we sold our house, and we came down to Florida. I contacted my children. We contacted them when I, we were down here. I had gotten breast cancer and we called them up to tell them, a year after the, the, the surgery, and, you know, they, my daughter spoke to my husband. She wouldn't speak with me; "How's mom? Is she all right?" And my husband said, "Yeah. "It was very bad. You know, everything's fine. Thank God," and I spoke with my son, and they won't talk to me now. Mother: Well, you have to understand that you still can be family. There are circumstances like that all the time in today's world, see, and some kids leave home just because they think they ought to be on their own. Coldness and indifferent is everywhere. So, how are you family then and how are you family now? By prayer. If you and your husband just get together and know that your children need your prayers. See, part of family is to provide for others. Now, you can't provide for them by any external acts of love or concerned. They're bitter or whatever, but you can pray for them, and in that prayer, as you and your husband pray for them, at that moment, even if you're saying a "Hail Mary," even if you're saying a rosary, even if you're just asking the Lord to guard and guide and protect them, you're family. You say, "Well, they don't know it." It's okay. In the eyes of God you and your husband have brought them in to the family of God, and one day, without you even realizing it, those kids may call you up. You say, why? Because the grace of God is beginning to, to go out and reach out to them. See, if you just stay home and you talk against them, you don't understand what happened, bitterness, a lack of forgiveness begins to well. That's what chokes family. It just chokes family, and you get further and further away, not only by miles, but in your mind and in your heart. If, if you and your husband would spend some time just forgiving, and loving them. Maybe you can't talk to them. They don't talk to you. That is not the point. You can still be family. See, we cannot depend upon other people's dispositions to make family. They don't even like you anymore, but that's not important. The important thing is, in this moment of prayer and love for Jesus, and a forgiving heart, you have brought them in, back to you spiritually, and the grace of God will touch them in a very special way. So please, all of you out there, don't waste your time talking about the whole situation, talking about what they did last year and the year before and they refuse to come for Christmas. Don't do that. That's what separates, and then you'll never be family again. A loving heart will go out to everybody, even when they don't know it, but God's grace will reach out to New York or whatever there. There's no space with God. Try that, will you? We have another call. Hello. Female caller 2: Hello, Mother. Mother: Where are you from? Caller: St. Louis, Missouri. Mother: Wonderful. Now, what is your question? Caller: Well, I don't have any family. I was an only child and my parents are dead. So I'm totally alone, and I injured myself pretty badly, and I'm going through a lot of litigation, and had some bad experiences, but I wondered if it was wrong to pray for financial help. Mother: Pray for what? Caller: Financial help. Mother: Well sure, you can pray for financial. You can pray for anything, but you can't say you have no family. See, that's, our whole concept of family is so messed up. You belong to God's family, you're, you're a part of the universe, you're a part of your city, you're a part of your country, you're part of everything around you. You count, because we all, the Father is my Father and your Father. Okay, you don't have the camaraderie, or not together on Christmas, but that's, that's good, but it's not family. You have to be concerned about the family around you. You have to be concerned about everything in this country. This country, I feel, has never been such a low, low ebb. We, (sighs) you feel, if you went to Europe you couldn't raise your head. Well, this is our family. We're Americans. We, we can't help what other people do that are in authority, but we got to do something, and, and you have to know that this country belongs to each one of us, that it's been so blessed by God, and now, what is it? It's a country that murders children, unborn children, and those in the process of being born, (sighs) and see, we, we have a great responsibility to care for this American family that we belong to, and your prayers will bring it closer together. You know what? You could adopt someone. I don't mean literally adopt them, like raise them up or something. You must have somebody you know that you can be a part of. You know, even if you, in a grocery store, why don't you let the clerk who's so tired and so tired of banging up figures all day long, and having people complain that the lettuce was brown, and why don't you have better lettuce, and the meat looks bad... What is that poor girl going to do? She didn't buy the stuff. She's just ringing up your, your, your payment. Why don't you adopt somebody like that for a week? Give her a smile. Say, "Good evening. How are you this evening?" Well, maybe she'll look at you and say, (sighs) "Fine." (audience laughs) You know, I was in New York one time, and, and I had, I was in a taxi, and I said to the girl--it was a girl taxi driver--I said, "Oh, you live in New York?" (sighs) "Yes." (audience laughs) "Live here all your life?" "Yes." I said, "You like being a taxi driver?" (sighs) "Yes!" I got the hint. (audience laughs) I thought, I better shut up. (audience laughs) Well, I got out of the car, and it was a short trip. Maybe that's what she was angry about. So I paid the taxi and I gave her a big tip, and I said to her, "God bless you," and she looked at me with the biggest tears I've ever seen, and she said, "No, God bless you." That little tip did something for her, see. Maybe she was hurt by a nun when she was a kid, or a priest or a mother or father. Maybe she felt alone. Maybe she needed just that much money extra to do something with. I didn't do anything except make her mad in the, in the cab, but a little thoughtfulness--I'll never forget that, I never saw such tears on anybody's eyes. And something happened to her, see, but you, we have family. We're not alone, and, and a tip, you know, it may not get you anywhere, but a tired waitress who serves 10 people and 50¢ on the table. That's not family. You don't care for that girl. She's worked very hard, put up with all your little remarks, and you put 50¢, see. You say, "Well, I didn't have any more." Okay, give her a smile. Say, sweetheart, I wish I could give you $100, but this is all I got. She'd appreciate that. Why? Cause you were loving and caring. That's family. See, we, we've lost family. We, we just don't care for each other, we don't. We have another call. Hello. Male caller 7: Hello, Mother. My name is Tom and I'm from Pennsylvania. Mother: Good. What's your question? Caller: Well, first of all, I just want to say what a thrill it is for me to be talking with you, and I wanted to thank you 10 million times for EWTN. Mother: Thank Jesus. Caller: And for sharing with us your knowledge and wisdom. Thank you so much, and I have a very simple question for you; why do you think Jesus spoke in parables rather than in simple terms? Mother: Well, the parable is a simple term, but it will go on, it would not go on for centuries. If He spoke like I just did now about a taxi, taxi cab driver, well, what happened centuries later didn't have such a thing, and you'd say, what is that? The Lord spoke in parables that, so the lesson would last throughout the centuries. Every generation and every language can understand a parable. Why? Because the people at the time lived those things, see. Yeah, I try to, to speak in your language, 'cause it's my language. Some people say to me, "Mother, you're too earthy." Well, what's earthy? See, I lived a hard life. I know what's going on. I know how bad you can be and how holy you can be, and I don't mind sharing my faults and weaknesses with you. We're family. I don't mind sharing my experiences with you. It's a kind of, it's, they're all true, but that makes you laugh, cry, and you remember. I didn't say anything profound. I haven't said a profound thing in the last 16 years. (audience laughs) I don't know profound things, (audience laughs) but see, I, I, I only speak to you in your language because it happens to be mine. But if I say something that means you do the same thing, you'll remember it forever, don't you? See, why? Because it's something you do, and we are people throughout the centuries. We never change. (laughs) People are people. We all suffer from the consequences of original sin. I know my liberal brothers don't think so, but I know so. We're all in the same boat. We're hot tempered, we're impatient, we, we don't like to wait, we gossip, we talk about the faults of others, we, we commit--all 10 Commandments, we're against them. I mean, we commit every sin we can think, and I bet you this century has gotten some sins never thought of before. I mean, we got them. But we all have the same need. There's nobody I know that doesn't have exactly the same need; to know God, to live in peace, to live in joy, and to love. You see, we all have the same needs and the same sins, and that's what should make us close, and that's why Jesus spoke in parables, because tonight we learned that 1 parable. It's gone down through centuries. What we read tonight, St. Francis read, St. Thomas read, St. Catherine of Siena read, and they all understood that many times we bear no fruit, many times the world chokes it out of us, many times we have human respect, and we don't even pretend we know Jesus, and many times we bear 30, 60, or hundredfold. We're all family. We share the same Father, and we must love each other as brothers and sisters, 'cause that's what we're going to have in Heaven. That man or woman that you hate so much, well, you may find them right next to you in a Great Kingdom. (audience laughs) And let me tell ya, you're going to love him and he's going to love you and you're going to live forever in the Happy Kingdom. So why not start now? Why make yourself miserable, huh, when you could just as well begin your Heaven here? Many have already begun their Hell here, and the rest of us, we're in purgatory here. May we grow out of it as we get older, so that when we get older, we're not worried about having the seed choked, but we are bearing more and more fruit. Well, I love you, and God loves you, and love is what makes us family. "I no longer call you servants," He said. "I call you friend." Bye now. (applause) [music]
