The Synod on Synodality is about to begin in Rome, and the Church is facing some of the most severe challenges it has ever faced. In this episode, LifeSite is launching a pledge to pray and fast during the Synod, both in reparation to our Lord for the offenses that will be committed there, and in pleading with our Lord to take care of his church.
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00:00:30.000If you look at the victories of God's people in the scriptures going back to the Old Testament as well as with Jesus in the New Testament, whenever God's people fasted and they were doing battle, they won every time.
00:00:46.560And so, just as God ordained in his wisdom and providence that the laws of gravity would work, he's ordained that there is a law that fasting is required to overcome evil.
00:05:01.880So, Drew, we're coming upon this Synod.
00:05:07.620Tell us, first of all, the role that prayer and fasting has
00:05:10.540in terms of being able to avoid calamity and assist.
00:05:15.540And why God wants this from us, rather than just doing it anyway, himself.
00:05:20.720Well, John Henry, if you look at the victories of God's people in the scriptures,
00:05:26.420going back to the Old Testament, as well as with Jesus in the New Testament,
00:05:30.440whenever God's people fasted and they were doing battle, they won every time.
00:05:37.140And so, just as God ordained in his wisdom and providence that the laws of gravity would work,
00:05:44.960he's ordained that there is a law that fasting is required to overcome evil.
00:05:51.560And as Jesus very explicitly told us in what I think we would all conclude if we reflect on this,
00:06:00.520was one of his most important teachings of his entire ministry.
00:06:05.180And that was to say, hey, Christians, you can pray all day long.
00:06:10.420When evil is strong, you're going to lose every time.
00:06:14.140You will lose, Christians, every time if you stop at prayer.
00:06:19.420It doesn't matter what kind of prayer.
00:06:21.700And then he explicitly told the disciples, when evil is strongest, you must supplement the prayer with fasting.
00:06:29.780And that teaching was so powerful, as we had talked about on a prior episode,
00:06:35.400that the bishops had those specific verses removed from the Catholic Bible.
00:06:42.980So, basically erasing the awareness of Catholics, and it happened in a parallel instance in the Protestant Bibles as well in the 1960s,
00:06:53.420erasing our understanding of fasting as being necessary to overcome evil.
00:07:00.200And since we've lost that understanding, look at what has happened to the church, to the world.
00:07:05.140We've been on our heels, you know, being buffeted and losing battle after battle.
00:07:09.540So, at this juncture, however, John Henry, people may be really dismayed about what's going on in the church.
00:07:18.800But I would submit, I think this is a time of great hope, that what has begun to happen is that believers are awakening.
00:07:26.760The masks that the wolves have been wearing, that made us think they were friendly and cheap, are slipping.
00:07:34.440And we are realizing who we are dealing with in the leadership of the church is exactly who Jesus warned us and who Paul warned us about in scriptures and who saint after saint in the Catholic Church has warned us about.
00:07:48.540And Jesus was clear, and Jesus was clear, you will know the Spirit by their fruits, not by what they say, because anyone can talk a good game, but by their fruits.
00:07:58.580And we brought up this synod we saw previously, Bergoglio led many in pagan prayer in the Vatican.
00:08:09.040It was a disgrace, and that is what we should expect moving forward.
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00:10:49.880So, yes, the Didache that you referenced and other works by early church founders, fathers, said that Wednesday and Friday fasting is obligatory.
00:11:00.780Again, Satan has just done so much to confuse us and have us lower our guard, but it is obligatory.
00:11:07.480And when you first hear that, you think, oh, my gosh, that's going to be so painful, so difficult.
00:11:11.960But one of the really beautiful teachings that Our Lady had for us in Medjugorje is how actually easy bread and water fasting is.
00:11:21.800I think Satan wants you to think that in order for a fast to have any merit, it has to be so arduous, so painful that you have to hardly be able to walk or think straight.
00:11:33.260You're going to have all these physical ramifications from it.
00:11:36.920And Our Lady explains it's just the opposite.
00:11:39.680God is just looking for us to make a little sacrifice, but to do it with joy.
00:11:44.360So, bread and water fasting, as the first century Christians did it, is such that you need to be able to maintain your strength.
00:11:53.480If you're a roofer, or if you're a mover, or a craftsman, or if you're a film producer, or whatever your job is in your day-to-day life, if you're a mother, you need to have the strength to continue your duties.
00:12:08.120And so, by having good bread, 100% whole grain bread, as it used to have, that will be loaded, 100% whole grains, loaded with B vitamins, loaded with protein, and you can add on to it some butter, or some olive oil, or some avocado spread if you need it.
00:13:53.140What about people who have medical conditions?
00:13:55.940It seems to me every Catholic priest in North America goes to the same doctor, and they all tell him, you can't fast.
00:14:01.460So what I would suggest that believers do is if a doctor tells you, you can't have whole grain bread with butter, olive oil, or avocado spread, something like that, and water, then to say to him or her, why not?
00:14:16.680Show me the medical research that says fasting of this type, cleaning out your system that's so physically good for you is so bad for you.
00:14:25.460And obviously, if they push hard, you have to do what your conscience leads you to believe.
00:14:33.160But I have yet to see, and I welcome anyone to show me I'm wrong, any medical research that says fasting like this is not good for you.
00:14:40.540The one last point to your question I want to address, John Henry, is the other ploy that Satan has used around fasting in our day that has blindsided many is to call dieting fasting.
00:14:57.340The difference between fasting and dieting is enormous.
00:15:03.100Dieting is when you choose to adjust what you eat for physical health.
00:15:08.200Your primary objective is to lose weight, to get more muscular, lose fat, whatever the case is.
00:15:14.640If that's your primary end goal, then that means you're dieting.
00:15:20.400So they may call it whatever the fast is, but it's not.
00:15:24.920And I make that clear distinction because you want to say, I'm doing this primarily for the Lord.
00:15:32.720You're going to get all the physical benefits from it as well.
00:15:35.880But, and that's another reason to have bread and water.
00:15:38.240No one will tell you you want to have a bread diet if you're trying to get in shape, right?
00:15:42.720I think, John Henry, in years ahead, science will realize what heaven's recommending to us is so good for us physically.
00:15:50.080But most importantly, that distinction will transition your diet from something that begins to lose its benefit as soon as you take another morsel to a fast where that benefit, again, is eternal for you.
00:16:03.040And the protection that it brings to your family is addictive.
00:16:07.100Our lady said that if we will do novenas of fasting, and as you mentioned earlier today, John Henry, of reparation, evil will have to stay far from you.
00:16:19.300I want any parent who's watching this or anybody who's watching this to just think about somebody they love, who you look at their life, you look at the direction they're going in, and you think, oh, my gosh, it's almost tragic.
00:16:30.060It's like you can see bad decision after bad decision.
00:16:32.480You know the influence where that's coming from.
00:16:34.280They say, if we do novenas of fasting or enunciation, so I would say three days a week is a novena plus, you know, including what we're obligated to, evil will just stay far from you and your family.
00:16:46.380And how beautiful, powerful, and life-changing that is, John Henry.
00:16:52.080What a great gift the Lord is holding out to all of us.
00:16:55.480What do you think of this concept, Drew?
00:16:59.360So, in my conversations with a number of exorcists and exorcist helpers, I was just on with Father Carlos Martins, with Dan Schneider, and I've spoken with Father Ripperger and others.
00:17:14.420They mentioned this thing about fathers and the permission, almost the demon has to ask to fathers, because they're the heads of the household, to sort of get to their wives and children.
00:17:30.100So, I think this call to fasting is particularly for dads, heads of households.
00:17:35.480And how does that relate to what you're saying about protection for your children?
00:17:42.460John Henry, what I was thinking about before we started filming, for whatever reason, was the thought came to me of how Satan really does attack fathers.
00:17:54.380And since you brought this up, one thing I would like to say, I think there are so many dads, fathers who are watching, who may be watching this, who feel like there's such disappointments, maybe even such failures, for whatever reason.
00:18:09.820I think for a lot of people, it's, I haven't, you know, given my family something better.
00:18:38.440Recognize that is Satan trying to discourage you.
00:18:42.200And by fasting, like you're saying, John Henry, the ability to just drive evil from your family is such a powerful tool to be able to take authority, because we do have authority over evil.
00:18:57.680In one of the translations of scripture, Jesus said, you are easily fooled because you do not know scripture or the power of God.
00:19:07.240So we're fooled into thinking we have to be on our heels with evil.
00:19:10.940We see its strength in the world, but that's not true with us.
00:19:15.060We have the tools to expel evil, to drive it away, to drive it away from your bride and your children.
00:19:22.400You want to step up, recognize that, that we have those authority from the Lord and bring about this wonderful transformation in your family.
00:19:31.060I wanted to address, just quickly, for those of you who might not have seen the show before, when Drew was talking about the elimination from the scriptures about fasting, you could actually check this yourself.
00:19:49.020Drew, what are those verses that were removed, particularly the one in Matthew, that they can look up for themselves?
00:19:55.040Okay, so the way to find it, the Catholic translation was the Douay-Rheims for years.
00:20:01.800So in Douay-Rheims, Matthew, and I believe it is chapter 17, and you want to look at maybe verse 19 to 22.
00:20:10.200And my recollection is it will be verse 21, that in the new current versions that are used at Mass today, or if you look at, I believe it's the ESV, the NIV, as well as the new Catholic Bibles, that verse 21 will be missing.
00:20:26.840You'll read it in a sequentially, it'll be verse 18, 19, 20, 22.
00:20:48.600And you'll see, again, the reference to the need to fast, to overpower, and to win in the face of evil has been entirely eliminated by the Catholic bishops in the 1960s.
00:21:06.160And what's stunning about what you said, too, because it was done simultaneously by the Protestant groups.
00:21:11.760So, in their traditional version, the King James and the New King James version, it's still there about prayer and fasting when the demons are too powerful, but it's missing in the other, in the NIV and the other Protestant versions.
00:21:27.400So, it is stunning that this happens, and it's stunning that it's done, and it's interesting, because as you said, it's the weapon when Satan's too strong.
00:21:37.240The story goes, the apostles couldn't cast out the demon, and Jesus does, and then they go to him afterward and say, Lord, what was all that?
00:21:44.720And he explains that some can only be cast out by prayer and fasting.
00:21:49.440And that reference from Mark that you brought up is actually hilarious, and it shows, in addition to how clear it is to show from Matthew, how clear it is, because the verse is actually missing.
00:21:59.720It goes 20, 22, and you're missing 21 altogether.
00:22:04.340And if you look at the notes, they'll probably say something about it being missing.
00:22:07.940But then, in Mark, it's kind of ridiculous, because our Lord says to them there, some can be cast out only by prayer.
00:22:17.200Like, duh, what do you think we were doing?
00:22:44.320So, with regard to the helps that fasting provides in terms of kicking out the devil from our lives, but we're also doing this in reparation to our Lord.
00:22:59.120Can you explain that for us as we close out?
00:23:02.840Well, John Henry, I would say, you know, many people will tell believers that fasting, meaning abstaining from TV, let me be clear.
00:23:18.320Many people will tell believers abstaining from TV is fasting, or turning off the radio is fasting.
00:23:24.040I would submit to you that that is not biblically supportive, that fasting is only to do with a diet.
00:23:32.460When you make an incremental sacrifice and you turn off TV, or you kneel down and you pray a rosary and reparation, pray a rosary, you know, doing something extra aside from fasting, that is more of reparation and of penance.
00:23:56.140You need the fasting and reparation in order to keep evil far from you.
00:24:01.720And, you know, we've seen, as you highlight on many occasions, that the great saints would pray in reparation to our Lord, knowing how much he loves us, how much he is hurt by all that he's done for us, right?
00:24:17.560I mean, imagine dying the death that Jesus did.
00:24:20.320And to see then people just totally scoffing at the rules he asked us to live by.
00:24:27.340How hurt would you be if that was something, if it was your son and you gave up like that, and then you saw the whole world essentially just spinning in his face with the way they live.
00:24:36.960And so the idea of going to the Lord in reparation and just saying, again, my contribution to you, Lord, my prayer, my sacrifices, nothing is like a grain of sand on the beach.
00:24:50.460But I gladly give it to you, Lord, with joy, hoping that this can be a comfort for your heart and so that you know so many of us are so grateful to you, Lord, for what you've done for us.
00:25:52.980I want to let you all know as well that at the end of the synod, right at the end, that means the end of the month of October,
00:26:01.080Lifesite News is hosting our Rome Life Forum, a yearly strategy session for leaders on life, faith, family, and freedom in Rome.
00:26:10.080We're going to be speaking to what just happened at the synod, and we're going to be strategizing on how we can work together in this crisis of the church,
00:26:19.320what we can do together to confront it.
00:26:21.420Go to RomeLifeForum.com to learn more.
00:26:25.940Thank you so much, Drew, for being with us.