God's Plan For You

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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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God’s Plan for You

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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God’s Plan for You

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