Yes Catholic
Yes Catholic is focused on highlighting stories of people who rose up and started truly living as a Catholic. Stories are powerful. You really never know who could be inspired through listening to someone's personal story of conversion. As St. John Paul II said, "Remember that you are never alone, Christ is with you on your journey every day of your lives!" Join us every week as we invite a new guest to share their story. Real People. Real Stories. All Grace.
Yes Catholic
Dr. Jared Staudt’s Mission-Driven Life
What if a simple shift in environment could trigger a profound spiritual awakening? Join us as we talk with Dr. Jared Staudt, a theologian who shares his captivating journey from practical atheism to a life dedicated to faith and theology. This episode promises to enlighten listeners with stories of transformative experiences that shaped Dr. Staudt's path, including his unexpected transfer to a Catholic school and the powerful influence of reading St. Faustina's Diary at a young age.
Listeners will gain insights into Dr. Staudt’s personal and academic milestones, from his early inspirations to his time at Ave Maria University and his impactful year as a foreign exchange student in Poland. Dr. Staudt reveals how these ordinary days were transformed by extraordinary events into a life mission focused on faith, education, and service. His discernment process, from an initial call to priesthood to meeting his future spouse, offers listeners a relatable and inspiring narrative on navigating spiritual callings and God's perfect timing.
We also delve into how prayer and work intertwine to build a faith-centered culture, drawing from monastic practices and the Rule of St. Benedict. Dr. Staudt discusses his involvement with Exodus, an initiative guiding men to greater spiritual freedom, and his latest book, "How the Eucharist Can Save Civilization," released during a time of Eucharistic revival. This episode is a treasure trove of wisdom for anyone seeking to deepen their faith and understand the transformative power of living a prayerful, mission-driven life.
Welcome to yes Catholic, the place where real people share their real stories and realize it is all God's grace on the move. I'm your host, David Patterson, and every week we hear a new guest share their story of how they came to give their yes to Jesus and His Church. So let's get started. It's really exciting tonight to welcome Dr Jared Stowe. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. For those who don't know, you want to share a little bit about yourself before we dive into the rapid fire. Get to know you more.
Speaker 2:Yes. Well, people always ask me are you a convert? And the answer is like kind of. I mean, I was baptized at three months. I had a big conversion when I was 13, from being a non-practicing Catholic to having the faith be the center of my life. So I am married with six kids. I am a theologian, have my doctorate from Ave Maria and I've taught a number of different places, but my main job right now is with Exodus. We're known for our 90-day program, exodus 90, but it's really great to be working with men. We're striving together for holiness through prayer, asceticism. Of course, we're known for the cold showers and fraternity. That's why it works. We are pursuing this together.
Speaker 1:Looking forward to learning about that a little bit more. But let's get to know you a little bit more. With the Rapid Fire Icebreaker Challenge, it's going to rhyme off some questions. You're ready to go? Let's get to know you a little bit more with the rapid fire icebreaker challenge, it's going to rhyme off some questions. You're ready to go? Let's go? All right, describe yourself as a kid in three words, liked to read. Like to read. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Speaker 2:You know that's a tough question because I'm definitely a night owl, but I'm also getting old, you know my forties. I mean how much of a night owl can I be anymore? But I guess I have to choose that anyway. So night owl, yeah.
Speaker 1:Fair enough. Okay, if you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Speaker 2:To be able to read more quickly Like the flash of reading. Zip through those books. Yeah, like the flash, that'd be awesome. That's right, love that. Okay, go to order at a coffee shop. Do you drink coffee? Yes, I'll just take a regular coffee black.
Speaker 1:Go-to short prayer. You're going about your day.
Speaker 2:I would say the Divine Mercy prayer, the chaplet yeah, whether it's just prayers from the chaplet or some of the other prayers, but just even the most basic prayer, jesus, I trust in you. That's about as go-to as it gets.
Speaker 1:Yeah, jesus, I trust in you. All right. One of your favorite books of all time.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, I think I have to stick with Divine Mercy. You know, it was the first Catholic book that I read was St Faustina's Diary. Wow, and I think, maybe because of that element of trust, you know, it's just central to my spiritual life and so, yeah, that would be on my desert island list.
Speaker 1:Wow, and speaking about reading really fast, I'm curious how long did it take you to get through the diary? Was it something that you read here and there, or was it like a sit down and do you remember? Because it took me months.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I remember, yeah. So it was an eighth grade project and we had to research the divine mercy, and this is right at the time of my conversion. It was the end of seventh grade when I had this big conversion. We'll talk more about that, I'm sure. But getting into eighth grade, my teacher assigned us this project. So I went to the Catholic bookstore and I just picked up the little white divine mercy booklet and my mom said well, you like to read a lot, didn't I mention that Likes to read anyway? And she said how about that big red one?
Speaker 2:and I was like that's a big one, but okay, sure I'll go for it. And so that was probably I don't know october, and I think I read that in about a month, and you know. And then I just kind of launched from there. My priest gave me crossing the threshold of hope by john pa Paul II, which had just come out, then an interview book, and then after that I went into the Bible, the story of the soul by St Therese, and then the catechism, which also was brand new at that time. So that was kind of year one, I mean not even. And then I went into some more Lives of the Saints and the letters of Maximilian Kolbe. That was like year number one of my catholic reading.
Speaker 1:Wow, you you were living likes to read basically I mean, that's why I picked it. I mean yeah, no, no I. I found myself just really enjoying bringing the diary of saint faustina to adoration and just sitting there and and reading through it that is the perfect place for it.
Speaker 2:It's a powerful, powerful going through even, like you said, a little bit every day in adoration, perfect yeah.
Speaker 1:All right. If you could have coffee with any saint, who would it be?
Speaker 2:Thomas Aquinas. I mean to be able to really ask him more. It's kind of funny. You look at the Summa and it's an enormous book, right, but asked like a super profound question and then he gives it to you in like three paragraphs. You're like, oh wait, wait, wait, wait. Can we talk more about that? You know he's actually really succinct for writing a lot, right. When he gives you the answers he just nails it quickly. So just to sit down and have some coffee and be like let's talk a little bit more about, you know, question 122 article. You know if we could just dig into that more.
Speaker 1:Is there any specific that you would have first off?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, when he was a kid, you know he lived at Monte Cassino Abbey as a child oblate and supposedly he stupefied the monks who were teaching him by just asking them who is God. And you know this is a pretty good place to start. Okay, you know this is the question that preoccupied you throughout your whole life. Let's start there. Who is God? Wow.
Speaker 1:That's a question to start. And the very last question the rapid fire. If you could ask God one question, what would it be?
Speaker 2:When, lord when.
Speaker 1:When Lord.
Speaker 2:When, when.
Speaker 1:Lord, yeah, oh yeah. Okay, within context of Second Coming, Of many things, that's where my mind went.
Speaker 2:Many things Lord. How much longer there's going to be another way of praising it? How much longer?
Speaker 1:You know, I think a lot of people can relate to that.
Speaker 2:They probably have that prayer on their hearts as well.
Speaker 1:Well, you flew through the rapid fire. Let's uh, let's begin with the Lord's prayer, and then we'll have you share your story In the name of the father and the son and the Holy spirit. Amen, our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen, st Thomas Aquinas, please pray for us In the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right, jared, let's dive right in. Where does your story begin?
Speaker 2:Well, I believe it begins, like everyone else's, in my mother's womb right.
Speaker 2:Where else can it begin? But I would say that my childhood was just very typical of a normal American childhood watching a lot of television, playing baseball. But I would say I lived a life of practical atheism. Pope Benedict XVI said that we can be Christians but we can still live as if God did not exist. And that was my childhood.
Speaker 2:And when I was 13, I made the best mistake of my life, you know, mea culpa, and this is what we would say not just my fault, but happy, oh, my happy fault that I brought a Boy Scout knife to school and this was like a big no-no because people were starting to get really worried about guns and knives in school. So it was like a zero tolerance policy. I was expelled from the public schools in seventh grade and sent to an unsafe juvenile detention school and left unsupervised with people who were actually criminals. I never even had detention before. I'm just zero tolerance, you're out.
Speaker 2:It's kind of funny that my mom went to all the other schools first, just the private academy. She went to the Jewish academy and even though I was a baptized, non-practicing Catholic, that was like the bottom of the list and it was the only place that would take me in the principal didn't even want to, but the priest, who's the one who baptized me, he was like we'll give him a chance. Thank you, father. About a month later he invited me to come to morning mass. I wasn't going to Sunday mass but he said you know, jared, we took you into the school.
Speaker 2:Will you do me a favor? Like yeah, bother anything. He said you know it's the anniversary of my ordination next week. Will you serve the 615 mass in the morning before school? And my mom was like yeah, absolutely, we'll get you there, whatever father wants right now. Because you know kind I really felt the Lord speaking to me at mass. This is your home, this is where you belong. And I think you know I read a lot, as we've been saying, but I was really into like unsolved mysteries. You know there must be more to life. You know, just reading books about the Bermuda Triangle, like what's out there, you know.
Speaker 1:Ancient civilization, stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, I was all over that stuff, oh yeah, like that. Yeah, absolutely I was all over that stuff, oh yeah. And then, um, I felt the lord say to me especially, this is what you've been looking for and that was really the key thing. So I started going to sunday mass, started going to daily mass and then it was just I mean, that was like in in may when that happened, you know, may 1995. Um, that fall is then when I had that project of Divine Mercy and I think that really kind of solidified my vocation.
Speaker 2:Not everyone at the time thought to the priesthood, but I am married with six kids, as I mentioned before. So it was really a mission to serve within the church and I really do think that over the course of the next year I was really even reading Story of a Soul by St Therese that I did feel a deep sense of calling to serve within the church. But I think it was clear from the beginning that it was going to be based in theology, you know, just really getting the faith out there. I think I've always had a deep apostolic sense that even theology it's not just about the academics and the scholarship, even though they are important to get deep into things like reading St Thomas Aquinas, but this is about the salvation of souls. So I would say even in eighth grade I was really deeply rooted in mission. And I went to the Catholic high school the next year and got involved in everything pro-life mission. And I went to the Catholic high school the next year and got involved in like everything pro-life mission and I and I started like an altar server training program at my parish and I started serving the Byzantine liturgy. So I was like the main server at two different parishes that year and I I just got this weird thing in the mail through the uh from the Rotary Club about studying abroad and I just kind of nonchalantly responded oh I'm interested in that. Well, the next thing, you know, I'm actually off to poland the next year.
Speaker 2:I spent my sophomore year of high school as a foreign exchange student shortly after the fall of the soviet union, right, because we're saying this is 1997, right? So I mean it's still pretty fresh, you know, with the fall of communism there and it was just such an exciting time actually to see just the renewal of Poland. But you know, it was just so deeply immersed in the Catholic faith. So for me as, like a young kid it just was. You know, there was so much history and culture just kind of pouring into my life, um, and and it was. It was very exciting and I really got into history and the arts a lot that year because I was, just like I said, immersed into it and what was it like to have read the diary prior to going to poland.
Speaker 2:For you, yeah, so that's really what brought it about, because it was the diary of saint faina, and then, I think it was like the next August, I read the letters of Maximilian Kolbe and then right after that I read the first bio of John Paul II. Witness to Hope didn't exist yet, right, so it was kind of the prior bio, which was not nearly as good, but by Thaddeus Schultz. So it was Poland kind of hitting me that previous year between these three great saints, and so when the Rotary Club asked me, where do you want to go, I was just like Poland, you know, and I think that actually helped me to get selected, even though I was very young, I was applying as a freshman in high school. But they were like, oh, poland, that sounds exotic. I mean, we've never sent anybody there and it's just opened up, you know, with the iron curtain falling and so sure, let's send this kid to Poland, you know. And after that I came back and I didn't go back to my old high school.
Speaker 2:I ended up going out to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and I was in a high school seminary program for two years and you know, they were kind of difficult years, I think, in high school, being away from home. But there were some bright spots, like spending some time at a Cistercian Abbey out in Wisconsin and I got connected up to the University of St Thomas and I was thinking about continuing in seminary. But I didn't end up doing that. So I went up there and got involved in the Catholic Studies program and it just suited me so well because it was not only theology but it was also philosophy, history, art and literature and all these things together. Most importantly, it's where I met my wife. She's from Minnesota, so I came from the East Coast out to there but met her right away freshman year. It was love at first sight.
Speaker 2:So that kind of ended the vocational difficulty, discernment, I knew just right away freshman year. I was love at first sight. So that kind of, you know, ended the vocational difficulty. You know, discernment I. I knew just right away that she was the one, and so I ended up doing a master's degree in catholic studies and then went down to abbey maria to get my doctorate and I was the first doctoral student to defend out of the program and none of us knew it was a brand new doctoral program. Would any of us get jobs? Uh, get jobs? It was kind of a risk. We didn't know, but thankfully I was hired by the Augustan Institute in 2009. So that was my first teaching job. So I was a professor and I was dean for a couple of years there.
Speaker 2:So I taught at the Augustan Institute for five years and just loved it, because, speaking of theology serving the apostolic mission of the church, that's what we were all about at the Augustan Institute for five years, and just loved it because, speaking of theology serving the apostolic mission of the church, that's what we were all about at the Augustan Institute the new evangelization and John Paul II. You know, being rooted in Denver, there's so many apostolates there. It was really a great experience and I actually made a lot of you know, even long-term friends who were my students, because they were pretty similar age, because I was in my late twenties, coming out teaching graduate students, and then I went up to the University of Mary for a couple of years to direct their program of Catholic studies. It just didn't work out for family reasons. So we came back to Denver and I took a job at the Archdiocese of Denver, initially in evangelization, but then I switched over to Catholic schools and I ended up even helping to get three Catholic high schools started when I was there and then I started coming out with some books related to faith and culture, which is really the theme that I'm very passionate about, and so I was there for about six years and then recently we moved out to the Carolinas to start homesteading, so we live on nine acres and now are homeschooling out near the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and I'm working with Exodus 90, as I mentioned before, just really trying to help men to live the faith in our culture.
Speaker 2:So the Lord has really blessed me with a lot of great experiences, and I would really say, kind of the overarching themes of just what the Lord has been doing in my life is that we really need to live out the faith. This is where the connection to culture comes from. That faith is not just something to be believed and to study, but this is meant to change everything in our lives, and that's even why I wrote the book on beer, the Beer Option. Right, because I said, well, if you can get beer right, you can get anything right. Just substitute, you know, beer for clothing or for work or whatever it is.
Speaker 2:It's like, you know, catholic culture is all-encompassing and right, um, and and it's meant, you know, to change the way that we do, everything that we do not even that. It has to be distinctive, you know, like there's some exotic, you know catholic, way of doing this or that. No, but it's rather, everything that we do we do through faith, everything we do is meant to honor god, and if you're drinking does not honor god, you shouldn't be doing it. Well said so, I mean every but, and you could, like I said, substitute anything else. If whatever you're doing does not honor God, you shouldn't be doing it. Well said so, I mean, like I said, substitute anything else. If whatever you're doing does not honor God, then you shouldn't do it. Yeah, because that's ultimately the purpose of our lives to give God glory and honor through our lives and to share in his happiness.
Speaker 2:I think there's really a lot that we can do to live out a Catholic culture in our lives. When we hear the word culture a lot of times, we think it means something like highfalutin, whatever, or maybe there's problems in the culture, like something at large, and really it's that culture is a way of life and we can live out our faith as a coherent way of life with other people. There's a culture in the family. There's a culture in the school that you go to or that your kids go to. There's a culture in your parish maybe a weak culture, but it could be a strong culture, right? I mean, if we're living out the faith with other people, the culture is there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well said. You're definitely living out of St John Paul II when he says life with Christ is a wonderful adventure. I'm really curious. Just the word discernment has been coming up a lot. How has the Lord guided you as you discerned the adventure that you've been on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a really great question and it's true that you know, I think I'm always discerning, not my will but your will be done. You can say that prayer, like you said, when the rubber meets the road, like, okay, what does that mean? You know, like I want to do your will. But how do I do your will today? And you know, just even back to the beginning, like, okay, lord, I feel a call, I'm listening, right, so the first part of the sermon is listening. I feel like you're calling me to do something. What do you want me to do? Well, initially it was. Everybody says it's to be a priest. Okay, I guess that must be it. So I'll try that.
Speaker 2:And for the two years in seminary it didn't go very well. So well, okay, I guess I need a break. I didn't give up, but I need a break, and you know, I think the Lord gives us signs when we're looking, and just meeting my wife for the first time was a very powerful sign, and so I responded. You know, one time my spiritual director said I think you're kind of like Peter, you know John, you know he's kind of a dummy too. It's like, you know, jesus is walking on the lake and John is the one who has to say it is the Lord. And then he's like oh, it's the Lord. Oh, you know, he throws his clothes on, you know, because he was lightly clad, and he just jumps out of the boat. Well, it's the Lord, I'm not even going to wait for you guys to row, I'm just, I'm there, I'm just jumping over the side, that's right.
Speaker 2:And I think there is a moment in discernment like that, right? So so you listen, right, and you feel some kind of call. You have the help of other people, you know, helping you discern what that means, and you act, and you may not act the right way. And so then you have to gauge, you know, okay, how is this going? And, and you have to be willing to adapt. And then the lord tends to to speak in his own time, like he gives you that sign, and when he does, then that's you. Just you jump, like moving to the land here. This is something that we discerned for like 20 years. You know, we just celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary, this summer.
Speaker 2:And yeah, thank you. And, um, you know, sometimes the Lord puts something on your heart and it does take a while to come to fruition, and this is one example. We really felt strongly called and compelled that this is the thing that we needed to do, but it just took a while for it actually to unfold.
Speaker 1:according to the Lord's will. All in God's perfect timing. I'm curious how did you become an oblate of St Benedict?
Speaker 2:If it is true that faith needs to be lived out as a culture, as a whole way of life, where do we see that happening most fully? It's the monastery, and so that's always been a model for me. When you read the rule of St Benedict, there is a lot that is applicable to fathers, because the word abbot means father, and so the abbot is the one who has care of the sheep, and Benedict uses that term, and so, as a father, of course, your primary role is to care for your children, and especially for their souls. But I think also, when I'm mentioning the fact that how we eat, how we drink, how we dress, the way we spend our time, that all of these things should be ordered to God's glory. Well, that's the rule of St Benedict. I mean, he's trying to help us to see how to do that, and even though most of us are not called to be monks, but there's so much wisdom there and even allowing prayer to shape your life. I mean, how does faith become culture? I think it's primarily through prayer, that prayer should shape every single day. It should shape the week with the Lord's day at the center. It should shape the year with the liturgical seasons, and then from prayer, well, it flows into work Ora et labora, as we see with the monks that your own work can become an expression of your prayer. And then also with relationships. And you know, we think of monks being very isolated, but they actually have much stronger relationships because you're here in the monastery, stuck with these people for the rest of your life, right, and so they're your brothers, that you have to work this out with them, and so you're very much bound together with them. So much wisdom for, like I said, for families, but I think also for just Catholics trying to live their faith very coherently. And so it did come down to discernment.
Speaker 2:I really felt when I was a young professor at the Augusta Institute that I just needed a little bit more focus in my spiritual life, and so I asked the Lord you know, what should my focus be? And in the midst of prayer and this was early into the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI the example of Benedict really stood out. And I never, you know, I was very interested in monastic life. I even thought about being a monk briefly when I was in seminary, when I spent time with the Cistercians, didn't really know much about being an oblate. I mean, maybe I had heard about it a little bit, but that just really was put onto my heart and so you know, sometimes the Lord does intervene. I said, okay, I'll be an oblate, but where should I be an oblate? And the next day I got a DVD in the mail from Clear Creek Abbey in Oklahoma.
Speaker 1:And I'm like, oh, wow, okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:And if you know how it is, I'm like well, we need to watch that. And it sat around for a couple of weeks and, and then I think it was like Christmas break. So I'm like I have some time. So we kind of popped in the DVD and my wife and I watched it together and we were just so compelled. I think it was actually Christmas Eve when we watched it and I just called up the monastery and I said can I come? And they're like yeah, and I said when can I come? And they're like I don't know. I mean, when do you, when do you want to come? And I'm like now I was go as Christmas Eve, but uh, you can come as soon as you want. And so we, we, we literally drove to clear Creek, uh, the day after Christmas.
Speaker 2:So it was like two days after I called them and and then we get down there and you know, just talking with the monks and and it was still fairly early on in their life. I mean they've grown a lot since then. But they were like, well, you know, we usually like to give it more time, you know, before we admit an oblate, but they're like you seem very much in earnest, you know like we're willing to take you as a novice. You know we'll see how it goes and you know, but it's, it's been a great blessing. You know, really the focus is uniting your life to the life of the monks in the monastery. It's not a third order. Abbeys are fairly autonomous. They're in confederations, congregations, we call them now, but they're pretty much self-governing. So an oblate joins a particular monastery, not like I am part of an international group of oblates or whatever. No, you're united to this one particular group of either monks or nuns, uniting your prayer and your work to their prayer and work.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's really interesting. And so if someone was discerning to become an oblate of St Benedict's, how would they even begin that process? I guess, reach out to them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I would say, read the rule of St Benedict, Read about Lectio Divina and start practicing it. Pray the Liturgy of the Hours and visit a monastery, because the whole thing is, you don't necessarily have to live right next to a monastery. Clear Creek was about 11 or 12 hours from me in Colorado. Now it's about 14 for where I am in North Carolina. I'm planning on getting out there this fall, but maybe about once a year, you know. So it, but it really. I mean you have to join a particular community so you need to establish some connection with them. So, the other than the things that I mentioned, you know, yeah, then just go visit some monks.
Speaker 1:Okay. No, it's really interesting to learn more about that, for sure. In regards to Exodus, you want to speak to the mission of Exodus?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean our mission is to bring men to greater freedom in Jesus Christ and we're really trying to help men to live the Exodus experience that Israel was enslaved under Pharaoh in Egypt and the Lord intervened in their lives and led them out into the promised land. And we know that that was not an easy process, right, you know there was a lot of falling back and they're even pining, you know, for the flesh pots of Egypt and it took 40 years for them to complete that journey and well, most of them died along the way. But but you know, actually we at Exodus were just talking with Cardinal Sarra recently. We had, we had exits. We're just talking with Cardinal Sarah recently. We had, we had a beautiful meeting with him in Virginia a few weeks ago and he said to us the Exodus is a perennial experience.
Speaker 2:Every one of us, as Christians, needs to experience Exodus, you know, out of slavery and into freedom in the Lord. And that's what we're trying to do. So we help men, I think, essentially to pray every day. The saints have said it you can't be a saint unless you're praying every day. 15 minutes of mental prayer is the bare minimum, and so we do at least a half an hour of daily prayer throughout the year, and during Exodus 90, it's a holy hour, and throughout the rest of the year, at least one holy hour a week, if not more. We practice asceticism, and during Exodus 90, that's pretty intense. That is cold showers.
Speaker 2:It's fasting two days a week, you know media and technology fast and alcohol fast and you know, no sweets, no eating between meals, and this has really helped a lot of men. But I think it's really this winning combination. Prayer is the foundation. Without prayer there's nothing. This is, communion with God, is the essence of life, right? So prayer is the center of everything that we do.
Speaker 2:But the asceticism helps us to just break with a lot of bad habits. We know we're kind a lot of bad habits. We know we're kind of full of bad habits in modern culture, but with the support of other men Can't do Exodus alone. We do it in fraternity and we are men helping one another to become holy. It's changed a lot of lives.
Speaker 2:So the 90 days go up to Easter, that's kind of our main event. But we really offer a lot throughout the year. We offer daily scriptural reflections every single day of the year. We do a lot of other fun things. Right now we're doing a book club on Bishop Varden's book on chastity. I'm actually teaching a class on the Eucharist, starting after the Eucharistic Congress, starting after the Eucharistic Congress, and we even have spiritual guides now. That kind of walk us through. You know the different exercises throughout the year. So we had, like, father Boniface Hicks as our spiritual guide for Exodus 90. And so we did kind of weekly videos with him where he would answer men's questions. So you know, I think Exodus is really blossoming in a beautiful way. We really have a lot to offer men and it has been a great blessing, I know, for many men throughout the world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know, I did it back in 2019 with a number of coworkers at our high school and the impact that it had on all three of us was very, very powerful. And I got to say that one of my favorite shirts that I got in the mail was an Exodus shirt that says freedom on the front and on the back says live different, and I just love wearing that shirt to the gym, cause that's that's exactly what X is all about.
Speaker 2:Is that freedom? Right? Yeah, I love that shirt as well. And then we have another good one cold showers and holy hours right, you know? Oh, I love that too, yeah that's great.
Speaker 1:That's a good shirt as well. What inspired you to write the book how the Eucharist Can Save Civilization? Do you want to speak to that a little bit?
Speaker 2:Well, I was trying to redeem myself after writing the Beer Option. No, but, like I said, everything that I do, whether it's my teaching or my writing or my work with Exodus, it is about building Catholic culture. That's the name of my website, buildingcatholiculturecom. That's what I do in the work that I do in education. I'm helping to start a college now, rosary College. I'm working on the academic part of that, but it's all about living the faith coherently and I started writing the book before the Eucharistic Congress and the whole revival was announced. But it's been a beautiful coming together, providential timing. But as I was really reflecting on my efforts to build Catholic culture, it was really just hitting me hard. I really felt this book was a call that the Eucharist we don't want to say is the center of Catholic culture, because that's not even strong enough.
Speaker 2:The Eucharist is Catholic culture. You know what is a way of life centered around our faith? Well, it is to live as the body of the Lord in the world, not with the body of the Lord within us, because you know what happens during communion the Lord within us, because you know what happens during communion that the two become one flesh. The Lord is giving you his flesh. The two become one. You become the Lord's body in the world. You are his tabernacle and his presence.
Speaker 2:The name of the book is how the Eucharist can save civilization. How does it save civilization? Not by saving civilization. The Lord's plan is not to kind of swoop down and save things from above. It is to transform you. You are the Lord's plan for saving civilization. He transforms you into his presence and then you are the leaven that begins to transform and shape everything else. And it's not an exaggeration, the title, the title of the book, because guess what? The Eucharist has saved civilization. And you look, after the fall of Rome, the new civilization that built up was formed around the altar. And the same thing, I think, can and even will happen again.
Speaker 1:I love that. It came right in perfect time with the revival right, the call for the Eucharistic Congress, and it's incredible timing. I think the Holy Spirit's in charge there right, absolutely, yeah, I love that. I always like to ask every guest that I have on this last question, which is what is your hope for the future of our church?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, if the Eucharist is the answer for solving the problems of civilization and I don't once again, that's not a hyperbole the Eucharist has everything that we need for our lives. The Eucharist has everything that we need for the world, but we need to say that all the more for the church, and so the renewal that I see happening is a renewal of the liturgy. Pope Benedict XVI said that the liturgy was in crisis, because what's the problem with the world right now? There is an eclipse of God, that the world is not theocentric, god-centered, it's anthropocentric, god-centered, it's anthropocentric, man-centered. And when you read Pope Benedict's book, the Spirit of the Liturgy and I highly recommend that book Maybe that's the one I should have picked at the beginning.
Speaker 1:I don't know it would be on my short list. Read that in university. It's a good read.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but what he said is that the liturgy has become too anthropocentric. There can actually be an eclipse of God during the Mass. Well, how Well. We're all looking at one another, we're focused on the things that we say and the things that we do. But what is the Mass? The Mass is the prayer of Jesus Christ to his Heavenly Father, and we enter into his prayer. This is not our work, and the word liturgy doesn't even mean the work of the people, by the way. It means the work on behalf of the people. By whom? By Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:Um, and so I think that we need to, even within the church, to focus so much more on the Lord. What is the Lord saying to the churches? As we see in the book of Revelation, this is what the Lord says to the churches. What is the Lord saying to the churches? And where are we going to hear that? Well, we're going to hear it the same place where I heard it as a 13-year-old kid at the altar.
Speaker 2:But we have to listen. That means that we have to shut up and we need to listen. We need to allow our words to be his words. He's the one who needs to speak. He's the one we need to look at. You know, everything needs to be for his glory. It's not about us, and so programs will not save the church. And that doesn't mean that we shouldn't do things. We need to do things, you I mean. But what is going to save the church? It is holiness that is rooted in prayer, but but our prayer can't simply be our own. It needs to be rooted in the prayer of christ, and, and where our prayer becomes the prayer of christ is in the liturgy. That is the renewal of the church, and I think it's going to happen. I mean, we're experiencing these liturgy wars right now.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm just sick of that you know, none of us need that, but here's what's going to happen. This is my prediction that in 20 years, I don't think anybody's going to care so much about all the the things that we're fighting about right now, and I think that we're going to be much more open to genuine renewal in the liturgy and in the church.
Speaker 1:I hope so, but if someone is listening to you about being Christ-centered, where could they start in regards to living that out truly?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, especially if you're learning to pray every day. The place where I really encounter the Lord in prayer is the adoration chapel. And so I would say, if you want to be Christ-centered, get in front of the Blessed Sacrament as much as possible. And what do you do when you're in front of the Blessed Sacrament? Well, the goal is to build up to a silent embrace of love. But how do you do that? I think Lectio Divina, and not just because I'm a Benedictine oblate, but Pope Benedict XVI said that he thought a new springtime could enter the church through Lectio Divina.
Speaker 2:If we want to talk about listening to the word of the Lord, open the word of the Lord. Go into the Adoration Chapel, open the Bible, listen to God speaking to you through the Bible. Open the Bible, listen to God speaking to you through the Bible, speak back to him. It's a conversation, right, it goes two ways. And then be quiet and he, he will speak. If you're willing to listen and I've, I've literally found I mean, if I'm just paying attention to myself it takes about a half an hour to start listening. Be, be that first half an hour. Read, meditate. Meditation is your act of thinking, right. So read, meditate, do devotions but focus. Stay focused on the Lord and wait for him to speak, even if it takes more than half an hour.
Speaker 1:Well, I bet you said that it takes about 30 minutes to actually start listening, because I find it does actually take time to slow down, you know, cause our mind is just, like you know, to actually take the time to be still and to know that he is, he is God Right. On that note, I just want to thank you so much for your yes to Jesus and his church and taking the time to to share your story. I just love. How was it, in one year, that you read the diary St John Paul II Catechism? Am I correct in this? And the Bible? The Bible, okay, and how old were you at that? I was 14.
Speaker 2:14 years old. That's incredible. I love how the Lord spoke to you in mass. Yeah, he picked me up, pulled me out of our secular world and I mean it takes decades for the Lord to straighten you out, right, you know, and to do his work in our lives. But he definitely kind of plucked me out and said, here, focus on these things over here, right, and obviously he, he called me to be a teacher, right, looking back, you can see, even from that moment, 14 years old, okay, that that was his plan.
Speaker 1:That's right To, to take that time to truly receive his truth in a in a beautiful way. If people do want to connect and learn more, how can they? How can they do that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say there's two main ways buildingcatholiculturecom that's where my own blog is and you can find information about my books there. You can also find my books on Amazon, of course, but other than that, I would say, just follow Exodus 90. I do a lot of writing for the blog that you can find on that website, exodus90.com, and I'm either writing the daily reflections or I'm editing other people's reflections, so I have my hands in that content there. So that's a great way also to follow what I do.
Speaker 1:And where can people find your books if they'd like to check them out?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you can find them both on my website, buildingcatholiculturecom, or just directly on Amazon.
Speaker 1:Perfect. Well, thank you again for sharing your story. Would you be able to close us in prayer tonight?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely All right. Thank you In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen, amen. Lord, help us to listen to your voice and to say yes to your most holy will. Give us the grace of discernment, give us courage to jump out of the boat when that is necessary and to follow you through every difficulty. Please lead and guide us in all that we do. That it may be for your glory and our good, and we give you all glory, honor and praise. As we say, glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen, saint Benedict, pray for us In the name of the Father, son and Holy.
Speaker 1:Spirit, amen. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the ministry, please share with others, post about it on social media or please leave a rating and review. To catch all the latest stories, you can follow us on Instagram at yescatholic and visit our website, yescatholiccom. If you have benefited from yes Catholic, please consider joining our Patreon community. Visit patreoncom slash yescatholic. I would like to thank our current patrons for your ongoing prayers, support and contributions that have helped yes Catholic reach thousands of souls all over the world each week. 1 Peter 3.15 says Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you. You have a story. Don't be afraid to share the good news of how Jesus Christ has moved in your life with a family member, friend or colleague. Give Jesus your yes every single day and watch the ripple effect of the gospel. Join us next week. The journey continues right here at yes Catholic.