Scripture and Tradition with Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ

to do more than we've ever done before it sounds like we need your work more than ever sean carney 40 days for life i'm glad you're feeling better and thanks for joining us thank you thank you keep up the great work coming up a high-profile politician says his life as a minister of the lord does not stand in conflict with his pro-abortion position i'll speak out when we return and teaching children about life in the womb how and when is the best time to introduce this concept to little ears the authors of a new children's book join us for this week's pro-life focus just ahead [Music] hello family we all know that 2020 has been a very difficult year throughout the pandemic civil unrest and the divisive political climate it's become clear that the world needs the truth of the gospel now more than ever on saturday december 12th we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of ewtn and next august will mark 40 years since mother angelica flipped the switch to begin broadcasting ewtn's first program though the network had humble beginnings by the grace of god ewtn is now the world's largest catholic media organization but our work of evangelization is never done which is why we need your help today as we celebrate these important anniversaries we want to expand our worldwide cable and satellite distribution increase our internet presence create more programs to enrich your spiritual life and expand our new services to provide more in-depth coverage from a catholic perspective as society seems to lose sight of the dignity of life the sanctity of marriage and the gospel message ewtn will continue to proclaim the truth this is why i hope you'll join us in this vital work of evangelization with a year-end gift to ewtn together we can continue sharing the eternal word with the nations thank you and may god bless you ewtn is 100 viewer supported please make a gift today by going to ewtn.com forward slash donate today you can also call us at 1-800-447-ewtn or send your donation to ewtn 5817 old leeds road irondale alabama [Music] 35210 welcome back to ewtn pro-life weekly i'm catherine hedrow a candidate in the upcoming georgia senate special elections claims his support for abortion is consistent with his christian faith that is this week's speak out segment rafael warnock is the democrat candidate competing against kelly leffler for a georgia senate seat he is also a baptist pastor reverend warnock has been senior pastor at ebenezer baptist church in atlanta for 15 years the former pulpit of dr martin luther king jr earlier in the campaign season warnock was a guest on the podcast mission to impossible take a listen to how the senate candidate answered when wgau host tim bryant asked warnock how his support for abortion squares with being a christian minister oh i believe that health care is a human right and i believe that it is something that the richest nation in the world provides for its citizens and for me reproductive justice is consistent with my commitment to that i believe unequivocally and a woman's right to choose and that the decision uh is something that we we don't want government engaged in but that's between her and her doctor and her minister woe to those who call evil good and good evil reverend warnock as a christian pastor has a responsibility to speak truth and uphold the values of the faith scripture which we as catholics share with our baptist brothers and sisters contains many verses about life in the womb before i formed you in the womb i knew you and there's behold children are a gift of the lord the fruit of the womb is a reward and also when elizabeth heard mary's greeting the baby leaped in her womb this advent season let us pray that reverend warnock who is running for an important georgia senate seat will remember that our savior whom he preaches about came to us first as a child in his mother's womb knowing when and how to teach kids the truth about life in the womb may seem like a daunting task but for this week's pro-life focus one new children's book is doing just that when you became you is a new book featuring illustrations and the biological science of human embryology to introduce the continuum of human life it takes children on a scientific journey through the stages of a human being's life the book was released in november joining us now on skype are the authors of when you became you brook stanton and christiane west congratulations on the launch of your book it is beautifully illustrated brooke this book educates on the continuum of life can you explain that scientific reality and why that's so important to teach children sure thank you catherine when you became you again as a scientifically accurate celebration of humankind and of our shared humanity in terms of human development it teaches elementary school children when a human life starts and it also introduces them to another amazing objective scientific fact called the continuum of human life using simple scientifically accurate language and beautiful engaging illustrations the continuum of human life is so important because it states that a human being is the same whole individual and living human organism throughout all of the various stages of human development from the very beginning of one's biological existence as a human being until death and considering human sexual reproduction science knows that all human beings begin to exist at fertilization this means that you have always been a human being catherine an actual human being with a truly human nature you are never just a bunch of cells or just a potential human being it means science knows a human embryo is a human being a human fetus is a human being a human infant is a human being and on scientifically there is no such thing as a human non-person right this is awesome important science and it's not about anyone's pay grade everyone can and should know even elementary school children absolutely christian you and brooke are founder and co-founder of contend projects a secular non-partisan science education nonprofit but i understand you two would like to see this book in every catholic school science classroom why is that well as you know catherine um unfortunately we have an education fail in this country um almost 60 of american adults do not know that a fetus is an actual human being and that statistic sadly includes catholics and that's manifest in our in catholic views on abortion only about 42 percent of american catholics think that abortion should be outlawed in all or most cases so we have uh we have a problem but we also have an opportunity to solve for that and it starts in elementary schools elementary schools are culture makers and so if we can teach this science early on uh we can have an impact on the culture but we can also inoculate our children against the false science and the false information that they will hear around them and it's a lot easier to do that now while they're still young than to try to undo that damage later on when they're in high school and they've been exposed to all kinds of false information but we also think it's particularly important in catholic schools because what we found is that a lot of catholic schools um talk about the start of a human life in uh religion and ethics classes and and that's very good but unfortunately that can also lead to the belief that this is a personal moral question as opposed to a resolved scientific fact that's absolutely undeniable and you would have a very different discussion in your religion class if you taught this in in your biology class and if it was students were well grounded in this science so we definitely think all catholic schools should have this in their libraries and that catholic parents should be reading this to their children and engaging in this discussion and celebrating this amazing science absolutely and more information at when you became you dot or congratulations again on the launch of your book thank you thank you and that does it for this edition of ewtn pro-life weekly until next time we'd love to hear from you find us on social media at euwtnprolife on all social media platforms twitter facebook instagram we're there you can also send us a message by emailing prolifeweekly at ewtn.com we love to hear from you remember life is a gift your life is a gift god bless [Music] [Music] from ewtn news nightly in washington d.c i'm tracy staple with the ewtn news link pope francis pays a visit to the famous spanish steps in rome early on this feast of the immaculate conception the holy father offered a private prayer to the statue of the virgin mary later rome firefighters placed a traditional wreath on the statue's arm a 90-year-old woman in britain is the first brit to get pfizer's coven 19 vaccine margaret keenan got the vaccine early this morning president donald trump is signing an executive order to make sure americans get vaccines before people in other countries republican lawmakers in pennsylvania want the supreme court to void the state's election results and texas senator ted cruz says he is ready to argue the case a couple republicans found a lawsuit challenging the results of last month's election i'm tracy sabol with ewtn news nightly follow us on facebook and twitter and join us this evening ewtn live truth live catholic [Music] [Music] welcome to scripture and tradition i'm father mitch pacquiao and this is a program where we take a look at sacred scripture through the lens of sacred tradition that is those traditions that come from jesus our lord to his apostles and from them to their disciples and to us now of course we'd love to have you be part of our show and you can do that by adding your questions or comments during the show if you have a question and can call during the live program which is on tuesday between 2 and 3 p.m eastern time so that live show you can call 1-800-221 nine four six zero one eight hundred two two one nine four six zero but that only works if you are in north america outside north america you need to call country code 1 area code 205-271-2980 also you can send us your questions and comments via email by writing to scripture and tradition at ewtn.com or through our social media pages like facebook and youtube so happy to try and entertain i try to get to as many as i can today we will talk about some of the consequences that israel faced because they broke their covenant with the lord if you are following along with us in my book the eucharist the bible study guide for catholics you can get you can still get that at ewtnrc.com where it is item t 1375 so if you're using that book we are starting today on page 103 and after we finish this book which won't be too much longer our next series will be how to listen when god is speaking a god for modern day catholics that's also available at ewtnrc where it is item number 1833 and before we begin just want to remind you that today is the feast of the immaculate conception of the blessed virgin mary and remember that this feast it's amazing how many people still get this confused in fact one time i actually had to stop a priest who was preaching at mass and remind him of this this is not about the virginal conception of jesus christ in the womb of our lady this is about our lady being conceived without original sin and even though we have the gospel of the conception of jesus all that that does is point out that the immaculate conception of our lady is oriented towards the birth of jesus it's not just about her so it is of course but it's the preparation of our lady as the proper one to receive the word of god when he is made flesh the eternal son of god comes into her womb and our lord prepares the way by making sure that she is without original sin and she doesn't commit any other sin that's why the angel says hail mary full of grace she's full of grace and there's no room for sin that's a very important element all right so enjoy this feast and if you can get out i know some of these states you can't get out but if you can get to mass it's it's a holy day all right last week we were going through hebrews chapter 8 verses 7 through 12. and in that passage we saw how the letter to the hebrews quotes jeremiah chapter 31 in which jeremiah gives 31 verses 31-34 jeremiah lays out this promise of a new covenant after jerusalem was destroyed by the babylonians in 587 bc jeremiah does not gloat he never says see i told you people you wouldn't listen to me would you no no he doesn't do that it's not his way or the way the other prophets instead he turns towards comfort of those suffering the loss of jerusalem and its temple and he promises them a new covenant now in fact there were two main prophets at the time of the babylonian destruction of israel ezekiel was one ezekiel was a priest who was taken into exile there were two exiles one was in 598 and ezekiel was a priest taken with those exiles into babylon and they were basically held as hostages by the babylonian government then there's uh jeremiah who did not go into exile in 598 he was still in jerusalem and he stayed in jerusalem all the way past the second exile which was in 587 so 598 the babylonians got control of jerusalem but then the judahites revolted and in 587 complete destruction jeremiah and ezekiel speak about this issue of breaking the covenant a number of times so let's take a look at jeremiah chapter 11. begin with verse 2-5 where jeremiah wrote hear the words of this covenant and speak to the people of judah and the inhabitants of jerusalem you shall say to them thus says the lord the god of israel cursed be anyone who does not heed the words of this covenant which i commanded your ancestors when i brought them out of the land of egypt from the iron smelter they compared egypt to being in an iron smelter because it's hot there to saying listen to my voice and do all that i command you so shall you be my people and i will be your god that i may perform the oath that i swart your ancestors to give them a land flowing with milk and honey as at this day so i answered so be it lord now jeremiah is reminded that the covenant they made at mount sinai was conditional it depended on whether or not they obeyed the words they obeyed the words then god says i will be your god you will be my people and i'll give you this land but if you don't obey my words then you will suffer the consequences that's what's going on there another uh section and also in the same chapter jeremiah 11 verse 6 to 8 the lord said to me proclaim all these words in the cities of judah and in the streets of jerusalem hear the words of this covenant and do them for i solemnly warned your ancestors when i brought them up out of the land of egypt warning them persistently even to this day saying obey my voice yet they did not obey or incline their ear but everyone walked in the stubbornness of an evil will so i brought upon them all the words of this covenant which i commanded them to do but they did not so this means that because they are stubborn and they refuse to do what god commands they refuse to obey his law then all the threats of punishment that you see especially in deuteronomy 26 and 27 those punishments will be brought down upon them jeremiah was very well aware of those uh threats in the book of deuteronomy chapter 26 and 27. then also in jeremiah 11 verses 9 and 10 the lord said to me conspiracy exists among the people of judah and the inhabitants of jerusalem they have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors of old who refused to heed my words they have gone after other gods to serve them the house of israel and the house of judah have broken the covenant that i made with their ancestors worshipping other gods is one of the most serious sins against the covenant and they commit that sin and in fact in the ruins of jerusalem were found lots of idols that the israelite the people of judah had so it jeremiah isn't just talking theoretically they had these idols and think about how serious this is we just went through this ridiculous crisis earlier this year about a pachamama idol being brought into churches in rome shameful thing in that people were defending this that's shameful and it's a breaking of covenant and if they think that it's okay to sort of mix and match pachamama with the blessed mother or god or whatever else they're doing they are flat out wrong take a look at jeremiah chapter 11 now verses 11 to 15. therefore thus says the lord assuredly i am going to bring disaster upon them that they cannot escape though they cry out to me i will not listen to them then the cities of judah and the inhabitants of jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods whom they make whom they make offerings and they will never save them in the time of their trouble for your gods have become as many as your towns o judah and as many as the streets of jerusalem are the altars to shame you have set up altars to make offerings to ba'ao as for you do not pray for this people or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf for i will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble what right has my beloved in my house when she has done vile deeds can vows in sacrificial flesh avert your doom can you then exalt those last are of rhetorical questions the answer is no no that and here's why would he say that i'm not going to forgive them because this you know the book of jeremiah is not in chronological order it's different uh parts of it are mixed up uh i i'm not sure about the or i it's one of those things that if i ever find time i'd like to study the book of jeremiah more than i have but i do know enough that it's not in chronological order um it goes back and forth and there was a time when jeremiah said the lord will forgive your sins if you set your slaves free so they set them free and sure enough the babylonians who are about to attack them leave so i said yeah hey god took care of us and then they made the slaves back again in other words they changed their behavior when they were in danger and once the danger was gone they went back to the old sins and for that the lord that's it you're done that's it you people say one thing and you don't really repent and that's why he says i won't listen to him in fact he tells jeremiah i don't even pray for these people don't pray for them because i'm not going to listen that's pretty upset to say the least we go a little bit ahead in the book of jeremiah chapter 22 verses 6 to 9. for thus says the lord concerning the house of the king of judah you are like gilead to me like the summit of lebanon now both of those are very beautiful and fertile areas okay but i swear that i will make you a desert an uninhabited city i will prepare destroyers against you all with their weapons they shall cut down your choices cedars and cast them into the fire and many nations will pass by this city and all of them will say one to another why has the lord dealt in this way with that great city and they'll answer because they abandoned the covenant of the lord their god and worshiped other gods and served them this is something that is addressed to the king now in the united states we don't have a king we have civil servants but all too often do we not see that many of these civil servants act as if we are their subjects when they give us orders to do one thing that they themselves don't do and this would also apply to leaders inside the church who might tell us what well a lot of times they just stop telling us what god's commandments are but in the political politicians they'll say they're trying to do good for us and then they promote a culture of death they ally themselves with death they make an alliance with abortion and we'll see how things go with the next years but there are plenty of folks coming up who want to promote abortion and mark my words they do want to eliminate the elderly who also cost them too much money they want to be able to say we give you health care that they cannot afford and the government cannot afford and the way out of that is that if you kill some of the ones we don't really want then we can afford the health care never ever forget nancy pelosi's famous statement about the health care bill we have to include abortion think of all the money we will save she revealed her own worship of power and money when she said that we want abortion so we can save money in the health care by killing the babies never forget that and it's that kind of alliance with death a lot of people made their votes regardless of the issue of life in the covenant that we have with god a covenant that gives us life watch and see one of the politicians coming up has been he's clearly from his name an ex-catholic or maybe he still considers himself catholic i don't know but he has been targeting the little sisters of the poor and other nuns to have birth control and abortion services watch watch and what is said to the king of ancient judah applies to those who tried to get power and use it to break the covenant with god in order to make a covenant with death this is what we will be seeing going on and we have to do whatever we can to alleviate the pains of this and the needs that we can we have to keep the covenant even when they choose not to so whether it's the general population whether it's the political leaders they break the covenant that's the message that jeremiah gave in his day and tragically it's applicable in our own time so we'll stop here take a break and we'll come back and see the words of ezekiel about the breaking of the covenant so please stay with us [Music] [Music] it's not just what you report or how you report the news it's how many people do you touch with the truth from covering breaking stories worldwide to providing in-depth news analysis and commentary the anchors reporters editors and bloggers of ewtn news maintain a continuous faithful watch on global newsmakers and events impacting the lives and souls of catholics on television online in print on radio ewtn news continues finding the catholic vote and on the go no other news service brings together more news from a catholic perspective than we do ewtn news visit ewtnnews.com the 2021 calendar from the shrine of the most blessed sacrament is here this special edition captures the essence of the daily life of the poor clare nuns of perpetual adoration inside you will find beautiful imagery of the shrine and the many celebrations that take place season after season you can also pray the novena's the sisters pray and follow the liturgical year the shrine of the most blessed sacrament 2021 calendar order yours today at ewtnrc.com i'm tracy sabol tonight on ewtn news nightly president donald trump holds a summit on operation warp speed at the white house plus pope francis makes a surprise visit to lay a wreath at the famous spanish step statue in rome of the virgin on this feast of the immaculate conception join us for news from a catholic perspective see who's coming to the pinto house on at home with jim and joy next time kelly walquist pieces together what christ's childhood might have been like by looking at the stories of biblical women at home with jim and joy here on the global catholic network ewtn [Music] all right welcome back we've been talking about the prophecies of jeremiah saying that the people of israel had broken god's covenant by not obeying his word his contemporary and fellow priest ezekiel was in babylon again he'd gone off he'd been taken to babylon in 598 with the first group of about 10 000 uh people and he stayed there and then right around 587 right before 587 when the final destruction took place he had a vision as described in chapter 10 of ezekiel and in that vision he sees the lord with the cherubim lifting up his throne and taking him out of the city of jerusalem and going to the mount of olives because they believe that the temple the lord is here the lord is with us he we can't be destroyed the babylonians will never get us they used a false confidence forgetting that the covenant was conditional if they kept god's word and obeyed his law he would be with them but they weren't doing that so in his vision he has an angel mark out those who were righteous and those and leaves the rest and then the lord departs and that departure prepares the way for the destruction of the city that's why in ezekiel chapter 16 begin with verse 59 it says yes thus says the lord god i will deal with you as i as you have done you who have despised the oath breaking the covenant yet i will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth and i will establish with you an everlasting covenant i will establish my covenant with you and you shall know that i am the lord in order that you may remember and be confounded and never open your mouth again because of your shame when i forgive you all that you have done says the lord god so here ezekiel says you've broken the covenant that's why this destruction is coming but this is something that he also promises a covenant a new covenant just as in ezekiel chapter 31 verse 31 when the lord says i will make a new covenant with the house of israel in the house of judah and it will not be like the covenant made with their ancestors so this is the the the old covenant is going is done you broke it ezekiel and jeremiah agree and now a new covenant is coming okay this isn't the only time jeremiah ezekiel brings it up we see in a wonderful passage in ezekiel 34 beginning with verse 23 it says i will set up over them one shepherd my servant david and he shall feed them he shall feed them and be their shepherd and i the lord will be their god and my servant david shall be prince among them i the lord have spoken so this is one element of the promise that he will you know set up a new shepherd now this is after saying that the king zechariah is rotten and that he's going to be out of power but there's a because that's part of breaking the covenant so they lose their king too but there'll be a new covenant with a new davidic king and the lord will be with them then in verse 25 you see i will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild animals from the land so that they may live in the wild and sleep in the woods securely i will make them and the region around my hill a blessing and i will send down the showers in their season there shall be showers of blessing the trees of the field shall yield their fruit the earth shall yield its increase they shall be secure on destroy and they shall know that i am the lord when i break the bars of their yoke and save them from the hands of those who enslave them again there's this promise of a new covenant this is another element and then in verse in chapter 34 verse 28 of ezekiel they shall no more be plundered for the nations nor shall the animals of the land devour them they shall live in safety and no one shall make them afraid i will provide for them of splendid vegetation so they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land and no longer suffer the insults of the nations they shall know that i the lord their god am with them and they the house of israel are my people says the lord god you are my sheep the sheep of my pasture and i am your god says the lord god this new covenant and this is something very interesting too in ezekiel 34 that david will be their shepherd but also as you see here in the past we just read the lord god will be their shepherd think about how those two realities come together if indeed as in the gospel we have today from luke chapter 1 that the lord god the son of god becomes flesh in the womb of mary a descendant of david and therefore jesus christ is the lord in our midst his name emmanuel means that and the jesus is the lord god come to shepherd us and he is the son of david and he is the good shepherd jesus christ is the one who combines the truths of all these prophecies into himself he's god he's the son of david and he's the shepherd that brings a new covenant this is what's key finally we also take a look at one other passage in ezekiel 37 begin with verse 21 when the lord says then say to them thus says the lord god i will take the people of israel from the nations among which they have gone and will gather them from every quarter and bring them to their own land and i will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of israel one king shall be king over them all never again shall they be two nations remember judah and israel were separated by rebellion and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms they shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things or with any of their transgressions i will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen and will cleanse them then they shall be my people and i will be their god that is the new covenant that because the covenant relationship with god is defined i will be their god they shall be my people ezekiel 37 continues in verse 24 where it says my servant david shall be king over them and they shall all have one shepherd they shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes they shall live in the land that i gave to my servant jacob in which your ancestors lived they and their children and their children's children shall live there forever and my servant david shall be their prince forever i will make a covenant of peace with them it shall be an everlasting covenant with them and i will bless them and multiply them and set my sanctuary among them forevermore my dwelling shall be with them and i will be their god and they shall be my people this is the promise of a new covenant and notice it's an everlasting covenant and this is very important now keep in mind here nobody in the old testament ever proclaims that okay the old covenant was broken but now the new covenant is here we don't see any of the prophets after the return from babylon ever say okay we got the new covenant now no prophet stated that and when we get later on to the rabbinic period no rabbi says well we've got the new covenant there is only one who mentions the new covenant beginning and that is jesus christ the son of david the son of god he calls himself the son of man it is jesus christ god made flesh who says at the last supper at the first mass jesus says this is the cup of my blood the blood of the new and everlasting covenant nobody else stated that there was a new covenant except jesus christ he is the first one to make that statement the prophet said that the old covenant was old and done only jesus christ says that this is the new covenant and he makes that renewal at the first mass this is why i have spent so much time help trying to help all of us more deeply understand these words in hebrews chapter 8 about quoting jeremiah's promise of a new covenant and then i brought in these other passages about the breaking of the old covenant along with ezekiel's promise of a new and everlasting covenant and you cannot understand the words that our savior jesus christ used at the last supper as he spoke over wine saying this is the cup of my blood the blood of the new and everlasting covenant he is quoting from ezekiel the priest he is quoting from jeremiah the priest ezekiel is a prophet and priest jeremiah is a prophet and priest and jesus christ is prophet priest and king and he's the one who makes this proclamation and every time we come to holy mass and hear these words again we understand that this is the fulfillment of what ezekiel the priest and jeremiah the priest had promised and we share in it we share in it never ever neglect what god is doing among us let us now go to some of your questions first of all i have an email from danuta a good polish name father mitch since the holy mass is televised during the pandemic and can be viewed up close in detail i have noticed that during the mat eucharist the priest breaks off a host a piece of the host and puts it in the chalice what is the significance of that action this is a very important thing we mentioned earlier on that when the priest consecrates bread and wine he says over the bread this is my body and then this is the cup of my blood the blood of the new and everlasting covenant shall be said for you and for the many so that we see that and the fact that we consecrate them separately indicates that this is a sign of the death of christ the consecration is the re uh calling that they're bringing back to us the death of jesus but when the priest takes the the host breaks it and breaks off a small piece he then puts the small fragment into the chalice and this is not only in the latin rites and the other rights as well why because if the separation of the body and blood at the consecration indicates christ's saving death his sacrificial death then that fragmentation indicates his resurrection when his body and blood come back together that's why that is such an important moment and i'm so glad that you are you know see this up close and pay attention to it because the mass is the celebration of the death of jesus and his resurrection and then the elevation of the host is a sign of the ascension of jesus to the right hand of the father that we have been talking about here in the book of hebrews so it's the whole paschal mystery with one last point where it says uh you know we keep praying until you come again so we're celebrating his death and the representation of his death his resurrection with the fragmentation the elevation is the ascension and we pray for him to come back that's the whole the paschal mystery right there let's take a break we have some callers waiting and we'll get right to them as soon as we get back from this break so please stay with us [Music] give something meaningful this christmas a subscription to ewtn's 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very special programs here in the holy land as we visit the various sites associated with our savior's life so mary is the model disciple she is the one you know at the end of the passage he gives the answer behold the handmaid of the lord let it be done to me according to your word don't miss an ewtn holy land experience mary here on the global catholic network [Music] ewtn [Music] [Music] all right we have a caller fran and where are you calling from fran from ocala florida wonderful and what can we do for you today well in the gospel of john chapter 2 we read of jesus's first miracle at the wedding of cana and then we don't and of course mary is present but we don't hear anything about mary until she's at the foot of the cross so mike i've always wondered where was mary in between while jesus was you know uh traveling healing and all that he did okay no she would be in nazareth well that's what i thought well use the force luke yeah no you're thinking right there she our lady would have stayed in nazareth and the reason that she comes to jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion is that it was passover and she continued to do what she always did she always came to jerusalem to celebrate the passover as we see for instance in luke chapter 2. so she's there for passover but then it happens to be the passover where our lord dies okay okay but yeah she'd be back home you know and just doing the things that she had to do at home just a little side point i want i i always moved by when i would go to the holy land and went to the village of naim the remember the famous widow of nain whose um son died and was being carried out and jesus stopped the funeral raised him up and that he was the only son of a widow i really really think that our lord was doing that with his own mother in mind that he gave him an empathy for her his mother was a widow with an only son who would die and he raises up that son and what's interesting about that when you're in the village of nain you can see nazareth just a little bit to the northwest it's not that far so i often thought about that but she would have been there all right we have another caller oh john john are you there yeah father hi thanks for taking my call can you hear me i hear you're fine where are you from i'm from broadcasting new york great there's a lot of breakup that's why oh i hear you're fine new york yeah listen i i was talking to non-catholic friend and the two issues came up in a friendly discussion but his contention is number one doesn't understand why the catholic church gets so upset about possibly married having had sexual relations with joseph because they were married and sex in marriage is is holy and sacred so you should understand why the catholics seek that as a far away thought never to be thought of another question of him was that i was wrong and saying mary is the mother of god those words should be taken out he says because mary uh mary should be uh worded as the the mother of the human nature of jesus i couldn't find words for him okay hold on john don't hang up yet first of all um in terms of uh the the second question you know what why would we have that we call her mother of god because a mother is not the mother of a nature she gave or yeah jesus acquired her his human nature from her by taking flesh in her womb but she is not the mother of a nature she's the mother of a person and the point of calling her the mother of god is to point out that jesus is a divine person it's god the person that became flesh so of course she didn't create his divine nature but the son born to her is god and therefore she's the mother of god does that help john okay that's that's what i'll i'm right now what you said good okay and then uh the other question again was oh about having other children another question we had right why why why did she remain perpetually virgin here's one of the things she is the spouse of the holy spirit the holy spirit hovered over her so that and then she conceived and we recall mary the spouse of the holy spirit and as such when joseph came to believe at the message of an angel that the child conceived in mary's womb was not from some other guy and that was his first assumption he he took a it's that's a natural assumption but he realized that this is a child conceived by the holy spirit and at that point when he accepts that he is going to have respect for the holy spirit who sanctified this womb it's it's not like one of these surrogate mothers you know you sort of uh you know pay somebody to have a baby for another couple it's not like that at all this is truly a spousal relationship of the holy spirit with our lady that means her womb was consecrated not only by the holy spirit hovering above her and over her but also by the presence of god the son and if you think of about how seriously you can tell your your friends this they would know i hope that anybody who is not the high priest who went into the holy of holies in jerusalem would be killed and the holy of holies simply contained the ark of the covenant anybody who touched the ark of the covenant would be killed if it's if the ark of the covenant brings about that serious an effect how much more when it's not the ark of the covenant but it is god himself it's not a golden box that has some stone tablets in it but it's god made flesh in her womb and the sacredness of that womb is what joseph respects it's not that their marital relations or anybody's marital relations are uh you know secular or unholy this is part of the sacrament in our theology and there's a right to that marital relation but but this is a woman in whom god dwelt and who conceived by god's action this becomes sacred and joseph shows absolute respect for what god was doing once he comes to believe this he understands that okay all right let's uh go to an email we have from bill dear father mitch i am baptized confirmed and made my first holy communion in catholicism i married in a baptist church 53 years ago i've not been to a catholic church since marriage i want to come home what must i do bill it's not going to be that hard um you're welcome you know welcome back and what i would do is go to your local priest or maybe find another priest that may not want to go to local one you might want to go to somebody else but go to a priest you simply have to come to confession and uh talk to him tell him what's what's going on and he'll guide you through the next steps but you uh all you have to do you've been baptized made first communion i imagine you're yeah and you said you were confirmed so you've got all the sacraments of initiation it's just a matter of coming to confession and confessing missing mess on sunday which you've done for 53 years and um just do the the penance okay so that would be a good thing it'd be a good thing and welcome welcome back we have another caller hello art yes hi where are you calling from calling from kenton county covington kentucky diocese of covington okay i know it well what can we do for you well i your you're a talker about abortion i know that catholics we hate abortion we are at least strongly dislike abortion in this world we have a lot of parents who don't take care of their children now sure and so now we're going to do away with abortion are we going to put doctors in jail are we going to put women in jail for having an abortion um what are we going to do about parents who don't want children now see a couple things if a parent and this is both under civil law as well as the church's uh teaching if a parent does not want to keep a child they may put the child up for adoption and you know there are there's a long waiting list for people who want to adopt so that would be one thing um and you know and they want people to be taken from infancy from right from birth and other people take them from a little bit later on um but this is uh you know and believe me there are there i think something like uh five million people waiting for an adoption um they would be able to take those children uh that would not be a problem uh secondly in terms of the the law you know this would be something first of all if roe versus wade is overturned then it becomes up to the states to write their own legislation and i remember back in 69 70 before roe v wade 72 there were a number of initiatives to make abortion legal and they all failed they all failed except in new york and california where the legislators the politicians rather than a direct vote by the people made the difference the supreme court came in well if you get rid of roe v wade then the states make their own decisions and i think this would be something where you know the goal is not to put women in jail i don't think so um it's to save the lives of innocent unborn and you know they're in the past as i understand it i i don't think in the uh before roe v wade that it was the women who went to jail it was the doctors who did abortions and um knowing from have been raised in chicago which is a fairly seedy place still it was back then too that there were doctors who had lost their medical licenses quite typically they were doing these abortions um and you know there are a number of under others who did it too doctors in good standing um but you could lose their license for doing it that'd be one thing you don't have to put them in jail but take away the medical license and there'd be a few other penalties that would be you know again the states will have to address that i don't think that we're looking to increase the jail population we're looking to save lives of the innocent who didn't do anything wrong and there's no justification and these politicians who think there is are doing it for other reasons i guarantee you look at how much money they get that's the bottom line then we also have james father i'm watching your series on the eucharist on demand uh you're you expound john sixth very well however i'm having a trouble understanding at the last supper when jesus gave the bread and wine which had become his body and blood he to the disciples he wasn't missing any flesh or any blood can you help me out there i'm glad you found us well james one of the things about the eucharist is that and that brings your question brings it out jesus is never diminished by giving us his body and blood so that there's no diminishing no part was missing there's no diminishing of himself this is why it took infinite god to become flesh in the womb of the virgin to have that and just a little side point real quickly notice this fad with vampires and zombies zombies eat your flesh and vampires drink your blood they are portrayals of antichrist think about that until then may the lord bless you and keep you and cause his face to shine upon you the father the son and the holy spirit and these times are difficult for everybody i know but what you can do to help us stay on the air we really appreciate it god bless you for your support we hope we can continue to serve you thank you [Music] coming up pray the chaplet of divine mercy next here on ewtn [Music] from ewtn news nightly in washington d.c i'm tracy staple with an ewtn news link pope francis pays a visit to the famous spanish steps in rome early on this feast of the immaculate conception the holy father offered a private prayer to the statue of the virgin mary later rome firefighters placed a traditional wreath on the statue's arm a 90-year-old woman in britain is the first brit to get pfizer's coven 19 vaccine margaret keenan got the vaccine early this morning president donald trump is signing an executive order to make sure americans get vaccines before people in other countries republican lawmakers in pennsylvania want the supreme court to void the state's election results and texas senator ted cruz says he is ready to argue the case a couple republicans found a lawsuit challenging the results of last month's election i'm tracy sabo with ewtn newsnightly follow us on facebook and twitter and join us this evening ewtn live truth live catholic

Channel: EWTN

Views: 1,660

Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television

Id: 8R6hIa7BXHo

Length: 71min 25sec (4285 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 08 2020