How God Worked Through My Battle Against COVID

How God Worked Through My Battle Against COVID

By Dave DiNuzzo Sr.

How many of the people that you know, that contracted COVID, are grateful that they got it? I know of no one, other than myself. I contracted COVID-19 and went on an intense and crazy journey. Watch this video interview of my discussion with Drew and Katie Taylor to hear more details. 

All Alone

When I first felt symptoms, I knew I had it. I was working in my classroom (I teach middle and high school Theology at our small-but-mighty Catholic school) late one Friday night. My stomach churned, my body began to ache, and then I started to shiver uncontrollably. I knew it. “Now what?”, I thought to myself as I sat at my desk convulsing. It came out of nowhere. And I was all alone. Who could see me shaking, or feeling nauseous? Who was there to feel my ever-increasing body temperature? Who was going to validate my symptoms? No one… I was all alone.

Being all alone was one of the strangest sensations during my battle, something I am not used to. Once I was admitted to the hospital, I was all alone. My wife and children couldn’t visit because of COVID restrictions. The priest wasn’t allowed in. Of course there were nurses, doctors, therapists, and cleaning staff, but they weren’t there “with” me. Thankfully, I had video calling capabilities with my family, but I was so out of breath that most of the calls consisted of me just sitting in silence, staring at the screen. Occasionally, my kids would come look through the windows of my hospital room.

Battling

The choice for me was very clear. I could either fall into a fearful depression, throw my hands up, complain, and quit, or I could realize that I wasn’t alone after all. I chose the second option, and began to rely on the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and on the Immaculate Heart of His Most Holy Mother, Mary. Over and over I repeated “O, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee!” I prayed this countless times. Every time I would pray this prayer (which, traditionally is prayed three times in a row), I would follow up with a “Hail, Mary”. This was how I battled.

I unrelentingly believe in God’s grace. I was (Praise God!) in the state of grace when I went into the hospital. Can you imagine the fear and gut wrenching feeling had I been in the state of mortal sin?! Phew! Lord, have mercy! The fact that I had been living in sacramental grace truly structured my battle-ready approach and ability to fight through everything. 

I found myself in a mental space, ready for death, and being okay with it. It was really peaceful. I certainly didn’t want to die, but I was ready if it was His Will. So, during my battle, what I feel most privileged about was the fact that I wasn’t in any pain. I couldn’t breathe, but I wasn’t in pain. Most people who struggled through a 33-day COVID battle (25 days in the ICU) had it much worse than I did. I prayed fervently for them, especially those who literally were all alone. At one point, the man across the hall from me, most likely in his 80’s, was in a medically induced coma. When he finally came out of it, although still intubated, he never received one phone call, a video message, and obviously he had no visitors. My heart hurt for him, and others like him.

How God Worked

So, through it all, God proved again and again that He had my back! I was eventually transferred (via “flight for life” – crazy, I know!) to a Catholic hospital, received an anointing, and Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist! (Thanks Fr. Ben!) God walked this journey with me and did so much to my heart that I am forever changed. I feel so united to Jesus’ Heart that I sincerely fear nothing. 

I was able to share my story, first through an unexpected Instagram Story that made its way all around the world (thank you to everyone who prayed for me!). Through this mini-viral clip, I heard from hundreds and hundreds of people that it positively impacted. They saw my faith during such an impossible time. I was blessed to be capable of demonstrating to them what trust and surrender really means. I take absolutely zero credit for this! God provided.

Wrap It Up, Dave!

As I continue to recover (I’m what they call a “COVID long-hauler and have a long road ahead), my life is pretty different. Physically, I’m different. I get extreme exhaustion, am consistently out of breath, have experienced weight gain and metabolic changes, and most of the time, I feel pretty lousy. None of that stops me. I can’t stop telling people about the most important thing in life… the Sacred Heart of Jesus. His Heart IS the Eucharist. His Heart IS life. His Heart IS the font of Divine Mercy. “O, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee!”

This article is cross-posted from Catholic-Link. Please click to like, follow, and subscribe to their socials.

The TrueManhood Podcast – Episode 11 Theology of the Body

Dave talks about both what the Theology of the Body is and its importance in the lives of everyone. This vital teaching in the Roman Catholic Church could very well solve the problems in the world.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Prayer Question

I received an email from a blog reader today and I thought I’d share the question and my response here.  Thought it might be helpful for more than just this one guy.  The question was: “My prayer life is really screwed-up.  I was taught that a prayer life is a dialogue with God, through Jesus, about how to grow closer, gain insight and follow Christ.  My prayers are rantings, raving, and venting about stupid and ridiculous things. Where did I go wrong?”

My response was pretty basic and doesn’t cover everything, but here’s what I suggested: “Thanks for the email.  The fact that you are concerned about this shows that you care.  There is a way to dialogue with God, but there’s not only one way.  You have to find your own way to pray.  I recommend finding some solid books on prayer, talking to a priest, listening to CDs/mp3s on the topic, etc.

Start with this, to get back into the swing of properly ordered prayer… A.C.T.S. is an acronym to structure your prayer.  It may help.

• Adoration – Adoring God.
• Contrition – Showing remorse for your sins against God.
• Thanksgiving – Giving thanks for anything and everything.
• Supplication – Asking God for things/requests that you need/want.

You can also spend time, not only in contemplative prayer, but in meditation, journaling, sitting in silence, repetitive prayer, spending time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, etc.

All the best.  Keep trying!”

TrueMan up!

“Lately, Life Has Been a Roller Coaster”

Do you ever have those periods of time when life is, well, crazy?  When EVERYTHING hits the fan, deadlines are coming, stressors are numerous, money is constantly on your mind?  When you’re trying to live life to the fullest, be a great man, attend to your responsibilities and give everything your all?  I’ve had a few straight months of living like that.  Where life wouldn’t seem to slow down, and you’re always looking ahead to see if there’s an oxygen break coming soon.

Over the past two months specifically, I have been experiencing a lot.  LOTS of uncertainty and unknown.  Lately, life has been, as they say, a roller coaster.  TrueManhood.com Blog has been the recipient of a serious amount of neglect from me, and to my passionate readers and daily-blog-followers, I apologize.  I have some great stuff planned, that should be coming your way soon.

When life gets like this, I try to do a few things.  For instance… when I have uncertainty, I tend to pray more.  I try to listen harder to what God wants from me.  I try really hard to be aware of what’s happening in my life, taking an objective view of what is going on and what it could possibly mean.  I also tend to be better with money, realizing that only because we’ve been good with money when it’s fruitful and abundant can we make it when things are, let’s say, tighter.  I try to spend as much time with my family as I can, when life gets crazy busy.  The more time with them, the more focused I can be when I’m working – always remembering that work is work and home/family is home/family.  To name a few.

If life is throwing high-heat, curve balls, screw balls and spit balls at you, call time out and gather yourself.  Rely more on God.  Listen to Him more.  Step back for a moment and see what’s important and urgent.  You’ll make clearer decisions, reduce your blood pressure and overall, be a better man.  Oh yeah, did I mention that this sort of behavior is like working on growing in virtue?

TrueMan up!

An Act of Heroism

This clip isn’t easy to watch, and my heart goes out to this mother and child.  What a great example of virtue and TrueManhood from this husband and father.  The man’s father puts it well by saying that love will fix the situation.  It may seem ridiculous to some, but love heals.  Afterall, do you think God liked seeing His Son dying on the cross?  Not a chance.  But, the love which Christ poured out for us, by giving up His life, was love at its core.  This man, Brian Wood, knew what it meant to love.

 

 

 

This piece shows me several things:

1. Our society has a drastically obvious double-standard about pro-life issues.  Notice how this pregnancy happens to be a baby – in this setting – but in most others, it’s simply a blob, a tissue-mass or an embryo.
2. Our society drastically misunderstands virtue.  If you notice, several times the gentleman’s actions were misinterpreted, saying that he made a choice and acted.  Although he did make a choice to sacrifice himself, he acted out of virtue.  The virtue of courage was obviously a part of this man’s life.
3. Our society will likely see a video clip like this and continue to abuse alcohol and drugs.  Selfishness runs rampant in our culture.  Fight it by not being selfish.  Be a selfless servant.

My condolences to the family.

TrueMan u!

Busy, Frustrated, Anxious, Confused

Lately, life has been on a lightspeed pace.  I think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.  I’m frustrated with various things, anxious about what’s happening in life and confused as to what God’s doing in my life.  But I’m a man… I shouldn’t be admitting this.  Right?  I should be strong and well-put-together.  I should have everything taken care of with time to spare.  Right?  I should be self-sufficient.  I should be completely ahead of the curve.  Should, should, should.

Well, we all know that sometimes we aren’t ahead of the curve.  Sometimes, life gets busy and we get behind.  How do you keep it all straight?  How do you keep your head above water?  Are you a yes-aholic?  Do you have trouble ordering your priorities?  (I’ve written about priorities before, just do a search for “PRIORITY” and you’ll find some good stuff.)  Do you struggle with loads of work yet waste away time on meaningless activities and hobbies?

I recommend a few things.  First and foremost, I recommend that you examine your prayer life.  If you’re praying, your foundation is strong and you take the necessary time to sit in quiet with God.  If you’re not praying, try starting with 15 minutes a day.  Along with daily prayer, frequent reception of the Sacraments is vital.  Next, I recommend that you organize your life however works best for you.  Maybe it’s a planner, a calendar, a list, post-it notes, etc.  Don’t just let life happen to you, dictate what your day looks like.  Next, I recommend that you (if you’re in the same boat as me) start saying ‘no’ to some things.  Today, I cancelled three future meetings (to be rescheduled) and moved two other events around so I could breathe.  Do whatever it takes to order your life properly.  An ordered life is the goal, because then everything is in it’s proper place.  “Living balance means that you’re doing what you want to do.  Living order means that you’re doing what you ought to do.”

As men, sometimes we are told that we can’t or shouldn’t rely on others for help.  This is not logical, it’s not practical and it’s not Scriptural.  Lean on those around you to help you out.  Reach out to friends, family, colleagues that will assist you in reaching your goals.  Showing vulnerability or the need for help doesn’t mean you’re less manly, it just means that you need some help.  In this entire process, I recommend taking life in stride and to remain positive.  If you are negative, and if you complain, you will only add stress and strain on your already busy lifestyle.

Best of luck in reaching your goals!  Your prayers for me are appreciated as I navigate the everchanging and rapid waters of my life.

TrueMan up!

“Be A Dad!”

Here’s an article from Fr. Larry Richards, a great priest and awesome speaker.  Thought you’d like it.

“Be a Dad!” | Fr. Larry Richards | Adapted and excerpted from Be a Man! Becoming the Man God Created You to Be | Ignatius Insight

You are going to die!

It doesn’t matter how rich we are, or how popular we are, or how powerful we are: we are all going to “kick the bucket” one day. Isn’t that a nice thought?

What we have to do is take some time to sit and meditate about taking our last breath. What do you want your wife to say about you? What do you want your kids to say about you? Once you’ve decided, “Okay, when I am taking my last breath this is what I want”, you can start living your life with your end goal in mind. You will start living in such a way that when the day of your death happens, the people who know you will say what you want them to say.

Death is the ultimate thing that takes control out of our hands. Even if we commit suicide, we cannot control what happens after we die. Not one of us had control over our own birth and not one of us has control of what happens after we die.

I have been to a lot of deathbeds throughout my priesthood, so I know what it is going to be like when you are dying. While you are lying there, the thing that is going to be most important to you is your relationships—the people that you loved and the people that in return loved you.

Then why don’t we live every day with that in mind? Make the decision to never let your wife or your kids go to bed or walk out the door without telling them first that you love them—life is just too short! It will change your family. It will change the world.

You should underline John 15:12 in your Bible, where Jesus commands us, “Love one another as I have loved you.” This is not an option. He also said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” (Jn 15:9). Jesus told the people He loved that He loved them.

Why is it that men do not do that? Men are embarrassed. They are afraid. It makes them vulnerable. They think to be a man, you don’t go around telling the people you love that you love them; but Jesus told twelve men that He loved them. Then He told us to love others in the same way.

Let me give you a hint: you will never in your life regret that you told your wife and your kids and the people you love that you love them—never. You won’t be lying on your deathbed one day saying, “I can’t believe that I daily told my loved ones that I loved them. What is the matter with me?”

Now, how do you fall in love with someone? You know that you did not get to know your future wife by meeting her once and giving her forty five minutes to an hour once a week. You spent time with her. You got to know her. The same is true with our relationship with God. It might take you months—it might take you years—but you have to do it. You have to keep spending time with God until the answer to the question of whether or not you know God is unequivocally yes.

We need to know who our true Father is. There’s only one Father for everybody: God the Father! That guy you call your dad, he’s the instrument of fatherhood, but he’s not your true Father.

When we talk about our fathers—whether we had a good father, a bad father, a close and supportive father, or a distant and unsupportive father whom we did not know at all—it doesn’t matter as much because the reality is, we all have the same Father in heaven. It’s that Father Who will bring healing to us.

Husbands are called to love God primarily through their wives. Your wife is the sacrament of Christ to you. You are the sacrament of Christ to your wife. When she looks at you, she is supposed to see Jesus Christ. That is why Ephesians 5:22–24 is such a wonderful passage. It says, “Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, and is himself its Savior. As the Church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands.” Many of us remember the translation that said that wives were to be “submissive to their husbands”. The problem is that many men just stop with their wives being “submissive”. The men love that part, which is why so many women go crazy.

I make this very explicit when I am preaching at a marriage ceremony. I start with the bride and I say, “Sweetheart, you read the Bible every day, don’t you?” At first I usually get a “Yes, Father”, and then I say kiddingly, “If you lie to a priest, you know, you go to hell.” Then she will usually quickly say, “Okay, no, Father.” Then I continue, “Well, there is a verse in Ephesians that says, ‘Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as to the Lord.’ ” And then I ask, “Do you think it means what it says?” And I always get an emphatic “No, Father!” Then I literally jump up and down and scream, “Yes, it means what it says!” When I say this, all the feminists in the crowd become very upset and say things like, “This is another reason I hate the Catholic Church.” And the bride thinks, “Why did we ever get this priest to marry us?” I love this!

Then, as anyone who knows me knows, I am an equal opportunity offender, so I turn to the groom, who usually likes all of this. Now it is time for the other shoe to fall. I then ask the groom, “You read the Bible every day, right?” He always responds, “No, Father.” Then I ask, “Well, do you know what it says in Ephesians after ‘Wives, be submissive to your husbands’?” The groom always shakes his head and says, “No.” Then I continue, “It says, ‘Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her.’ ” Then I ask, “Do you know what that means?” I then continue kiddingly, “Your life is over!” Then I tell them that every day they need to be more concerned about each other than they are about themselves! That is what marriage is about!

So you need to start to do at least one unselfish act for your wife every day. Surprise her. When was the last time you treated her the same way you did when you were still trying to get her to marry you?

Next, let us focus on your children, which I think is easier because they are a part of you. Do we allow our children to be themselves? Some people think that the best father you can be is a strong disciplinarian. Absolutely, I agree. But just as much as you discipline your children, you must also build them up.

Sometimes we are just harsh and we think this is what God wants, but that isn’t the way God is. God loves us. He gives away His life for us. And then He always tells us He loves us. Correct?

One of the roles that men have, given to them by God (see Gen 3:16; 1 Cor 11:3; Eph 5:23), is to be the spiritual leaders of their families. Now this is where I have called men “spiritual wimps” for many years. Many men have let their wives be the spiritual leaders of their families, but this is not the way God created it to be. Now this does not mean that you are the master of your wife and family; it means, like Jesus Christ, you are the servant leader of your family.

First off, this means that you lead by example. You must be a man of prayer. For it is only as a son who listens to his heavenly Father that you can bring the will of the Father to your family. You cannot be a good and true leader unless you are a true and good follower. You must daily spend committed time in prayer with God, then lead your family in prayer. Do you have daily committed time with your family in prayer? And no, grace before meals is not enough!

You need to be the spiritual leader by being a man of sacrifice. You exist to give your life away for others, like Jesus did. That means you give your life for your family first and foremost.

My good friend Danny Abramowicz loves to tell men at men’s conferences: “Men, your kids will always love their mother, but they want to become just like you!” If we are not holy ourselves, then our families will not be holy. It is that simple. God is going to speak to men, women, and children, but He is speaking especially to men to help us be His very image.

You are the sacrament of Fatherhood to your children just like St. Joseph was the sacrament of Fatherhood to Jesus. Just as God used St. Joseph to form Jesus Christ in His humanity, so too does He want to use you to form your children. So I would encourage you before you read any further to stop and ask St. Joseph for his intercession for you so you can grow in holiness.

The Lord God of the universe is calling all of us to be great men, men that are examples of Him and who use Him as our example. We are called to become another Christ in this world. Our goal is to bring others to Him.

Do it and you will live forever.

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