The John-Henry Westen Show - 'It's About Sin!' Hermit says coronavirus is a 'chastisement'

00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome to this episode of the John Henry Weston Show, where we're very pleased

00:00:21.580 to bring you a priest who's a hermit. 0.58

00:00:23.640 I thought no better person to speak to an isolation than someone who lives it in accordance

00:00:30.540 with what God wills for him.

00:00:32.280 And so we're going to talk to him about that, about the current situation, the coronavirus,

00:00:35.460 but also about what he has done to bring to us what we need to survive and thrive in this

00:00:43.460 time of social isolation, you might say.

00:00:46.680 Stay tuned.

00:00:53.640 Just before we get started with today's show, I want to address something that's on the

00:01:14.060 forefront of all our minds right now.

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00:02:31.180 All right, let's begin as we always do with the sign of the cross, and Father, if it's okay,

00:02:35.040 I'm going to ask you to lead us in that.

00:02:36.420 Okay, yes, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.

00:02:40.520 Amen.

00:02:41.620 Amen.

00:02:43.240 Father.

00:02:44.040 Yes.

00:02:44.380 You are Father Maximilian Mary Dean, who was for a long time, or at least for eight years

00:02:49.740 or so, in Italy, and superior in Italy of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.

00:02:54.960 Why don't you tell us, first of all, a little bit about yourself?

00:02:57.600 Yeah, so, anyway, I was with the Franciscans of the Immaculate for a total of 22 years.

00:03:06.800 The last three of those years was spent discerning, finding a new location, but, so I was with

00:03:14.260 them in the capacity of, first in formation, also seminary, and then was made postulant

00:03:22.120 director here in the United States for six years.

00:03:25.500 And then I was asked by Father Stefano Minnelli to head up the contemplative branch of the

00:03:33.380 Franciscans of the Immaculate in Italy.

00:03:36.500 So, I had a two-year stint as a seminarian and priest earlier on in Italy, and then six

00:03:41.360 years as a superior of the two contemplative houses in Italy.

00:03:46.960 But, all along, I always felt called to be a contemplative, and that's why I ended up

00:03:53.780 leaving the Franciscans of the Immaculate, was when the founders were removed and the

00:03:59.580 Vatican put the commissioner in.

00:04:01.940 There was no future, really, for the contemplative branch of the Franciscans of the Immaculate.

00:04:07.920 And so I began discerning, with permission of the commissioner, discerning my contemplative

00:04:13.200 vocation outside the order, and was welcomed here in the Diocese of Harrisburg by Bishop

00:04:18.140 Gaynor as a priest, hermit, to pray, you know, for the diocese and also for the church and

00:04:26.200 the world at large.

00:04:27.200 So, I don't know if you have any more questions about my background, but that's kind of, in

00:04:31.820 a nutshell, how I ended up here, where I am now.

00:04:36.200 Absolutely.

00:04:37.200 Well, related to it, though, you had a ministry, or a music ministry, if you will,

00:04:43.200 and I think we're going to talk a little bit about that, too, because I want to be

00:04:47.140 able to give people who are right now in quarantine, those in social isolation, a real amazing resource.

00:04:54.140 Go ahead.

00:04:55.140 Okay, great.

00:04:56.140 Yeah, well, let me just say this, you know, when I was in high school, I was probably the

00:05:02.300 last, not probably, I think I was the last person you would have expected to be a priest.

00:05:09.960 I was, you know, I was, unfortunately, heavily involved in alcohol and all the scene of my

00:05:18.300 time in the 80s.

00:05:19.900 I played in a number of rock bands, even heavy metal rock bands.

00:05:25.820 And I grew up in a family that was basically a party family, and my mom and dad would have,

00:05:30.900 I mean, they built a house to party.

00:05:32.900 I mean, they had a bar where they would hire a professional bartender.

00:05:37.240 And when you came in the front door, it even said, you come in and there's this brass sign

00:05:42.840 that said, to the bar, with an arrow pointing to it.

00:05:45.440 So that was like the centerpiece of our home.

00:05:48.400 So my brother and I grew up with our parents drinking a lot.

00:05:53.800 They both actually got arrested for drinking and driving, and also my brother did later

00:05:57.780 on.

00:05:58.780 And so part of my story, John Henry, is I, when I was 16, I went to a drinking party with

00:06:06.120 a friend named Chris.

00:06:07.660 And I don't, to be honest, I don't know how we got home.

00:06:10.240 It was really terrible on my part that I drove in that condition and risked his life and other

00:06:16.920 people's lives.

00:06:18.960 And the next day when I got up to go to work, I was still, like, still drunk, and I drove,

00:06:26.740 and I was getting on the highway, and I don't know what happened exactly.

00:06:30.560 I was hitting the gas to merge into the interstate, and the next thing I knew, I woke up, I was

00:06:35.200 in the hospital.

00:06:37.780 And the reason I mention this is I'm really on a second lease in my life because of God's

00:06:43.320 mercy.

00:06:46.260 I got hit, going onto the highway, I got hit on the driver's side by somebody obviously

00:06:50.440 doing 60, 65 miles an hour, and if it wasn't for an off-duty police officer that happened

00:06:56.640 to be maybe a mile behind the accident driving along, you know, he stopped, he put a compress

00:07:03.280 on my head because I was just bleeding all over the place apparently.

00:07:07.000 I don't know, I might have been dead.

00:07:08.260 I might have been dead.

00:07:10.900 And so it was a wake-up call for me because I could have died at that moment.

00:07:15.740 And yeah, I can make a lot of excuses for why, you know, my parents had just divorced,

00:07:20.920 and they had abused alcohol, and all the other things you can come up with, peer pressure,

00:07:25.120 etc.

00:07:26.120 But in the end, I knew what I was doing was wrong.

00:07:29.800 And if I had died at that moment, I'm convinced that I would have been condemned to hell.

00:07:35.340 But God, in His mercy, gave me a second lease on life and began to call me to respond to

00:07:43.940 His grace.

00:07:46.940 And so a huge part of my whole life was music.

00:07:52.080 And you know, I think all of us have, you know, have kind of a soundtrack, a nostalgic

00:07:58.280 soundtrack to our youth in different periods of times in our lives.

00:08:03.200 And so, how can I put this, it kind of got me through some really rough times, even before

00:08:09.920 my conversion, you know, so when I was sad, I could sing or play music and sort of express

00:08:15.760 my sadness.

00:08:16.760 Or when I was angry, I could, you know, listen to or express my anger through playing a guitar

00:08:23.380 or something or drums, whatever it happened to be.

00:08:27.200 And so it helped me to get through those very difficult moments.

00:08:32.420 And the thing that's sad is that most of that music that I was listening to or playing was

00:08:39.500 not for the glory of God.

00:08:42.020 And so that's sort of what has impelled me to record over the years.

00:08:48.340 And there's a lot of different types of music that I've recorded, whether it's Gregorian chant

00:08:53.100 or sort of hymns and songs of meditation.

00:08:57.840 And now more recently, I was just sort of impelled to record music that has more of an upbeat.

00:09:05.440 So music that can calm the nerves and keep us focused on God.

00:09:09.080 And certainly we need that in these times, but also music that can help lift us up when

00:09:14.520 we're getting kind of down and struggling.

00:09:18.740 So even some non-liturgical music that can help us to get through these times.

00:09:24.540 And so that's kind of part of, I think, as you mentioned, you know, when we're in isolation,

00:09:33.200 you know, I know I mean, for me as a hermit, there are times where the music just helps me

00:09:37.540 to keep my focus on God, to keep my focus on being grateful for his blessings and for

00:09:44.500 his gifts and to respond to his, his grace in these times.

00:09:51.000 If you wouldn't mind, Father, give us your website address for your music so that we might

00:09:55.520 know and might make, make that available to ourselves.

00:09:58.120 Yeah, so I mean, pretty much all my music is on a website called fathermaxmusic.com.

00:10:04.800 So F-M-M, fathermaxmusic.com.

00:10:08.120 And you can stream all of it for free.

00:10:10.080 It's on all the major streaming platforms as well.

00:10:12.560 But the links are all there.

00:10:14.320 And there's a couple of music videos as well.

00:10:18.040 And excellent.

00:10:19.480 I must say, having listened to some myself, it's not your, it's not your, I'm, I'm quite

00:10:25.380 fussy when it comes to music and you've got a very beautiful voice and, and the music

00:10:30.280 is great.

00:10:31.220 I love Gregorian chant, but I, I had to listen to the more contemporary stuff and was very

00:10:36.460 pleasantly surprised.

00:10:37.240 I'm going to give it to my kids now as a, as a, as a great thing for them, because as

00:10:42.340 you said, music that uplifts the soul.

00:10:44.460 Hell's gates are smashed, my king he wins.

00:10:50.100 Christ our king conquers everything.

00:10:55.380 The battle of the king, war is raging.

00:11:00.320 And what I really don't like is there's often these very, very catchy tunes that the kids

00:11:05.880 know and sing because they're so popular because the, the, the, the music is great, but the

00:11:10.940 lyrics sometimes they're just so pathetic and you've got great music and great lyrics.

00:11:17.240 Well, thanks be to God. 0.92

00:11:18.180 Well, I mean, like I loved growing up in the seventies.

00:11:20.500 I loved Steely Dan, the music, you know, it was very catchy.

00:11:24.180 I love saxophone.

00:11:25.240 And that was part of what, but the, but the lyrics are awful.

00:11:27.780 They'll send you to hell, you know?

00:11:29.800 And so to have that kind of alternative, uh, and not just for when we're quarantined, but

00:11:34.780 also, you know, even, I just think of like soccer mom driving her son or daughter two

00:11:39.220 or three hours to a soccer tournament, you know, I don't know if three hours of Gregorian

00:11:43.640 chant is going to cut the mustard, you know?

00:11:45.500 Uh, so having something that's wholesome, that's catchy, that, that has a good message.

00:11:51.080 Um, and that's part of why I think our lady asked me to do that, you know?

00:11:55.640 Um, that's great.

00:11:57.760 And I, I love that you're, you feel you're led by our lady into everything.

00:12:01.540 Uh, your, your name, Father Maximilian, obviously a huge tie to devotion to our lady, but then

00:12:07.560 also Father Maximilian Mary, Dean, um, is, uh, evident, gives evidence to your, your great

00:12:13.140 devotion.

00:12:14.460 Yes.

00:12:15.060 Well, uh, I mean, if we, I think we need to tie all this, what's going on into what the

00:12:22.180 Blessed Mother has been saying to us all along, you know?

00:12:24.920 Um, I was just reflecting the other day on, uh, Our Lady of La Salette.

00:12:29.320 Uh, I don't know if you're familiar with the message of Our Lady of La Salette, but when

00:12:33.500 she appeared, this would be 1845 in France to Melanie.

00:12:38.700 And in an approved, in an approved, uh, uh, apparition.

00:12:42.040 Yes, exactly.

00:12:43.200 I mean, they have a huge basilica there and there's even, I think, an optional feast day,

00:12:47.460 optional memorial, uh, in the Roman Missal of 1962.

00:12:50.940 But the, the key here is, is she appeared to Maximilian and Melanie, uh, and first of all,

00:12:57.400 she was just weeping copiously, tears, and she told them, she says, you can never repay

00:13:04.080 me for what I suffered for you.

00:13:06.020 Um, and you know, when we think she's the Immaculate Conception, she stood on Calvary

00:13:11.680 and she suffered, uh, in union with her son, um, and offered also the piercing of her own

00:13:19.420 heart to the Father, uh, for our sins.

00:13:22.300 So we can't even imagine, we can't even fathom what she suffered, uh, let alone repay her for

00:13:28.600 what she suffered.

00:13:29.480 Um, and in that apparition, she specifically says, um, to Melody and Maxim that, um, the

00:13:36.940 famine that you're experiencing, the, the, all the, the bad crops, uh, et cetera, the reason

00:13:42.300 you're experiencing that is because of blasphemy and because you're working on the Lord's day.

00:13:48.700 Um, so in other words, there was a direct link to the famine, uh, and the sin, uh, sins of

00:13:55.780 the people, uh, and then of course at Fatima, Our Lady told, uh, the three children, Saints

00:14:01.560 Francisco and Jacinta and, and Sister Lucia, um, she told those three little shepherd children,

00:14:08.500 um, that, you know, pray the rosary every day, um, you know, convert, and, uh, you know, live in

00:14:17.880 consecration to my Immaculate Heart, uh, and the Pope needs to consecrate Russia to my Immaculate Heart,

00:14:23.920 and she said, if you don't respond, and she's speaking to all of us, if you don't respond to

00:14:28.600 this message, there's going to be a second world war that's worse than this one, and then atheistic 0.72

00:14:34.420 communism through Russia is going to spread its airs throughout the world. And those things 0.94

00:14:38.820 were fulfilled to the letter. And these are children that were seven, eight, and ten. I

00:14:42.760 mean, they couldn't make this up. Um, but the key, I guess the point I'm trying to make

00:14:47.240 is unbelievable. The point I'm trying to make here though, is that, that these things are

00:14:51.700 always linked to our sins. First of all, Adam's sin is where sin is, Adam's sin is where death 0.73

00:14:58.280 and suffering and sickness came in. So any sickness, any suffering, uh, is linked to our

00:15:05.420 forebearer's sin and also our own sins. Um, and I also should mention that, you know, that doesn't

00:15:11.720 mean that everybody that suffers is guilty. Um, but it's still, I mean, Our Lady suffered. She was

00:15:17.780 totally pure and innocent, but why did she suffer? Because of our sins. Uh, why did Jesus suffer?

00:15:24.380 Because of our sins. Why are people suffering like, like right now in Bergamo in Italy, where

00:15:29.580 you see, uh, all of these, these, uh, coffins, uh, just in this mass blessing of, of corpses?

00:15:36.520 Uh, why did they, I'm not saying that they individually are being punished for sin by this

00:15:41.240 coronavirus, but it's because of sin. Um, and when you look at what happened in 1845, John

00:15:48.220 Henry, uh, by La Salette and compared to what's going on now, I mean, there's just no

00:15:54.220 comparison. Uh, I mean, I remember Father Benedict Groeschel, uh, may he rest in peace. Uh, he

00:16:01.200 once said to, uh, I was with the Friars of the Renewal before I transferred to the Franciscans

00:16:05.200 of the Immaculate, but he once said to us when, uh, Mario Cuomo was elected governor, he

00:16:09.900 said, he said, um, he says, if God doesn't punish New York city, then he owes Sodom and Gomorrah

00:16:16.040 an apology, you know, and exactly, you know, so I mean, when you look at the sin, the sin

00:16:24.080 of abortion, the thousands and thousands that are killed every day through abortion. When

00:16:29.180 you look at the sins against nature, uh, with homosexuality, sodomy, um, that is just being 1.00

00:16:36.160 promoted now. They're, they're gloating in it. It's apparently, it's just, uh, uh, and, 0.86

00:16:42.080 and then when you think of, um, uh, it's probably the biggest crisis in, in, in this country and

00:16:49.380 probably throughout the world, but it's certainly in this country, uh, the statistics show, and

00:16:52.780 I had a priest that showed me these statistics polls, uh, of men between the age of 15 to 30.

00:16:59.040 Uh, and I know we're not saying anything new to you, but, but you know, he, the, the poll

00:17:04.280 is saying that 80% of our young men between the age of 15 to 30 are looking at internet

00:17:09.840 pornography, um, at least once a month and a lot of them, it's once a month, it's probably

00:17:16.180 a lot more. Some of them are even addicted. It's become a whole addiction. And so, you know,

00:17:21.800 the, the whole, and that, that behind the scenes of that is, is human trafficking. And, you

00:17:26.960 know, even if it's not human trafficking, I guarantee you that the ladies that they're 1.00

00:17:30.500 presenting in those movies, that it's not like they applied for jobs at Walmart. I mean,

00:17:35.000 it's a dirty, nasty business. Uh, and it's what it is. And anybody that goes and looks

00:17:41.420 at those websites, because besides the fact that there's demons all over the images, uh,

00:17:46.600 that will torment and bother you for the rest of your life, that besides that, there's this

00:17:51.940 whole fact that, um, anybody that visits a website, uh, and maybe people aren't aware

00:17:57.720 of this, when you visit a website, that means traffic to the website. And that means that

00:18:02.480 there's more revenue going to the website because advertisers want to, uh, you know, sponsor and

00:18:08.480 get advertising out of that. And so when they go and look at these images, they're actually

00:18:13.260 financially supporting, you know, through, through these advertisers and et cetera, they're actually

00:18:19.760 supporting financially human trafficking and all these other nasty things. So it's not just like

00:18:26.060 looking at a dirty image or something. It's, you know, you're actually contributing to, uh, to this

00:18:32.620 culture. And how can God turn a blind eye? I know presidential election coming up, uh, nobody's going to

00:18:39.560 talk about internet pornography. I mean, and yet, and yet between the age of 15 to 30, if you have a

00:18:46.320 thousand of them, there are 800, 800 of them are, have looked at pornography on the internet in the

00:18:51.320 last month. And yet they won't say a peep. They won't say a peep. One, one of the things I always

00:18:57.260 say about that father is, is our lady of Fatima came and told the children that more souls go to

00:19:02.260 hell because of sins of the flesh and are, as, as Lucia explained, sins of impurity than for any other

00:19:07.620 sin. And so, you know, people often say, oh, it's not that bad now. It was worse in the times past.

00:19:13.580 Well, that's just a plain lie by the numbers, because by the numbers, there are more people

00:19:18.500 looking at porn today on the internet than there were people alive in 1917. So, uh, it's just an

00:19:26.720 unbelievable situation. But let me ask you also about another category of sin that I think is quite

00:19:31.620 unique in our day. Um, whereas we, we talked about all of the sins, which, which we know, uh, lead more

00:19:38.100 people to hell than for any other reason, but there's another sin going on today. Um, and that

00:19:43.420 is the sin of heresy in the church from the church, from even the hierarchy in the church. And I think

00:19:51.060 this is also astounding when our Lord, uh, said to, uh, you know, the apostles that it would be better

00:19:56.680 for you if you have a millstone tied about, you're not going to be thrown into the sea rather than

00:20:01.020 confuse the little ones. Uh, aren't we dealing or seeing perhaps the punishment also for that sin of

00:20:06.980 infidelity on the part of who are supposed to be the successors of the apostles?

00:20:12.440 Yeah. I mean, there's, there's, um, two things come to mind, but, uh, you know, obviously, um, uh,

00:20:21.160 I think there's a priest that used the analogy of not preaching the fullness of truth. It's like,

00:20:27.260 it's like a priestly form of contraception. Like it's not allowing the seed of God's word to bear fruit

00:20:35.700 and go out, uh, because they don't speak on certain topics or, uh, they, they, they just,

00:20:43.580 they fail to lead us in our Catholic faith. Um, and certainly growing up myself in the seventies

00:20:50.040 and eighties, uh, I've, you know, and in my generation, I think we can say we were robbed.

00:20:54.820 It was highway robbery. We never got any catechism. Uh, you know, I mean, I even, uh, I kind of laugh

00:21:01.440 John Henry. I went to the school, the famous school, Burbuff preparatory school in Indianapolis.

00:21:06.420 I don't know if you're familiar with the school, but they've been all over the headlines because

00:21:10.100 the Bishop has said that they can't be called Catholic. And I laugh because they haven't been

00:21:15.200 Catholic since I went there, which was in 83 to 87. And my brother was there till 89. Um, and, uh,

00:21:23.000 but I mean, I was there four years. This is a school run by Jesuit priests and they never,

00:21:29.440 I never was told about the Trinity. I mean, the father, son, and Holy spirit. I mean,

00:21:34.200 that's like the central dogma of the universe of our Catholic faith. Um, I was never told about

00:21:41.200 the incarnation, that Christ was true God and true man about the redemption. Um, and we had,

00:21:48.160 I mean, in four years we had every year, we had a full semester of quote unquote religion class that

00:21:53.660 was mandatory and they didn't talk about anything of that nature. Um, and so, I mean, we're reaping

00:22:00.420 those fruits. And when the, the shepherds and the priests don't communicate those truths to the

00:22:08.720 faithful, um, or if they misrepresent, represent them, I remember, uh, father Richard McBrien was

00:22:15.740 appearing on, uh, uh, it was a 60 minutes had an exorcism on, uh, on their show in 1990. They did a

00:22:24.560 special feature. And afterwards they had Tom broke off interviewing two priests. And one of them was

00:22:29.960 father Richard McBrien and on public television, uh, before the whole nation, uh, he said that angels

00:22:37.300 didn't exist, which is heresy. I mean, it's total heresy. Uh, I mean, I think that's excommunication,

00:22:44.740 uh, Lattes Intensia that he just, he, he denied a dogma of the faith that there are angels, that

00:22:51.300 there are demons. Um, so yeah, that's certainly part of it. And the other thing, if I can bring

00:22:56.660 this in, because it's, it's been such a heart wrenching, uh, few years for me personally, John

00:23:02.640 Henry, because, uh, when I was at Burbuff, I mean, there was a, uh, I mean, I was, I started off at

00:23:09.860 Burbuff. I was, uh, my first three semesters, I was a straight A student. Uh, so I was very

00:23:13.920 diligent and, and worked very hard and respected by the teachers. And I remember the president of

00:23:20.380 the school, a Jesuit priest named father Joseph Casey one time, and I don't remember the occasion,

00:23:25.940 but he, he said, uh, he saw, I don't know if he, I don't remember the occasion, but he asked me to

00:23:31.240 come to his office. Um, and so, I mean, I was a, this is the president of the school. He's a priest.

00:23:37.940 And so I went to this office one day, uh, as he'd asked me to, and I stopped into his office.

00:23:44.240 Um, and you know what he told me, John Henry, he told me, he goes, you know what? Uh, he goes,

00:23:49.700 you know, he goes, you know, you're a very good dancer. I saw you the other day at the dance.

00:23:56.200 This priest was stalking me. He was stalking me. And I was just like, it was so bizarre. Like I

00:24:03.420 thought he was going to talk to me about something important, you know, like, um, and so the thing was

00:24:09.820 then, uh, I don't know, it was a couple of weeks later. I was on the swim team at the time, at the

00:24:14.160 time. And, uh, you know, we didn't, we were a small private school. We don't have our own swimming

00:24:19.060 pool. So we would always, all of our swim meets were away. So we went out, the swim team, we went out,

00:24:24.300 we were getting on the bus to go to our swim meet. And who was there? Father Casey, the president of

00:24:30.120 the school. Um, and we thought, well, this is kind of neat because nobody went to the swim meets to

00:24:35.400 cheer us on. And so this priest was coming. And, uh, after the swim meet, we get on the bus and he

00:24:43.420 comes back and he makes it a point. I'm like sitting in the school bus seat. He makes it a point to sit

00:24:48.180 next to me. There were plenty of empty seats, John Henry. He sat next to me. So I was basically pinned

00:24:53.500 between this, this stalking priest to, and I now know, I mean, the reason he came to the swim meet

00:24:59.100 was to stalk me, to look at me in my swimsuit. And, uh, uh, and then the other thing that rebuffed

00:25:06.800 too was, uh, the, the president, that was the president, the principal of the school, Father

00:25:11.320 Bernard Knoth. He hid all the papers in 2003 because he was accused of molesting a boy, uh,

00:25:18.480 a teenager, uh, would be a homosexual basically. But, uh, he, he molested a boy there during the 0.59

00:25:25.580 time that I was there. Um, and he was laicized and also the religion teacher there. Uh, there was,

00:25:32.220 uh, two feminists and a communist. Uh, the, the, the man was a communist guy and real wacko liberal 0.53

00:25:39.360 guy. Um, it was full-blown heresy and he was taking the, he was a wrestling coach too. And he was

00:25:45.800 grooming the families and he was taking these boys on these weekend retreats and he finally got

00:25:50.300 arrested, uh, after he was let go from her buff. Um, so the point I'm trying to make here is from a 0.94

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, 0.87

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 1.00

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

00:28:08.080 bit about what we can do?

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. 0.99

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?

00:43:35.340 For your King, for your King.

00:43:40.860 Hello, this is John Henry Weston. I'd like to invite you to subscribe to the John Henry Weston

00:43:45.740 Show YouTube channel if you haven't already done so. There you will find all the past episodes and

00:43:51.260 much more. Thanks again for watching, and may God bless you.

The John-Henry Westen Show - March 24, 2020

'It's About Sin!' Hermit says coronavirus is a 'chastisement'

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