Become Who You Are
What’s the meaning and purpose of my life? What is my true identity? Why were we created male and female? How do I find happiness, joy and peace? How do I find love that lasts, forever? These are the timeless questions of the human heart. Join Jack Rigert and his guests for lively insights, reading the signs of our times through the lens of Catholic Teaching and the insights of Saint John Paul ll to guide us.
Saint Catherine of Siena said "Become who you are and you would set the world on fire".
Become Who You Are
#581 Introducing "Claymore"--milites Christi (Soldiers of Christ)... "I love Gen Z"
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Generation Z, especially many of the young men we meet, are waking up to the societal challenges facing them, and it's a movement filled with hope and determination. Join me as I discuss the launch of "Claymore", and unpack the remarkable ways these young men, and women too, are navigating political and cultural pressures, from confronting Socialism and Neo-Marxism to pushing back against the erosion of traditional values.
A spirited discussion takes place when we explore Gen Z's search for the truth and their shift toward leaders who represent common sense and moral integrity, with a spotlight on the resistance against harmful cultural norms like the hookup culture, porn, and digital addictions.
Together we celebrate their journey to find truth and enact change, proving that the human heart remains unwavering in its quest and desire for truth, goodness and beauty, especially the beauty of authentic love.
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I am excited, I'm really excited, to introduce Claymore Milites Christi, which means Soldiers of Christ, and I'm doing this because I love Gen Z. And I'm doing this because I love Gen Z. Gen Z is a group of young people ages born between 1997, let's say, and 2010. So going anywhere from what 15 years old or so today up into almost 30 years old. So in that group, just when you think and here's why I really like them I've been talking to them for many, many years because we do high school retreats, youth ministry, things like that. So I've been meeting these young people that are now in their 20s, say 20 to 27, 28-year-old Gen Zs, men and women, especially the guys, though We've had so much fun over the years. It's other girls too, though I don't want to not include them, but I met them maybe when they were 15, 16 in high school and staying in contact a little bit and seeing how they're doing. And here's what we're finding over and over again. It's not all of them, but a lot of them are waking up.
Speaker 1:You know, just when you think, our nation, this last election, you know we just made it by a little bit, right. I mean, we were going down so fast. The forces against us, the World Economic Forum, all over the world boom, pushing down on humanity. A real battle, spiritual battle going on. I thought, man, if we could eke out this election in the United States and bring common sense, bring sanity back, bring rule of law back, push these gender ideologies that are maiming and hurting so many of our children, the culture of death, john Paul II would call it, you know, killing as many babies as you can. I mean just brutal, barbaric stuff. Right, if we could make it, which I didn't think we were I thought something would happen to Trump. I mean, they were after him so bad I figured that they'd rig the election like they did last time. And you know what he made it.
Speaker 1:And then I was having a conversation with some young people and I said, man, I said this might be the last one, and they said why? And I said because we're going to start to fade out and these young people are going to be coming up and if they don't vote for somebody like Trump right, I'm not saying Republican or Democrat somebody with common sense, some leader, somebody that has a moral spine to them, that'll surround themselves with good people and fight the corruption and the waste If young people don't wake up to what they're doing to young people stealing their innocence in the schools, obliterating their moral imaginations, twisting and distorting, get them hooked on porn and video games, but stealing their futures just with socialism, neo-marxism, taking all their money and leaving them with nothing, just with huge debts. And so what happened, though? They started to wake up. They started to wake up Just when you think that our nation, the marriage and the family, our faith, has sunk so far that it's going to self-destruct. Along comes Generation Z, especially the young men we meet, who catch on to the fact that they've been lied to about nearly everything and you know what they say. No more, we see it, we feel it, we experience something. And they started to vote for Donald Trump and they're proud of it and they're talking about it. And these guys have guts right. Everybody Don't forget. Just a couple of weeks ago, they were throwing Tom Hampson and I out of libraries just for talking about pornography on their shelves. It's amazing stuff going on right. I was always getting ready to get a phone call for J6 or whatever it was. I mean just one thing after another praying at abortion clinics. They're throwing people in jail for that. We know that right, and especially in the UK too. It's crazy. And then they came out. They said no to the hookup culture. They realized the pornography that they've been shown and the video game addictions and it was holding them back. It's holding them back. There has to be something more and they're waking up to that fact. It shows the power of the human heart. We're still going to seek the truth.
Speaker 1:Huh, so I'm having a conversation with, with one of my nephews, young guy, 20 years old, good looking dude, in good shape, beautiful heart, you know, beautiful heart, but but still a man's man working out, a man's man's looking good and he has his own opinions on stuff and he senses something's wrong. Huh, and I said, I said to him, just for fun, we're having lunch together, and I said any cute girls on campus? And he goes yeah, uncle Jack, but copy paste, copy paste, copy paste. And I go what do you mean, copy paste? And he goes they're all the same. And you don't want to throw anybody under the bus, that's not what I'm doing here. Some beautiful girls, but they're all the same. You know the ones I'm meeting, at least. You know they all want to go out, you know and just have a good time, just have a party. Look, I want to have a good time too, but not like them. They just want to party, they want to get drunk and they want to go home and have sex and it's meaningless. The conversations are meaningless, the sex is meaningless and I'm looking for something more. This is getting crazy.
Speaker 1:And I said, well, that sounds like the perfect night out for a young guy in college. He goes, it's not, it's not. He said I want one person, uncle Jack, I'm looking for one person, one girl, that I can share experiences with. We could start to talk about things that are interesting, get to know each other. You know, sex is not the first thing. I don't want to marry some young girl at some point, some young woman at some point, and that's had sex with 30 guys before me. I mean, am I special or not special? Can I trust her? I mean all this stuff we get into, not to mention the STDs. 50% of all college kids are coming out of college with STDs. Some of them are incurable. It's crazy stuff going on, right.
Speaker 1:Well, I meet guys like Josh all the time strong young men, physically, emotionally, intellectually, who are looking for a path, a way to forge a life in a very toxic world that, ever since they were children, has tempted to emasculate them, depriving them of their male identity, tempted them with pornography, kept them busy with video games, lied to them about love and happiness, their identity. Young people, the culture knows this evil twists and distorts. Satan doesn't have his own clay. He can only take what God created good and twist it and distort it. And they grew up in this toxic world. And why? Because the powers and the principalities, these world elite and these corrupt politicians, the schools themselves. They realize, if they can twist and distort the truth, keep these young people from even searching for it, keep busy on the porn and the addictions and the materialism and the consumerism and buy this and buy that, that they don't have time to think about what is the truth. And you know what? Despite all of that, which is true, despite all of that, these young people are saying and not again, I get it, I'm generalizing with these young people that I'm meeting. They're looking for something more and they're all on different wavelengths with that, but they came out and started to vote in bigger numbers. For society to be controlled, they need weak men. They need men that are going to just go along and don't question the status quo huh. But my nephew and others are waking up to this dysfunction all around them. You know. They see these illusions are only leading them to a dead end and they sense there's a better way. We've all done that. You know. It's amazing testimony to the wonder of our creation as human beings. You could tell the human heart was made for more and I got the privilege to meet these young men and again when we were presenting high school retreats and different and I'm meeting more all the time, just in our work, asking questions but taking the lead on a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1:John Paul II loved young people. He really did. You know. He started World Youth Days. He would go all over. He felt the same thing because he grew up in Poland that was free and then the Nazis and the communists came in. By the time he was 20 years old, like my nephew, the faith was pushed underground. All this pressure, totalitarianism, this evil breaking up marriage and the family, abortions, easy marriage is easy to get divorces. I mean, this is an old story. What they're doing to young people right and indoctrinating them in the schools. They did this back in, in in. The communists did this. They knew that if they got to the young people to twist and distort their heart, they wouldn't even turn on their own parents. Well, we see this in the neocultural Marxism.
Speaker 1:Well, he went out right away and started World Youth Days. He said I'm going to the young, I'm going to speak to the young. He had that experience. He would go to the mountains when the communists were there. He would take young people to the mountains. They would forge a trail. They got to know the mountains. They would ski up there, they would kayak on the lakes up there, they would hike. And that way they were free to converse, to talk, to talk about whatever was on their hearts.
Speaker 1:John Paul, when he was a young priest, would take couples then later on to talk about marriage and love, et cetera, and he said I've come to love human love. I've come to love human love. So when he came into his pontificate he saw what was going on in this beating up toxic culture when it was doing to young people. So he loved to go out there and he said young people, you know that your life has meaning to the extent that it's given away as a gift to others and he would unpack that they were confused. Aren't we all confused about different things? And he said you know, christ and the church have answers to those questions. And he started to unpack this as soon as he became Pope. He became Pope in 78 and 79.
Speaker 1:He started his theology of the body and other things right. He started to unpack these talks and again with World Youth Day and he said you see the pain and suffering in the whole world. If you want to start to fight against, to eliminate the pain and suffering in the whole world, you have to start to eliminate first in your own heart and then who man is to woman, who woman is to man, marriage and the family. You have to understand the truth and start to follow the truth because this is in your heart already right. And he said the future of humanity passes by way of your heart, the battle on your heart. And the future of humanity then further passes by way of the family. It always does. All of us have to come into the world through a family. Who man is to woman, who woman is to man? Ooh, the beauty of love and love and the truth. He said keep asking those questions. What are you looking for? What are you looking for?
Speaker 1:I'm an old backpacker and I've been backpacking since I was a young guy 15, 16, 17 years old, seriously backpacking. Got the map map, got the compass. Because what happens is you get to a trailhead and you can get lost real easy. You know when you get to a trailhead, you can, you know, you look and you pick out, say, the mountains in the background. Okay, I get an idea where I'm going there. The sun is moving from the east to the west, say, and I kind of mark north a little bit. Where's north? Blah, blah, blah. I get it in my head and then you start to walk into the trail. Right, it doesn't take long. You go down to a valley and all of a sudden the trees are all around you. You don't see your landmarks anymore. All of a sudden the clouds come over and I can't tell where the sun is anymore. Without a map and a compass, without a map to show me the plan right, where I started from, where I'm at now and where I'm heading, without the compass that's pointing to true north so that I can reorient myself, you can get lost really quick.
Speaker 1:Well, this has been purposely done to young people. Think about the corporate media. The corporate media has been lying to them, lying to all of us over and over again. But you know what they're doing. Generation Z isn't listening to corporate media. They go on the podcasts. They're listening to things like this. They're listening to the Joe Rogans of the world and they're starting to get off of that and they're starting to question things and it's so beautiful to see. So they can't be. The mass media is having a hard time lying to them anymore.
Speaker 1:You know, you see the government corruption and they sense it. They need some honesty to come back, because they know that their future's at stake too. We just found out a couple days ago that we were sending $50 million to Gaza to buy condoms. $50 million to Gaza to buy condoms for the men there, and if the Trump administration hadn't stepped in, it would have been gone. That money would have been gone. I mean, you can't make this stuff up, you know, and so you see one thing after another, this wasteful spending. I mean these people are just so corrupt. Well, there's a kickback in there somewhere, because it doesn't cost $50 million to supply the men in Gaza with condoms. So there's a kickback, some money's coming back. We were just in.
Speaker 1:Ice was just in Colorado. I used to live in Denver, I have family in Denver and they had those illegal immigrants, those gangs right, the Trend, the Agua, I think they were called. And these gangs from where were they? From Argentina, I think they were called. And this gangs from where were they from Argentina, I think. Anyways, when they went into Colorado they took over a couple apartments, they threw people out, they were extorting money from them and the government wasn't doing anything there. I mean, denver is just a loss, downtown is just lost. They've given it over. They're a blue state, just like we are here in Chicago. And you just see that. You know they don't care. They don't care. The homeless people, the gangs coming in, you know it's amazing how Well. Anyways, the young people. The point is they see this stuff. Now they just went in and ICE just went in and arrested that ringleader and a couple of the other 50 of that gang. And do you think Denver's safer today? Because those 50 were taken out? Of course they were right.
Speaker 1:So you see this crazy Tim Walz that was running for vice president with Kamala Harris. I mean, can you imagine right now they would be the president and vice president. Can you imagine right now they would be the president and vice president? You can't make this stuff up. This crazy Tim Walz, I mean, if you think, somebody without a moral, any kind of moral compass at all, any kind of map to bring us anywhere? No, no, just empty people. And the church is in on this thing too. We just saw Catholic charities, all the money that they were receiving to help bring in these open border situation and these weak bishops and cardinals, I mean, you know, appointed by Pope Francis. So you know we're not going to pull any punches here. Claymore is here as a plan.
Speaker 1:Milites Christi again, you know, these soldiers of Christ is what we're calling ourselves, and it comes from this Claymore sword behind me, the Claymore sword. See this big sword. I don't know how big it looks in the picture, but it's a big sword. It stands high. It's a two-fisted sword. You have to hold it with two hands. It's heavy and the Scottish came up with that when they were invaded by England and England was trying to be the tyrants on them right, and they want to be free. They're fighting for their independence. Go watch Braveheart if you haven't seen this. Right With William Wallace. It's a great movie, probably one of the greatest movies ever made. It's always inspired me. And so the English had horses and the Scots didn't. So this sword was big enough, as gruesome as it sounds, to take out a horse's leg. You know, very, very dangerous. So that's what the claymore is. The claymore is a claymore sword.
Speaker 1:We're soldiers for Christ because we're looking for the truth. What is the truth? That's what these young guys and young girls want to know from Generation Z. What is the truth? Don't impose your opinions on me, but propose what's true, good and beautiful. Let's see what that map is supposed to look like. Let's see if it touches my heart.
Speaker 1:We know there's a battle. There's three core things about every young man. If he's really in tune with himself and not just dialed into pornography and video games, he knows life is supposed to be an adventure. It's a journey. We're supposed to go out and see and discover things right. This is all the way from the beginning. We know it's going to be a battle. You don't go out again without being armed. When I go backpacking, you know I mean, you know there's going to be dangers out there. There's wild animals, there's some crazy people in the world you have to be ready for battle. But the biggest battle, the biggest battle is not out there. The biggest battle is on the human heart. It's the battlefield, the human heart, between love and lust, between someone that's a self-giving person, authentic love to be a gift to another person.
Speaker 1:This is what my nephew was talking about. I'm looking for a person, uncle Jack, to give my life to, that we can communicate with each other, that we can maybe even spend our whole lives together. I'm looking for someone like that, this gift of self. Well, the opposite of that is grasping, taking. It's the pornographic culture, it's the hookup culture, it's these government elites grasping and taking from all of us, and so they need a map. So that's what Claymore is, claymore, these soldiers for Christ.
Speaker 1:We know that life's supposed to be an adventure. We're going to go on that adventure with these young people, just like John Paul did. I love doing that myself. It's one of the most gratifying things in the world when you can have a dialogue with young people, because we've gone through this stuff. I mean it's amazing battles. The battles change, the times change, but the map, god's plan, it's there. You can place yourself in it in any time in history and, of course, it's always pointing to true north. Who's Jesus Christ on the cross. I am the way, the truth and life. I will lead you. Well, how do I know? Oh, you listen. It's the most amazing thing John Paul's work and the gospel itself.
Speaker 1:It's when the human heart, who desires the truth and what's good, who really desires the beauty and the beauty of love. So those three core things adventure. We know it's going to be a battle. It starts on the battlefield of the human heart, between love and lust, between giving and grasping and taking. And the last thing, it's for beauty, and we realize it's the beauty of authentic love, to again to be this gift and see the beauty around us, especially the beauty of a man to a woman, a woman to a man. That's where this all starts. So this is just an introduction. Watch for the next episode.
Speaker 1:I'll start to unpack this in more depth because it's a whole structure. It's a whole way to look at what's going on in your own heart, in the world. All this noise, all this information. It's a way to put it into a lens so that you can see it and you can say, ooh, it's when, again, with the human heart full of these desires right, and this desire for something more, for the truth, for what's good, for what's beautiful, for love itself. And when that touches the gospel in such a way and you see, because you see the map laid out for you, it's pointing north and you keep reorientating yourself and you walk the path, not the broad highway to nowhere that we're all on today, but the narrow path that goes right into the way, the truth and the life, that person that's going to lead you, who set this all up. And when you know it, you know it, you go, ooh, yes, it's when that human heart touches that gospel in such a way, you have that aha moment, because you know it's true. You know it's true and you want to learn more. I'll leave you with this.
Speaker 1:Read the first. Here's your little assignment. If you want one right, just open up the gospel of John and in there, very quickly, you're going to see John the Baptist. He's baptizing near the Jordan, in Bethany, near the Jordan, and he sees Jesus come down and I'm not going to give you all the details because I want to end here and he understands who he is all of a sudden, right, he knew Jesus before, jesus is his cousin, but now he understands who he really is. Huh, the Lamb of God, he says, who takes away the sins of the world? And he yells it again, exclamation point right, boom, and so two of John the Baptist's disciples. We find out it's John the Evangelist who wrote this. He gives us some personal details and they're very exciting stuff and Andrew, the brother of who would become our first Pope, peter.
Speaker 1:And they start to follow Jesus, and Jesus, of course, knows this. He turns to them and he goes what do you seek? What are you looking for? This is what he's asking us. Right, we're on a path, we're on a journey. Those apostles, don't forget those. They were looking for something. What are they looking for? Right, they're on an adventure. They're looking for the truth. What is the truth? How should we live? They're fishermen. They still want to know something more. Right, it's not enough for them just to go to work every day and catch fish and even feed their families. They want to know the truth of how this all is unpacked. Right, why are they doing what they're doing? They're looking for identity, meaning and purpose in their life. We all are, if again, the world doesn't twist and distort and take those dreams away from us. And then, as we walk into the story, what do you seek? What are you looking for? That's what he's asking us. And they said to him Rabbi, which means teacher, teacher, right, he's going to show us something. Where are you staying? Where are you staying? We sent something, we want to spend more time with you. And he just says to them ah, come and see. Says to them, ah, come and see, come and see. No propaganda, no ideologies, no imposing, no condemning them for sins and this and that. No, come and see, come and see.
Speaker 1:This is always an encounter with a person, right, it's an encounter with a person of Jesus Christ, and you know, you know, you know it's unlike anything else in the world, because you'll know the truth, and the truth will set you free. So, watch again. I'll try to get up another episode, take you a little bit further into this, give you a little bit more information in, say, a couple of days. So, hey, god bless you Very excited. And the last thing I'll tell you I'm excited, right, so I'm going to keep giving you more information I guess is I'll tell you I'm excited, right, so I'm going to keep giving you more information.
Speaker 1:I guess it's that this isn't just a journey for just you.
Speaker 1:This is a journey to bring other brothers and sisters into the story.
Speaker 1:In other words, we want you to have a sense of this, to see the map and if you get excited, don't wait, turn right away and say, ooh, come with me, come and see.
Speaker 1:Don't wait, turn right away and say, ooh, come with me, come and see, come and follow this person that I found that's showing me the map and the compass right, and so this will be pretty in-depth ultimately, because it's going to bring you into your own heart and spirituality there. It's going to bring you into this map and compass. It's going to ask you to go out and find a brother or sister to journey with, and then you'll see, the Holy Spirit will open up all kinds of things for us, because we're going to ask you to help us, mentor other young men and women and even going down into the high schools with us, because they're getting twisted and distorted and they need to hear the truth. So, if you catch on to it, we want to give you the tools right to help them, and so we're going to all be on this together. This is a very exciting thing. Talk to you again soon, everybody.