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Church Teaching / Sexuality / Teens
Are you confused about feelings, relationships, sex? Ever been disillusioned about marriage and family life—and maybe life itself? This book will give you the answers you need!
God’s Plan for You, based on John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, reveals a path leading to a full life and hope for your future. Author David Hajduk makes John Paul II’s magnificent vision of the human person accessible—and exciting—for today’s youth. Discover the purpose of existence and the answers to your most deeply held questions about life, relationships, and sexuality. In each chapter: • Insight from God’s Word • Wisdom from Pope John Paul II • Reflection questions for everyday life • Suggested reading from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
“The anecdotes and examples anchor the truths of faith in life. A timely and most welcome book!” — Most Rev. Arthur J. Serratelli, Bishop of Paterson, New Jersey “David Hajduk puts the beautiful teachings of our Church and the words of John Paul the Great in terms that all can understand. Young people today are struggling to hear and live the truth. This book boldly and lovingly lays out God’s truth.” — Tony Melendez, composer and musician “I am inspired by this book, knowing the power that it has to change lives. An indispensable resource!” — Steve Angrisano, youth minister, singer and songwriter $16.95 ISBN 0-8198-4517-5
auline
BOOKS & MEDIA
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Contents Acknowledgments Foreword
ix xiii
Chapter 1
The Cosmic Prequel
1
Chapter 2
The Key to a Rich Life
11
Chapter 3
A Striking Similarity
19
Chapter 4
The Best of Both Worlds
31
Chapter 5
Lessons in Loneliness
41
Chapter 6
A Match Made in Heaven
49
Chapter 7
God Is Pro-Life!
57
Chapter 8
Gone Fishing
67
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Chapter 9
The Great Divorce
79
Chapter 10
Fashion Statements
89
Chapter 11
Hearts Too Hard to Love
101
Chapter 12
The Divine Do-Over
111
Chapter 13
Tools of the Trade
125
Chapter 14
A Model Marriage
143
Chapter 15
Body Language
159
Chapter 16
A Family Affair
175
Chapter 17
The Final Chapter
195
Notes
205
Bibliography
206
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CHAPTER 2
The Key to a
Rich Life
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust consume and where thieves
break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
— Matthew 6:19–21
Life’s Most Important Questions The
movie
It’s
a
Wonderful
Life
starring
Jimmy
Stewart brings a tear to my eye every time I watch it. If you have never seen it, don’t worry—it’s on TV at
least
a
hundred
of
duty
and
times
from
Thanksgiving
to
Christmas. It tells the story of George Bailey, a man charity
who
meets
hard
times.
He
stands to lose his reputation, family welfare, and
business
because
his
archrival,
a
heartless
and
crooked old miser named Mr. Potter, wants to ruin
him. Unlike George, Mr. Potter has no concern for the
hardworking
men
and
women
in
town
and
views them solely as a means of profit. Desperate, 11
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George begins to think that he is worth more dead
than alive and that everyone would be better off if
he had never been born. Well, through the intervention of a second-class angel trying to earn his wings, George gets the chance to see what life would have
been like had he never existed, and he realizes all the wonderful things he has done with his life. The movie ends at George’s house, as all the people that
George had helped rally together to help him in his time of need. George’s brother, Harry, shows up and
proposes a toast: “To my brother, George Bailey— the richest man in town!”
Everyone wants to have a rich life. Everyone
wants to “store up treasure for themselves.” How-
ever, the real question is: What makes a person rich?
At some point in life, everyone will have to answer
this question for him or herself—and the answer
will ultimately determine how full his or her life will be.
At its core, the question “What makes a person
rich?” inquires into the meaning of life and the pur-
pose of human existence. In a sense, it asks two separate
yet
related
questions:
“Who
am
I?”
and
“What’s life all about?” Our life hinges on these two questions—the most important questions that any
human being can ask. Somehow we know that our personal
happiness
depends
on
finding
the
answers; that if we only knew what life was really
about, then we would have the roadmap to fulfillment in our lives. That’s why we have a natural
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inclination to search. However, we often search in
all the wrong places. We can go the way of Mr. Potter or the way of George Bailey. People
have
been
asking
“Who
am
I?”
and
“What’s life all about?” ever since Adam and Eve. Because so many people before you have wrestled
with
these
questions,
you
can
benefit
from
their
hard work. Of all the great thinkers, however, the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle said it best.
The Way to True Happiness Thousands of years ago, in his work Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle said that the meaning of life is to be happy, and that ultimately happiness is the
for.
thing
that
However,
thing
very
Aristotle,
everybody
Aristotle
specific
by
“happiness”
is
searching
meant
some-
happiness.
means
For
“fulfill-
ment.” Understood this way, happiness refers to an internal condition whose
WORD to the WISE The w ord A ristotle used for ha ppines s, eudem onia, translates more literal ly as “ful fillmen t.”
opposite is emptiness—not sadness, suf-
fering, or pain as many might think. Happiness is a deep sense of peace and contentment in one’s soul.
This means it can actually co-exist with sadness, suffering, and pain. Your world could be falling apart
and you could be enduring great trials, yet you can
still feel content and peaceful in your heart because you are fulfilled. True happiness, therefore, doesn’t
come and go; it is enduring. And this is precisely the
happiness that everybody longs for. Those who say
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things like, “I’ll only be happy if I get that car, go to
that college, or get that girlfriend or boyfriend,” or “I’ll
only
be
happy
if
my
lousy
circumstances
change,” sadly don’t understand what true happi-
ness is and are only setting themselves up to be disappointed. True happiness happens from the inside
out, not the outside in. This is why Aristotle said that there are three main ways in which people tend
to seek happiness. Mr. Potter exemplifies the first two, and George Bailey the third.
The first is the way of pleasure. This way prom-
ises fulfillment by pleasing the senses and avoiding
pain at all costs. It involves lots of eating, drinking, and
sex;
always
looking
toward
the
new
and
improved “high.” It looks no farther than the next party. Aristotle called those who seek fulfillment in
this way “vulgar” and “animalistic.” He wasn’t trying to be mean—he was simply stating that those
who live this life lower themselves to the level of animals. Aristotle concluded that such people will
never find the fulfillment they seek. If you look at people who seem to have all the pleasure they want, yet still seem unhappy and empty inside, you’ll see that Aristotle was right.
ises
The second is the way of power. This way promfulfillment
from
being
popular
and
having
many possessions. It’s all about stardom and stuff.
In the eyes of the world, these things make a person powerful. They unlock the door to all the fine food,
strong drink, hard drugs, sex, and material posses-
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sions that one could possibly imagine. In this sense, the life of power merely provides the means to the
life of pleasure. Like those who seek the life of plea-
sure, those who seek the life of power don’t find the fulfillment they seek either. Popularity evaporates,
here one minute and gone the next. It depends on
others’ opinions of you, after all, and you cannot control that. Money can run out; the stock market
can crash; thieves can “break in and steal.” What then?
The third is the way of virtue. This way promis-
es fulfillment from living a morally good life. The word virtue comes from the Latin word vir, meaning “man.”
So,
virtue
literally
“
means
“manliness”
or
“humanliness.” Virtue is human perfection. Being virtuous means being human. Think about those we honor in history as great people,
as opposed to those we revile as
scoundrels. Isn’t virtue the criterion? We call them great people
because they represent the best
that
humans
because
they
have
to
exemplify
thing we aspire to be.
offer,
every-
So, what was Aristotle’s con-
clusion?
Human
fulfillment
results
Notable Quotable
”
“...Virtuous activities and their opposites are
what constitute happiness or the reverse.” — Aristotle
from
being
fully
human. If you want to be happy, then you’ve got to be human. Only then will you be truly rich.
Now, you may ask, “What does it really mean to
be human?” The first lesson that Jesus teaches us from
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The Cosmic Prequel answers this great question. Jesus
knows that we can’t even begin to understand what human love, human sexuality, marriage, and family life
are
all
about—let
alone
find
fulfillment
in
them—until we first understand what being human is all about.
Let’s go back to the beginning with Jesus and
discover what God had in mind when he created us. The key to a rich life is just around the corner!
JOHN PAUL II In His Own Words
Happiness is being rooted in love. (GA, 1/30/80)
Things to Ponder and Share 1.
Look at your life and the world around you.
2.
If you were asked to give your “Life Motto”
Do you know someone like George Bailey?
—a phrase that sums up who you are and
what your life is about—what would it be and why?
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3.
17
How did Aristotle understand happiness?
How do many people today understand it? What’s the difference?
4.
According to Aristotle, what are the three
different types of lives that humans can lead
to try to find fulfillment? What was his conclusion? Do you agree? Why or why not? 5.
When have you pursued happiness in pleasure, popularity, or possessions? How did it turn out in the short term? In the long term?
6.
Who do you think are the great human beings
in our world’s history? What made them great?
Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church nos. 27, 1718, 1723, 1803