{"id":63653,"date":"2021-04-07T12:45:47","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T16:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/?p=63653"},"modified":"2021-04-07T13:14:48","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T17:14:48","slug":"bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world","title":{"rendered":"Bishop John Strickland–bringing Light and Leaven to the world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Though his diocese is in tiny Tyler, Texas, Bishop John J. Strickland has outsized influence among American Catholic bishops due to his rock-solid defense of traditional Church teaching and morality.\u00a0They say \u201cDon\u2019t mess with Texas,\u201d and now they can say \u201cDon\u2019t mess with Bishop Strickland of Texas\u201d if you are a left-wing prelate or layman.\u00a0In his 2021 book Light and Leaven\u2014The Challenge of the Laity in the Twenty-First Century<\/span><\/a><\/em>, Bishop Strickland attacks the moral relativism plaguing our culture and proposes living in the truth of the Gospel\u2014and being a sign of contradiction\u2014as the best way to overcome it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bishop Strickland opens up his book by noting that Christians are living in truly dark moral times.\u00a0\u201cThe world is not just post-Christian; it\u2019s post-God,\u201d he writes. \u201cThere\u2019s an angry resistance to truth and authority.\u00a0If there is no God, then there is no authority, and no one can tell me what to do. That\u2019s how we operate now. Moral anarchy.\u201d (26)\u00a0And this moral anarchy is leading many people to despair:\u00a0\u201cAnd when God is gone, human beings are just little, individual, formless wastelands with no image, all on our own in a meaningless moral void.\u00a0It\u2019s such an ugly, bankrupt view of life\u2026 If you\u2019re on that track, it\u2019s hard to find meaning, much less hope, in your life.\u201d (29) Indeed, we could be forgiven for thinking we are living in the days of the decadent Roman Empire, where \u201cthe Caesars thought they were gods. There was abortion and infanticide. There was awful sexual debauchery.\u00a0Look at the brokenness of the Roman Empire and fast forward twenty-centuries to where we are now, and it\u2019s the same brokenness\u2026.\u201d (31) \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what is the reason for this brokenness? It is the same reason why Adam and Eve lost paradise:\u00a0by believing the falsehood that \u201cYe shall be as gods.\u201d It is because of moral relativism and its belief that we are the creators of our \u201cown\u201d truth.\u00a0Strickland writes:\u00a0\u201cThere has always been sin, of course. But in our age, we seem to think we\u2019re God.\u00a0We think we\u2019re in charge, that we\u2019re in control, and that is the root issue.\u201d (30-31) As a result of this moral relativism, people tend to denigrate anything that could shackle their whims and impose anything on them, from religion and biology to the family.\u00a0He states:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religion, God\u2019s agency, is viewed not as liberating and enlightening but oppressive and controlling\u2026The idea that human beings are made [or created] male and female is oppressive because it doesn\u2019t let people make humanity whatever they want it to be.\u00a0Marriage as a natural institution ordered to one man and one woman for life oppresses people\u2019s wish to form sexual partnerships with whatever person or persons they choose\u2014or end them at will.\u00a0It\u2019s oppressive not to let people kill babies in the womb because we all should be allowed to define human life for ourselves. (27)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the times are indeed dark, Strickland urges Christians to engage the culture, rather that take the \u201cBenedict Option\u201d of retreating from the world to live in insular Christian communities.\u00a0Christians \u201cneed to be leaven for the world\u2014not put up fortress walls and take cover in their beautiful domestic church; that is the opposite of what Jesus said.\u201d (122)\u00a0So how should we engage the culture?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can best engage the culture, Strickland argues, by living in the truth of the Gospel.\u00a0\u201cWhat is the most basic answer to this crisis? Live your faith. Seek sanctity.\u201d (111)\u00a0We must thoroughly examine ourselves to ensure we are living according to the standards of Christ\u2014and then ask for God\u2019s grace to live according to those standards.\u00a0\u201cJust be as faithful as you can and trust in the Lord,\u201d he writes. \u201cNever despair, never give up, never believe that it\u2019s too late or you can\u2019t do anything good.\u201d\u00a0(113-14)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But living according to the truth, the Gospel, will not always be easy. \u201cTo live the truth fully takes courage and often comes with sacrifice\u2014not always in money or material goods but sometimes in our families, or in our ambitions, or in our freedoms.\u00a0Yet the rewards are joy and peace.\u201d (117)\u00a0Indeed, living in the truth will bring us into conflict with the world as we will be signs of contradiction:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes you will be accused of being a \u201cdivider\u201d if you refuse to go along with the majority when the majority is wrong, whatever the issue.\u00a0But this is the kind of division\u2014to be a sign of contraction to the world\u2014that shows you\u2019re seeking to live the truth of the gospel\u2026 So the idea that we should keep our mouths shut instead of \u201cdividing,\u201d or the related idea that mercy comes before truth, is an insidious falsehood that is totally off the mark. (118-19)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what are some ways we can live in the truth and be \u201csigns of contradiction?\u201d\u00a0First and foremost, we can live according to the Church\u2019s teaching on sexuality in order to combat the disastrous fallout of the sexual revolution whose foundation is moral relativism.\u00a0Strickland writes:\u00a0\u201c The sexual revolution has done very serious damage to humanity.\u00a0I think people are going to say, as we look back on this sexual revolution from a more distant future, that it really messed up humanity.\u201d (128)\u00a0One of the best ways we can do this is by restoring the sanctity of marriage.\u00a0Bishop Strickland states:\u00a0\u201cTo repair the damage, we must start with helping people be formed to really live what marriage is, because marriage is the only place where sexual life is lived in a healthy way.\u201d (128) What happens when you don\u2019t respect the institution of marriage can be seen all around us today:\u00a0\u201cWhen you don\u2019t have a man and woman, one man and one woman committed for life in marriage, loving each other and open to bearing and raising children, things go haywire.\u00a0All you have to do is look out your window and see how things are haywire with broken marriages, with single parents, with kids who are lost and not being directed,\u201d he writes. (131) For people struggling with issues regarding sexuality, whether related to having sex outside of marriage, having same sex attraction, or having gender confusion, we are not to show any signs of bigotry, Strickland states.\u00a0However, \u201cwe don\u2019t overcome bigotry or harsh judgmentalism by saying that immoral acts are perfectly fine; to me, that\u2019s not mercy but a deeper bigotry.\u00a0It\u2019s denying the truth to people who desperately need it.\u201d (134-35)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second way to be a sign of contradiction is to be solidly in favor of a culture of life. \u201cAbortion is not just the preeminent political issue of the moment in our country; it is the preeminent issue of our time in the whole world\u2026 Abortion is the murder of the most vulnerable, the weakest, the tiniest of those on the spectrum of human life\u2014how can it not be preeminent?\u201d (142-42)\u00a0Significantly, Strickland argues that abortion must always be front and center and can never be considered just one issue among many, as advocated by liberal Catholics who support the \u201cseamless garment\u201d position. And in fighting for life, we must make sure to support everyone involved\u2014the child, the mother, and the father. Christian crisis pregnancy centers located all across the nation have gone a long way toward this end but more can still be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book Light and Leaven<\/em><\/span>, Bishop John Strickland lays a lethal blow to moral relativism and proposes living according to the truth of the Gospel as the best way to overcome it.\u00a0\u201cThe more the world moves into the darkness of relativism, where everyone\u2019s a God and everyone can decide what\u2019s true, the more Satan\u2019s hatred for us meets its purpose,\u201d he writes. (149) That is why living according to the truth is so vital.\u00a0But doing this will not be easy; what is needed, he says, is moral courage:\u00a0 \u201cCan we find the courage to stand up and say, for instance, that marriage is between one man and one woman for life, open to children? That isn\u2019t an opinion. That isn\u2019t a belief. That is what God\u2019s plan for human beings is.\u00a0That is marriage. That is reality.\u00a0 When we decide we have a different opinion form reality, we get messed up, and that is where we are.\u201d (172)\u00a0May God grant us such courage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the battle against the forces opposing God and His Creation, we must hold fast to being a light shining in the darkness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":651,"featured_media":64834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"In the battle against the forces opposing God and His Creation, we must hold fast to being a light shining in the darkness.","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override":[{"single_blog_custom":"","sidebar":"","second_sidebar":"","share_position":"","share_float_style":"","post_date_format":"","post_date_format_custom":"","post_reading_time_wpm":"","zoom_button_out_step":"1","zoom_button_in_step":"1","number_popup_post":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"","single_post_gallery_size":""}],"trending_post_position":"","trending_post_label":"","sponsored_post_label":"","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":""},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,805],"tags":[475,720,9620,427,9457,5509,9255],"class_list":["post-63653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-foreground","tag-abortion","tag-catholic-church","tag-jesus-christ","tag-marriage","tag-moral-relativism","tag-religion-2","tag-truth"],"yoast_head":"\nBishop John Strickland-bringing Light and Leaven to the world - IFN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bishop John Strickland--bringing Light and Leaven to the world\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the battle against the forces opposing God and His Creation, we must hold fast to being a light shining in the darkness.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IFN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/iFamNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-07T16:45:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-07T17:14:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Light_and_Leaven_cover__46467.1615236149.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"846\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cato\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@iFamNewsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@iFamNewsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cato\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bishop John Strickland-bringing Light and Leaven to the world - IFN","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bishop John Strickland--bringing Light and Leaven to the world","og_description":"In the battle against the forces opposing God and His Creation, we must hold fast to being a light shining in the darkness.","og_url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world","og_site_name":"IFN","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/iFamNews","article_published_time":"2021-04-07T16:45:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-07T17:14:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":846,"height":1280,"url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Light_and_Leaven_cover__46467.1615236149.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cato","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@iFamNewsEN","twitter_site":"@iFamNewsEN","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cato","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world"},"author":{"name":"Cato","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d0e56511b7b7caedd2922a59482440ba"},"headline":"Bishop John Strickland–bringing Light and Leaven to the world","datePublished":"2021-04-07T16:45:47+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-07T17:14:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world"},"wordCount":1443,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Light_and_Leaven_cover__46467.1615236149.jpg","keywords":["Abortion","Catholic Church","Jesus Christ","Marriage","moral relativism","Religion","truth"],"articleSection":["Culture","Foreground"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world","url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world","name":"Bishop John Strickland-bringing Light and Leaven to the world - IFN","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Light_and_Leaven_cover__46467.1615236149.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-07T16:45:47+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-07T17:14:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Light_and_Leaven_cover__46467.1615236149.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Light_and_Leaven_cover__46467.1615236149.jpg","width":846,"height":1280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/bishop-john-strickland-bringing-light-and-leaven-to-the-world#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u041a\u0443\u043b\u0442\u0443\u0440\u0430","item":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/sr\/kategorija\/kultura-sr"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Bishop John Strickland–bringing Light and Leaven to the world"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/","name":"IFN","description":"International Family News Network","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/#organization","name":"iFamNews","url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Share-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Share-logo.png","width":200,"height":200,"caption":"iFamNews"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/iFamNews","https:\/\/x.com\/iFamNewsEN"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d0e56511b7b7caedd2922a59482440ba","name":"Cato","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69b258be912b2a9b1ef3917af1a950d6279239e325672d64c73a2c0dfe012d11?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69b258be912b2a9b1ef3917af1a950d6279239e325672d64c73a2c0dfe012d11?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69b258be912b2a9b1ef3917af1a950d6279239e325672d64c73a2c0dfe012d11?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cato"},"description":"Cato is a staunch defender of Western Civilization and the Judeo-Christian worldview. He will end all of his articles: \"And the radical LGBT agenda must be defeated\" as this is the pre-eminent battle of our day.","url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/author\/rsiedlecki"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/651"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63653"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64843,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63653\/revisions\/64843"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}