The Exorcist Files - The Lindsay Clancy Case, The Voice of God and Praying For Your Home

Episode Date: September 2, 2026

You asked. He answered. Father Martins weighs in on the Lindsay Clancy case, and how he distinguishes the voice of God from the voice of the enemy. We also bring you some fascinating history with King Louise IX and Father finally talks about his favorite Hockey player of all time...Thank you to our sponsorsReady to give your liver the support it deserves? Head to dosedaily.co/EXFILES or enter EXFILES to get 35% off your first subscription.Ollie. Feed the Obsession. Go to ollie.com/exfiles and use code exfiles to get 70% off your first box!The Born Again Identity- Find out who you are in Christ. Watch and Listen hereUpgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://trymiracle.com/EXFILES and use the code EXFILES to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF.”Support the Show by Signing Up For The Vaultexorcistfiles.supercast.com- Support the show and get it AD FREE HERETimestamps0:0001:00:08 | Opening Reflection & Call to Prayer01:00:58 | Welcome & Season 3 Announcement01:03:12 | The Lindsay Clancy Tragedy & Demonic Discernment01:08:32 | How God Communicates & Discerning the Voice of the Lord01:14:06 | St. Ignatius Loyola’s Three Modes of Discernment01:21:54 | Approaching God with Childlike Petition vs. Demands01:23:21 | God Speaking Through Scripture, Books, & Movies01:28:03 | Feast of King Louis IX: Monarch as Servant01:35:25 | Vault Question: House Guests & Spiritual Concerns01:37:39 | Burial, Cremation, & Relics of the Saints01:40:00 | Overcoming Regret, God’s Plan, & the Brokenness of Peter01:44:53 | NHL Legends, Wendel Clark, & Jeremy Roenick01:49:18 | Wrap-Up & Prayer Request for HenrySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

He just, in one false swoop, he's lost his entire family. He's lost his children. He's lost his wife. He's lost the life that he's known. And, you know, how do you go on from this? So just imagine his pain, imagine the trauma going through him. And friends, like, I'll say this, not only should we pray for him, it's an obligation for us to do so.

So this is a need. This is seeing a poor person in the street who is starving and we have an abundance of food. I think the important thing is rather than worry about the demonic here and whether the demonic was at play. We need to channel that energy, those questions, and that inquiry into prayer, because this whole situation absolutely needs it. Welcome back to The Exorcist Files. I am your co-host. You love second most, Ryan Bithay. And with me is the Padre with the Heavenly Cadre. And yes, I've used that before. But you know what? Coming up with so many alliterative puns and rhymes, it drains a man. But, Father, you wouldn't know about that, would you?

I wouldn't have any idea about that. But you're better off. for it. So, well, folks, we are super excited to bring you some great news about season three, which is coming to you in a little over a month. It's coming to you in October. Father's October, the perfect time to release a new batch of dramatic case files? The fall is always a good time. It starts a new season. We're in the midst of a new school year. The joy of the summer is kind of leaving us, and now we go back to the drudgery. But we can console ourselves with learning more about spiritual warfare and arming ourselves, preparing ourselves for the battle in which we are all engaged. Now, what is Father's recommendation? What is paint a picture, Father, what is the perfect

listening environment? Should you, what beverage, should you sit on the porch? Is it a cozy? Like, what's the optimal listening environment for a good Exorcist Files episode? When the season opener comes out, what would you, what would be your preferred way to listen to it? Well, one of two beverages, either a good cup of coffee made from good beans. and you're on the porch, preferably with your legs up on something, like an ottoman, or the same position but with an adult beverage, and either a scotch or a nice cognac. And you just enjoy the sights and sounds of the podcast and the taste of the drink. I think listening to it at sunset's perfect, because you get the ambiance,

but we don't recommend listening to this late at night. I actually have a friend who said that he started listening to the podcast right before bed, and somehow he found his mind having trouble falling asleep in his empty room of quiet. Every time the door would creak, he was scared. I said, no one told you to listen to The Exorcist Files right before bed. Oh, my gosh. All right. Well, let's get started here.

We have some questions that have come in. And folks, thanks to your patience, these cases take forever to make, but we're super excited to bring you a new season and look forward to bringing you that. So we're going to get started with some questions that have come in. All right, we're actually going to start. I try to start an upbeat notes, but, again, Again, there's no way to spin this. This is just a horrible tragedy that's been in the public eye for a while now.

We've gotten lots and lots of emails and questions about the Lindsay Clancy murder case of her children, and it's just an awful, awful tragedy. So we have a lot of people ask father's opinion on what happened and whether or not we could conclude that there was demonic involvement in it. So, father, what are your thoughts on this? Yeah. So look, the situation is absolutely tragic. It's horrific. It's really, really difficult.

to read through the details. It really is difficult. Those children died horribly, and they died in horrible circumstances. Their own mother killed them. So I'll just say, first off, there's nothing about the case that I have read, and I have read what is out there, what is public.

There is nothing in the case that would make me think that there is anything demonic in the cause of this situation, that everything can be explained naturally through mental illness and people do this. People engage in this kind of thing because the mind goes awry. And the mind is connected to the brain. They're not identical, but they are connected. The brain is a tool, and that tool can malfunction.

And even if it's not the brain per se, perhaps it's a chemical imbalance in the body. But the point being that the human organism is a very complex organism and more complex than any other animal, because you have also a mind thrown in this. You have will, you have choice, and we have things like morality. Animals have no morality, but humans do. In the human organism, anything can go wrong that can affect dramatically people's behavior

and have them operate outside the norm. And so in this situation, and I'll say this, I think my hunches, a lot of people out there want this to be demonic. They want the devil to be the cause of this because it is simply so ugly. and in a sense it makes it clean. It gives a clean explanation that, okay, my goodness, the devil caused this, look how bad he is.

Next, we need to find out how the devil entered into her life. And now we have a clean story that begins at point A and then ends at, you know, somewhere, K, L, M or wherever it ends. And we can trace the steps. And the reality is that life is just not like that. So do I think the devil cause this? I have no reason to think based on the fact. that he did. Was the devil interested in this? Absolutely he was. Just like he's interested in earthquakes, just like he's interested in perhaps a solar flare that is damaging, just like he's interested in

in a hurricane or a typhoon or an accidental drowning. He's interested in them because it causes human grief and that feeds him. But that's a far cry from saying that he was the cause. And I just don't think that there's any evidence in the case that allows us to attribute causality a part from mental illness. Yeah, and I think this is also one thing we probably have to keep in mind, too, right, is that from what I think I've seen in the case is that she is claiming, right, a voice said to do this. And that may be true, right? And we know lots of people do hear voices, but we also don't know if that's true, right? I mean, we're just, we're looking at the outside. And it sounds like that wherever there is evil, the devil's there cheering it on. Is that probably

just the way to look at this? Yeah. And, you know, voices can be heard either. when the cause is demonic or when the cause is natural in terms of like a mental pathology and illness. So that alone doesn't change anything legally. So legally the case is it's irrelevant whether she heard a voice or not. Medically, for her sake, that might be interesting. It might fit a symptom of a known pathology, a known illness. But that's a different matter. It has nothing to do with A, the tragedy of the case or B, the legality now. So the legality is just going to go forth, you know, they may find her mentally competent to stand trial or mentally incompetent because of a very pathology. And so we'll just have to let that play out. But certainly,

you know, with regards to the demonic, as I said, there is no evidence here that anything can be attributed to the preacher natural. Yeah. So I think maybe the take home is we should just pray for her and the husband as well. Can you imagine? Oh, gosh. I mean, his life is dramatically different. He just, in one false swoop, he's lost his entire family. He's lost his children. He's lost his wife. He's lost the life that he's known. And, you know, how do you go on from this? So just imagine his pain, imagine the trauma going through him. And friends, like, I'll say this, not only should we pray for him, it's an obligation for us to do so. So this is a need. This is seeing a poor person in the street who is starving and we have an abundance of food. I think the important

thing is rather than worry about the demonic here and whether the demonic was at play, we need to channel that energy, those questions, and that inquiry into prayer, because this whole situation absolutely needs it. Well, let's segue to something a little more upbeat here. Speaking of hearing voices, and I hear that, and there's no way for me to segue or transition that any other way, but you've mentioned in several of your episodes about your testimony, about hearing, you'll say something like, I heard is clear's day from the Lord. And so, since we're talking about the fact that all of us hear voices in many contexts, some of which is just internal monologue or narrative and others, there's obviously debates about how God speaks today, but how was God speaking to you?

Is it an internal voice? Is it confirmation externally? Is it all the above? How does that process look for you? Yeah. So a good question. It comes in different ways. So first of all, God speaks through revelation. And that revelation is a message given to the entire people of God. But it's also a message. given to me and to you individually. In other words, in reading through Revelation, and you know, Revelation, the Catholic understanding, the Orthodox understanding, is that there's one font of Revelation, and that is the Word of God, but the Word of God has two spouts, if you will, and that's sacred scripture and sacred tradition. So both of those can speak, because the Word of God is present in both. That's one way, through the deposit of faith. Another way is just

through the church, through the wisdom of the church, through the actions of the church, through liturgy, through the assembly of the people of God, then through other Christians, through friends. And even for that matter, sometimes God can speak even through non-Christians, you know, somebody who, you know, who has no direct Christian connection, but God decides to use that person as a tool. And then there's just in your own heart, in your own prayer life. And obviously, I'm not ranking these in order. Some of them can be stronger than others. I know that God speaks to some through the heart acutely and so loudly that that's the strongest way in which he personally communicates a revelation to them, a personal design or an instruction, some type of communication, some knowledge that he wants

that individual to have. But there's also simply in your very prayer, you know, through praying whatever it is that you pray. You get a sense. You get God landing some word. on you that leave you with an impression. And sometimes that impression can be so strong. It's a concrete action. It's a knowledge that you can put into a sentence and communicate. When I do a case, when I have a case, I believe that God wants to be an active participant in our lives, that he wants to communicate to his people. He wants to communicate to me, wants to communicate to you. So in our prayer life, we do need to devote time to listening. And that means actually shutting up. That means turning the mic over to the Lord,

seeing if he wants to say something. And that means more than just giving him seven seconds so that you can get the mic back and start continuing at your own talk. It means taking time. It means taking time and sitting with it. And I do this. Each and every time I have a case, I sit, you know, having read the facts, having studied the situation, I turn it over to the Lord and ask petition for his intervention. But I also listen, does he have a word that he wants to communicate that will help this situation? And I think to engage in that is really, really important. And so sometimes that happens when I sit down and open up that formal time of silence, but sometimes it just happens on the fly.

But I pay great attention to that. And even if that impression that I think is from the Lord just comes as a kind of gut feeling, a gut impression. I've learned to trust my gut. And why do I do that? Well, because I invest time in prayer. I celebrate Mass every day. I pray my bravery.

I engage in the prayers for which I'm responsible. I'm pursuing a good moral life, good Christian living. And so I trust that all of these things have put me into a place where it's easy for God to communicate to me. In other words, I've minimized as much as possible the blockages that I can put there. And it's easy for me to interpret that message accurately. So I just trust that. You know, do I get it perfect every single time? Probably not.

But it's shown to be accurate so many times that I'd be a fool to ignore this. And so this is the way, this is my attitude in which I engage the Lord actively, precisely in this particular case. Yeah, Father, so would you describe it as like impressions that pop into your head? Is it like suddenly you'll be praying and you'll just have a thought that seems, oh, that's not really in the chain of logic that I was going down. I should maybe pay attention to that. What are some ways you might finesse that?

it can happen in many different ways. Sometimes it's just a bold knocking over the head. Boom. It lands as a sentence. It lands with a complete thought or it might be several thoughts, several sentences, but you can take them and write them down. I just heard the Lord say this. And you can be filled with an absolute confidence with it. I mean, my own call to the priesthood was one of those instances. I heard a voice, but not. I didn't hear it audibly. I heard it with every fiber of my being. Carlos joined the priesthood, I promise to make you very happy. In that instant, there was no doubt in my mind that it was from the Lord. There's still no doubt. I've never doubted for one moment. And St. Ignatius Loyola has a way to describe that. He calls it a first mode discernment. A first mode meaning that the

Lord spoke so clearly it is impossible to doubt. And given indefinite time, it doesn't go away. That confidence remains. A second mode discernment is when the Lord guides with a strong impression in one direction over the others. It's possible to doubt, but it's strong enough to guide your motives. And the third mode discernment is, you know, it's in a given situation where you have to make a decision between A or B, and you list the reasons, the pros and the cons of each side. And so it really is a work of reason, but God also works through a reason. He guides through reason. And so you can choose, or rather you receive a revelation that you intuit simply through the pros outweighing the cons of a given choice. Most people, according to St. Ignatius,

never receive a first mode discernment in their lives. Most receive only second and third. I don't know why that is, but it just is. That's the opinion of St. Ignatius Leola. Certainly, that call to the priesthood, there's no doubt in my mind. It was a first mode discernment. But you tell me, how does God speak through you? Father, is it safe to say, too, that a lot of us find ourselves saying, oh, I really want a super clear, you know, mode opportunity to discern from God. But would you say it's generally true, the louder the voice that God speaks with, usually it's because you need to hear it. And it's probably a pretty big thing you wouldn't have done. Otherwise, like I find myself wondering, you know, yeah, all these biblical characters

who got these pretty direct, overt revelations, a lot of times it was to do something really difficult. Yeah. You know, here's what I'll say. It just, it's a really, really good question. Did you know you are a miracle? Now, some of us may know that already, but you need to hear that. you are for a lot of reasons. You're also a miracle because you have all these incredible organs doing their part to keep you healthy and alive. And, you know, one that I hadn't really considered, I mean, I knew it was important, was the liver. The liver does over 500 functions every day. It's got a lot on its plate. And it's a huge filter. It supports digestion, helps with energy, and it's important that we take care of it. You might even say it's liver

or let die. So what a segue, right, to a new partner on the show, Dose. Now, what is Dose for your liver. Dose-free liver is a clinically backed liver health supplement. This isn't just another capsule or powder. Dose is a liquid supplement. It's taken in a daily two-ounce shot and it tastes somewhat like fresh-squeezed orange juice. Again, it's a supplement, not fresh-squeezed orange juice, but it's really not bad. I actually think it tastes really good. It's a two-ounce shot that will actually help you, unlike maybe some of the other two-ounce shots you've taken over the years that have not helped. Of course, the question on everyone's mind should be and we should ask every time is, does it work? What's the research? Well, they did two double-blind placebo-controlled

studies showing it did have a positive impact on liver enzyme levels. And that's a really good thing. Now, is that a holy grail? Of course not. You have to take care of yourself in general. That's very important. But dose has some really interesting ingredients, mainly turmeric and ginger in particular, which have been studied for some major health benefits like better digestion and less inflammation. And that is always a good thing. Are you ready to give your liver the support it deserves? Head to dose daily.com slash X files or enter code X files to get 35% off your first subscription, your body does so much for you. Let's do something for it. That's dosedaily.com slash eX files for 35% off your first month subscription. So I don't know who gets to do this research, but this

sounds fascinating and so fun. Did you know that dogs actually have the ability to determine the difference between your emotional state? All right, so here's what actually happened. There was a study published in the journal Eye Science last month. Sounds really cool, right? and researchers found that animals process fear, anger, and happiness differently. They basically showed them pictures of human faces and reactions, and the dogs could tell something was different based on their MRI scans. Now, this is the first time they've been able to conclusively show this. Kind of cool, right?

Your dog knows the difference. And since your dog knows the difference between you being happy, angry, or sad, why don't you give them Ollie and just make them happy all the time? Ollie delivers fresh human-grade food in five drool-worthy flavors so your pup can live the best life. You could say Ollie feeds the obsession. Now, Ollie's fresh recipes are developed by real chefs with gut-friendly ingredients that do support better digestion, energy, skin help, and poops, of course.

With flavors like fresh beef and sweet potatoes or fresh turkey with blueberries, you might be wondering, is your dog eating better than you? Probably. From the moment you start your subscription, everything is tailored to your pup. The meals are perfectly portioned and you get a pup tanner and scoop for easily storing and serving the food. It also has a health tracking app. Ollie offers health tracking so you can keep up with your pup's health

and see the difference the food is making in their life, including health check-ins, feeding guidelines, and a score to help you know how they're doing. Now, I didn't have an MRI scan my St. Bernard, but she did love Ali. I could tell because I can tell the difference. She no longer would tolerate the other stuff. She knew what she wanted, and it was Ollie. So get ready for both you and your pup to be obsessed.

Head to Ollie.com slash X-Files. Tell them all about your dog and use code X-Files to get 70% off your welcome kit, when you subscribe today. Plus, it's risk-free with their obsession guarantee. That's OLLI-E.com slash X-Files and enter code E-X files to get 70% off your first box. Ollie, feed the obsession. There's something inherent even within the question that is natural. You asked it in a great way. You asked it in a way that most people put it. Like, you know, sometimes I really, really, really want to hear a clear word from the Lord and I want it to be in

this way. And there is a problem. with that. So there's a lot of I in that question. I want. I want. I need. And you've already handcuffed the Lord in that sense. I mean, what you should say is, Lord, I'm open to doing what you want. Even if you don't want to communicate to me in a way that I discern, when you want to do so, I'm open to it. Now, you can petition. You can say, like, look, this, you know, I desire to hear a clear instruction from you, but not my will, but yours be done. And so, what you do there, what you're doing is you're clearing the way for God to be able to accomplish his will. You're not limiting him. You're showing a docility. There is a humility. And what you're doing there

is protecting yourself to ensure that you're not going off a path that you should be on and that you're able to discern in here what the Lord wants. Because if you fill yourself with a sense of demand that, Lord, I want this and I want it only in this way. It makes it easy for you, A, to not hear the Lord genuinely what he's doing with you, what he wants to do because you're too focused on what you want. B, it does give the enemy a chance in opening to go in there and supply a message that doesn't come from God, but from him, but packaged in a form that you desire. And so it can lead you astray. So there needs to be, there needs to be a desire to accept and receive from the Lord whatever it is he wants. And look, we Christians, we always live under different tensions. And one of the

tensions is we have the dignity of being sons and daughters of God. But at the same time, God is so other that we have to respect that. We have to respect the incredible distance that there is between us and him. So these two tensions come into play. Yes, a child can place his or her needs in front of God, place a demand, a desire, or want, that kind of thing, and do so with the confidence that comes from a child and to not be ashamed of that. So, you know, even if a child asks for something unreasonable, like, mom, I want my eighth ice dream cone this afternoon. Well, should he have the confidence to make such a petition? Yes. But he also has to have the wherewithal to know. This is not reasonable. This is not rational what I'm doing. And so there has to be at the end of the

day, this attitude of, I don't dare tell God what to do. I may petition and then I leave it there and then add, Lord, but not my will, yours be done. And you accept whatever the Lord gives. Now, I'll tell you, it can be gut wrenching to do that, it can be heartbreaking to do that. But that's where the Christian rubber hits the road. That's what separates a true child of God, a true disciple from somebody who's just coming along and perhaps looking for a Santa Claus in the sky whose job is there to give and my job is simply to receive from Santa Claus. So Ryan, you tell me, how does God communicate with you? Yeah, I mean, one, I would totally echo. It's, you know, obviously sacred scripture. It's been many, many times where you'll just be reading

and a verse will jump off the page or just you'll be praying for someone and a verse pops into mind. And I I really appreciate it. I had my pastor who kind of disliked me, you know, right after college, et cetera. He was, yeah, he was big on, yes, of course God speaks, and you should do a lot of extemporaneous prayer. And obviously, you know, you'll get very big in the prophetic and that God speaks through images and words that. He's like, look, you have this beautiful book and you could open it up. If you want a word from God, open the book. You have a lot of words from God in there. And so, you know, it'd be surprised if you couldn't find something to kind of be applicable to situation. That being said, this should probably come as no surprise to you, Father, but I have found

historically that in some really cool ways, God has spoken to me through, through movies and books. And one unique way is that I would find myself just having a strange desire to watch a movie that I'd seen countless times. And I realize how this might sound. But, and this is probably totally third mode. But I just would have this desire to watch a movie. And I'll give you a great example. I remember one time I was just feeling a little lost and just torn about, this is before we met, obviously, and all things were made clear to me. But I was really going, you know, what's next? Nothing bad, but just like, all right, I'm just feeling a little dry.

And I had this sudden impression that's like, you need to watch the karate kid, the original. I had someone recently said, oh, the one with Will Smith's son's like, no, that is not the original. Suddenly, I turned on the TV and it was available to watch. It was the strangest thing. And this happened several times where the movie was just available to watch. So I'm watching it, and it's a great movie. It's really fun. And if anyone has not seen the original Karate Kid, it's fantastic.

But there is a classic scene, and I will spoil this, because if you haven't seen the Karate Kid or any of its successors at this point, that's on you, not me. But there's a point where Mr. Miyagi, his wise mentor, Daniel's about to quit because he's tired of doing all these rudimentary tasks. He's been waxing a car. He's been painting a fence. He's been doing all this labor that he doesn't care. about and he's like, no, you promised to teach me martial arts. Like, what are you doing? Right? I'm done with your lessons. I'm done with everything. And he turns to leave and Mr. Miyagi in this epic moments is, you know, Daniel's son, like, show me paint the fence. And Daniel does the motion. He's like,

show me wax on, wax off. And suddenly, you know, Daniel has this sudden realization that the entire time Mr. Miyagi has been preparing him and he hasn't even realized it. And suddenly he realizes he has the dexterity and the motion and he's blocking everything. And he's like, you've been teaching me the whole time and I never realized it. And it was like in that moment, it was like, boom, the room froze and God's like, I'm Miyagiing you right now. I've just, you're doing all this stuff that you don't see necessarily any long term eternal value, but like you are changing and learning whether you realize it or not. And so I was like, oh, it's really beautiful. And I would have been fine. A week later, I was actually with a good friend of ours. He's a big pastor and a wonderful

teacher. And I said, hey, I'd be remiss if you didn't pray for me on my way out. And I never turned down a prayer. So I asked him to pray for me. And he knows, Nothing. I didn't tell many of this stuff, right? I said, would you pray for me? He puts his hand on my shoulder and just says, Lord, would you bless Ryan? And he goes, whoa, he's like, I feel like the Lord is Miyagiing you right now. Does that mean anything? And I said, oh, I was like, wax on, wax off. That was awesome. And so it's that, that kind of experience has happened to me on numerous occasions. And of course, the Lord speaks through better movies. It's not ironic. Top Gun, Braveheart, there are many movies that God seems to speak disproportionately through. And then with books, it's similar. Sometimes the first time I really felt

like the Lord speak to me was through a biography of a Reagan I was reading. And it was during a time when I was just really struggling professionally and not knowing what to do. And there's a word in the book. And Reagan was reflecting in the White House about how all he wanted in life was to be the manager of a sporting goods store. And Mary is a girlfriend. And he just was sitting, in the Oval Office going, you know what? Thank God I didn't get what I wanted because I wouldn't end up here. And suddenly, and the world obviously is different as a result of it. And that phrase like leaped off the page into my eyes and was like, thank God, you know,

maybe what you want isn't what's best. And so those are kind of the ways that God speaks to me. So if I ever invite you over to movie night, Father, just know. Might be, might be spiritually significant. All right. Will you have scotch or cognac? Of course. You can't discern the voice of the Lord without, uh,

his preferred way of speaking. You're speaking, right? Awesome. All right, Father, we had tried to, despite our best efforts, record this a couple days ago, which was the feast day of King Louis the 9th, very famous monarch and held in a very high regard by the Catholic Church. Tell us about King Louis the 9th. Do you know what it's called when you discuss sleep hacks about the optimal fabrics to incorporate

into your bed? Sheet talking. That's right. I'm a big sheet talker because I love Miracle Made Shoeuvre. because I love Miracle Made sheets. I have them on my bed waiting for me as we speak. NASA-inspired, silver-infused fabric used to keep me at the optimal temperature all night long. I've mentioned this many times.

I get very hot at night, and Miracle Made Sheet helps regulate that temperature a lot to keep me cool. Now, there are a lot of sheet options out there, and if you haven't considered the sheets you're sleeping in for a better night's rest, you absolutely should. I mean, these are NASA-inspired. And while they won't put you on the moon, you might just be saying good night moon. if you have them. So upgrade your sleep or give them to someone who needs to upgrade their sleep. Give the gift of better rest to yourself or to someone else. Go to try miracle.com slash X-Files to try Miracle made sheets today. You'll save over 40%. And when you use promo code X-Files, that's X-Files. You'll get an extra 20% off plus a free three-piece towel set. They make an amazing gift.

And with a 30-day money-back guarantee, there is no risk. That's try miracle.com. slash X-Files. Code EX Files at checkout. Thanks to Miracle Made for sponsoring this episode. Hello, friends. Ryan Bethay here with my dear friend, Father Gregory Pine. Hello, Father. How are you? I'm doing well. Thanks. How are you? I'm doing fantastic. Now, you just journeyed thousands of miles from the great fjords of Norway and came home to a surprising announcement, which is our new series is going to be available on YouTube for all to consume. How does that make you feel? feel. I'd say it's worth the price of an airplane ticket from Trondheim to Oslo to Newark. I'd pay it again and I'd pay it again. Wow. Amazing. Well, this series may not get you to Norway, but this series will

help you answer questions such as, who am I? Do I have a purpose? What should I do about it? And of course, the most pressing question of them all is, what if everybody, in fact, does Wang Chung tonight? All this and more. on the born again identity anything else father they should know before they start this auditory odyssey i'd say buckle up bring your a bag of popcorn and prepare for a whimsical ride there you go all aboard the whimsical journey the born again identity available wherever you consume youtube which is probably everywhere and bwtm plus and podcast it's going to be everywhere click the link in the show notes and listen to the born again identity

Or else. Right, Father? God blessed you all. Yeah, so St. Louis the 9th, King of France. Of course, Louis the 14th gets all the press. He was the one that bankrupted the nation. And then, of course, Louis XVIth was beheaded on the guillotine, ironically, because he himself, if I recall correctly, designed the guillotine.

He was an engineer by education. With Louis 9th, which you have is an individual who took God first and recognized his duty as a Christian duty. And so his job as the king was to guide his nation, his people to heaven and to perform the works of Christian charity on earth. And so he did that. He attended, as widely known, he attended two masses a day, formed himself sacramentally through the Word of God. He wouldn't tolerate any immoral actions, immoral behavior. And so, of course, after having formed himself and after having trained himself in the Christian way of life and governing the way that he knew that God desired governance to be exercised, after having perfected himself, so now he turns his attention to his son, because his son's going to be his successor, he wants to form him as a disciple of Jesus Christ so that he can continue the work of grace that he himself began. And so, you know, Louis is held up as the monol leader because he put God first and then his people second.

You know, he lived poorly. He ate simply. He was charitable to the poor. He waited on the poor himself. You would never think that he was a king. Like that image we have of kingship and royalty and regality and wealth and so forth. It just never entered into his mind. He saw himself as a servant.

Yeah. And he has a beautiful letter, which I know we wanted to. We'll link to this in the show notes that he wrote to his son, Philip. And I have a quote that I pulled out that I thought was really, I mean, the whole letter is wonderful, but he said, therefore, dear son, the first thing I advise you is that you fix your whole heart upon God and love him with all your strength. For without this, no one can be saved or be of any worth. You should with all your strength shun everything which you believe to be displeasing to him. And you ought especially to be resolved not to commit mortal sin no matter what may happen and should permit all your limbs to be hewn off and suffer every manner of torment rather than fall. knowingly into mortal sin. It's a great letter. And yeah, it really does cause you to reflect on how fortunate those people are. Because with monarchs, I mean, so many monarchs in history just for egos and wars.

And, you know, if you just grow up in a time that you just got a bad leader, it just, which seems like the majority, we're often not like, what a rare oasis it was. And like an amazing gift that they had this monarch who viewed his role as stewardship and servant and to be a servant to his people, right? Absolutely. You bet. And certainly at the time, I mean, to be a king, it meant that you had, you had absolute power. There was nothing you couldn't do. You were the law. And the fact that he was able to maintain his dignity, his sight on God, and justice, service, and charity as the main focus of his actions, it just shows you what a great man he was. I mean, if you want to see what a great man looks like, you look at Louis the Ninth.

Yeah. And, you know, actually, for that matter, Louis the Ninth presence, his witness is so great. If you've ever been to St. Louis, Missouri, that's named after him. And in downtown, they have an immense bronze statue of him. So we honor him even in the country here. I mean, his legacy, you know, has been a thousand years since he's been around and look at the impact that he's had, even in modern-day America. Wow. And that's even a bigger city than Martinsville, right? Which will be built in your honor one day? For now it is. All right. We have a vault question. We always want to try and say thank you to our vault members and honor them. Thank you so much for your support in making this show possible. Father, vault member writes in, are there any special prayers or actions to take if you're going to have extended house guests that potentially might have something sinister attached to them? This listener has some family members that may be moving in for a few months.

and they're a little nervous. There might be something attached, nothing potentially nefarious, but it was just a question of what should you do if you have house guests that maybe you don't know a ton about moving into your house? What's father's advice? Yeah, so look, if you're like me, you work hard to make your home a place of the Lord and you work hard to keep it that way, and that's exactly what you should be doing.

I think certainly you have every right to have your home clean. But, you know, at the same time, look, if you're doing your prayers, you're living a good moral life, you're exercising hospitality, which is what this person is hinting at right now. He or she is making the home available for people to come in and live in an extended period of time there and receive his or her hospitality. That should be your focus. You know, don't exaggerate the relevance of the devil in this situation. If you're concerned based on something you know about your, guests about some bad behaviors that you've been aware of, you can state the ground roles. Like, hey, look, in this house, you know, here are the expectations that all of us follow.

And so I tell you, not to single you out, but just to share with you like, hey, this is what we do. And certainly, you know, you can, if you have a routine in your house that every day at a certain time, you say a prayer together, everybody in the house. You can tell that to your guess. And there's nothing unreasonable about that. If that's your routine, then make that your routine. I think the important thing to focus on is to allow a good Christian experience, an experience of grace to be encountered by your guest. And that is what is going to change your guest. Be less worried about your home and more worried about showing a good Christian witness and forming a disciple that comes and visits your home. Amen.

All right. Interesting question here, Father, it's about burial cremation and relics. Father Mike Schmitz recently posted a video on his YouTube channel about burying the day. and talking about why Catholics don't scatter ashes. And he said in this video, apparently, that the body is meant to remain intact. The listener asks, how do we square this with relics, in which case we sometimes keep pieces of saints deliberately apart from the rest of their bodies? How do we reconcile that?

Yeah, easily. So I've gotten this question hundreds of times in my life. So, look, it is a human practice, a universal human practice, that we bury the dead. Every culture throughout history, every culture in the world practices this. And so this is something that when that happens, when there isn't a learning about that, but an innate practice that's present everywhere and at all times, we call that the natural law, that God has implanted within us an instinct that we don't have to learn, that we just do. It's an expression of God's will, and it comes out in a universal human attitude and behavior.

Okay, so to phrase it in a different way, the dead have a right to burial. They have a right to burial. The saints, though, because of their witness, because they are members of the body of Christ, because they have become glorified, they also have a right to have their relics venerated. And that right supersedes the other right. The other right is based on natural law. The right to veneration is based on supernatural law. So one set of rights supersedes the other.

So your grandmother, your great-grandfather, we bury those people intact. We don't keep their ashes around on a mantelpiece. We don't take parts of their ashes and wear them around our neck. We bury them because that is the desire of God as born through natural law. But a saint has a right to veneration and, in fact, to worldwide veneration. Because when the church canonizes, it is declaring to the church. into the world, that, hey, we have the certainty now that this person is a saint. And veneration for a Canaanite saint is not optional. It is mandatory insofar as Catholics are concerned.

All right, Father, another question came in. This is very interesting. A listener is asking about, Father, I feel like I have made some decisions in life that have caused me to miss out on some of the best opportunities. Father, as a priest, what do you say when you give spiritual direction to people who maybe are dealing with some regret or just concern that maybe the best times have passed them by and they maybe are looking in the rearview mirror a little more than through the front. Yeah, and that feeling is a universal one. It affects everyone at some time and someplace. But the point is this, God has a plan for you.

And at the end of the day, although you have free will, you can't frustrate God's plan for you. So where you are right now is where God wants you right now. and he's ready to launch that plan for you beginning right now. So you put your faith in him and give him permission to execute that plan, and he will do so. And that's all you need to do. Regret should not enter into the mind of a Christian because regret is, well, it's a cousin to shame. Sorrow is something that should enter our mind, and God can do something with sorrow, and he does.

And so, you know, the Lord is ready to, at the last second, so to speak, at the 11th hour, at the last minute to transform you into something glorious. Just ask the good thief on the cross. Yeah, it's a great question, too, because obviously, I mean, I felt that at times too, and I think any athlete has felt that as well. But like maybe as a thought exercise, like Father, obviously, we mentioned the Apostle Peter a lot too, right? And I imagine how he might have been feeling after he failed the test with Christ, but Christ knew that he would and actually told him what was going to happen. And yet it still happened. And so, I mean, maybe this is a riddle for the theologians. father, but was Peter supposed to fall and simultaneously he shouldn't have done it to be restored?

How do we maybe think through that? I think that's a wrong way to phrase. It was he supposed to. It makes it sound like it was God's design to have him sin, and that's never God's design. But in spite of Peter's falling, God had a plan to elevate Peter, and he guided him with everything he needed to do to fulfill that plan. He gave Peter the necessary grace, and Peter for his part as broken as he was. by God, did he love our Lord? He loved him. He loved him. Broken as he was. He loved him.

And Peter was frankly honest about both. And this is what makes Peter so lovable, that he did have a love for God. It was genuine. It was true. It was authentic. And yet he's a broken man. And I think all of us, we can see ourselves there at some level. We need to see ourselves there at some level. And isn't it ironic that the prince of the apostles, the one who was objectively the leader, that he was Christ's spokesman. I mean, that's clear even from the scriptures. They always go to Peter, the officials, and pose the questions to him. They acknowledge him as the spokesman for the 12 and for the Lord, the man who speaks on his behalf. Isn't it ironic that that's also the man who is overtly the most broken? Yes, Judas sinned the most, but the character picture,

the profile of Peter is the most in-depth one of all of the apostles. I mean, and maybe, you know, another one father that's always kind of perplexed me, too, is the Joseph's story. Because I wonder, he gets this dream from God that he's going to rule over his brothers. And then unwisely, I would say, shares it with them. They respond by sinning and throwing him in a pit selling slavery. But he ends up fulfilling that by, he does rule over them. And he also saves a nation of Egypt through his, through his wise stewardship. And you're left at the end of that, I mean, really beautiful but haunting message, right?

what you meant for evil, God meant for good, and just this wild way that God redeemed that whole thing. But it makes you wonder, was that how it was supposed to go down? Like, did God ordain that that was going to happen and he let it happen? Or was God making the most, like you just mentioned with Peter, of sinful actions that were taken and then he used it to bring about a greater good? Yeah, God sees the whole picture. And he sees where evil is going to leave an impression. And even before it leaves that impression, before it acts, God has already executed, to use a Latin phraseology, an Adjari contra. He's already acting against it. He's already provided something, an escape route. It doesn't prevent the evil from happening necessarily, but it usurbs its power.

It is a mystery. I'm just glad not to be God. I'd make a bad God, and it's way better and more fun knowing that he's in charge. I sleep better at night knowing God's in charge and not me or anyone else. All right, Father, final, final, final question. This is the fans are demanding to know. Which of NHL legends should be venerated, if any? Are there any hockey players that belong in NHL, St. Hood? Are you a favorite? You know, I grew up in a suburb of Toronto.

I was a Maple Leafs fan. And my absolute favorite player was Wendell Clark. Wendell Clark was a left winger. In junior hockey, he had been a defenseman. It became a forward. And he was just an amazing guy to see an amazing. He had just incredible talent and a lot of heart. And early on, I actually wrote to him.

I believe I was in seventh grade, perhaps eighth grade. And I wrote a letter to the Leafs organization and just a fan letter. And he returned back to me a five by seven photo autographed. And I was on top of the world when I got that. Wow. All right. So you do have a relic of his then. Do you have a puck or anything or do you have anything else that you could put on in display, a stick?

I'd be, if he's listening, we got to get you something, right, Father? Yeah, you know, and even at the, at the time, you know, as great as it was at the time, I think I've since given it away. I mean, it was important for the time. And when I found an opportunity, now I was much older at the time. I think I had already had it for perhaps 20 years or so. But I found somebody who could appreciate it. And, you know, look, when you follow the Lord, when you, in my case, I became a priest, you move around, you're assigned to different houses. and you've just got to divest of possessions. And yeah, things have a sentimental value to you. I keep some things, but relatively very few that have a sentimental value because the value really at the end of the day, the value is going to be in the experience that the memory has in your heart. And you don't necessarily need the object. So when I found an opportunity where it was useful, I gave that autograph away.

And, you know, it served another purpose. then. But, you know, I still, I think he's an outstanding player. He was always just really fun to watch. And I did have an opportunity to meet him. I, in fact, met him a couple times. So I end up getting more autographs from him, and I also gave those away. So, you know, blessed to be God. There you go. And Father, just so people know, it's not all difficulty working with me. You have to reluctantly admit that your co-host did introduce you to another NHL legend, right? Yeah, you introduced me to Jeremy Roe. Ronick, who is a formidable, formidable hockey player.

I mean, he was incredible talent, incredible skills. The only thing I hated about him was he was playing for the wrong team. And the Maple Leafs, in fact, were in the same division. I mean, this is before the NHL realignment. They both played in the Norse division, you know, through the 1980s and through the early 90s when I was watching. And so Ronick played against Clark many times. Ronick was formidable. He was a hockey player and a half.

And, you know, it's just a shame, you know, and by God's design, God put him on the wrong hockey team because he could have had that much more greatness if he was on Toronto. Wow. Well, folks, you heard it here. Father said that God may have made a mistake in putting Jeremy on the wrong team. So, you know, we'll have to intercede for that. But two legends, if you all are listening, thank you for playing hockey so well. And yeah, any of other hockey questions, please submit them to the show. We do have a big fan. And Father, you know, I played hockey for. about 12 years. Did you know that? No, I didn't. Wow. Yeah, I know. I know. I played hockey. It's roller hockey. You guys probably, that doesn't count, right? Roller hockey. Sure. Okay. But you know how to handle a, I mean, you played with a ball, right? A ball or a hard puck. What did you play with?

No, it was a puck. It was a puck. It was a special type of puck. Yeah, I know. It was fun. I had so many great memories. I loved playing roller hockey. And actually, I had quite a wrist shot because I was also six foot four when I was 13. So I was definitely, me, I looked scarier, like today, I looked scarier than I actually am. So, okay. Well, folks, you have been listening to the Exorcist Files plus NHL early, I guess, mid-1990s commentary. So thanks for listening, folks, and we will get you those dramatic cases very soon. God bless you all. Father, any parting words? Yeah, just stay good, everybody. Keep your prayer life up. And, you know, look, I have a godson. His name is Henry. He's got stage four cancer. And he's been told he just

has weeks to live. I would be so grateful if you would lift him up in your prayers. Again, his name is Henry. He was my first God child. There's a special place in my heart for him. He's a great, great, great man. He's in his mid-30s, and he has two very, very young children. And it's heartbreaking. We're still praying for a miracle. God's will be done. But at the very least, even if a healing doesn't come, we pray for God's grace to be poured out in abundance upon him and upon his family. Amen. Amen. We will do that. All right, folks. God bless you all. Talk to you soon.