Women of Grace with Johnnette Williams - March 2 , 2022 - Guest: Sue Brinkmann

on your mind so don't delay in calling us call us right away it's 833 288 ewtn if you're outside of north america we also have a number for you is country code one two zero five two seven one two nine eight five again that's country code one two zero five two seven one two nine eight five and don't forget that we're available for you on social media ewtn radio's youtube channel and facebook page has a chat feature you use that chat feature there to put your question or comment inside inspiration or word of encouragement in there jeff berson who is our social media manager and our producer will dash out there he'll get it he'll get it up on the board for us and we can address it today's wednesday it's a very special wednesday of course it's ash wednesday it's the beginning of the season of lent we've chatted about that here on the air especially last week we talked about what it is that we might be planning to do during this length it's going to help for us to enter into the spirit of lent and really to experience in a brand new way the resurrection of our lord jesus christ on easter sunday i am hoping that all of you have an opportunity to get to mass today or at least to a service that distributes the ashes it's important for us to remember that this beautiful right i guess we would call it that we have within our church is a reminder that our lives are going to end and that we should always have in the crosshairs of our day the fact that it could be our last not for any kind of morbid reason or not to cause ourselves great stress or anxiety but rather to keep in the forefront that this is a pilgrim journey and pilgrim journeys come to an end they come to an end when we reach the destination our destination is certainly not this life our destination is the life to come we're praying that it's life on high in christ jesus and to the extent that we calibrate our day according to that ultimate end then we're going to live that life in a different way through those 24 hours we're going to live those those hours striving to be the individual god would have us be at this moment in history a reflection of his own divine life in the world we're going to make decisions according to that fact that we are made in his image and likeness as opposed to satisfying our own wants and desires indulging ourselves and sometimes very sinful ways but also just in selfish ways and in ways that are unnecessary for an abundant life so you know this day when we receive those ashes we're reminded of the temporary nature of our existence here and it's a good thing and we also become become a sign of contradiction when those ashes are seen by other individuals out there and it can spark conversations that can lead to evangelization but for those who understand and interpret what those ashes mean it can be a wake-up call and we need to wake up this world because this world is in dire dire straits and because it is wednesday for another reason we're always happy here at women of grace because we have sue brinkman with us and we talk about oddities here in our day and time that would seek to not only dissuade us from moving forward on this pilgrim journey but can thwart our way can cause great problems can really begin a series of events that make us citizens of a kingdom other than the kingdom of god and so we talk about what some of those occasions can be what some of those temptations are what some of those i would call them real vices that are prevalent in our society today but get a nod get a nod from our culture and really are held up in a way that would have us believe that they are goods when we know that scripture and the teachings of the church tell us that they are not goods and sometimes you know that really requires not only further education but it really requires a counter cultural perspective and a willingness to experience the wrath of society no matter how severely that can come to us in most cases it's mild but nonetheless to be those ones who are willing to take it on the chin for that which is good that which is true that which is beautiful today so if you have any questions about the new age movement about the occult if you have any questions about the differences between eastern meditation and christian meditation if you have any questions about numbers of different kinds of therapies that you see going on in our day and time alternatives that may or may not be okay for us do give us a call i'm going to repeat those numbers again 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-3986 with all of that in mind i want to remind you of a couple of things that are coming up soon monday evening this coming monday evening march the 7th we are going to have a webinar with father dwight longnecker and we're going to be talking about some of the monsters that we see all around us fighting monsters a battle strategy for christians it's going to be a very enlightening webinar it's going to be one i think that's going to help us to understand the movements that we see the currents that we experience here in our culture today and it's a kickoff webinar for what it's a kickoff for a book study that's going to begin on march the 14th on the book that father dwight longanecker wrote called beheading hydra a radical plan for christians in an atheistic age sue brinkman our our wednesday lady so to speak is is the one who is going to be taking us on that journey she's an excellent teacher we're going to be digging into this book and i'm going to tell you you're going to learn a lot not only that you're going to be inspired a lot so we want you to join us for the webinar and we want you to join us for the book study they're independent of each other you'll be perfectly satisfied uh with what you receive at the webinar even if you can't do the book study and vice versa but the two together go hand in hand and one really i think is instrumental in uh promoting the other so we want for you to get there it's wednesday it's monday evening march the 7th it's fighting monsters a battle strategy for christians our guest is father dwight longnecker it starts at 7 30 p.m eastern time on monday it ends an hour later at 8 30 pm eastern all of the information is available for you right there at our website i also want to make you aware of the fact that in addition jack and i are going to be in billings montana later in the month and we are going to be at the fundraising dinner that is being held by catholic radio there so i want for you to join us for this beautiful event that's going to be taking place i'm going to give you more information about that on the other side of the break and we've got all kinds of things happening in between one of which is this saturday it is a 24-hour marriage retreat online that jack and i will be holding there's still room for you if you want to come because it's virtual we really are not confined by numbers so we invite you to join us for that we hear that music we're going to go to a break we're going to come right back i'm inviting you to stay with us i'm inviting you to call too 833 288 ewtn when we come back sue brinkman is with us stay tuned [Music] [Applause] [Music] i'm father benedict groeschel of the franciscan friars of the renewal in the south bronx and this is the first of a series of 40 short meditations for lent beginning today ash wednesday lent is a marvelous opportunity to take spiritual stock of your soul to beat back some of your less desirable inclinations especially in food and drink and most of all to read the bible and to pray my meditation today briefly comes from the gospel of saint mark in those days jesus came from nazareth of galilee and was baptized by john of the jordan and when he came up out of the water immediately he saw the heavens opened and a spirit descending upon him like a dove and a voice came from heaven you are my beloved son and you i am well pleased and the holy spirit led him into the wilderness where he was tempted for forty days by satan and was with the wild beasts and the angels ministered to him it's a mysterious reading the vision of christ a young man alone in the wilderness of judea basically a desert a mountain desert tempted by satan it's the image that we use to open lent so it's at once serious personal it challenges our sins our vices our shortcomings our negligences but more than anything else it calls us to live these 40 days in union with christ and to know that at the end of the 40 days we are going to go through the very profound reminiscence remembrance of his passion death and glorious resurrection [Music] oh my goodness sakes welcome back friends well you hear that music and you know what it is you know it's wacky wednesday right you know that sue brinkman is with us we talk about all of the odd things that we see going on in our world today those things as i was sharing with you prior to the break can really thwart our efforts in making progress in the spiritual life we don't want that to happen we don't want to get sidetracked so we're going to be talking about some of those things in just a second but i was telling you prior to the break there about this event that jack and i are going to be doing in billings montana and it's going to be taking place march 31st and it's a fundraiser for catholic radio out there so if you are listening to us right now and you are in billings montana we want to invite you to join us there it's going to be a lovely evening absolutely lovely we're very excited about it we've been looking forward to it for a couple of years this has been postponed because of cobit so we're finally getting out there and we want to meet our ewtn listening family out there in billings montana so we are inviting you to check it out we're inviting you to get out to the website there you know we want for you to join us for this beautiful beautiful event that's going to be taking place march 31st in billings montana mentioned to you we have some other things that are coming up they're all listed there for you told you about the marriage retreat that's happening uh online this this saturday i want to let you know we're going to be doing a marriage retreat out there in at our lady of good counsel retreat house that is outside of omaha outside of lincoln it's right in that pocket it's right in that general area there both jack and i will be there that's march 11th that's coming up really really soon we would love for you to join us for that and then i'll be doing a parish mission at saints mary and joseph catholic church following that on uh march the 12th so there's just a bunch of stuff that's going on it's all out there for you at our website womenofgrace.com go please and check it out now speaking of today being ash wednesday and ashes sue brinkman is with us and i can see sue i'm not sure but i'm thinking you can see and she has her ashes on her forehead mine are coming this evening i can't get there before this evening you look great you look very penitential well thank you you know my red shirt and my in my black across on my forehead yes it's i i have been officially initiated into the season of lent it has begun for me and which that's the perfect season for caramelized because you know our our life is kind of lent yeah we just believe in that you know self-denial in order to become closer to christ so so i always look forward to lent god jesus always picks something very interesting for me to do um every year for lent and um i think that's uh i'm i'm ready i'm ready to get going on it because you know what we always come out of lent i i just tell myself if i do it right i come out of lent stronger than when i went in mm-hmm yeah that well trained well you know that this yeah i mean i was reading a little bit about lent you know first of all i love father gabriel of saint mary magdalene and i know that you do too divine intimacy and the reading today on lent uh that that i did um as part of my time of prayer i like to do lectio divina and you know sacred scripture obviously is the best for that but good books you know good solid books that are inspirational can also be very beneficial so i was doing that with his reading on ash wednesday and it was it was wonderful uh and it really i think opened my eyes with several things but i in another book as a matter of fact i'm going to be interviewing this gentleman today devin schott he writes this book about consecration uh to saint joseph called custos it's for men but he talks in there about he gives spiritual practices for men uh to do it's it's really a what do i want it's a 30 33 day preparation but it's one i think that is very practical in the way in which it works and one of the unique aspects of it is that he puts these spiritual practices in and he tells the men that the spiritual practices that you practice in one phase of this you know preparation you then carry into the next phase and add to them with the next phase so it's a you know it's a what's the word i'm trying to look for there it's it's a um uh you know they build on each other uh so why am i saying all that because he says that he's implemented that because of a homily that he heard on ash wednesday and what the priest said on ash wednesday and that homily is something very similar to what you're talking about here he was talking about the fact that you know choose carefully what you're going to do for ash wednesday and choose it so that it's it you're going to grow in a certain way but what you choose make it a lifetime practice start it in lent but continue it through the rest of your life and i thought you know isn't that a valuable thing to think about that you know so often it's like okay so i'm gonna give this up for lent um like candy for example lots of people give up candy well don't just give it up for lent you know you're in a good habit by the time when ends so continue that good habit you know choose a virtue and continue in that virtue right so i like i like what you're saying there you come out stronger on the other side of it yeah you do and if i think if you do it right and you really get into it with the spirit of adventure you know i'm going to try to conquer this vice of mine once and for all i want to get rid of this vice you know if you go into it with that spirit it does become an adventure it does become a joy even though yeah it is some suffering but it's suffering that that is is going to have great merit to it you're going to come out of it stronger and a better person and that's not why you're doing it you're not doing it for yourself you're doing it you know to repent of your sins that's why you're doing it but but god is leading you to become that better person that he designed you to be so you want to cooperate with that and cooperate with the grace and and and i was you know reviewing it with him this morning like okay this is what you're asking me to try to conquer which is a vice of mine that i just really need to do this trust me i need to do this one and i said now now just let me review this with you lord if you're asking me to do this that means you're going to give me the grace to do it right because i can't do it on my own obviously or i would have done it by now um but and then it was like i heard that this you know inspiration just went through my mind cooperate so what he was saying is just cooperate with yes you do have the grace i don't ask you to do anything that that i'm not prepared to help you to do but you must cooperate with me yeah yeah so i have to want to do that yeah right now i want to conquer that and sometimes you don't want to conquer yeah and you have to make the decision to cooperate with the grace because you know i think that in our mind i don't know if this is true for you but it's true for me in my mind you know i i see these things and and i'm all excited i've got this natural enthusiasm not necessarily zeal yet but natural enthusiasm yeah i'm gonna get out there i see myself dressed up in armor i'm joan of arc i'm on my white charger i don't know if her charger was right or not or if it was even a charger but mine's white and i'm on that thing you know and but then the actual moment comes you know and so lent's here and so we say okay and then the very first thing that the evil one presents to us is whatever it is that we decided to give up and the grace is there but we have to die to self to cooperate with it in other words it's not like oh look at that yeah i don't even want that it isn't like that you want it more that's where the sacrifice is right that's exactly right and you just have to keep remembering that okay he gave me the grace he's not asking this of me um for any other he's gonna he's gonna help me through it he's not i'm not trying to be a hero here you know i'm trying to admit the fact that i cannot conquer this vice i am unable to do it lord i need your help to do this and and that's the way to go into it don't try to be a big hero you know because there's a lot of pride in that so that's one thing we learned this in carmel you know want to be very careful about your penitential rights don't go overboard on things you should never go beyond really what's prescribed by the church which is you know uh two meals that don't uh two small meals that don't equal a meal and then one full meal a day we shouldn't go beyond that unless our spiritual director has has approved us in doing that and that protects us from becoming too proud of ourselves and all of our penitential rights and also to do things in a hidden way don't let people see um that that you're doing this that or the other thing you know always hide it that's a very carmelite trait you know we don't even in in public except when we go to funerals of of a caramel we don't even wear our big ceremonious catheters we don't do anything to draw attention to that to ourselves we just keep that nice and quiet except when we're teaching or trying to to evangelize through it but but um yeah if there's just certain ways to approach penance where you're going to actually get a lot more out of it but even more important than that you're going to be able to offer more to him to our lord and to do that that sacrifice more purely and more from your heart so you know a little bit of pain is a whole lot of gain when it comes to interior penances and i i i gave up long ago given up food because the it's not fair being five foot one and weighing about 110 pounds i'm giving up food because i want to keep my weight down i'm not giving up food because so and i already have to live on a thousand calories a day just to keep myself for that so it's and all it is for me is a distraction so i don't even get into any of that anymore i was there for a while i was very much in a cool whip uh and given up my cool whip but since then that was hard johnny you're laughing that was one of the hardest lengths i gave up my cool whip but you know i was addicted to cool whip and chapstick yeah that's i'm here i hope not together actually they were that's pretty disgusting isn't it but yeah and but i did give up my cool whip and you know what i never went back to cool with the same way again if yeah isn't it funny that then that will happen you'll lose your appetite for it you know i remember you know during the last elections you know i knew it was such a critical election year that you know i gave up something and i've not gone back to it either and really don't need it you know and it's like well isn't that something you know that's and this was something that was consuming some time it was a it was a it was illicit illicit l-i-c-i-t pleasure but nonetheless i realized it was taking up a whole lot of time and i thought you know what i'm gonna i'm gonna give this up you know uh and and pray more during the time that i would have been occupied doing this other thing so it wasn't a big deal but but it was but you know it is funny how god does that he he takes the taste for it away um and and that's a good thing because and it's self mastery then you've got to go on to something else like you can't keep giving up cold whip because you already gave it up you know what i mean that's right that's right like well that was so well i'm going to just give that one up again you know you've you've already mastered that appetite for it so well and that's what it's about it you know it's about helping ourselves to have an appetite for the things of god as opposed to the things of the world not that the things of the world are bad they're not you know but that's not where we want our focus to be well i don't know where you are in your lent friends maybe you want to call and tell us that but we're going to get on to another topic right now 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-3986 that's the way that you can join us here live with your questions especially about the wacky stuff you see going on we don't want for you to get tripped up uh we're going to talk about one thing right now that's pretty important sue and and we got um a request this question came to us i think by email uh or i i don't remember exactly but i think it might have been by email right and here you are and you've got ashes on your forehead but this person wanted to know uh and and was concerned because some of the family members took the cremains of an individual the ashes uh from someone who's deceased and divided them up among family members to be worn in pieces of jewelry uh so we need to talk about this because i think we've once again lost sight of the dignity of the human person and i think that this is very very evident of it oh absolutely it is and and you know the reason why we cremation's fine the church does allow that um but the reason why you're supposed to bury this the ashes of of your dead is this is expressing our faith in the resurrection of christ and the most proper way to do that is in burial and it also shows the the respect that we have for the dignity of the human body um so we are not permitted to to put ashes really we're not even supposed to have them at home they are not supposed to be kept at home um according to a directive from 2016 this was just updated by the congregation for the doctrine of the faith because cremation has become much more prevalent and you're having a lot of new stuff going on with with what people want to do with ashes such as this particular question can i put it in jewelry um and she was actually actually that question and how does that relate to a relic meaning hey can i just take their ashes put it in jewelry and say hey this is a relic of my aunt you know so no we we can't do that either i'll get into that in a second but the ashes of the departed cannot be held in a domestic residence that is not permitted they cannot be divided among various family members and as the instructions say due respect must be maintained regarding the circumstances of such a conservation so it has to be uh in a place a sacred place that has to be buried in the ground or there's special mausoleums that they have where you can put ashes in um it has to be in a sacred place and and one of the other reasons they do it is they want to avoid even the appearance appearance of pantheism of naturalism nihilism they don't want any of that um to even be insinuated in the the way we preserve the asteroid level particularly when we put it into objects that we would wear and by that it's like some people believe in in the fusion of mother nature or the universe you know uh you don't want to get involved in stuff like that and the buddhists believe that they consider death as a definitive annihilation of the person we don't we don't go there we that that's not what our beliefs is that's why um the document says burial in a cemetery or other sacred place corresponds to the piety and respect owed to the bodies of the faithful departed who through baptism have become temples of the holy spirit and in which as instruments and vessels of the spirit has carried out so many good works so we're still in respect and it's not a relic relics are the remains of saints not the saintly of the saints it's not up to us to determine who's a saint who can be venerated with a relic um so uh just putting just saying that oh my saintly aunt you know she was such a a holy devout catholic um i'm gonna wear her ashes and that's sort of as a relic of her well if she was such a devout catholic she would not want you to do that she would want you to obey the laws of the church that she loved while she was here in the world so to to honor her do what's right with her ashes and and and put them into the earth in a sacred place uh that's the best way that you could honor that that devout uh and night you know in the book end of the present world and life of the world to come which is we're planning on doing a book study that later on this year by father charles i mentioned he tells about the pious belief that our guardian angels are going to gather up our mortal remains at the time of the resurrection of the dead and they they'll know exactly where they are so even if somebody has scattered them at sea which is of course also not allowed or you know in jewelry somewhere or has been absorbed into the ground they're going to know exactly where they are at the moment of the resurrection of the dead and gather them together i thought oh that was such a neat a neat thing to read in that book that book of course is loaded with neat things but that was one of them that our our guardians are actually going to be the one who are going to bring our remains together in that pivotal moment in in in our history yeah when we rise from the dead yeah you're absolutely right and and again i think that uh the the the respect that is due to the person who has passed would require that dignity to be followed through and the church for her part tells us how to treat these cremains or you know the the body of an individual uh in in a way that is in concert with with the divine truths that we have yet to explore like you're talking about this that's in the book the end of this uh present world it's a beautiful thing to think about that our guardian angels are going to come and that they're going to know uh and some people will say well what if the person was burned you know in a in a fire or was incinerated during the holocaust or you know we leave that to god his ways are not our ways for our part he tells us what to do and our part is to follow what he tells us what to do so i hope that clarifies those kinds of things for you friends um once again we want you to call us with your questions 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-3986 we have dennis with us and maggie with us we've got some phone lines open for you your name's on one of them i just know 288 ewtn social media ewtn radio's youtube channel and facebook page the chat feature is there for you we're coming right back on the other side of the break sue brinkman in the house it's wacky wednesday stay with us [Music] jimmy aiken marcus grodi father john ricardo the leading catholic voices are on the largest catholic media network in the world you're listening to the ewtn global catholic radio network pursue what matters most in 2022 life liberty truth from the capital to the classroom from the pulpit to the pew ewtn's national catholic register delivers in-depth news analysis and commentary through the lens of the catholic faith with so much at stake in our country there's never been a more important time to read the register and with award-winning catholic journalism that goes beyond what you'll find from any secular news service you'll get the real story behind the events that unfold over the course of the year try the register for free today and get it delivered to your home office or parish get six free issues today online at ncregister.com forward slash radio or call 800 421 and mention code radio the national catholic register read faithfully women of grace is on youtube search youtube to find the ewtn youtube channel so you'll never miss an episode of our show or any of your favorite ewtn radio shows [Music] never miss any of your favorite ewtn television or radio shows when you have the amazon fire tv player all you need is a high-speed internet connection a tv and the amazon fire tv player [Music] tomorrow on more to life the heat of the moment our people who are problems provoking you to anger we'll help you keep your lid on and learn to respond gracefully that's tomorrow on more to life now back to women of grace transforming the world one woman at a time let's return to women of grace with johnette williams well welcome back everybody yes it's john at williams today and sue brinkman it is wednesday it's wacky wednesday we talk about things that are not in concert with the reveal truth of sacred scripture and the teachings of our church trends that we see in our culture today many of which come go all the way back some of these are very very ancient indeed but they simply have a new guise today they put on a new dress and they look a little different but they're the same old same old so we uncover these for you and we invite you to call us with any questions that you might have on matters such as these let me give you the phone number again it's 833 288 ewtn that's 833 288-3986 ewtn radio's youtube channel and facebook page is also available for you there each one of them sports a cat a ch a chat feature and you can leave your question or comment in that chat feature for us well so let's get to maggie she's out there in massachusetts and she's been holding a long time we'll go to dennis next he's been holding too then on to everybody else good morning maggie how are you oh good morning thank you for taking my call you're so very welcome i've been enjoying listening to listening to you lovely ladies especially talking about len and um i do have a question but i just want to express i just love what you were sharing about you know having that mindset to take in god's grace and go into lent in a positive a positive mindset expect with that expectant faith that god will help us through and make us stronger just love that oh beautiful well thank you maggie may we live out the words we speak right right that's the hard part that's right yep god's praise so one day at a time right yes ma'am so what is your question for you yeah my question i've i've recently been diagnosed with lyme disease and i have a lot of other health issues um and i found this functional doctor nearby who's helped a lot of people she's very promising that she can help me but she does do some things that like i know that the yoga i would not do yoga but she has something called biomat therapy that i asked her about it she said oh it's not you know it's been helped so many people and it's nothing i forgot the word she used but so i i wonder i need to know more about that i'm not so sure that that is something that would be okay all righty well sue have you heard of biomat therapy yeah i have i've just looked into it um i haven't studied it very thoroughly but it is uh it's like a mat that has infrared light um and it uses far infrared radiation that is used in wound healing that is something that science can back up as far as the biomat itself um i don't know and have not researched that that particular brand of of matte but i can tell you that that that far infrared radiation is used to treat wounds so there is some science behind that it does not look to me um like that's that's not new age that's been scientifically proven that it does work uh under certain conditions but the biomat it itself i don't know i guess i've never really read into that so i can't tell you about that mat in particular but if it's if it's an infrared if it's a far infrared heat pad there's there's nothing that you need to be concerned about that's legitimate wonderful does that help oh that does oh thank you so much god bless you ladies love to listen god bless you too well thank you maggie and we're gonna we're gonna be saying some prayers for you today here too that you're able to get control of this lyme's disease because it's a it's a serious thing and has all kinds of different symptoms and can really take a life and make it something very different from what it once was so we're going to pray that you get all of the healing that you need okay oh thank you god bless you god bless you too bye-bye now yeah so some of these modalities that sound a little off oftentimes they're not off at all and that's why we have to be very discerning about what it is some of them sound very good or way off so this is this is the the wilyness of the evil one who gets into these things and tries to confound us so we do have to be very very careful let's get to dennis he is in zanesville ohio hey dennis how are you hello john ed hello sue i love you guys uh first of all i just want to say i'm a real man and i'm not a wimp but i listen i listen to you guys every wednesday you are both i think uh joyful voices uh catholic women and you're just really great and i i find your program really uplifting especially sue for some of these uh with the wacky stuff i'll try to you guys get a little emotional at times that's my only male feedback but um that's to be expected i mean it's it's chick radio so so anyway oh well i mean no you guys are i'd listen but it's just like i'm a guy you know also anyway yeah i'll try to get to my point because it's kind of a troubling one um my my subject of my call is is the um stigmata and other blood practices that go on in the church uh so i'm friends with sisters here in ohio i mentioned that before i don't need to mention them again but anyway i was had an elderly nun telling me recently and she was we were talking about the graces of god and she apparently here in northeast ohio in northeast ohio we have a woman a holy woman who has stigmata i guess she's still alive and this elderly nun was preaching about her just like singing her praises and it's like i was totally creeped out i mean i had a thing when i was a kid about the stigmata sure enough she and so i was going along with it sure enough she shows me a book with this woman with a stigmata in northeast ohio and there she is a woman laying in bed on a white sheet blood coming out of her eyes blood i mean just just macabre when i was in the second grade um this nun this elderly nun who probably shouldn't been in front of kids showed us this very graphic picture of it was probably saint francis i guess it was the stigmata and her thing was this is how you show your love for god and here's this picture this saint you know bloody eyes i mean just blood we're all just kind of steering their gog i can remember for a couple weeks after that thinking that both my parents were devout catholics thinking gosh i hope their eyes don't bleed fast forward i mean that's so i think i made my point there it's just i don't i find stigmata terrifying and in the garden of gethsemane one of the things i'm an ex-military officer and one of the things that jesus said and i don't and i think people don't get this when he was coming out of the garden of gethsemane for for a horrible horrible horrible torture and death he didn't say to his disciples hey guys suck it up when you get the chance pray for courage what he said to them was pray that you not be subjected to the trial like pray that you don't have to go through what i went through and i've seen recently on the internet and it's not the underground internet but it's like when you get close to the easter season and this is for sue there are communities catholic communities in the philippines and in eastern europe that actually replicate the agony in the garden the crowning of thorns and they actually and this one in the philippines i think they actually put a guy up on the cross and this is not the joy of god i mean i mean it's a fix it seems to me it's a fixation more on the blood than what the blood was shed for i don't know if any military guy would say to his guys guys i've been tortured so suck it up you know if you get too if you get tortured suck it up he would say to them just pray that you don't it doesn't happen to you so i i think i got my point across um i can't think of the name of this person in northeast ohio this woman but it's just it's just i have to tell you i'm a devout catholic i believe in the joy of catholicism but man the stigmata is just creepy um yeah your thoughts thanks dennis for your question and then thank you for giving us the um information that you've given us especially on uh this business that goes on in the philippines we can talk about all of that for you so sue go ahead um and let's talk a little bit about uh the the first part of dennis's question there that has to do with uh the stigmata what it is why it is and what our disposition of heart should be with regard to it right step up these are very very good points that you're bringing up i really appreciate it um a stigmata we do know is real these are people who are enacting um out of love for jesus uh his passion and and death on the cross um that is that it is real padre pio had it saint francis uh as you know saint francis says he had it um however it's also very easily counterfeited by satan very easily almost commonly so which means that the woman might be holy this none that you heard preaching about her um may be very convinced that this is a holy woman but that the church is the final arbiter of those things and and only she can tell you whether or not that's authentic so i would use extreme prudence in proclaiming anyone to have the stigmata that the church has not said has the stigmata because of the fact that it is so easily counterfeited by satan very easily now as far as the what goes on in the philippines they're replicating you know of course the agony of jesus and it does appear to be very fixated on how bloody it is it is however their expression of devotion i hesitate to impugn the motives i really can't judge them as to why they're doing it if this is helping them to draw closer to the suffering of jesus christ to make it more real to them in a way that's going to increase their love for him then do it if that's if that's what your culture uh is allowing go ahead and do that because a lot of these things are cultural okay there's just something that they've done they've always done it um philippines has many many beautiful uh devotions that that they uh that they undertake in different seasons advent is is another one that they have beautiful beautiful custom so it is kind of creepy it's hard to to watch it they do put people on the cross they are really suffering up there uh however i i hesitate to impugn their motives as to why they're doing it um it could be because it is making them draw closer to jesus the way we're supposed to be meditating on the passion and death of jesus and we we we do the stages of the cross and that sort of thing and we are supposed to spend time during this season of really focusing on that so that's kind of my comments on that yeah i i would just basically agree with what sue was saying dennis and you know uh obviously you're saying that that you know it it creeps you out i think that that decision of the teacher when you were a young guy a little fellow um was ill-advised you know i i certainly don't think that she was considering the impressionable minds that she was showing this to i don't like the idea of someone saying this is how you show you love god uh people are called to different things and the gift of the stigmata is exactly that it's a gift that's given by god and the purpose of it i think is to remind us of of the reality of his suffering but also to unite to the cross of our lord every suffering that we have whether it's something that's that's dramatic like that or whether it's a stubbed toe or whether it is a broken heart no matter what it is the loss of a loved one to unite all of that suffering and pain to the cross so he he makes his presence known to us you know through that stigmata and and helps for us to focus on on the higher things and it is true as who says that the church doesn't just because something like that is taking place with someone the church doesn't automatically rush to judgment on that and we know that padre pio himself was prevented from celebrating mass publicly um or even i think hearing confessions uh they put him through you know a very rigorous kind of testing uh to see what this was about right so we don't rush to judgment on these things and and again with the philippines you know i i don't i don't know i've not seen it i i just went out there really quickly to the internet when you mentioned it and it does seem like it's it's a it's a traditional thing but there is no judgment for someone who feels that this is inappropriate or it doesn't sit well with them but what we ought not to do it would be inappropriate um to try to judge their motives and you might you know this this is just a little thought since you have such a strong reaction to it i this this is what i do in my own life anyway and i try to be faithful to it sometimes i'm not but whenever i have a really strong emotion towards something when when this is really digging deep into me it's an opportunity for me to take that to prayer and to sit with the lord and say what is this about why is my reaction so strong you know it's fine to have a reaction but when your reaction is really really strong you know it we need to look at it we need to look at it uh unless of course it's it's something that has to do with in the injustices of man you know obviously we have strong reactions to what's happening in ukraine right now we should have strong reactions to what's happening in ukraine right now but something like this i would suggest that you make this part of your lenten journey take this to the lord and ask him what is this is this that experience that i had with that religious sister is this rooted in me so deeply you know do i need healing from that you mentioned the fact that you know you you is a little tyke you were worried about is this going to happen to my parents who are really devout is that rooted in a type of insecurity maybe i have no idea but but i think it would be good for you to investigate that not that not that your reaction is wrong it's not but i think it's signaling something more and and that might be very beneficial for you but but uh you know the last thing we want to do my little note here that i got from the call screener is what do we think of worshiping the stigmata we don't worship the stigmata we worship only one and that is god so when we put an undue emphasis on certain things you know i think that that that we need to be concerned so when there's an undue emphasis on something i think that raises a red flag and and you know you're you're um uh i think perhaps um raising that red flag if any of this appears to be a warship so thank you very much dennis for your call it's a really good call we really do appreciate it thank you so very very much and for giving us an opportunity to respond to you let's get to maria she is in houston texas sue she's a first time caller and we ring our bell hey maria thank you nice to hear that hey i'm by the way and the screener didn't know this i'm actually filipino and i grew up um seeing those penitents do um exactly what he mentioned and even um back then when i was younger it was horrifying for me but you still i still get the sense that these were true devotees like they actually have true penitence in their heart and that's why they're doing it and there's really no malice to it and like you said it's all very cultural well thank you maria it's very nice to have you on the air to share with us about your own experience and what it is that you have witnessed as a result thank you so i do have a question regarding the ashes my my daughter her friend passed away um and it's been a couple years but they had a funeral service or a service and she came home with a vial of his ashes so apparently the mom was giving this away to the friend or whoever attended and so i was so conflicted by it when she came home with that vial and i had asked if she can return it and she didn't want to offend the parent so the had it sitting here i don't know what to do with it um and i heard your your um what you were talking about today i don't know if i should just go to a cemetery and just dig a hole and put it down there i don't know what to do right yes that's bizarre i've never heard of that before almost like party favors yes oh my goodness my goodness i i pray for those people uh but here's what i would do in that situation um those ashes need to be buried in a sacred place um if you if you don't want to return them to the family to have them because they may not bury them if they're doing that they're probably not going to bury in a safety safe place i would take that to your pastor yes and i would tell him um this you have this and you just don't want to have this in your possession you know that this is against the teaching of the church it's wrong you do believe in the in the death and resurrection of jesus christ the burial death and resurrection of him and and you want to express that belief in having these remains placed in a sacred place could he please take care of that for you that's what i would do rather than trying to do it yourself or that i would take it to a priest and and and let him handle that for you great okay i will do that thank you so much oh thank you maria and and so i mean this is this is what we mean you know when we talk about the lack of dignity the lack of understanding and um it it it's true it's truly truly heartbreaking um you know god does not want this we can say that unequivocally because holy mother church teaches us what we're to do and um all of that being said yeah you know we've we've got to be aware of that and i and and you know if you're listening right now and you have the remains of family members you know they're we they something needs to be done with those you're not to keep them something needs to be done with those so we invite you to call your priest if you have any questions about it uh we have just a couple of minutes left here sue about five maybe not quite and this is a this is going to require a pretty big response from you so i'm hoping that um you know you you can help this gentleman his name is mark and he sent me a very lovely card and a very well written letter and he references our program and he tells us that he listens to our program he's been listening to it for years he says he converted to catholicism in 2018 after considering it since a teenager we want to welcome you mark to the to the faith he says but i am a buddhist catholic and because of my mental problems i totally need buddhist meditation to survive else i'll be back in the mental ward i am on medication but i need to meditate meditate to calm my mind it hurts me when you insult my way to cope my way of life catholicism is great and he underlines this but it contains no way to be calm and relaxed if you have mental problems he says he says it is not enough to say don't worry when christianity does not ever tell you how to stop worrying but buddhism does and helps me to survive he said he says i this gets to my point the point of this letter do you know of a catholic way to calm the mind relax and stop racing thoughts so that we truly have the peace that passes uh passes understanding if you know how to calm my mind better than buddhist meditation i promise to try your way to see if it will work for my mind and mental problems i have been meditating for 40 years and then he says ps please don't take away my buddhist meditation without providing a catholic alternative maybe your alternatives will will work i hope thank you for helping and he signs it jmj nod to my uh upbringing in elementary school uh mark my heart goes out to this gentleman i love his sincerity of heart i love the fact that he really wants guidance and and we can help him with this oh absolutely it oh he has such a joy coming to him if he will undertake with his sincere heart and true willingness a study of catholic mysticism he will never again return to any kind of mind-blanking prayer and and i understand what he's saying that he needs this um for his his medication of course he's been doing it for 40 years so when you're doing something that long yes you're going to believe that you need it however there's a lot of even if you want to just take the science there's a lot of study that says all forms of meditation cause the same impact on the parietal lobe of the brain that's the the area of the brain that that's related to sensory information that helps you to form your sense of self um there's andrew newberg from the university of pennsylvania has studied this he's a neuroscientist and he's found the same reaction in people who you know tibetan buddhists to franciscan nuns so you don't first thing we want to do is get out of the frame of thought that that's the only thing there is and and move away from that and work on that at first to say okay this isn't the only thing there are other things out there and i think he does kind of believe that otherwise he would have written that letter and then to begin to study catholic mysticism and understand the four stages of prayer you know in catholic prayer is this cursive prayer and things that you have to work at such as vocal prayer um and even some forms of meditation where you have to use scripture in that you can also if the lord chooses to to to gift you with it uh go into infused meditation where jesus you know he doesn't need your senses to communicate with you he can communicate directly to your soul a soul on soul with with the creator of the universe let me tell you no buddhist meditation is going to bring you close any closer to nirvana than that yes and one beautiful catholic devotion that we have where scientific evidence uh tells us it works for this is the rosary so mark i hope you're listening today and so it's been great it's been wonderful being with all of you thanks once again to all of you for tuning in for our wacky wednesday with sue brinkman she'll be back with us next week i'll be back tomorrow god bless you never bye the most original and exclusive catholic

Channel: EWTN

Views: 1,906

Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television

Id: X9u1FxE2BME

Length: 52min 55sec (3175 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 02 2022