I gave my first Catholic talk at the age of sixteen on a TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) retreat. Over the next year or so I gave several more talks on different retreats. Although these retreats were life changing there were not many answers to the questions we all have at that age. So I sought my answers in the world, first in college, then in the Marine Corps, then I opened my own restaurant at the age of twenty-five. I started dating had a child, got married had another child. I did all of these things and many more because I was looking for satisfaction with my existence. These experiences had their good side (especially my children) and their bad side, but none of them filled the deep yearning I felt in my spirit. Fifteen years later I went on another retreat and finally returned to God and rediscovered the joy I had as a teen. I also rediscovered my love for Catholic public speaking and began giving talks in 1999 to high school age teens. Though I gave many talks on different subjects concerning the Catholic Church's teachings such as suicide, purgatory, Confirmation, gifts of the Holy Spirit, and many more, sex was always at the top of my list.

As I got deeper and deeper into teen sexuality I began to have a desire for something with much more depth. I found that I had many great answers for the questions that teens have, but when it came to my own lived experience there were gaps in the answers that were available. I had an excellent working definition for agape or unconditional love which was "Love is wanting and doing what is best for the other person at all times". When it came to the emotional aspect of the human experience, that "falling in love" or "emotional high" that often accompanied the onset of a relationship the answers I found went something like "That isn't real love" or had some other way of denying that our emotions were an aspect of love. While I could see the destruction that living a life based on our emotional responses could do, I just could not dismiss the fact that we as human beings have these incredibly strong experiences and that they were not bad. Fitting these experiences in the context of my definition would require a much deeper understanding and broader perspective on the question of love. I understood that the years of chastity talks were based on "teen" versions of Theology of The Body, so I began to delve deeper into this teaching. It is here where I would discover the original intent for human love and the mind blowing answers our Church has for the sexual revolution.

I listened to many hours of talks on CD as early as 2001 and began reading and studying Theology of the Body in depth in early 2005. I was in adoration writing my first Theology of the Body presentation geared toward adults when word of Pope John Paul's death reached me. It was a blessed moment. In July of 2005, I took a graduate level course given by Christopher West who is one of the leading experts on Theology of the Body. The combination of my chastity presentations, Theology of the Body and Pope Benedict's first encyclical Deus Caritas Est, which came out in December 2005 finally provided that link between the unconditional love (agape), or self sacrificing love we are all called to and the love between a man and woman (eros), which for me includes both the physical and emotional. This link is absolutely necessary if we are to begin to understand who we are as human beings and how we can transform society for the Good. 

Why "The New Catholic Evangelist"?

I began evangelizing my family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and total strangers in 1999. My early efforts with my family were a disaster, and with some of my lifelong friends it was almost as bad. My co-workers provided me with some wonderful stories of folks reawakening to the faith of their childhood, but by far the best stories and the most receptive audience were total strangers. When I looked back I realized the biggest difference in my approach with strangers is that I preached about the love of Christ and His sacrifice for us rather than the Church's teaching on a specific subject. What my co-workers and strangers understood was that in my talking about Christ was an honest desire to bring them into a relationship with Him, because I stood to gain nothing. I gave no invitations to join my Church or church group (although a couple co-workers did eventually go on a Cursillo with me). It was nothing but Jesus and Him crucified and what he has done for me in my life. However, with my family and friends my approach was much more apologetics oriented. I studied hard after my initial conversion as was soon able to articulate and defend the basic Church teachings. We all were brought up Catholic and went to Catholic school and the things I learned within the first six months after my re-conversion back into the Church were things I had not heard in nine years of Catholic school, including high school. I was sure that if I could show my family and friends what the Church really teaches then they would fall in love with Jesus the same way I did. This was the wrong approach. First of all, my family did not understand that I wanted to share my new found Love with them, so that they may experience the joy I had. Secondly I think it was probably hard for them to believe that this was an honest attempt to bring them into relationship with Christ. Instead, and I think this is common with all families, they probably saw it as a way to control them. I suddenly took on the role of moral authority when my family and friends knew that I had not lived my life in a very moral way. In short I did not show them the love of Christ by living a changed life that they could see for themselves, instead they saw the same old repressive list of rules and regulations they had already rejected from their upbringing. I understood too late that I needed a new way to approach not just my family and friends, but everyone. I needed to take what I had learned from my mistakes and successes and apply them to everyone. In my continuing journey I have discovered that since Vatican II the Church has been saying the same thing. It was Pope John Paul the Great who coined the term "The New Evangelization" and this is why I believe I was led to call myself "The New Catholic Evangelist". I believe it refers specifically to the New Evangelization PJPII wrote and spoke about. Theology of the Body and The New Evangelization are intimately intertwined and provide a new and bold way to address the entire culture in which we live.

 I have a devotion to Mary, Joseph, and the Holy Family and have dedicated this apostolate to them. My first and most important job as a servant of God is husband and father. I love being a husband and father. I am a Franciscan (Secular Order). I have done a good deal of work with teens, St. Louis Men's conference, volunteer at the Association of Hebrew Catholics and their great work, participate in the Cursillo movement, RCIA, served as Lecturer for the Knights of Columbus and evangelize all I come in contact with especially those at work.