'It's About Sin!' Hermit says coronavirus is a 'chastisement'
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Summary
Maximilian Mary Dean is a priest, hermit, and hermit living in isolation in the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In this episode, Maximilian talks about the current crisis in the world, the coronavirus, and what we can do to survive and thrive in this time of social isolation.
Transcript
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Hello and welcome to this episode of the John Henry Weston Show, where we're very pleased
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I thought no better person to speak to an isolation than someone who lives it in accordance
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And so we're going to talk to him about that, about the current situation, the coronavirus,
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but also about what he has done to bring to us what we need to survive and thrive in this
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Just before we get started with today's show, I want to address something that's on the
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The coronavirus is affecting all of us, and our reporters have been working around the
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All right, let's begin as we always do with the sign of the cross, and Father, if it's okay,
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Okay, yes, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.
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You are Father Maximilian Mary Dean, who was for a long time, or at least for eight years
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or so, in Italy, and superior in Italy of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.
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Why don't you tell us, first of all, a little bit about yourself?
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Yeah, so, anyway, I was with the Franciscans of the Immaculate for a total of 22 years.
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The last three of those years was spent discerning, finding a new location, but, so I was with
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them in the capacity of, first in formation, also seminary, and then was made postulant
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director here in the United States for six years.
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And then I was asked by Father Stefano Minnelli to head up the contemplative branch of the
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So, I had a two-year stint as a seminarian and priest earlier on in Italy, and then six
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years as a superior of the two contemplative houses in Italy.
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But, all along, I always felt called to be a contemplative, and that's why I ended up
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leaving the Franciscans of the Immaculate, was when the founders were removed and the
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There was no future, really, for the contemplative branch of the Franciscans of the Immaculate.
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And so I began discerning, with permission of the commissioner, discerning my contemplative
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vocation outside the order, and was welcomed here in the Diocese of Harrisburg by Bishop
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Gaynor as a priest, hermit, to pray, you know, for the diocese and also for the church and
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So, I don't know if you have any more questions about my background, but that's kind of, in
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a nutshell, how I ended up here, where I am now.
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Well, related to it, though, you had a ministry, or a music ministry, if you will,
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and I think we're going to talk a little bit about that, too, because I want to be
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able to give people who are right now in quarantine, those in social isolation, a real amazing resource.
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Yeah, well, let me just say this, you know, when I was in high school, I was probably the
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last, not probably, I think I was the last person you would have expected to be a priest.
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I was, you know, I was, unfortunately, heavily involved in alcohol and all the scene of my
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I played in a number of rock bands, even heavy metal rock bands.
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And I grew up in a family that was basically a party family, and my mom and dad would have,
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I mean, they had a bar where they would hire a professional bartender.
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And when you came in the front door, it even said, you come in and there's this brass sign
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that said, to the bar, with an arrow pointing to it.
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So my brother and I grew up with our parents drinking a lot.
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They both actually got arrested for drinking and driving, and also my brother did later
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And so part of my story, John Henry, is I, when I was 16, I went to a drinking party with
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And I don't, to be honest, I don't know how we got home.
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It was really terrible on my part that I drove in that condition and risked his life and other
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And the next day when I got up to go to work, I was still, like, still drunk, and I drove,
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and I was getting on the highway, and I don't know what happened exactly.
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I was hitting the gas to merge into the interstate, and the next thing I knew, I woke up, I was
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And the reason I mention this is I'm really on a second lease in my life because of God's
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I got hit, going onto the highway, I got hit on the driver's side by somebody obviously
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doing 60, 65 miles an hour, and if it wasn't for an off-duty police officer that happened
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to be maybe a mile behind the accident driving along, you know, he stopped, he put a compress
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on my head because I was just bleeding all over the place apparently.
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And so it was a wake-up call for me because I could have died at that moment.
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And yeah, I can make a lot of excuses for why, you know, my parents had just divorced,
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and they had abused alcohol, and all the other things you can come up with, peer pressure,
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But in the end, I knew what I was doing was wrong.
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And if I had died at that moment, I'm convinced that I would have been condemned to hell.
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But God, in His mercy, gave me a second lease on life and began to call me to respond to
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And you know, I think all of us have, you know, have kind of a soundtrack, a nostalgic
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soundtrack to our youth in different periods of times in our lives.
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And so, how can I put this, it kind of got me through some really rough times, even before
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my conversion, you know, so when I was sad, I could sing or play music and sort of express
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Or when I was angry, I could, you know, listen to or express my anger through playing a guitar
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or something or drums, whatever it happened to be.
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And so it helped me to get through those very difficult moments.
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And the thing that's sad is that most of that music that I was listening to or playing was
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And so that's sort of what has impelled me to record over the years.
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And there's a lot of different types of music that I've recorded, whether it's Gregorian chant
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And now more recently, I was just sort of impelled to record music that has more of an upbeat.
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So music that can calm the nerves and keep us focused on God.
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And certainly we need that in these times, but also music that can help lift us up when
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So even some non-liturgical music that can help us to get through these times.
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And so that's kind of part of, I think, as you mentioned, you know, when we're in isolation,
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you know, I know I mean, for me as a hermit, there are times where the music just helps me
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to keep my focus on God, to keep my focus on being grateful for his blessings and for
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his gifts and to respond to his, his grace in these times.
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If you wouldn't mind, Father, give us your website address for your music so that we might
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know and might make, make that available to ourselves.
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Yeah, so I mean, pretty much all my music is on a website called fathermaxmusic.com.
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It's on all the major streaming platforms as well.
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I must say, having listened to some myself, it's not your, it's not your, I'm, I'm quite
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fussy when it comes to music and you've got a very beautiful voice and, and the music
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I love Gregorian chant, but I, I had to listen to the more contemporary stuff and was very
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I'm going to give it to my kids now as a, as a, as a great thing for them, because as
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And what I really don't like is there's often these very, very catchy tunes that the kids
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know and sing because they're so popular because the, the, the, the music is great, but the
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lyrics sometimes they're just so pathetic and you've got great music and great lyrics.
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Well, I mean, like I loved growing up in the seventies.
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I loved Steely Dan, the music, you know, it was very catchy.
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And that was part of what, but the, but the lyrics are awful.
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And so to have that kind of alternative, uh, and not just for when we're quarantined, but
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also, you know, even, I just think of like soccer mom driving her son or daughter two
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or three hours to a soccer tournament, you know, I don't know if three hours of Gregorian
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Uh, so having something that's wholesome, that's catchy, that, that has a good message.
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Um, and that's part of why I think our lady asked me to do that, you know?
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And I, I love that you're, you feel you're led by our lady into everything.
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Uh, your, your name, Father Maximilian, obviously a huge tie to devotion to our lady, but then
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also Father Maximilian Mary, Dean, um, is, uh, evident, gives evidence to your, your great
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Well, uh, I mean, if we, I think we need to tie all this, what's going on into what the
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Blessed Mother has been saying to us all along, you know?
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Um, I was just reflecting the other day on, uh, Our Lady of La Salette.
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Uh, I don't know if you're familiar with the message of Our Lady of La Salette, but when
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she appeared, this would be 1845 in France to Melanie.
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And in an approved, in an approved, uh, uh, apparition.
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I mean, they have a huge basilica there and there's even, I think, an optional feast day,
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optional memorial, uh, in the Roman Missal of 1962.
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But the, the key here is, is she appeared to Maximilian and Melanie, uh, and first of all,
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she was just weeping copiously, tears, and she told them, she says, you can never repay
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Um, and you know, when we think she's the Immaculate Conception, she stood on Calvary
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and she suffered, uh, in union with her son, um, and offered also the piercing of her own
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So we can't even imagine, we can't even fathom what she suffered, uh, let alone repay her for
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Um, and in that apparition, she specifically says, um, to Melody and Maxim that, um, the
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famine that you're experiencing, the, the, all the, the bad crops, uh, et cetera, the reason
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you're experiencing that is because of blasphemy and because you're working on the Lord's day.
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Um, so in other words, there was a direct link to the famine, uh, and the sin, uh, sins of
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the people, uh, and then of course at Fatima, Our Lady told, uh, the three children, Saints
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Francisco and Jacinta and, and Sister Lucia, um, she told those three little shepherd children,
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um, that, you know, pray the rosary every day, um, you know, convert, and, uh, you know, live in
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consecration to my Immaculate Heart, uh, and the Pope needs to consecrate Russia to my Immaculate Heart,
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and she said, if you don't respond, and she's speaking to all of us, if you don't respond to
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this message, there's going to be a second world war that's worse than this one, and then atheistic
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communism through Russia is going to spread its airs throughout the world. And those things
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were fulfilled to the letter. And these are children that were seven, eight, and ten. I
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mean, they couldn't make this up. Um, but the key, I guess the point I'm trying to make
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is unbelievable. The point I'm trying to make here though, is that, that these things are
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always linked to our sins. First of all, Adam's sin is where sin is, Adam's sin is where death
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and suffering and sickness came in. So any sickness, any suffering, uh, is linked to our
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forebearer's sin and also our own sins. Um, and I also should mention that, you know, that doesn't
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mean that everybody that suffers is guilty. Um, but it's still, I mean, Our Lady suffered. She was
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totally pure and innocent, but why did she suffer? Because of our sins. Uh, why did Jesus suffer?
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Because of our sins. Why are people suffering like, like right now in Bergamo in Italy, where
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you see, uh, all of these, these, uh, coffins, uh, just in this mass blessing of, of corpses?
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Uh, why did they, I'm not saying that they individually are being punished for sin by this
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coronavirus, but it's because of sin. Um, and when you look at what happened in 1845, John
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Henry, uh, by La Salette and compared to what's going on now, I mean, there's just no
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comparison. Uh, I mean, I remember Father Benedict Groeschel, uh, may he rest in peace. Uh, he
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once said to, uh, I was with the Friars of the Renewal before I transferred to the Franciscans
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of the Immaculate, but he once said to us when, uh, Mario Cuomo was elected governor, he
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said, he said, um, he says, if God doesn't punish New York city, then he owes Sodom and Gomorrah
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an apology, you know, and exactly, you know, so I mean, when you look at the sin, the sin
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of abortion, the thousands and thousands that are killed every day through abortion. When
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you look at the sins against nature, uh, with homosexuality, sodomy, um, that is just being
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promoted now. They're, they're gloating in it. It's apparently, it's just, uh, uh, and,
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and then when you think of, um, uh, it's probably the biggest crisis in, in, in this country and
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probably throughout the world, but it's certainly in this country, uh, the statistics show, and
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I had a priest that showed me these statistics polls, uh, of men between the age of 15 to 30.
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Uh, and I know we're not saying anything new to you, but, but you know, he, the, the poll
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is saying that 80% of our young men between the age of 15 to 30 are looking at internet
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pornography, um, at least once a month and a lot of them, it's once a month, it's probably
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a lot more. Some of them are even addicted. It's become a whole addiction. And so, you know,
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the, the whole, and that, that behind the scenes of that is, is human trafficking. And, you
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know, even if it's not human trafficking, I guarantee you that the ladies that they're
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presenting in those movies, that it's not like they applied for jobs at Walmart. I mean,
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it's a dirty, nasty business. Uh, and it's what it is. And anybody that goes and looks
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at those websites, because besides the fact that there's demons all over the images, uh,
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that will torment and bother you for the rest of your life, that besides that, there's this
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whole fact that, um, anybody that visits a website, uh, and maybe people aren't aware
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of this, when you visit a website, that means traffic to the website. And that means that
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there's more revenue going to the website because advertisers want to, uh, you know, sponsor and
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get advertising out of that. And so when they go and look at these images, they're actually
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financially supporting, you know, through, through these advertisers and et cetera, they're actually
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supporting financially human trafficking and all these other nasty things. So it's not just like
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looking at a dirty image or something. It's, you know, you're actually contributing to, uh, to this
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culture. And how can God turn a blind eye? I know presidential election coming up, uh, nobody's going to
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talk about internet pornography. I mean, and yet, and yet between the age of 15 to 30, if you have a
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thousand of them, there are 800, 800 of them are, have looked at pornography on the internet in the
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last month. And yet they won't say a peep. They won't say a peep. One, one of the things I always
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say about that father is, is our lady of Fatima came and told the children that more souls go to
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hell because of sins of the flesh and are, as, as Lucia explained, sins of impurity than for any other
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sin. And so, you know, people often say, oh, it's not that bad now. It was worse in the times past.
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Well, that's just a plain lie by the numbers, because by the numbers, there are more people
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looking at porn today on the internet than there were people alive in 1917. So, uh, it's just an
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unbelievable situation. But let me ask you also about another category of sin that I think is quite
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unique in our day. Um, whereas we, we talked about all of the sins, which, which we know, uh, lead more
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people to hell than for any other reason, but there's another sin going on today. Um, and that
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is the sin of heresy in the church from the church, from even the hierarchy in the church. And I think
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this is also astounding when our Lord, uh, said to, uh, you know, the apostles that it would be better
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for you if you have a millstone tied about, you're not going to be thrown into the sea rather than
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confuse the little ones. Uh, aren't we dealing or seeing perhaps the punishment also for that sin of
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infidelity on the part of who are supposed to be the successors of the apostles?
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Yeah. I mean, there's, there's, um, two things come to mind, but, uh, you know, obviously, um, uh,
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I think there's a priest that used the analogy of not preaching the fullness of truth. It's like,
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it's like a priestly form of contraception. Like it's not allowing the seed of God's word to bear fruit
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and go out, uh, because they don't speak on certain topics or, uh, they, they, they just,
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they fail to lead us in our Catholic faith. Um, and certainly growing up myself in the seventies
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and eighties, uh, I've, you know, and in my generation, I think we can say we were robbed.
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It was highway robbery. We never got any catechism. Uh, you know, I mean, I even, uh, I kind of laugh
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John Henry. I went to the school, the famous school, Burbuff preparatory school in Indianapolis.
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I don't know if you're familiar with the school, but they've been all over the headlines because
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the Bishop has said that they can't be called Catholic. And I laugh because they haven't been
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Catholic since I went there, which was in 83 to 87. And my brother was there till 89. Um, and, uh,
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but I mean, I was there four years. This is a school run by Jesuit priests and they never,
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I never was told about the Trinity. I mean, the father, son, and Holy spirit. I mean,
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that's like the central dogma of the universe of our Catholic faith. Um, I was never told about
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the incarnation, that Christ was true God and true man about the redemption. Um, and we had,
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I mean, in four years we had every year, we had a full semester of quote unquote religion class that
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was mandatory and they didn't talk about anything of that nature. Um, and so, I mean, we're reaping
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those fruits. And when the, the shepherds and the priests don't communicate those truths to the
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faithful, um, or if they misrepresent, represent them, I remember, uh, father Richard McBrien was
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appearing on, uh, uh, it was a 60 minutes had an exorcism on, uh, on their show in 1990. They did a
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special feature. And afterwards they had Tom broke off interviewing two priests. And one of them was
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father Richard McBrien and on public television, uh, before the whole nation, uh, he said that angels
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didn't exist, which is heresy. I mean, it's total heresy. Uh, I mean, I think that's excommunication,
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uh, Lattes Intensia that he just, he, he denied a dogma of the faith that there are angels, that
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there are demons. Um, so yeah, that's certainly part of it. And the other thing, if I can bring
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this in, because it's, it's been such a heart wrenching, uh, few years for me personally, John
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Henry, because, uh, when I was at Burbuff, I mean, there was a, uh, I mean, I was, I started off at
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Burbuff. I was, uh, my first three semesters, I was a straight A student. Uh, so I was very
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diligent and, and worked very hard and respected by the teachers. And I remember the president of
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the school, a Jesuit priest named father Joseph Casey one time, and I don't remember the occasion,
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but he, he said, uh, he saw, I don't know if he, I don't remember the occasion, but he asked me to
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come to his office. Um, and so, I mean, I was a, this is the president of the school. He's a priest.
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And so I went to this office one day, uh, as he'd asked me to, and I stopped into his office.
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Um, and you know what he told me, John Henry, he told me, he goes, you know what? Uh, he goes,
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you know, he goes, you know, you're a very good dancer. I saw you the other day at the dance.
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This priest was stalking me. He was stalking me. And I was just like, it was so bizarre. Like I
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thought he was going to talk to me about something important, you know, like, um, and so the thing was
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then, uh, I don't know, it was a couple of weeks later. I was on the swim team at the time, at the
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time. And, uh, you know, we didn't, we were a small private school. We don't have our own swimming
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pool. So we would always, all of our swim meets were away. So we went out, the swim team, we went out,
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we were getting on the bus to go to our swim meet. And who was there? Father Casey, the president of
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the school. Um, and we thought, well, this is kind of neat because nobody went to the swim meets to
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cheer us on. And so this priest was coming. And, uh, after the swim meet, we get on the bus and he
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comes back and he makes it a point. I'm like sitting in the school bus seat. He makes it a point to sit
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next to me. There were plenty of empty seats, John Henry. He sat next to me. So I was basically pinned
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between this, this stalking priest to, and I now know, I mean, the reason he came to the swim meet
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was to stalk me, to look at me in my swimsuit. And, uh, uh, and then the other thing that rebuffed
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too was, uh, the, the president, that was the president, the principal of the school, Father
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Bernard Knoth. He hid all the papers in 2003 because he was accused of molesting a boy, uh,
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a teenager, uh, would be a homosexual basically. But, uh, he, he molested a boy there during the
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time that I was there. Um, and he was laicized and also the religion teacher there. Uh, there was,
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uh, two feminists and a communist. Uh, the, the, the man was a communist guy and real wacko liberal
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guy. Um, it was full-blown heresy and he was taking the, he was a wrestling coach too. And he was
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grooming the families and he was taking these boys on these weekend retreats and he finally got
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arrested, uh, after he was let go from her buff. Um, so the point I'm trying to make here is from a
00:25:57.380
very personal experience. And then as a priest, I've just met so many, uh, men and women who have
00:26:02.860
been abused by priests. Uh, and I mean, it's just the worst possible thing. Uh, you know, so you talk
00:26:10.660
about the millstone, you talk about the scandal, um, and, and it's a huge problem. So yeah, internet
00:26:16.700
pornography, it's a huge problem. But you know, when a priest is not living chastity, when a priest
00:26:22.980
is, is, uh, grooming people and saying that, oh, celibacy just means I can't get married, uh, and
00:26:29.160
grooming young people to, to, and, and other people into these, these sins against chastity. Um,
00:26:35.820
you know, how can God not respond in some way, you know? Um, and, and that's where I, I get frustrated,
00:26:44.180
you know, with the bishops, even the, the good bishops, it's like, what are we doing about chastity
00:26:49.940
in the priesthood? Absolutely. You can call in if there's a case and stuff like that, but what are
00:26:56.600
we doing about chastity in the priesthood? And, uh, that's, that's, it's, and not just, not just the
00:27:02.840
pedophilia, you know, there's a lot of legal unchastity, which is not legal in God's eyes,
00:27:08.680
but, but, you know, nobody's going to get sued in the diocese for a lot of those things.
00:27:14.720
Exactly. Now, Father, you're a very interesting case in that you're a hermit, and, and today
00:27:19.620
there are many hermits, uh, unwilling, uh, not consecrated like you are, uh, not even, uh, feeling
00:27:26.200
that they were called to do so, although now, uh, many are called to do so. Uh, so there's plenty
00:27:31.660
of people, both individuals and in families who are now stuck alone. Uh, yes, they have
00:27:37.540
access to the internet to, you know, there's all sorts of movies on, I'm sure, and all sorts
00:27:41.480
of things, but those are, for the most part, unproductive uses of time. And I don't mean
00:27:46.800
productive as in for work. I mean, productive as in for eternal life. And I was hoping that
00:27:51.920
you could speak to us a little bit about being a hermit, how to be a hermit today, not only
00:27:58.200
so much in your own vocation as a hermit, a real hermit, but as we are all sort of called
00:28:03.080
in this time to, in at least a little bit, imitate your lifestyle. Can you tell us a little
00:28:09.680
Sure. Well, um, uh, let me just say that in my own aromidical vocation, uh, I, and this
00:28:18.040
is something we can all do, is I see my, my, my life as a living out of Holy Mass. Um, and
00:28:25.900
so as many, many souls at this time and in Italy for a number of weeks now are deprived
00:28:30.780
even of Sunday Mass. Even in Italy, they were deprived of Ash Wednesday Mass in many areas. Um,
00:28:37.260
we can live out the Mass, make our life an extension of the Mass so that we're offering through the
00:28:44.780
Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart of Mary, Jesus, offering Jesus to the Father in union with the Holy
00:28:50.620
Spirit and atonement for our sins and those of the world, um, and trying to open up our hearts
00:28:56.540
and minds to God's grace, just as we do at Mass. Um, now John Henry, when, when a priest offers Mass,
00:29:02.860
he can have many personal intentions. In fact, you know, in the Tridentine Mass, there are two spots
00:29:07.900
for mementos for the living and the dead. He can have many personal intentions, but he only has one
00:29:13.500
Mass intention. Um, and as a hermit, my Mass that I live out daily, I have one intention,
00:29:21.660
and it's actually the form of a fourth vow. And that is, I offer everything for this intention,
00:29:26.860
the triumph of the most pure and Immaculate Heart of Mary. Um, and so I think, um, if we see ourselves
00:29:35.020
in the situation, in this sacrificial, difficult situation, if we see ourselves as united to the
00:29:41.980
heart of Jesus through the heart of Mary and offering ourselves, um, in this time, uh, to the
00:29:48.700
Father in union with Christ in the Sacred Host, um, it can be a very fruitful time, even though there's
00:29:56.140
that sacramental separation from our Lord. Um, and I would say three things, um, and they're all basically
00:30:03.180
tied into our Blessed Mother. Um, first of all, you have to have a deep faith to profit from a life of
00:30:10.620
solitude. Um, and so the fact is, and you read in the lives of the saints and in the scripture,
00:30:18.140
everything is a gift of God, which Jesus gives us through Mary's Immaculate Heart.
00:30:24.780
So even the difficult situations that we find ourselves in, they're either sovereignly willed
00:30:30.380
or they're permitted by God to draw us closer to Him, uh, to help save and sanctify ourselves.
00:30:37.820
And that requires faith. I mean, we don't, we don't, we walk by faith, not by sight. What we see
00:30:43.180
is we see a pandemic. We see panic everywhere. We see people dying and getting sick. Uh, we see all
00:30:49.980
of this with our eyes, our natural eyes. Uh, but through faith, we know that God is trying to draw each
00:30:56.540
one of us personally and all of us, uh, as Church and in the world to, uh, His, His, uh, to His bosom.
00:31:04.700
Um, the other thing I think we need to have is a great hope. So faith, hope, and charity. I mean,
00:31:10.540
that's what animates the life of any consecrated soul. Um, so when Our Lady at Fatima, she said to
00:31:17.420
the children, how many souls go to hell because there's no one to pray and sacrifice for them?
00:31:24.220
Well, I'm here because obviously somebody prayed and sacrificed for me. I mean, I should have been
00:31:30.140
condemned to hell when I was 16 in that car accident, but somebody prayed, somebody sacrificed,
00:31:36.300
and God in His mercy gave me this extension in life and the grace of conversion. Well, right now the,
00:31:42.620
the harvest is so ripe. Um, you know, John Henry, the whole world is being forced to think about their
00:31:49.980
final end. They're all being forced to think about the four last things. And that's, that's, I mean,
00:31:57.020
you couldn't ask for a better, uh, platform, uh, for proclaiming the truth that Christ died for our
00:32:04.380
sins, rose from the dead, and that if we heed His call, uh, and, and, and respond to His grace,
00:32:10.460
we can save our souls. So the, there's many souls, I think right now, um, that are disposed because of
00:32:17.260
the situation to extraordinary conversion. And so Our Lady's message, how many souls go to hell
00:32:23.420
because there's no one to pray and sacrifice for them? If you make that positive, how many souls
00:32:27.580
will go to heaven if we pray and sacrifice for them? And so we have this beautiful opportunity,
00:32:34.540
not just to pray the daily rosary, but maybe to pray an extra rosary, or maybe to pray a divine
00:32:40.060
mercy chaplet, or just to spend some quiet time with the Lord that might, we might not normally
00:32:45.100
be able to do, um, or to pray with our family. You know, oftentimes because of all the activities,
00:32:51.820
you know, there's this new opportunity maybe to say and pray together a bit more,
00:32:57.260
knowing that many souls can be saved right now. I mean, the, the, the apples are ripe. I live in the
00:33:04.460
midst of apple orchards, so sorry for the analogy, but the apples are ripe for picking right now.
00:33:09.340
So our prayers and sacrifices, uh, can bring about the salvation and sanctification of many souls.
00:33:16.140
Um, and I guess the final thing with the virtue of charity, uh, is, uh, and actually that, that's
00:33:22.460
more along the lines of the charity. I should say that's the charity to pray for souls. Uh, so let me
00:33:27.820
go back to hope, the virtue of hope. Our Lady said, in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.
00:33:32.940
Uh, and, and those are, that's a sovereign part of God's will. Her heart will triumph.
00:33:40.620
And so our charity, uh, and our hope is, what can I do to help bring about the triumph of Mary's
00:33:47.900
Immaculate Heart? Uh, and very simply, praying the Rosary every day, uh, having that trust in God,
00:33:54.540
in his loving providence, living out our consecration to her Immaculate Heart, um, and, and doing our part,
00:34:03.260
you know, that if, if we have that intention to pray and sacrifice for souls, but also for the
00:34:08.460
triumph of her most pure and Immaculate Heart, um, uh, we have great hope because this will happen.
00:34:14.860
It will happen. Um, uh, absolutely. I think, Father, one of the, one of the questions, I think,
00:34:21.260
on a lot of people's minds, uh, my mind for sure, is right at this crisis time, right as we're trying
00:34:27.420
to, uh, live out this faith, hope, and charity in isolation, uh, in, in sort of a hermitage of our own,
00:34:34.140
uh, imposed on us, um, yet we're deprived of the one thing that for many, many people has been
00:34:40.860
the greatest solace on earth that has been the, the greatest treasure, uh, that we have,
00:34:45.980
the holy sacrifice of the mass daily received by many of us. Uh, that's why I feel so privileged to
00:34:50.860
speak to you, Father. Um, you're still receiving Jesus when most of us, almost all of us can't
00:34:55.500
anymore. Um, please speak to that if you would. Yeah. You know, um, our bishop held out a little
00:35:02.220
longer maybe than other bishops, um, knowing, you know, and it's, this is really tough, you know,
00:35:08.780
cause I, I get the pandemic. I get the fact that especially our elderly are at risk if we continue
00:35:15.020
to spread it, um, that it would just wipe out a lot of our sick and elderly. Um, so I, I get that.
00:35:22.700
Um, and yet, um, you know, on the other hand, you know, you just have to ask the question,
00:35:28.540
where is our faith? In other words, the very thing that we need, uh, to, to save us from this pandemic
00:35:36.860
is the Eucharist, is our Lord, is the holy sacrifice of the mass. Um, and so, uh, you know,
00:35:43.980
in a certain sense, you would think that we should be doing the opposite. Um, I think, you know, I've
00:35:48.700
thought of this in, in, um, uh, these days that, that quote of, uh, St. Pio of Pietro Dolcina, um,
00:35:56.540
that, uh, you know, it would be easier for the world to survive without holy mass, uh, you know,
00:36:03.500
or I'm sorry, easier for the world to survive without the, the sun, uh, than to survive without
00:36:08.300
holy mass. Um, and so I really, you know, when I got the news that here in my diocese that nobody
00:36:15.420
could come to holy mass, um, that night when I was making my holy hour, I mean, I had tears in my eyes,
00:36:21.580
you know, uh, and I really, I feel deeply like that non sum dinius. I'm not worthy, you know? I mean,
00:36:29.100
I know many lay people that are much holier than me, you know, and they can't come to mass,
00:36:33.900
but I can. And I take that very seriously, um, that I am representing, um, you know,
00:36:40.860
all of the faithful in that holy communion and bringing just thousands and thousands of souls
00:36:47.420
to the heart of Jesus, uh, when I offer that holy mass. Um, so yeah, it's, it's, um,
00:36:54.300
um, I mean, it's unprecedented. I mean, in, in church history, I mean, I don't think we've ever
00:37:02.060
seen in church history where all of Italy can't go to mass on Sunday. I mean, it's just unheard of.
00:37:08.700
Yeah. Would you, when you were saying it there, um, it reminded me of that prayer to St. Joseph,
00:37:13.260
whose feast day we just celebrated, uh, you know, the very traditional prayer that, uh, says,
00:37:18.540
we dare not approach now while he reposes near your heart, uh, kiss his fine head for me and
00:37:24.460
ask him to return that kiss when we draw our dying breath. I want to say to you, Father,
00:37:28.860
and to all your priests out there who are still able to receive our Lord and holy communion,
00:37:33.100
kiss his fine head for us. And we certainly will. And, and obviously there are communities, uh,
00:37:41.180
cloistered nuns and other religious sisters. Um, and right now they're being called,
00:37:47.100
they're always called to represent the whole church as brides of Christ. But right now they are
00:37:53.180
the ones that are kissing Jesus, uh, and embracing him and being embraced by his heart on behalf of,
00:38:00.300
of all of the faithful of the whole church. Um, so it's such a privilege and also a responsibility,
00:38:08.540
uh, that we have as priests and religious always, but especially in these times, I think it's like
00:38:13.740
putting a highlighter, uh, on the reality of our vocation, our priestly and consecrated vocation.
00:38:21.340
Um, so I will certainly be praying, you know, for you and, and, uh, all those who work with you,
00:38:25.660
John Henry, and all those, uh, uh, who are viewing, uh, as, as I continue to pray for, for all souls, uh,
00:38:32.780
for all those, uh, who are being afflicted, uh, whether by the disease or by the consequences, uh,
00:38:39.180
of what we're, we're experiencing right now. Amen. Let's, let's talk a little bit, uh, in,
00:38:46.140
in conclusion about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart. Uh, Professor Roberto de Mattei and others
00:38:51.660
have, have, uh, literally talked about this as a chastisement, perhaps even the predicted
00:38:57.660
chastisement from Our Lady of Fatima. And, uh, it makes reference, of course, to a, a vision that
00:39:04.380
we were given in 2000 as sort of part of the third, uh, message about the Pope having to step over
00:39:11.340
bodies of, of the faithful and, and, and religious as he made his way up a mountain. And, uh, certainly
00:39:17.500
it seems like, uh, in, in Italy today, we can see that exactly going on. The, the, the bodies, uh, as
00:39:24.940
we've seen in, in video that you mentioned earlier, coffins lining everywhere, army in having to truck away
00:39:31.580
bodies. So that kind of a, a prophecy seems to be being fulfilled in our days, which, which Professor
00:39:38.220
de Mattei points out leads also to the triumph of the Immaculate Heart, that, that great, um,
00:39:44.380
reality for which you offer your own priestly life. Yeah. Well, and, and it's interesting that,
00:39:49.740
you know, that prophecy, uh, the Holy Father is climbing over these corpses to the cross. And right
00:39:56.620
now we're on the journey of Lent towards Calvary, towards Good Friday, uh, and we know, you know,
00:40:03.660
how, um, I mean, it's just hard to imagine. I mean, St. Peter's Basilica and the square for the
00:40:10.380
Triduum is going to be probably empty, you know, for, uh, for the Triduum. Uh, I mean, and it's just, uh,
00:40:18.380
uh, uh, devastating. And it's like, uh, it's an opportunity for the Pope, the Bishops, Father Maximilian,
00:40:27.420
and each one of us to examine our conscience, um, and say, in my life, uh, where is it that, that,
00:40:34.780
that, uh, I'm being unfaithful? And what is it that God is calling me to do, um, to respond to his
00:40:41.260
grace in these times? In other words, we can say, mea culpa. It's my fault, you know, Lord, that I
00:40:46.700
have sinned. I confide you, or I have sinned against you. Um, and I repent, and I want to change
00:40:53.740
my life. And, uh, you know, what is it that you're calling me to do? Um, so we have to take stake,
00:40:59.580
you know, the stake, take stake of our lives and take advantage of this opportunity that's being
00:41:04.860
presented to us and keep our focus on God. And through him, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
00:41:11.020
pray for him to be merciful to us individually and, and, uh, as a church and in the world.
00:41:19.180
Amen. Amen. Father Maximilian Mary Dean, any closing words for us as we conclude this episode?
00:41:26.220
Uh, just hunker down and pray. And, uh, like we talked about earlier, you know, if you need, uh,
00:41:34.060
some, uh, just some music to calm your nerves, to help you pray and keep focused on God,
00:41:40.380
or just to lift your spirits, things are getting a little too heavy, um, to please, uh, you know,
00:41:46.460
visit FatherMaxMusic.com. You can stream it all for free. I mean, it's just there for the glory of
00:41:51.980
God, the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the salvation and sanctification of souls.
00:41:57.180
Um, and, uh, I'm just responding to God's call to, to record the music and to, to write the songs.
00:42:05.100
And I think, you know, John Henry is kind of funny because a year ago when I started that last CD,
00:42:10.780
um, it was a mystery to me. Like, why are you having me record this music? And especially as a
00:42:16.460
hermit, um, right now. And I literally, the day I got the CD, it took almost a year to record that,
00:42:23.260
that last album. The first, like, when I got the CD, that day was the first case of the coronavirus
00:42:30.780
in Pennsylvania, where I am, um, was reported in Philadelphia. And now all that music is online.
00:42:37.820
Um, and it just seems providential. Seems like that was part of God's plan. So I'm just encouraging
00:42:45.340
all of you. I'm praying for all of, all of those who are watching, uh, for all of you. And please pray
00:42:51.020
for me and let's, uh, let's just cling to Mary's Immaculate Heart. If I could say one thing, cling
00:42:57.340
to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart, uh, and everything will be all right.
00:43:02.780
Amen. Thank you, Father Maximilian Mary Dean. We'll have all those links, uh, below this video. So
00:43:09.580
please check them out. And, uh, we'll see you next time. Okay. God bless you. Peace.
00:43:14.220
Christ, our King, conquers everything. The battle of the King, war is raging.
00:43:25.420
Christ, our King, He's dominating. Will you fight for our warrior King?
00:43:40.860
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00:43:45.740
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