The TrueManhood Podcast Episode 6 – Get to Know Dave DiNuzzo
Dave shares a little about himself in an attempt to connect with the audience. He shares about his life, his wife and kids, his extra curriculars, and other interesting details. Check it out!
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Challenge Accepted, ISIS
The barbaric Islamic cowards of ISIS have threatened our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and have vowed to “conquer Rome”. The Pontifical Swiss Guard have accepted the challenge of defending him. Threats from Muslims against Christianity, and specifically against the Papacy, certainly aren’t new. Many have been actualized over the years, and many more will most assuredly come. However, the Commander of the Swiss Guard isn’t backing down, and says that the Swiss Guard are on high alert and are ready.
Since the assassination attempt of St. John Paul the Great (Pope John Paul II) in 1981, the security measures of not only the Swiss Guard, but also of the Vatican Police, known as the Corps of Gendarmes, have been significantly heightened. Slight changes were made when Francis was elected, but the world can be assured that the Swiss Guard are prepared.
TrueManhood requires that a man defend the common good. It goes without saying that defending the Holy Father is a good thing, and these incredible elite soldiers who make up the Swiss Guard are assigned to a very good task. When it comes to this good task, I wish I were younger, single, and Swiss – but alas, I’m older than the cutoff, married, and Italian (and Irish, Polish, & Czech).
The young men that make up the world’s smallest army must be between the ages of 19 and 30, at least 5’8.5″ tall, single, a practicing Catholic, and trained in the Swiss Army. Don’t let their Renaissance-esque uniforms fool you – they are trained warriors and ready for the battle. They train in unarmed combat, small arms, and are proficient with their pike and sword. Here’s the oath they swear on May 6th (each time a recruit becomes a Swiss Guard):
“I swear I will faithfully, loyally, and honorably serve the Supreme Pontiff Francis and his legitimate successors, and also dedicate myself to them with all my strength, sacrificing if necessary also my life to defend them. I assume this same commitment with regard to the Sacred College of Cardinals whenever the See if vacant. Furthermore I promise to the Commanding Captain and my other superiors, respect, fidelity and obedience. This I swear! May God and our Holy Patrons assist me!”
Sheer awesomeness – an oath of self-giving, self-sacrifice, and overflowing with the virtue of magnanimity! And I can guarantee that these men don’t take this oath lightly – a true and holy honor to protect the Vicar of Christ. This sort of attitude flies in the face of cultural manliness and stands for authentic manliness – TrueManhood! We here at TrueManhood are proud of these men and so grateful to have them among the ranks who will be the first to defend Mother Church and our Holy Father.
Click Here a news story from Catholic News Agency.
TrueMan up!
Pontius Pilate, What You Did Was NOT Manly
I thought several times throughout Holy Week, as well as when I watched “The Passion of the Christ” on Friday night, that Pontius Pilate (pronounced pon-chus pi-lot) was not manly in his decisions to condemn Jesus to death. He tried, yes, at first, to tell the people that Jesus had done nothing wrong. Where he went wrong was when he worried about what sort of uprising the Jewish high priests would start and what the people would do. He let self-preservation win out over justice.
He’s infamously remembered by Catholics in our Creed (our profession of faith) “…He (Jesus) suffered under Pontius Pilate…“. This is because Pilate had the power to prevent Christ’s horrible torture, scourging, carrying of His cross and His death, but failed to act; all out of fear. He was a coward. Even the movie “The Passion of the Christ” (picture above from a scene with Pilate and Jesus) shows Pilate’s wife as a hero and a servant, with compassion and deep sorrow while Pilate simply looks on, worried about himself. Pilate leaves us with a good example of what not to do.
Christ tells us that we’ll be persecuted because of Him, because we follow Him and because we love Him. We should be ready and prepared to persevere. We prepare for this by training (prayer and fasting, mostly). When it comes down to it, who will you side with? Will you take the easy way out and deny Christ or will you stand firm in your beliefs, in your faith and in HIS love and witness for Jesus? Only time will tell.
Again, society tells men that we must look out for ourselves and self-preservation. Christ, the Church and TrueManhood.com say something different. We all say “defend Christ, defend Mother Church, defend Truth” – God will provide for us and will raise us up on the last day. A True Man does this. A man like Pontius Pilate doesn’t. What kind of man are you?
Man up!
