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David Hajduk
Teacher, Author, Campus Minister

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David Hajduk has twenty years of experience in religious education and youth ministry, and really understands the challenges facing today's youth.

Aug 14, 2010 01:10:09 PM
Meaning What We Say
I remember one day walking through the halls at a high school I worked at, when I overheard one student say to another, "You retard!" (One of the advantages of being short and looking young is that students can't tell when you’re around.) Clearly the boy was using this word to insult the other student's intelligence - he could have just as easily said "idiot" or "stupid," for that was indeed what he meant. Well, I turned and called him out on it: "Pardon me," I said, "but what if I told you I had a little sister with Down's syndrome - do you think I might find what you just said personally offensive? I mean, you just said "retarded” people are stupid, didn't you? But you're wrong, they're not stupid, they have a chromosomal disorder." The student responded, surprised by my sudden appearance, "Uh, uh, Mr. Hajduk, I didn't mean that. I really didn't mean anything by what I said." To this I replied, "On the contrary, you did mean something by what you said, and besides that, words have meaning despite what you mean by them."

In his Theology of the Body, Pope John Paul II emphasizes the Church’s constant teaching that we are created in the “image and likeness” of God as a body-soul unity, that is, that we ARE our bodies (not merely possess or have bodies). For this reason, our bodies express us as persons, and were created to “speak of God.” It could be said that the body has a “theology” and a built-in “language” – it is supposed to communicate God’s truth and love in the world. This is why John Paul also spoke of the “prophetism of the body.” However, the body can also utter lies and falsehoods. There can be “false prophets.” Instead of expressing the language of authentic love, selflessness, and gift, the body can speak the language of use, selfishness, and lust. The body will “speak for and on behalf of” the person – when he acts through his body “in conformity with the fundamental truth of the language of the body, then he too is “in the truth.” In the opposite case, he commits lies and falsifies the language of the body.” (TOB 106:3) For example, “…the body tells the truth through faithfulness and conjugal love, and, when it commits “adultery” it tells a lie, it commits a falsehood.” (TOB 104:8) If a couple is involved sexually prior to marriage, they are saying something with their bodies that in fact isn’t true – their body language says “I am yours, I belong to you as your spouse, I give myself totally to you,” yet this is not the case. (In fact, for the unmarried, abstinence from all sexual activity “speaks” God’s truth and love.) If a married couple uses contraception they “contradict” (that is, speak against) the very language of the body since “according to the criteria of truth, which must be expressed in the language of the body, the conjugal act “means” not only love, but also potential fruitfulness… In the conjugal act, it is illicit to separate artificially the unitive meaning from the procreative meaning, because the one as well as the other belong to the innermost truth of the conjugal act.” (TOB 123:6)

In St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he states: “Do you not know that the he who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two shall become one.”” (6:16) It seems to me that St. Paul is bringing our attention to this very fact: sex means something despite what we may mean by it. I would venture a guess that the man hiring a prostitute does not intend to “become one” with her, yet St. Paul says that’s in fact what he does. In his letter to the Romans, Paul says: “Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.” (6:13) This sure sounds like “Communicate God’s truth and love in the world with your body!” to me. All of this is at the heart of living the virtue of chastity. In a nutshell, the chaste person “speaks God’s truth and love” with his or her body; the unchaste person utters lies and falsehoods. May we, by God’s grace, always "say what we mean and mean what we say" with our bodies.

Fight the good fight of purity like St. Thomas did! And know that I am praying for you.

~David

Jun 28, 2010 04:30:40 AM
He must increase, but I must decrease
It is often said that "pride comes before a fall." This was certainly true of our first parents, Adam and Eve. It is true of any sin committed. "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled." (Luke 14:11) However, there's a related principle - a paradoxical one, for it is not what we'd expect or what seems to make sense: "he who humbles himself will be exalted." Of course, not the one who humbles himself only in order to be exalted, for that is simply pride in disguise . But the one who truly empties himself of himself, will be filled up. The one who disregards himself, particularly in the service of God and neighbor, will be regarded. It may be that, in the final tally, he is regarded solely by God and not by men, but that's all that really matters isn't it? My thoughts go to St. Thomas Aquinas who, as was told by Pope Benedict in his recent General Audience of June 2, 2010: "While, as was his wont,the Saint was praying before the Crucifix in the early morning in the chapel of St Nicholas in Naples, Domenico da Caserta, the church sacristan, overheard a conversation. Thomas was anxiously asking whether what he had written on the mysteries of the Christian faith was correct. And the Crucified One answered him: "You have spoken well of me, Thomas. What is your reward to be?". And the answer Thomas gave him was what we too, friends and disciples of Jesus, always want to tell him: "Nothing but Yourself, Lord!" If we have God, we have it all.

On June 24, we celebrated the feast of the Birth of St. John the Baptist. One professor I had in my undergraduate studies explained why we celebrate St. John the Baptist at this time of the year. On roughly this date every year we experience a certain phenomenon in nature. We call it the first day of summer, but it is often referred to as the summer solstice. The day prior to the change of seasons is the "longest day" of the year, that is, the sun "stays out" the longest. Every day from the summer solstice on, the days actually get "shorter." The scriptures tell us that John the Baptist, once Jesus began his public ministry, said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30) The Church placed the Baptist's feast here in the calendar to reflect this humility - John's understanding that while he was "a voice crying out in the wilderness" He was also "unworthy to loose the sandal straps" of our Lord. You may wonder, was he exalted? I'd say! Jesus Himself attested, "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist..." (Matthew 11:11)

One of the biggest mistakes we can make in trying to live a life of purity is to think purity is something we attain instead of a gift that we receive. This can lead us to "go it alone," believing that living a pure life is like a mathematical equation: if we only do x, y, and z, then we will be pure. If we are at all successful, we can be fooled into thinking that we are strong enough on our own, which, in turn, often leads to overconfidence and presumption. This can be disastrous, and we can wind up falling back into old habits and sins. "Pride comes before a fall."

In the "Prayer of St. Thomas for Purity" that AWC members recite daily, St. Thomas states: "Dear Jesus, I know that every perfect gift, and especially that of chastity, depends on the power of Your Providence. Without you, a mere creature can do nothing. Therefore, I beg You to defend by Your Grace the chastity and purity of my body and soul." Now, does this prayer mean we do not have to work at being pure? Of course not! Does it mean that we shouldn't take the necessary steps to create a lifestyle that supports and encourages purity? Of course not! Does it mean that, ultimately, purity is a gift of God that can only be truly received if we know we are mere creatures dependent totally on God's loving Providence? You bet! To be pure, He must increase, but we must decrease.

Fight the good fight of purity like St. Thomas did! And know that I am praying for you.

~ David

Apr 15, 2010 06:49:25 AM
David on EWTN's "Sunday Night Live" with Fr. Groeschel
I don't know if you watch "Sunday Night Live" with Fr. Groeschel on EWTN, but I wanted to let you know that I was the guest on April 11 - Divine Mercy Sunday. The show was entitled "Chastity for the Kingdom." It was a real honor to be asked, and a blessing to be on the show. Please pray that many lives will be touched by it and that it will lead people to discover how the AWC can help them to live God's plan for love and sex.

Fight the good fight of purity like St. Thomas did! And know that I am praying for you.

~ David

Mar 26, 2010 06:52:16 AM
Overcoming the Odds
On March 17, the Feast of St. Patrick, in the wee small hours of the morning, our son Caleb Martin was born, weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz. His arrival was an answer to prayer in more ways than one. Clearly, we always prayed for him to be safe and healthy - and we did so by name, at least from Thanksgiving on, for we always find out the gender of our babies and call them by name while they are still in the womb. (As an aside, we have found this to be a powerful means of pro-life education for our "already born children" as well as others with whom we speak about the baby before he or she is born.) However, this time we prayed for something else: we prayed that my wife would be able to deliver him naturally. You see, our 6th child Ben, now six-years old, was born by an emergency C-section. We were disappointed that this had to be, but accepted it as the best way to ensure Ben's safety. My wife was determined, however, to deliver the next baby naturally. Yet, after we conceived our 7th child Maggie, my wife was told that things had changed in the medical world and that most doctors and hospitals would no longer deliver naturally after a woman had a C-section. After a lot of research, and many phone calls, my wife resigned herself to that scheduled C-section, though she was not happy about it. Well, in a nutshell, when it came time for Maggie to be born, it was a horrible experience all the way around - the prep, the surgery, the "birth" experience, the mother-child time after the surgery, the recovery... just about everything. Of course, we were thrilled to have Maggie with us safely - that goes without saying. But the whole thing was a little difficult to swallow, especially when we considered the fact that my wife, according to the "civil" law, had the "right" to kill our baby, but no right to deliver her the way she chose. Where were all the "pro-choicers" crying out about my wife's "right to choose" to do what she wants with her own body? Oh, I forgot, they really don't want people having children - certainly not as many as we have!

So on to Caleb and how God answered all our prayers. If it was nearly impossible to find anyone who would deliver a baby naturally after a C-section before, now that my wife had had two C-sections it became absolutely impossible. But we prayed that God would provide a way, even as we scheduled the C-section for Caleb. Well, on Tuesday, March 16, after about a week of serious Braxton contractions, my wife started to have what she believed to be "the real ones." But because Caleb was only 36 weeks and change,and since there was a question of whether or not my wife had begun "real" labor, the doctor associated with our mid-wives put my wife in the hospital for rest, hydration, and monitoring, stating that he would make a decision the next morning about the C-section. We got to the hospital, they made my wife comfortable in a labor and delivery room, and turned out the lights for her to get some sleep. My wife woke up a few hours later, and the rest is a blur that seemed to happen at the speed of lightening: she began to have a few intense contractions, her water broke, and within minutes Caleb was born! I can still see her holding him in her arms and saying through the tears, "We did it! We did it!" God had provided a way and Caleb had overcome the odds.

This is fitting, really, for Caleb's name has a rich significance in this regard. In Numbers 13 and 14, we find that Caleb - a mere youth, but a leader in his tribe - was one of the spies that Moses had chosen to investigate the land of Canaan to "...see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there is wood in it or not." (18-20) When the spies came back, they acknowledged that the land "flowed with milk and honey" (27), but stated that the people were too numerous and too powerful, and their cities too fortified to try to occupy it. That is, except for Caleb (and Joshua). "Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 'Let us go up at once, and occupy it; for we are well able to overcome it.'" (30) When the people refuse to trust in God's ability to follow through on his promise in spite of the bad odds, "...Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephun'neh... rent their clothes and said to all the congregation, 'The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only, do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.' But all the congregation said to stone them with stones." (14:6-10) The Lord punished the people for their lack of faith, and those who had "not hearkened to His voice" and had "despised Him" were not permitted to see the Promised Land. Of Caleb, however, the Lord said, "But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendents shall possess it." (24)

And what is the message for us? Well, it can seem these days, particularly with everything going on in Washington, DC, that the forces hell-bent on a culture of death are winning. It can appear that the odds are overwhelmingly bad, and that we, especially we who are young, cannot possibly emerge victorious in the cultre war. Perhaps on a personal level, we feel that everything is working against our efforts to live a pure life. Barraged with images, messages, false teaching, bad example, and our own weakness, we can feel sometimes like throwing up our hands and saying "It's just too much to overcome." Caleb teaches us to trust in God, to be confident in His help, and to be sure of victory. Caleb teaches us to stand up and speak out, and not to be afraid of those who will throw stones! Caleb teaches us to have a "different spirit" from the world and to "follow God fully." Caleb teaches us that with God, we can overcome the odds!

Fight the good fight of purity like St. Thomas did! And know that I am praying for you.

~ David

Feb 01, 2010 03:22:42 PM
Please indulge me...
I have spent many a night playing Monopoly - arguably one of the best board games ever. Some games would go so late into the night that everyone's eyes would be bleeding. If you know anything about Monopoly, you know that the one thing you do not want to do is "Go directly to jail." I mean, you can't pass "Go" or "Collect $200," right? In addition, you lose your turn until you roll doubles or pay a fine. That is, unless you have that coveted card: the "Get out of jail free" card. Then you move your piece to "Just visiting" - which I don't think refers to a corporal work of mercy.

We just celebrated the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas on January 28 - the patron, protector, and guide in chaste living for those of us who are members of the AWC. One of the benefits of membership in the confraternity is a plenary indulgence on Thomas' feast. For those of you not familiar with Latin, plenary comes from the word "plenus," meaning "full." To indulge, in this case, means to treat with excessive leniency or generosity. So, a plenary indulgence is the "extra-sacramental" remission of all temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is granted by the Church in the exercise of the power of the keys (Matthew 16:19), and through the application of the superabundant merits of Christ and of the saints. (See www.newadvent.org/cathen/07783a.htm.) Therefore, if you made a good confession, attended Mass, and prayed for the intentions of the Pope (all requirements for receiving the indulgence), and then all of sudden died, you would not require any time in Purgatory. You don't even have to "just visit."

Now, I know Purgatory is not really like "jail" and a plenary indulgence is not really like a "get out of jail free" card. Please don't take the analogy too far. Writing of Purgatory in his encyclical "Spe Salvi" Pope Benedict states: “The encounter with [Jesus] is the decisive act of judgment. Before his gaze all falsehood melts away. This encounter with him, as it burns us, transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves. All that we build during our lives can prove to be mere straw, pure bluster, and it collapses. Yet in the pain of this encounter, when the impurity and sickness of our lives become evident to us, there lies salvation. His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation “as through fire”. But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God. In this way the inter-relation between justice and grace also becomes clear…” (47) Pope John Paul II said, “Every trace of attachment to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection of the soul corrected. Purification must be complete, and indeed this is precisely what is meant by the Church's teaching on purgatory...” (General Audience, 8/4/99)

And it must be stated emphatically that an indulgence is not a free pass or license to sin. It does not exempt you from any law, or obligation, or requirement to make compensation to someone you have wronged. It certainly isn’t “buying” your salvation or anyone else’s. (Again, see www.newadvent.org/cathen/07783a.htm.) It is an act of extreme generosity and leniency, offered by Holy Mother Church to her children, not because of what we have done, but because of what Christ and the saints have done! Yet, since so many people these days think that the removal of the "guilt" of sin, which happens by way of sacramental confession, is the same as the removal of the "punishment" due to sin, which happens either through penance, etc. in earthly life or Purgatory after death, people do not see the need to do penance, pray for the souls in Purgatory, or seek any of the abundance of plenary and partial indulgences the Church makes available to the faithful. This is regrettable.

Though the souls in Purgatory are assured of salvation and for that reason are joyful, the tradition of the Church has always held that they also undergo tremendous suffering. By all accounts, it doesn't sound like a place you want to go unless you have to. You really want to go straight to Heaven. I mean, I do.

Please indulge me...

Fight the good fight of purity like St. Thomas did! And know that I am praying for you.

~ David

Dec 20, 2009 06:19:56 PM
A Favorite Chapter for Christmas
More than I have favorite books, I have favorite chapters: Ch. 1 of C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity on the Law of Human Nature, Ch. 15 of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when Aslan rises from the dead and frolics with Lucy & Susan, Ch. 5 of The Hobbit when Gollum and Bilbo trade "riddles in the dark." These are all classics... and the list goes on. However, in my "Top 10" (perhaps my "Top 3") is Ch. 1 of Life of Christ by Archbishop Fulton Sheen (who, BTW, became a Third Order Dominican because of his love of St. Thomas Aquinas). I read this chapter of Sheen's classic every Christmas. Since this is sort of a "Christmas Blog," I thought it fitting to share a few excerpts from it with you. I hope they inspire you as they always inspire me.

In discussing what distinguishes Christ from other world teachers, Archbishop Sheen says:

"A... fact separating Him from all the others is this: every other person who ever came into the world came into it to live. He came into it to die. Death was a stumbling block to Socrates - it interrupted his teaching. But to Christ, death was the goal and fulfillment of His life, the gold that He was seeking. Few of His words or actions are intelligible without reference to His Cross. He presented Himself as a Savior rather than merely a Teacher. It meant nothing to teach people to be good unless He also gave them the power to be good, after rescuing them from the frustration of guilt.The story of every human life begins with birth and ends with death. In the Person of Christ, however, it was His death that was first and His life that was last... It was not so much that His birth cast a shadow on His life and thus led to His death; it was rather that the Cross was first, and cast its shadow back to His birth. His has been the only life in the world that was ever lived backward..."

"Another distinguishing fact is that He does not fit, as the other world teachers do, into the established category of a 'good man.' Good men do not lie. But if Christ was not all that He said He was, namely, the Son of the living God, the Word of God in the flesh, then He was not 'just a good man': then He was a knave, a charlatan, and the greatest deceiver who ever lived. If he was not what He said He was, the Christ, the Son of God, He was the anti-Christ! If He was only a man, then He was not even a 'good' man. But he was NOT only a man. He would have us either worship Him or despise Him - despise Him as a mere man, or worship Him as true God and true man. That is the alternative He presents. It may very well be that the Communists, who are so anti-Christ, are closer to Him than those who see Him as a sentimentalist and a vague moral reformer. The Communists have a least decided that if He wins, they lose; the others are afraid to consider Him either winning or losing, because they are not prepared to meet the moral demands which this victory would make on their souls."

"If He IS what He claimed to be, a Savior, a Redeemer, then we have a virile Christ and a leader worth following in these terrible times; One Who will step into the breach of death, crushing sin, gloom, and despair; a leader to Whom we can make a totalitarian sacrifice without losing, but gaining freedom, and Whom we can love even unto death. We need a Christ today Who will make cords and drive the buyers and sellers from our new temples; Who will blast the unfruitful fig tree, Who will talk of crosses and sacrifices and Whose voice will be like the voice of the raging sea. But He will not allow us to pick and choose among His words, discarding the hard ones, and accepting the ones that please our fancy. We need a Christ Who will restore moral indignation, Who will make us hate evil with a passionate intensity, and love goodness to a point where we can drink death like water."

Fight the good fight of purity like St. Thomas did. And may you and yours have a blessed Christmas!

~ David

Oct 29, 2009 10:32:36 AM
I Can... Be a Saint!
In one of the classic scenes in the history of modern cinema, Luke Skywalker and the great Jedi master Yoda stand at the edge of the swamp on Dagobah watching Luke’s X-Wing fighter sink into the murky water. Luke, in his typically whiny tone, complains that he will never get his ship out. Yoda, however, encourages Luke to use the Force – a suggestion that is met with a half-hearted, slightly cynical, “Alright, if you say so. I’ll try.” Yoda rebukes Luke: “Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.” Well, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, Luke fails to raise the fighter. Exhausted, he sits down and blurts out, “I can’t do it. It’s just too big.” Yoda, who stands a mere few feet in height, admonished Luke saying, “Size matters not. Judge me by my size will you? And right you should not. For my ally is the Force.” With that, the small 900 year old Jedi master turns toward the ship, closes his eyes, raises his hand, and almost effortlessly moves the fighter up and out of the swamp. Luke is dumbfounded: “I don’t believe it,” he says. Yoda replies, “That is why you failed.”

One response is practically universal when young people (and not so young people) are confronted with the demands of the Gospel: “I can’t do it. It’s just too big; too difficult.” Whatever the moral issue, from not cheating on a test, to being kind to a younger sibling, to refraining from drugs or alcohol, to being sexually pure, I hear a lot of “Luke Skywalkers” saying, “I can’t.”

In his Letter to the Romans, St. Paul states: “…where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord…How can we who died to sin yet live in it? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” (Romans 5:20-6:4) St. Paul is making the point that, because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, sin no longer reigns – grace does. Sin no longer need have power over us!

From where do we get the power, the ability, the capability to “live in newness of life”? From the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts. (Romans 5:5) Indeed, the Holy Spirit is our ally (kind of like the Force was Yoda’s), and by His power we can accomplish what is seemingly impossible: we can live a life of holiness. We can be, as St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “imitators of God.” (5:1) We can live, as St. John wrote in his first letter, “just as Jesus lived” (2:6) who Himself commanded us to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

Back in the summer of 2002 I was blessed to be able to attend the World Youth Day events with Pope John Paul II in Toronto, Canada. In his homily at the closing liturgy he emphasized these very points I am emphasizing today. He said, “Holiness is not a question of age; it is a matter of living in the Holy Spirit,” and he alluded to the great many saints of our Church who pursued holiness from their youth. In a sense he was saying, “Age matters not.” He went on to say, “We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of our Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son.” Did you get that? Our "real capacity" to become the image of His Son! And why? Because we have His Spirit! We are not operating on our abilities alone. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us!

This Sunday is All Saints Day. The word saint is derived from the Latin word "sanctus," which means “holy.” On this special day, we not only commemorate the Church Triumphant, those who are in heaven and are thus saints. We also remember our calling to likewise be saints. We are reminded that holiness is not for the privileged few, but for all of us, young or old. One time a reporter asked Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “Mother Teresa, many say you are a living saint. Are you a saint?” She replied, “Yes, I am… I am called to be a saint; just as you are called to be a saint in your work. We are all called to be saints.” In a sense, Sunday is our day.

So let none of us ever say, “I can’t” when it comes to the demands of the Gospel. For by saying, “I can’t,” we are really saying, “God can’t,” and believe me, “God can.”

Fight the good fight of purity like St. Thomas did! And know that I am praying for you.

~ David

Sep 29, 2009 03:05:08 PM
Defend Us in Battle!
Today is the Feast of the Archangels - Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Friday, October 2, is the Feast of the Guardian Angels. These feasts afford us the opportunity to reflect on the important role the angels play in our lives. For members of the Angelic Warfare Confraternity, they remind us of the key role the angels play in protecting our purity!

Pope John Paul II said, "According to revelation, the angels who participate in the life of the Trinity in the light of glory are also called to play their part in the history of salvation, in moments established by divine Providence. 'Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to possess salvation?' asked the author of the Letter to the Hebrews(1:14). The Church believes and teaches this on the basis of Sacred Scripture. From it, we learn that the task of good angels is to protect people and be solicitous for their salvation." (General Audience, 8/6/86)

In the prison tower, when the angels girded St. Thomas' waist with a cord they declared, "On God's behalf, we clothe you with the cord of chastity, a cord which no attack will ever destroy." Those angels were certainly "solicitous" for Thomas' salvation, and they knew that impurity would place that salvation in danger. They also knew that Thomas was to accomplish great things for the Church and win many souls for Christ, and that would make him the object of demonic aggression. Thomas' brothers' scheme to destroy Thomas' purity by employing a prostitute to seduce him was diabolical and demonically inspired. All attacks on our purity, all temptations to sin against chastity, are straight from hell.

The Word of God tells us, "For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12) It also tells us, "Now a war broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated..." (Revelation 12:7-8), and "[The Lord] will give his angels charge of you, to keep you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone." (Psalm 91:11-12) May God help us us to become ever more aware of the angels surrounding us and protecting us at every turn. May He help us to remember that He has sent them to defend us in the spiritual battle against the demonic forces that seek to destroy our purity. And may He place in our hearts a profound trust and confidence in them, for they will not be defeated!

Angel of God, my guardian dear... St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...

Fight the good fight of purity like St. Thomas did! And know that I am praying for you.

~David

Aug 14, 2009 10:13:50 AM
Make a Place for Mary this August!
Typically, May is thought of as "Mary's Month." This may be true enough, but August is pretty big too! Think about it - on the 15th we celebrate the Assumption of Mary into Heaven (body & soul)and on the 22nd we celebrate her Coronation as Queen of Heaven and Earth! In addition, on August 8th we celebrated the feast of St. Dominic, who was entrusted with the Holy Rosary and charged with spreading this powerful devotion. It goes without saying that this feast is a "big day" for Dominicans and all members of the Angelic Warfare Confraternity. (By the way, a special "shout out" to all my Dominican friends. You are constantly in my thoughts and prayers, but especially this month!)

Today, August 14th, we celebrate the feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe. Maximilian consecrated every aspect of his life to Mary! He dedicated his popular newspaper to her, calling it "The Knight of the Immaculata." Some of what he published in this paper was critical of the Nazis and their evil ideology, which eventually lead to his arrest. While in the death camp at Auschwitz, he voluntarily offered to take the place of a fellow prisoner who was condemned to death by starvation. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1983.

Some of Jesus' last words uttered as he hung from the cross were about Mary to "the disciple He loved." Jesus said to John, "This is your mother!" and the Scripture continues, "from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home" (John 19:26-27). In a way, each one of us is "the disciple Jesus loves" - yes, loves more than we can ever think or imagine! And so, let us "make a place" for Mary in the home of our hearts! Let us "make a place" for her in our houses - placing a statue or a picture where we can look upon her image with love and devotion! Let us "make a place" for her in our prayer life - dedicating ourselves to the Holy Rosary as St. Dominic did! And let us "make a place" for her in our work - consecrating everything we do to her as St. Maximilian did, especially our work in defense of life! Indeed, let us "make a place" for Mary this August!

Fight the good fight of purity like St. Thomas did! And know that I am praying for you.

~ David

Jul 06, 2009 07:40:58 AM
How about you?
Today is the feast of St. Maria Goretti. You probably know that Maria was born in Italy in 1890, and died at the hand of her neighbor Alessandro in 1902, who tried to rape her. Maria forgave Alessandro on her deathbed, just before she died. Maria was just shy of her twelfth birthday. Despite her youth, Maria did not hesitate to shed her blood or give up her life to defend her virginal purity.

Although Maria would not have borne any moral guilt if Alessandro had in fact succeeded in raping her (sadly, many victims of this horrendous crime wind up blaming themselves for something that was neither their choice nor their fault), her shining example does make me think: Would I fight to defend my chastity as she did? Would I stand firm in the face of threats and mortal danger? Would I accept blows or the blade to protect my purity?

Speaking of the triumph of the saints over Satan, St. John writes in the Book of Revelation: "...love for life did not deter them from death." (12:11) This is clearly true of St. Maria Goretti. I wonder about me...

How about you?

Fight the good fight of purity like St. Thomas did! And know that I am praying for you.

~ David

More About David

With two theology degrees and a philosophy degree as a foundation, David presents the Church's teaching in a fresh, engaging, and inspirational way, and has become a popular speaker on Pope John Paul II's "theology of the body." He is the author of God's Plan for You: Life, Love, Marriage, & Sex (Pauline Books & Media, 2006), which received the Catholic Press Association Book Award in 2007 and has garnered glowing reviews from the National Catholic Register and Our Sunday Visitor. David has also had articles published in This Rock, The Catholic Faith, and Homiletic and Pastoral Review.

David is the Director of Campus Ministry and a member of the Religious Studies Department at Delbarton School in Morristown, New Jersey - an all male Roman Catholic school (Grades 7-12) run by the Benedictine Monks of St. Mary's Abbey. He serves as an Adjunct Professor of Systematic Theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.

David is a consecrated member of the Angelic Warfare Confraternity - an international association of the Dominican Order dedicated to the preservation of chastity and the pursuit of truth under the patronage of St. Thomas Aquinas - and he is passionate about spreading this powerful devotion. He wrote Protecting Your Purity: Help from St. Thomas Aquinas and the Angelic Warfare Confraternity to encourage teens and young adults to embrace a life of purity and to invite them to discover the abundant graces that they can receive for doing so through membership in the AWC. David is a speaker, author, and consultant for Catholics United for Life, dedicating himself to chastity & pro-life education with youth and young adults, and family life ministry.

David resides in Warren County, New Jersey with his wife, Shannon, and their eight children, whom they educate at home.

Realizing that practically everywhere they turn young people are barraged with false messages about the meaning of their lives and their bodies as well as marriage and sex, David wrote God's Plan for You as an antidote -filled from cover to cover with real life applications, laugh-out-loud humor, interesting stories and examples, attractive illustrations, and anchoring references to the Scriptures, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the writings of John Paul II. It promises to be a useful tool for Catholic educators, family life instructors, catechists, and youth ministers, as well as the sort of book a caring adult - whether a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, or Confirmation sponsor - will want to give to the young people in his or her life.

God's Plan for You is a Catholic Press Association award winning book. "From a catchy cover to an engaging design throughout, the book should capture and hold youthful attention. This is an engagingly written and designed book for youth, explaining in understandable language the Theology of the Body as taught by Pope John Paul II, who, as everyone knows, had a special love and friendship for youth. A winner from looks to content."

Are you a young person (high school or college age) who wants to live the virtue of chastity? Are you finding it difficult to make the necessary lifestyle changes to protect your purity? Then the Angelic Warfare Confraternity may be just what you need! Read this short book to learn about this powerful devotion and how it can help you live God's plan for love and sex. Confraternity prayers, the rite of enrollment, and a guide to the Holy Rosary are included!

New Hope Publications: 270-325-3061
Protecting Your Purity Item #0136
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Sisters of Life - Theology of the Body Retreat
Oct 01, 2010
This retreat is held Friday 10/1 - Sunday 10/3 at Villa Maria Guadalupe, the Knights of Columbus retreat center in Stamford, CT run by Sisters of Life. To reserve a spot call 203-329-1492.

Diocese of Metuchen - Theology of the Body Seminar
Oct 21, 2010
For those who are already familiar with the Theology of the Body and would like to learn more.

Diocese of Metuchen - Marriage Prep. Workshop
Oct 30, 2010

St. Vincent de Paul, Stirling, NJ - Confirmation
Nov 07, 2010

Diocese of Metuchen - Theology of the Body Seminar
Nov 18, 2010
For those who are already familiar with the Theology of the Body and would like to learn more.

Diocese of Rockville Center - Father & Son Brunch
Nov 20, 2010

Diocese of Paterson - Marriage Prep. Workshop
Dec 18, 2010

Diocese of Paterson - Pre-Cana Leaders Training
Jan 08, 2011
The topic is God's Plan for Marriage from "the Beginning." This workshop is for all those who minister in Pre-Cana programs.

St. Catherine Parish, Ringwood, NJ - Parish Night
Jan 16, 2011
This talk on the TOB is open to the whole parish, but will be geared towards teens.

Diocese of Paterson - Marriage Prep. Workshop
Feb 12, 2011