The John-Henry Westen Show - Mother Miriam Special ｜ Taking Perpetual Vows With Bishop Joseph Strickland

00:00:00.000 If I find a good bishop, I'd cross the ocean for him.

00:00:04.000 A fearless good bishop, who is teaching good faith, wants to deliver to the saints,

00:00:10.000 I'd go anywhere to support him.

00:00:19.000 All this acreage, is this your land still?

00:00:23.000 This is all ours. Isn't it amazing?

00:00:27.000 It is, it is. How far? Tell us when it ends as being yours.

00:00:32.000 Pink Ribbon means it's ours. Probably to here.

00:00:38.000 Till here. And then it goes back up our ways.

00:00:41.000 Back. Quite a bit. Quite a bit.

00:00:44.000 Beautiful.

00:00:45.000 I have to walk it. They had a survey company come out and put the pink ribbons in the stakes,

00:00:50.000 but I haven't walked it.

00:00:52.000 And the thing is, they have a couple of hundred acres of land, the owners.

00:00:58.000 And they've decided to sell it all.

00:01:01.000 And they've already, we're, if this van is the acreage, we're right in the middle of it.

00:01:07.000 And they're partitioning anywhere from 15 acres to 92, partitioning it all off.

00:01:13.000 They want to sell it all.

00:01:14.000 Wow.

00:01:15.000 And so, I told them when they're ready, let me know, because I'll announce it.

00:01:19.000 And we could have a whole Catholic Benedictine community.

00:01:23.000 It'd be nice, because people want to leave.

00:01:26.000 Hopefully a quarter of Benedictine priests across from you, so they can come over and celebrate.

00:01:30.000 Wouldn't that be wonderful? That'd be absolutely wonderful.

00:01:32.000 Wow.

00:01:33.000 Bishop Strickland is, he's an absolute.

00:01:39.000 He's an absolute.

00:01:40.000 One of the things that I wanted to talk to you about.

00:01:42.000 So, we've learned that approximately 400 families have moved here because of Bishop Strickland.

00:01:48.000 And the news that something may happen to him, that he might be cancelled, as it were, or sent somewhere else, or whatever, is, first of all, it's stunning.

00:02:02.000 It's not surprising, but it's still a shocker.

00:02:05.000 And devastating to the people here.

00:02:07.000 Yeah.

00:02:08.000 What would that mean here?

00:02:10.000 Yeah.

00:02:11.000 The people would be devastated because they came here because of him.

00:02:17.000 And when Bishop invited us here, he said, Mother, the only thing I can promise you is that I'll be here forever, because he already knew they weren't pleased with him.

00:02:28.000 And I said, we don't know the future.

00:02:33.000 We live by the day.

00:02:34.000 I said, if you go, we'll follow you.

00:02:37.000 No problem.

00:02:38.000 But we didn't expect to buy land like this.

00:02:41.000 We've never had anything like this.

00:02:43.000 So, I don't know what will happen.

00:02:45.000 It would depend upon, if the Vatican puts him out, it would depend upon who they put in.

00:02:50.000 Yeah.

00:02:51.000 And we have no clue of that.

00:02:54.000 What he's been doing, the bishops that have been replacing bishops, hasn't been a good situation.

00:03:00.000 So, we don't know.

00:03:02.000 And the people will be just keeping their fingers crossed that a good bishop comes.

00:03:07.000 Yeah.

00:03:08.000 But we don't know.

00:03:11.000 And so, I think I mentioned to you that one of the reasons we moved our vows up was to make sure we could be here.

00:03:20.000 Yeah.

00:03:21.000 But we don't know.

00:03:22.000 And he doesn't know.

00:03:23.000 But what Bishop Strickland is doing is doubling his efforts to be who he's called to be as a bishop.

00:03:32.000 He's speaking out more than ever before.

00:03:34.000 He is spending every second at every parish, the entire diocese taking care of the sheep. 0.91

00:03:43.000 And it's a huge diocese physically.

00:03:45.000 Yeah.

00:03:46.000 Feet wide.

00:03:47.000 But this church.

00:03:48.000 He's going all over the place to make sure the sheep are good

00:03:52.000 and everything is in place if he has to leave.

00:03:55.000 Yeah.

00:03:56.000 He's an amazing man.

00:03:57.000 And he says, you know, who would ever think of me?

00:04:00.000 A kid from Texas, that's what he calls himself.

00:04:02.000 A kid from Texas.

00:04:03.000 What do I want with?

00:04:05.000 But he doesn't know.

00:04:06.000 You know, they came to silence him, those two bishops, and he, you can't silence him.

00:04:12.000 I'm called to preach the gospel. You don't want the gospel preached. He's not radical. He's not

00:04:19.240 radical. He's just preaching salvation. Hey, my friends, now is the time to stand up and fight.

00:04:29.300 We are just about to have the Synod on Synodality, and everything that you've seen indicates that

00:04:36.240 it's going to be an absolute disaster. We have Fr. James Martin as a personal appointee of the Pope

00:04:43.340 speaking at it. We've got Cardinal Cupich, Cardinal Tobin. These picks of the Pope to engage in this

00:04:51.100 Synod are indicative of where we're going. We're going into heresy, and at these times of great 0.83

00:04:58.980 crisis, the church, especially those called in the laity to work for the glory of Christ and his

00:05:06.720 church, are called to gather and strategize. Back in 2014, LifeSite launched something called

00:05:13.080 Rome Life Forum. It was a gathering at that point of some 75 life and family leaders from all around

00:05:19.700 the world to strategize as to what we could do. And when we gathered, the majority of people were

00:05:25.260 most concerned about what? About Pope Francis, about what was going on in Rome. But this was 2014,

00:05:33.020 but the life and family leaders saw it first. Now, a decade on, we are confronted with some of the

00:05:41.840 most severe challenges the church has ever faced. And so, our tradition at LifeSite is to continue

00:05:47.380 with Rome Life Forum, which has continued every year until we had to take a break over COVID because

00:05:53.020 we weren't permitted. But we're starting it up again. Please come, if you feel so called, to Rome,

00:05:59.820 October 31st and November 1st, the very end of the Synod on Synodality. And we'll be there to

00:06:07.760 strategize with his eminence, with his excellency, and with many life and family leaders from around

00:06:14.420 the world. For LifeSite News, this is John Henry Weston. And may God bless you.

00:06:21.260 So, one of the things that we learned that was really beautiful about Bishop Strickland was

00:06:25.940 we talked with a friend who knows him well, and he told us of his routine of two hours of adoration

00:06:35.120 confession before the Mass in the morning. That's right. So, we thought, whoa.

00:06:39.260 On his knees before the place of sacrifice. I know, for an hour and a half, and then just stunning.

00:06:43.980 So, because it is funny, you think of all the bishops in the United States, and they do have

00:06:50.860 a couple of handfuls of very faithful bishops, but none like him. He's unique in that he stands out

00:06:59.540 for speaking out. He speaks out. He's not silent. That's where he differs from basically everyone.

00:07:08.400 There's one notable exception in Bishop Schneider. I mean, there are the two bishops on the planet

00:07:12.740 that are speaking out on a scale like that, I guess you could say. I'm sure the African bishops are too,

00:07:18.140 but we don't hear them too much over here. But they, the two of them, have been gifted like just

00:07:24.420 about no one else on the planet. But when I heard of the adoration, everything made sense again. It

00:07:31.760 was like, oh, that's how I get, it was funny because I was told it and I, the person I was

00:07:39.620 talking to, he laughed because I reacted with it in such a big way because it's like, oh, of course,

00:07:47.700 that's why. Because if you absorb, and I don't mean to belittle, but then any kid from Kansas or

00:07:55.040 from Texas can be that fisherman. And it's, it's just, it's beautiful. He's had to do a lot of hard

00:08:10.940 things. And he's been, no, no. And please God, he can be, it really is now, these waters are perilous,

00:08:25.180 so navigating them is, is a, is a challenge. And he's got, you know, the ear to the Holy

00:08:33.280 Spirit, quite literally, so. His flock love him. And they've just, you may know it, they put together

00:08:41.200 Defending Our Faith Conference, you know that, August 31st, September 1st, with him speaking and

00:08:48.100 a couple of others, just to support him. Yeah. Just to support him. And they wrote, Bishop Snyder

00:08:54.880 called to support him. Bishop Snyder wrote a letter of support. They just want to support him.

00:09:01.400 Why should people come, even from out of state, for September 1st, 2nd, the conference?

00:09:09.020 Why should they come? I tell you what, if I find a good bishop, I'd cross the ocean for him.

00:09:18.560 A fearless, good bishop, who is teaching the faith, wants to deliver to the saints, I'd go

00:09:25.520 anywhere to support him, and to be with him, and to be encouraged by him. So in my mind, I wish

00:09:31.380 the world would show up. The whole world. I think what they've rented, the place they've

00:09:36.260 rented, holds about 1,000 people. I'd like to see 10,000 people flood that place, and show

00:09:42.780 the Vatican how hungry the sheep are for truth, and for a true shepherd. That's what I would love.

00:09:50.280 I'm going to ask him today, if he's open to coming. So we're running World Life Forum,

00:09:57.000 October 31st, November 1st, and Bishop Snyder is speaking, and Cardinal Muller is speaking

00:10:05.020 at it. But I was going to ask him if he'll come as well, as I've asked you. And if he's

00:10:15.880 able to, that would be wonderful. But it's a challenge, because we're going to see, I

00:10:21.640 think, at least from what it looks like, we're going to see a more clear agenda, if you will,

00:10:29.660 out of this synod, even first chapter of it. We'll see what it brings.

00:10:36.300 One of the things I meant to ask you as well, I don't know if you saw it, but I did an interview

00:10:43.020 with Dr. Peter Krasniewski.

00:10:45.960 He's, I don't know that, I don't think I saw it.

00:10:49.120 So he spoke of, because it was right when the rumor came out that Bishop Strickland could

00:10:55.980 be canceled, and, or moved, or whatever.

00:10:59.140 Oh, I did see it, because he said, you resist, because there's no grounds for it. I did see

00:11:06.860 that. That's right.

00:11:07.860 Yeah, it's a very controversial thing to say, I guess, but it makes total sense. In the,

00:11:16.060 in the church, in olden days, if you will, before Vatican II, the bishop was wedded to the

00:11:22.960 diocese. It was like the husband of the diocese. And that, Peter was explaining, makes a lot

00:11:28.360 of sense, you know, and so we, we experience this all the time nowadays, that your bishop

00:11:33.200 has moved to become Archbishop of this or that, or something else. Yeah, do you, how do you

00:11:40.340 feel about the situation with regard to bishops and dioceses and moving and all of that?

00:11:48.440 I think if he's a good bishop, nobody wants him to move. Nobody wants him to be replaced.

00:11:54.220 And it, it has the sense of being the job, because sheep know the shepherd's voice, and he wouldn't

00:12:03.420 leave them. So I, I think for bishops to move around like that is, it doesn't feel Catholic,

00:12:12.280 it feels Protestant also, moving all over the place. And people, um, choosing their churches

00:12:24.460 and all that. I, I wish it wouldn't happen. But of course, if it's a bad bishop, you want

00:12:31.280 him to be moved. But I, I would say that no, if he's, we would love to see a bishop stay

00:12:38.280 forever and position not make that issue or difference. You know, um, uh, I don't know

00:12:49.280 where this whole, is clericalism, the right word, seeing, uh, the priesthood as a queer, 0.86

00:12:58.280 moving up, getting promoted, getting more, it makes me ill. It makes me ill. Uh, because

00:13:08.280 you say they've lost, I say either they lost their faith or they never had it. I have no idea

00:13:14.280 how so many bishops can fall as they have. Shocking. I'm not shocked. I'm a New Yorker.

00:13:20.280 Nothing shocks me. But the way the bishops, the scriptures, oh, how the mighty have fallen.

00:13:25.280 The way the bishops have fallen is, it's shocking to me. How could they have had genuine faith

00:13:33.280 faith and had position and power and falsehood and everything else take over, let alone immorality.

00:13:45.280 It's, it's, it's just awful. And for me, John Henry, I just, I live 24-7 for souls to be saved.

00:13:59.280 I don't want anything else. Um, I'm embarrassed before the world for the dirty laundry of the

00:14:20.280 Catholic Church being exposed. I'm embarrassed of what's happening and being reported all

00:14:27.280 over the news. It's just so horrible. It's so horrible. I think it was Cardinal Buehler who

00:14:33.280 said, uh, to Raymond Arroyo, we need to start this over again with 12.

00:14:39.280 12 that will give their whole lives. It's so, so awful. And you want to tell everybody the

00:14:48.280 Catholic Church is the fullness of faith. The faith. But it was the same when I came in.

00:14:56.280 The hardest thing of becoming Catholic is Catholics. It's a shame. But today it's so, so awful. 1.00

00:15:04.280 LGBT, I'm not saying anything new. This is old news now. But bishops, everyone's welcome.

00:15:11.280 LGBTQ, welcome them to teach them the faith, not to. It's a transgenderism. Bishops getting into, 1.00

00:15:19.280 getting into that, fighting for it. It's just so, it's horrible.

00:15:25.280 Yeah.

00:15:26.280 It's horrible. And on such a huge scale, all over the world, in all the countries.

00:15:30.280 Yeah.

00:15:31.280 You know more than I know.

00:15:32.280 With all that's going on in the world and the Church today, it's actually critical for

00:15:38.280 us to devote time to prayer and retreat as our Lord did in the Gospels. Now, there are

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00:16:34.280 at www.ffhl.org. That's www.ffhl.org. Or call 855-500-3345. That's 855-500-3345. And now, back to the program.

00:16:53.280 The only holdout, it seems, is Africa. And the bishops there have maintained a strength that I was

00:17:03.280 stunned by because when we were there, the bishops, as you know, Pope Francis on August

00:17:09.280 the 25th last year said that the bishops of Africa need a conversion on the issue of these

00:17:15.280 anti-sodomy laws. And we went to Africa, and I was actually worried, maybe the bishops are

00:17:20.280 going to obey or follow the advice of Pope Francis. And it was, no way. In fact, when he came,

00:17:29.280 he came in September, when we were still there, he had sort of this, he didn't mention it while

00:17:34.280 he was there, but he was leaving at that press conference with Justin Welby and Ian Greenshields,

00:17:38.280 the leader of the Church of Scotland and the Church of England. And they had this talk again

00:17:42.280 about the need to be open and welcoming on the LGBT issues. And again, the need for the

00:17:48.280 bishops of Africa to convert on the issue. And you know what? Right after that, for Lent,

00:17:55.280 the bishops of Africa started a campaign to oppose the LGBT agenda. They went in the opposite

00:18:03.280 direction. It was beautiful.

00:18:07.280 So, Mother, it was a very providential day to come on a day when two of your sisters were clothed

00:18:24.280 with the habit. That's just beautiful. And what does the ceremony that you're going to undergo

00:18:32.280 tomorrow mean? What is that final vows? What is that? And what does that mean for your sisters,

00:18:38.280 too? What's that process?

00:18:39.280 It's an eight-year process, actually. You come in, you're aspiring for a month. You're

00:18:44.280 postulating for six months to a year. You're not religious yet. You're postulating.

00:18:48.280 And what does postulating mean?

00:18:50.280 Observing, experiencing the charism, the work, the apostolate, the prayer life, the character

00:18:57.280 of the community, to help discern if you are called to religious life, and to that community.

00:19:04.280 Because someone could come and say, no, it's too active for me. I want totally...

00:19:07.280 But they're still dressed in layman's clothes?

00:19:09.280 No, for the month of Byron Sea, but then they have a postulant outfit, which they got out

00:19:14.280 of this morning. But it's one black skirt, scapular, half, and a white blouse, and a black scarf

00:19:22.280 on their head. Which makes them look more like sisters than sisters today in the world.

00:19:27.280 That's true. And then after six months to a year, if they want to enter the novitiate,

00:19:34.280 as they did this morning, the novitiate is the actual entrance into religious life.

00:19:41.280 Even if you've been with the community in a year, and you become a sister for the first

00:19:44.280 time. And you receive the habit and your religious name. And some communities let the sisters pick

00:19:50.280 their religious name or choose from a few. I give them their name.

00:19:55.280 Oh, wow.

00:19:56.280 I give them. It really helps them. I could become a wreck in case, you know, I give them a name

00:20:02.280 and they're going to live with it the rest of their life. But I study them.

00:20:05.280 Okay.

00:20:06.280 And...

00:20:07.280 Tell us about that. You study them. What do you mean?

00:20:10.280 Well, I want them, I want them to have names of saints that they want to live up to,

00:20:17.280 who gave their lives, and who they want to emulate so they could be their saint through life.

00:20:24.280 And so I look at their hearts, their love. One gal this morning, Sister Joan Marie, Joan of Arc,

00:20:34.280 she is the most timid person. Gentle. You can hear her when she talks. You have to say sometimes, speak up.

00:20:44.280 She's shy. She's not aggressive. Sister, why are you standing there? Well, I wasn't sure if I should do this.

00:20:53.280 Just do it. Don't worry. Use your judgment. Everything. But every time I have spoken about in the community,

00:21:03.280 things have happened about rescuing children or rescuing families or rescuing a wife that's being abused or finding shelter for someone or doing this.

00:21:16.280 She, more than anyone in the community, is with me. She lights up. She lights up. She's happy. She's the first one to say yes. She doesn't hesitate. She'll do anything to rescue anyone.

00:21:26.280 But she's an LVN, almost a nurse. And she's heroic. You know, I'll be reading about the saints or martyrs and all, and she loves it.

00:21:37.280 So, I found out Joan of Arc was her greatest saint. And so, I don't think she was so surprised that I named her Sister Joan Marie.

00:21:49.280 But she was ecstatic that her title is of the Holy Cross. That's amazing. So, for me, when I first started this, I thought, I'm going to be a wreck.

00:21:59.280 How do I give somebody a name? They're going to use the rest of their life. But it's turned out. It's turned out. Thanks be to God. It's wonderful.

00:22:07.280 So, observe their character, what encourages them. Not what I think they need, but people that really inspire them to be who they are.

00:22:19.280 That St. Francis de Sales, one of his favorite quotes, be who you are and be that well. That's what I want for the sisters.

00:22:26.280 And were you able to do that with Sister Gertrude as well?

00:22:29.280 Oh, my goodness. We were in, we were somewhere. It could have been, I don't think it was in Rome with you, but we were somewhere, and she was a postulant.

00:22:40.280 And she found St. Gertrude the Great on her bookshelves. And she said, you know, Mother, I've never known who St. Gertrude was.

00:22:49.280 And she couldn't put the book down. She read it over and over again, adopted her way of prayer, everything.

00:22:57.280 And St. Gertrude, of course, was a Benedictine, St. Gertrude the Great. And you know how they say, the saints choose you, you don't choose them.

00:23:07.280 And that became her love. That was the easiest thing in the world for me, St. Gertrude, because every one of the sisters is going to have a form of Mary.

00:23:14.280 Mary, Marie, Maria, Miriam, every one of the form of Mary, because we're her daughters.

00:23:20.280 So, so Gertrude, Marie, then I said for four weeks, Marie Gertrude, Mary Gertrude, Gertrude, how do I do that?

00:23:27.280 So, come to that. And then, and then for everyone that has a child. And so, St. Gertrude, which many people don't know,

00:23:36.280 we know that our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary to show her his sacred heart.

00:23:43.280 But 700 years before that, he appeared to St. Gertrude first to spread that devotion.

00:23:50.280 And very few people know that, but he did. He came to her to spread the devotion that she's Benedictine and Margaret Mary is visitation, St. Francis de Sales,

00:24:02.280 and both of them are our patrons. And he came to both of them on the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, both of them, the Beloved,

00:24:12.280 and St. Gertrude said, Lord, why did you wait so long to give us this devotion? It's not in Scripture, except it was

00:24:19.280 John who leaned on his breast, St. John the Evangelist. And he said, because there would be a time the world would need him more.

00:24:25.280 And then he appeared, I think about 700 years later, to St. Margaret Mary and told her to spread that devotion.

00:24:32.280 So, Sister Gertrude, both of them, so she is Gertrude Maria of the Sacred Heart.

00:24:39.280 It takes me time to put all that together, but I start praying from the day that they come on a retreat.

00:24:50.280 Beautiful. So, um...

00:24:54.280 And the young lady who's here as well, Eileen is her name?

00:24:57.280 Eileen.

00:24:58.280 So, is she, or she's just visiting for now, and she doesn't know if she's gonna...

00:25:03.280 She's discerning, however, she came with us for a retreat, a discernment retreat, when we were in Kansas.

00:25:11.280 And she loved us. She walked around bare feet. She's a little country girl. 0.96

00:25:15.280 So, we would say to her a certain time, you can't be bare feet. You'd be right in the house, in the field, but church, but shoes.

00:25:24.280 So, she put socks on. So, we named her little socks.

00:25:27.280 So, she kept in touch with us, and Christmas cards, and other things.

00:25:32.280 And then she wrote me a couple months ago, can I visit you again?

00:25:36.280 So, she's here again. She absolutely loves us, and we love her. She's a sweetheart.

00:25:42.280 But, we had a big conversation two days ago, she and I, and she said,

00:25:46.280 I love you all. I just love it, but I think I want children.

00:25:52.280 And I said, this is fabulous. Don't worry about that. This is great.

00:25:57.280 And it'll be good that you checked out Religious Life.

00:26:00.280 Someone who wants children should check out. Someone who wants Religious Life should date. I said, fine. 0.99

00:26:06.280 So, she's 24, and she just doesn't know that she doesn't want to be married. 0.88

00:26:15.280 She's not sure. I said, have you dated? She said, well.

00:26:18.280 So, we had one gal leave us, came in her 20s, and she now has a baby and married. 0.90

00:26:26.280 It's a wonderful thing. We've become part of their family. It's good.

00:26:30.280 So, she really loves us, and we love her. She's a delight. But, she'll probably, she's...

00:26:37.280 So, it's funny then, because you then sort of have a relationship with these women who are then married,

00:26:44.280 but they discern with you a little bit, and you still feel tied to them.

00:26:48.280 Oh, and they to us. And we have Oblates. So, we have Benedictine Oblates, Oblates in the world, who follow the rule of Saint Benedict.

00:26:59.280 And the particular charism, so to speak, of the particular Saint Benedictine community they want to be a part of.

00:27:08.280 But, it's how to live that in the world.

00:27:10.280 Oh, okay.

00:27:11.280 So, if we don't live the rule, and pray and all that, once we have vows, it's a matter of sin.

00:27:17.280 There's always reasons, if there's reasons. But, in the world, there's no sin.

00:27:22.280 You're supposed to pray five times a day, and you don't pray 15 minutes one day, because your family will always come first, not a matter.

00:27:29.280 But, it gives them a rule of life, and it's very helpful.

00:27:34.280 You know that here on LifeSite, we love to tell amazing stories.

00:27:38.280 There are a few so heroic and amazing as the story we're about to tell you that's coming soon.

00:27:45.280 You gotta watch this.

00:27:48.280 When I was in seminary, I was reading a book by Henry Nouwen.

00:27:52.280 He talked about a nuclear man, you know, and people who grew up in the 1980s were kind of formed by that immediate and constant threat of nuclear annihilation.

00:28:05.280 My generation has grown up, you know, under the specter of priestly sexual abuse.

00:28:11.280 What say you, Mr. Foreperson, is the defendant guilty or not guilty?

00:28:15.280 I think that, for many of us, that has also been all-encompassing.

00:28:20.280 You know, I mean, I entered the seminary in January of 2004, and it's basically been there for me from the beginning.

00:28:30.280 One priest's sacrifice for many priestly sins.

00:28:35.280 For the layman, what is the rule of St. Benedict? What does that mean?

00:28:50.280 You've heard the expression, aura et labora.

00:28:56.280 So, aura, pray, labora, work. Work and pray.

00:29:01.280 And my heart for families is that they would pray.

00:29:08.280 So, we would go into families, before they were with me, I was in Oklahoma, once a month, and we'd help them set up a prayer table.

00:29:18.280 And we would bring a little triptych of Our Lady.

00:29:21.280 Our Lady by the Lupe is the Lady of Our Order, but it could be the Holy Family.

00:29:24.280 It could be any image of Mary or our Lord.

00:29:27.280 And we'd go into their house and figure out a prayer table.

00:29:31.280 And they'd say, oh, we don't have, we don't, do you have any tablecloth?

00:29:34.280 No, we don't have.

00:29:35.280 They'd say, give me a pillowcase.

00:29:36.280 And we get a table.

00:29:37.280 We get a little spider.

00:29:38.280 It's clean.

00:29:39.280 Put a pillowcase on it.

00:29:41.280 Put our little triptych or image, we'll bring them.

00:29:45.280 And bring them two candles in a little glass, not too big, because of the children, they can't knock them over.

00:29:52.280 And the children say, can we get flowers?

00:29:55.280 So, they go pick flowers, put it on the little altar.

00:29:57.280 It's a home altar.

00:29:59.280 And we bring them a bag of beads.

00:30:02.280 I don't know if they ever told you this, but it's, we get beads.

00:30:06.280 Marbles.

00:30:07.280 And they all look the same, totally clear or a million colors.

00:30:13.280 You can't tell whose is what.

00:30:16.280 We bring them a bag of marbles.

00:30:17.280 I had a family of seven children.

00:30:20.280 I would bring them 50 marbles.

00:30:22.280 And the idea, and a little clear bowl.

00:30:25.280 And I put the bowl on the table before a lady and give them 50 marbles in a bag they put behind the image.

00:30:32.280 Every time the children did something good for someone, they couldn't tell anybody how to be between them and God.

00:30:39.280 They couldn't say, I did it.

00:30:41.280 They helped a friend at school.

00:30:44.280 They didn't beat up their baby sister.

00:30:46.280 They helped their mother do the dishes the first time she asked or without asking.

00:30:51.280 They did something good.

00:30:53.280 Between them and God, they could take a bead out of the bag and put it in the bowl and give it to Our Lady to give to Jesus.

00:31:01.280 And I would come back once a month.

00:31:04.280 And this one little home, the oldest was 12, seven children.

00:31:08.280 And he'd, look, Mother Miriam!

00:31:10.280 Not a single bead left.

00:31:11.280 You know?

00:31:12.280 And then we'd start again.

00:31:13.280 And the parents would say to me, could we do this too?

00:31:16.280 Could we put beads in also?

00:31:18.280 Whoop!

00:31:19.280 And one home, they had one daughter who they adopted.

00:31:24.280 And actually it was their son's daughter.

00:31:26.280 So her older brother is her father and she doesn't know her.

00:31:28.280 Just a lot of drugs, all kinds of things.

00:31:33.280 So we helped them set that up.

00:31:35.280 And we had a little booklet with prayers and teaching at the time.

00:31:40.280 And we would give it to the father.

00:31:42.280 And they'd gather around.

00:31:44.280 And I said, the father would say, oh no, give it to my wife.

00:31:48.280 She's better at prayer.

00:31:49.280 And I would always say, I know.

00:31:50.280 I don't know what God had in mind, but it's your job.

00:31:53.280 So we'd make the father pray.

00:31:55.280 And the kids would go.

00:31:57.280 And the wife also tried not to laugh. 0.97

00:31:59.280 But it changed the family.

00:32:01.280 And this one little girl was eight, ADD, failing in everything.

00:32:08.280 Third grade, but failing.

00:32:10.280 Needed special tutors and all of that.

00:32:13.280 The first month, I went back there a month later to see how they were doing.

00:32:20.280 And I wasn't driving.

00:32:21.280 So the husband picked me up and the wife drove me home.

00:32:24.280 And they both said the same thing.

00:32:26.280 You will not believe what's happened at our house in one month.

00:32:31.280 We've experienced God's grace like we've never known.

00:32:34.280 Because they pray every night.

00:32:36.280 That's part of the plan.

00:32:38.280 And I try to help parents.

00:32:39.280 Don't let your children leave in the morning without blessing them.

00:32:43.280 Don't let them go to bed at night without blessing them.

00:32:47.280 Very easy, simple to start.

00:32:50.280 And this little girl, they write me to this day.

00:32:53.280 They support us to this day.

00:32:55.280 They don't have a lot of money.

00:32:57.280 In a month, not only was she no longer failing, she had a C-plus.

00:33:05.280 They decided she didn't need special tutoring.

00:33:08.280 One month, they couldn't believe what happened to her.

00:33:11.280 Nobody taught her.

00:33:12.280 It was the family.

00:33:13.280 Getting together and praying and talking about the faith every night.

00:33:17.280 Another family went in, had four girls, babies, all of them.

00:33:23.280 And I went and they had a shelf in a case.

00:33:26.280 They didn't have a table.

00:33:27.280 The shelf is nice.

00:33:28.280 We could put our lady on the shelf.

00:33:30.280 No fuss.

00:33:32.280 And I gave the booklet to the father.

00:33:34.280 I said, here, this is the prayers.

00:33:36.280 He said, oh, no, no, no.

00:33:38.280 And my wife, I said, no, you.

00:33:41.280 That's the way God was.

00:33:43.280 I don't know what he was saying, but it's you.

00:33:45.280 So he'd be embarrassed now.

00:33:47.280 So he took it.

00:33:48.280 And the wife is trying not to laugh. 0.82

00:33:50.280 And the children don't.

00:33:52.280 And as he started laughing, as he started praying,

00:33:56.280 the little girls went over to him.

00:33:58.280 They were hanging on his legs, looking at him.

00:34:02.280 The place changed.

00:34:04.280 He became the leader of his house.

00:34:07.280 Only for leading in prayer.

00:34:09.280 And I said, now, don't let your wife gather the family for the rosary.

00:34:12.280 You do it.

00:34:14.280 And then I'd teach them how to pray for meals.

00:34:19.280 It is absolutely life-changing.

00:34:22.280 It's so, so, so beautiful.

00:34:26.280 One of my dreams, when I was at Catholic Answers,

00:34:31.280 and I said, I felt like a hit and run.

00:34:34.280 Conference 50 a year.

00:34:36.280 Conference home.

00:34:37.280 Conference home.

00:34:38.280 And I loved it.

00:34:39.280 But then what?

00:34:41.280 I feel, I don't know what God has done.

00:34:44.280 Since I'm a little girl in Brooklyn,

00:34:47.280 I've always felt that God gave me a shepherd's heart.

00:34:50.280 I used to work for orphanages and things.

00:34:53.280 And I did a 54-day novena one day in my home before the crucifix.

00:34:59.280 And I said, I can't stand all this.

00:35:02.280 Going to conferences, giving talks, coming home.

00:35:05.280 People go home.

00:35:07.280 They come down from the so-called mountaintop.

00:35:09.280 Life is the same.

00:35:11.280 My husband doesn't believe.

00:35:13.280 My children have left the faith.

00:35:14.280 My wife this.

00:35:16.280 Stress in the home.

00:35:17.280 Normal.

00:35:18.280 I said, I want to help them live the faith.

00:35:22.280 That's my heart.

00:35:23.280 To teach it and help them to live it.

00:35:26.280 That's my heart.

00:35:27.280 And going into homes and helping families, they get nervous because they don't know the faith.

00:35:34.280 But I don't want them to get nervous.

00:35:37.280 So I don't talk to them.

00:35:39.280 I talk to the children.

00:35:42.280 I teach the five-year-old.

00:35:45.280 Why did God make you alone?

00:35:48.280 And so we talk.

00:35:50.280 And then the parents get it.

00:35:52.280 One woman said to me,

00:35:54.280 you're not going to believe what my daughter,

00:35:57.280 her daughter's nine,

00:35:59.280 going for First Communion

00:36:01.280 and dropping her off at CCD.

00:36:04.280 The mother was a waitress.

00:36:06.280 And we went out to talk one time.

00:36:09.280 And she said,

00:36:10.280 you know, the cutest thing my daughter said, 1.00

00:36:12.280 you're not going to believe it.

00:36:13.280 We were at Mass on Sunday

00:36:16.280 because they need the parents to come

00:36:18.280 if they're going to have to send their children.

00:36:19.280 So I went with her.

00:36:21.280 And when they held up the cup,

00:36:27.280 she said,

00:36:28.280 Mommy, that's Jesus' blood.

00:36:32.280 And the woman said to me,

00:36:34.280 is that the cutest thing you've ever heard?

00:36:36.280 She said,

00:36:37.280 and of course I corrected her.

00:36:38.280 I said, it's not Jesus' blood.

00:36:40.280 It's wine.

00:36:41.280 And I said,

00:36:42.280 actually, your daughter was right.

00:36:44.280 And we spent almost an hour talking about it.

00:36:48.280 And her life has changed before me.

00:36:50.280 And she said,

00:36:51.280 you need to teach us.

00:36:52.280 We don't know.

00:36:53.280 And they don't,

00:36:54.280 like Cardinal Renzi says all the time,

00:36:55.280 they don't know that they don't know.

00:36:57.280 Yeah.

00:36:58.280 My heart is only

00:37:00.280 that people would know

00:37:02.280 and love

00:37:03.280 and live the faith.

00:37:05.280 I love teaching them,

00:37:06.280 but I love helping them live it

00:37:08.280 without,

00:37:09.280 without threat.

00:37:10.280 How do you live the faith?

00:37:11.280 I mean,

00:37:12.280 I can't,

00:37:13.280 I can't homeschool my children.

00:37:14.280 I mean,

00:37:15.280 my house is a mess.

00:37:16.280 So what?

00:37:17.280 Who cares?

00:37:18.280 You get to heaven.

00:37:19.280 They need to love God.

00:37:20.280 God's not going to ask you

00:37:21.280 if you kept your house clean.

00:37:23.280 You know,

00:37:24.280 your children will teach them to clean.

00:37:27.280 It's fine.

00:37:28.280 Don't worry about all that.

00:37:29.280 Be a happy,

00:37:31.280 loving family

00:37:33.280 who loves God.

00:37:34.280 Who cares?

00:37:35.280 Don't worry about it.

00:37:36.280 The rest will come.

00:37:38.280 Well,

00:37:39.280 my son's 14.

00:37:41.280 What do I do with him?

00:37:42.280 He doesn't want to be confirmed.

00:37:44.280 His whole class doesn't want.

00:37:46.280 His class is being confirmed.

00:37:48.280 He doesn't want it.

00:37:50.280 I said,

00:37:51.280 don't dare confirm him.

00:37:53.280 Don't teach him that Catholicism is a lie.

00:37:58.280 If he doesn't believe it,

00:37:59.280 don't do it.

00:38:00.280 Yeah.

00:38:01.280 So it's so many different things.

00:38:02.280 Wow.

00:38:03.280 But my heart,

00:38:04.280 I mean,

00:38:05.280 the world needs to be saved.

00:38:06.280 But the family is God's institution.

00:38:09.280 And the only way to restore culture

00:38:12.280 is through the family.

00:38:13.280 Yeah.

00:38:14.280 And that'll bring the church back too.

00:38:16.280 Hi everyone, this is John Henry Weston.

00:38:25.280 We hope you enjoyed this program.

00:38:27.280 To see more like it,

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00:38:41.280 Thanks for watching.

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The John-Henry Westen Show - August 22, 2023

Mother Miriam Special ｜ Taking Perpetual Vows With Bishop Joseph Strickland

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