(LifeSiteNews) — On this week’s two-part episode of The Bishop Strickland Show, Bishop Joseph Strickland discusses Christ’s presence in the Holy Eucharist, why women should veil in church, turning away from serious sin to repel demons, the need to reflect on the sanctity and wisdom of Pope St. Pius X in our times, and more.

Bishop Strickland begins the episode by offering commentary on Luke 4:31-37, in which Our Lord casts a demon out of a man in Capernaum. Emphasizing that this Gospel reminds us of what it’s like to be in the presence of the Lord, Strickland reminds listeners that when we’re in the presence of the Holy Eucharist, we’re also in the presence of the Lord.

“We need to not take that for granted, and not let it be blunted by the lack of, you could say, sensory input that supports that. It’s not by our senses that we know when we go to Mass when I stand at the Eucharistic altar and take bread and wine and say His words, it’s not by sensory input that we know this truth of what happens there. The bread and wine become Jesus Christ: Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity,” the bishop said. He added that we must ponder these facts and deepen our faith by not looking at what our senses tell us about the Eucharist but what we know by our faith.

His Excellency further underscored how the unclean spirit in this Gospel knew who Our Lord was and that He was present, but many of the faithful do not. Using a recent display of Eucharistic miracles in his Diocese of Tyler, Texas, as an example, Strickland noted how striking it is that demons would inspire many people to steal the hosts for evil purposes.

“[To] put a hex on someone, or to do something evil, they know He’s really there. They’re not taking what looks like just a little piece of bread. I mean, what harm’s that going to do? If it’s just a symbol, what’s that going to do to somebody?” he rhetorically asked. “But the demons and those who have evil intentions know there’s power there; it’s the One with great authority who spoke, and people were healed and freed of demons.”

The bishop then went into how many priests today stand at the altar of Christ and doubt or don’t even believe in Our Lord’s presence. “The priests are forgetting that it’s not his words; he’s speaking the words of Christ. In the context of the Mass, the causes, the great event of transubstantiation, that bread and wine become the One who spoke the words with authority. I think that’s a beautiful and important reminder for the Church today.”

He added that the lack of belief in the Eucharistic presence of Christ comes down to a lack of belief in the authority of Christ and what He says. Noting that God the Father spoke the Word that is Christ and creation came about. “In that context, it’s not that startling that the same Jesus, who is the Word, and He spoke the word of freeing these people from their [demonic] possession, Jesus speaks the word and the world is changed.” 

Later in Part 1, host Terry Barber asked Strickland about the many young Catholic women who are now wearing veils in Church. Barber noted how Alice von Hildebrand, when he invited her to give a talk years ago, encouraged female attendees to wear veils to Church out of respect for the Blessed Sacrament and the angels present in the church. The bishop agreed with that sentiment, saying he strongly encourages all women to veil, even if it’s no longer required.

“I think we need all the reverence we can get. What we need to be reminded of is that there is a difference between the sacred and the rest of the world, the rest of life,” the bishop said. “The vessels used at Mass are set aside as sacred vessels; they’re made of the same metal as maybe the silver tray you have back at home, but they’re set aside for sacred use. And that needs to be respected.”

Returning to the Gospel passage, His Excellency noted that the Son of God is present at Mass, and the faithful need to keep that sacredness in mind. “I would encourage and support any mothers and daughters that say, ‘Let’s wear a veil at Mass; let’s be one more sign that this is a sacred place,’” the bishop added.

Bishop Strickland began the second part of the episode by offering commentary on Luke 4:38-44, in which Our Lord heals Simon’s (Peter’s) mother-in-law and many others in Capernaum of both physical and spiritual afflictions, casting out demons from them. Strickland first emphasized how the apostles interceded with Jesus to assist Simon’s sick mother-in-law, just as we do now.

“It just strikes me as a beautiful image of what the Church has continued to do for 2,000 years. We turn to Jesus and the saints that have turned to Him; it’s kind of like a chained request. … But that prayerful intercession to see it there embodied with the disciples as they’re learning who He is, I think that’s just a beautiful point in this Gospel passage,” the bishop said.

Strickland then dove into the expelling of demons we read about in this Gospel, specifically how the demons acknowledged that He is the Christ, and He rebuked them. “We still hear that reality spoken of by exorcists like Fr. Ripperger, who tells clearly that the demons know holiness, the demons know Mary and Jesus, and they are repelled by that holiness because they’re the opposite, they’re evil and in league with the father of lies.”

Strickland noted how in many other passages of the Gospel we also see that the demons know who Jesus is and are some of the first to acknowledge Christ as the Son of God, stressing that we need to be aware of that in our times. He drew a connection with St. Augustine, who got really caught up in evil before becoming a saint and thus is a beautiful saint for our times. 

“Especially for any of us who may pray for individuals in our families or in our circle of community and friends … who are caught up in what St. Augustine was caught up in, a life of sin and debauchery. A life very far from Jesus Christ and even from God. And for St. Augustine to be so deeply converted, it’s just a reminder of the hope that we always need to have,” he said.

The bishop noted how he often talks to people struggling with serious sin and how it’s easy to be discouraged that we can’t beat these sins because we’re too weak. But St. Augustine’s story reminds us that we are all capable of converting and we all need to convert more deeply. These struggles with sin show that the world hasn’t changed that much since this Gospel passage was written.

“Very often, the demons know what we know as well, what we believe, but with the forces of evil, they’re working against the goodness of Christ. So, we need to be strengthened in hope, to know that it’s always possible to convert and none of us are hopeless causes as long as we’re alive and able to make choices, we have the opportunity to choose the light and turn from the darkness,” Strickland said. 

Later in the program, Barber asked the bishop about the sanctity of Pope St. Pius X, whose feast day was celebrated last week, referencing a recent article about him in the Catholic World Report. The host focused on the part of the article that described how the French government had insisted on the separation of Church and state to punish the Church, and the saintly pontiff responded by allowing the Church to go bankrupt rather than compromise the principles of the faith. “He’s doing what St. Athanasius did, ‘Let them have the Churches, we have the faith,” Barber noted, adding that we could use a Pope like Pius X today.

Strickland agreed, toucing  on some other aspects of holiness in Pius X’s life, including how he lived in poverty. “[T]hat is a sign of holiness but also a sign of great wisdom. He knew that the wealth of this world and the power of this world, everything that this world has to offer, leaves us poor if we aren’t rich in the grace and the life that Christ offers us. And that’s why he became Pope St. Pius X so quickly because of that holiness and that commitment to Christ.” 

His Excellency further stressed that as we look at the current state of the Church, it’s good to remember that we’ve had dark periods in the Church before, but Pius X reminds us that there were periods of strength and holiness as well. “We need to be inspired by that; we need to be aware that this isn’t the only time the Church has suffered with compromises, with corruption, with all that we’re suffering through right now.”

“But we need to balance that with continuing to study – I think of Joan of Arc – these great saints who may have been fighting some of the darkness and the battles similar to what we’re facing. But they’re reminders of the great holiness that is there – when we are strong in Christ, we are truly strong.”

To hear more from His Excellency, tune in to this week’s episode of The Bishop Strickland Show.

To watch all previous episodes of The Bishop Strickland Show, click here to visit LifeSite’s video page dedicated to The Bishop Strickland Show.