#719 Discussing ACT Two: Awakened By Beauty, The Opening Scene

Beauty can save a man’s life, or at least wake his heart up enough to fight for it. We sit down with Claymore Milites Christi Leaders, Dan McSweeney and David Avignone, to open the discussion on Act Two of the Claymore Battle Plan Handbook, “Awakened By Beauty,” and we start where modern culture rarely starts: Genesis and the simple claim that you are created good, made in the image of God, male and female. When that truth gets buried under  confusion, and shame, desire doesn’t disappear, it gets redirected into using, consuming, and comparing. 

Visit Claymore milites Christi today! Read the Claymore Battle Plan Outline! Order the Claymore Battle Plan Handbook! Share it within your circle! The world changes when we pass on what is true, good and beautiful! 

If you want more freedom, stronger relationships, and a clear Catholic framework for sexuality, marriage, and holiness, listen now. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review so more men can find the path back to what is true, good, and beautiful.

Transcript

Claymore And Act Two Setup

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to the Claymore Become Who You Are podcast, the production of the John Paul Two Renewal Center. I'm Jack Riggert, your host. I'm with a couple good friends today. Dan McSweeney's been with me before. He's part of the Claymore leadership team. David Avignone is part of the Claymore Leadership Team and also the managing director for the John Paul 2 Renewal Center. Good to have you guys. Great to be here. Thanks, Shaq.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Yes, uh good to be here this morning. Uh looking forward to uh diving into uh Act Two.

Created Good In God’s Image

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Yeah, so people that are just new to uh what we're doing, so Claymore, uh I'll I'll put that up behind me when I'm actually doing a little editing. You'll see that if you don't have the Claymore handbook already, if you don't have that, it comes in 52 acts, a very short for you guys that don't read very much. Also, we have the battle plan outline. Everything will be in the show notes for you. But anyways, what we're doing is we're unpacking act by act by act. There are men out there that's men and women that that aren't don't have somebody yet in their lives that they're journeying with. There's QA after each one of these acts when you're sharing it with someone. And if you don't, it doesn't matter because we're gonna be talking about the QA and answering questions and discussing act by act. So this is only act two. So we started last week. If you haven't got a chance to go back and listen to that, you'll hear an audio version of the actual act, followed by the next day with QA. So here we go, act two, uh Awakened by Beauty, the opening scene. This this is where the fight really gets real. You know, you guys are created good, and all the guys that are on listening today, you're created good. You know, this is not easy, is it, uh gentlemen, you know, for young men today. They grew up in this toxic culture. Their innocence has been robbed when they were very, very young, usually pornography. They were actually exposed to disindoctrination, and even in their own schools, elementary schools, they've seen uh all these gender ideologies, et cetera, et cetera. And and right beneath that veneer is always a pornography. So it twists their hearts, and they don't understand this. So many of them are anxious, depressed, uh, even suicidal, right? We just had a young guy in our own lives, didn't we, that that uh just committed suicide, and 25 years old, I think. So uh you guys know him and and very sad. So let me just start out with Genesis chapter one uh before we go any further, and then I'll bring you guys in. You know, Genesis, right away, this is what God says to you to all of us. Let us make man in our image. It's amazing, right? When you talk about beauty and the opening scene, better sheet in Hebrew, better sheet means in the beginning in the Bible. It right away, God says, okay, this is what the this is the most important thing I want to tell you guys right off the bat that you're made good. You're made in my image. So let us make man in our image after our likeness. This is God speaking, and he's not by himself. There's a community up there already, a relationship. Let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle over all the wild animals, and all the creatures to grow on the ground. Hey, this is all yours. And God created man in his image, in the divine image, he created them. How? Male and female, he created them. God blessed them, saying to them, Be fertile, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Let me throw a question to David. What did God mean when he said, Be fertile, multiply? What's he referring to?

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Well, I I'd imagine that it means uh let's get more humans here on earth. And yeah, yeah, yeah. Obviously, in the right context, we we must uh must do everything we can to create more and more human beings in the context of the family, for sure. I mean, that's how we win in the culture, and that's how we win this battle against Satan.

SPEAKER_02 3:49

Yeah, and we're losing. We're losing right now. We're losing. Danny, Danny, what do we call that act too? What do we call that act that that David's described that brings that brings more human beings into the world?

SPEAKER_01 4:02

This would be the act of love, Jack. You know, the uh the basis of the chapter here. God himself is love and created us out of his love, and we're to, as David talked about, procreate in the name of his love.

Porn Culture And Stolen Innocence

SPEAKER_02 4:17

Yeah. So what he's what what God is talking about is sexual intimacy, right? The marital act, huh, between a man and a woman. It's it's really beautiful that God created us in in in two ways, male and female, equal in dignity. You know, God took took Eve right out of the side of man, right from his heart, basically, and just made us in two versions so that we can be complementary and as David said, uh bring new life into the world. Every one of us came in through through a man and a woman. Uh, there's no way to get around that, you know. Even if you were adopted, if you were a surrogate, whatever, you have a dad and a and a mom. And so this is the opening act, uh, this is what God created good. And so our sexuality, and I'll I get throw this back at you guys, our sexuality is so beautiful. Of course, that's where Satan goes after us, right? It goes right into our hearts, twists and distorts. You know, uh Satan David um you know, doesn't have his own clay. He does he's not the creator. He can only take what God created good and distort it. This is what I think these poor guys uh when I say poor guys, I really mean that growing up in a toxic culture. Uh this is what they're experiencing today.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

You know, I when I said we're losing, I I say that as a society. I think uh, you know, we've people have a skewed view of the world that everything is bad and we must uh prevent people from experience this negativity, you know, everything from war to famine and all all everything in between. And uh that's Satan messing with us as a as uh mankind.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

I think it's a good point though, Danny, right? That that these guys have grown up and they didn't know anything different, you know. To David's point, they came into a culture that was already toxic. Uh, they didn't get any help in the government schools. A lot of times they're coming from even dysfunctional families, and some guys have never even been to to church on a regular basis, at least, right?

unknown 6:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Yeah. So to your point, Jack, obviously we are all products of our environment. And uh if if if we're not shown or brought in a different direction, we don't know any better. And you know, as we know, this is what the evil one preys on, you know. Uh these young men that are are trying to find satisfaction in the culture are realizing that the promises are empty, you know, and they they're they're not able to fill that void in with within them. And that's the evil one's number one tool, discouragement. And they, you know, they look in the mirror and they're not happy with what they see, you know, but they don't know where to turn. That's the problem. That's the problem.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

When you try to fill the infinite desires of the human heart with finite things, you know, so what do they do? They're trying to, you know, they look at porn and they see the object. What do you think about that, David? I mean, you know, when scene one, if you guys remember, I talked about when I was in second grade and I saw the twin sisters. You remember coming down the alley for the first time? And it's that awe and wonder. This is what God is talking about, the awe and wonder better sheet in the beginning, original innocence. And that original original innocence is when you just go, what was that, right? Who is that? It's not about lust or possession of using or consuming someone, it's the opposite. It's it's it's being the awe and wonder. And somehow you know something special, very special, is going on there. And sometimes these guys, David, you have you have what, five uh children. You want them to be able to experience this awe and wonder, and the culture's trying to take that away from.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Yeah, you know, I was just thinking about one of my children, you know, a couple weeks ago, he he came to me and you know, basically told me that a crush on a little another little girl. He's seven years old, right?

SPEAKER_02 8:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So so this is somebody that's a good thing.

Awe And Wonder Versus Using

SPEAKER_00 8:07

This is a second great story, right? Yeah, this is somebody that's so uh uh innocent, but they they understand that there's this beauty in another person, but they don't know how to how to put it in perspective into the grand scheme of love and growing up and creating a family. But they have that innate sense of beauty in other people. And we we're never gonna be completely innocent the rest of our life, but we need to be there to help form and shape that those children from an early age. That's why parents need to be involved immediately. You can't wait until they're you know, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth grade or high school for that matter, to start talking about love and beauty. You really have to start from from birth, really.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

Yeah. What what happens, Danny? You know, when when these young guys come into the world and nobody tells them another story, and they're exposed to pornography. And to David's point, instead instead of seeing the awe and wonder of that of that young girl, they see her as an object. They're told that she's an object, and and that awe and wonder turns inward, and they want to use. I mean, what it's the opposite of love, isn't it? You know, if love is self-giving, the opposite of love is grasping, taking. The opposite of love is is lust.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah, and again, they're surrounded by that whole scenario, you know, existing in the current culture, and the evil one latches on to that, Jack. And you know, the reality is again, if you don't know another road or what the true answer is, how you can fill that god hole within you, where else do you turn? I mean, that's the beauty of this Claymore battle plan. This offers the truth. This offers an individual to find and to follow the path that the creator has called them to walk, and to, you know, experience what the reality of true love is and be able to follow this, you know, battle plan that you have designed here. I mean, it's a beautiful thing.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

David, want to add anything? Uh Danny mentioned the battle plan in Act Two. You know, we really have to really understand what beauty is, and that beauty exists in everything, you know. And you know, I think about art, for example. You know, everybody says, well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, not really, because you know, God created everything beautiful. And if you distort that in any way, you're deviating from that beauty. So love was created to be beautiful, you know, the marital embrace was beautiful. That attraction with another woman is supposed to be beautiful, it's not to be distorted in any way. And we have to really understand that that there is objectivity in beauty, and you have to apply that to every aspect of our of our lives.

Beauty Truth And Moral Relativism

SPEAKER_02 11:10

And the other objective uh reality is objective truth. We live in a world of moral relativism where there is no truth, right? Uh it you know, almost the same thing you said with beauty, we do the same thing with truth and goodness. Truth is just an opinion. So if Danny and I are talking and it's just his opinion or my opinion, there there is no answer. In fact, there's no sense having a dialogue, and that's what you see in the culture today. Here's what I experience over and over again when when I'm and I've been doing this for uh 20 years now, working with young men. And when you work with young men, they hear the truth. The heart was made for the truth. And you know, when we think about our we have reason, intellect, and free will that makes us different than than the animals. It's just a the reality of it. And our reason, our intellect always seeks the truth. And it's only in modern history where we stopped asking, what is the truth of things? Wants to give us a little response to that.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Yeah, it echoes what I just said about beauty. There's truth in beauty, and it that's at the heart of it. You know, you you have to look at the truth of everything that you see. There's truth in everything.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

Amen. Danny, what is what do you think pornography, hookup culture when people are are are wondering, you know, what love is? Is love just a feeling? Is love just sex? Because I'll tell you what, think about this. If love is just a feeling, right? Goes up and down and up and down, how do I know that the person I'm marrying with is on my same wavelength? If love is just an opinion, it's just a feeling, how do I know that she's gonna feel this opinion, this feeling with me? You know, or do we just bounce around? And what happens is we just get blown around by the spirit of the age. And you wonder why there's so many divorces and unhappiness, anxiety, depression, suicides again. Uh, this is not a good picture of uh relationships of the world because we we're made for love. Yes.

Marriage Grace And Trinitarian Love

SPEAKER_01 13:06

In fact, we are, Jack. We are created by love and made for love. And, you know, the reality is, as you suggested, we live in a culture where, you know, unfortunately, divorce is like changing your shoes. You know, if it doesn't work out, well, I'm just gonna move on, you know. And that's not what it's all about. That's not what we were designed to be. When I took my vows with my wife, I said forever, till till death to us part. You know, I didn't say, well, I'm gonna hang in there until it gets as bad as I can take it, and then I'm gonna walk away. You know, nobody knuckle it, Danny, huh? Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, let's face it, we know that uh uh uh marriage is is it's a commitment, number one, and number two, it's it takes a lot of sacrifice. And, you know, it can't always be my way, it can't always be my spouse's way. That's what what marriage is all about. It's about negotiating and compromising and sacrificing, and you know, the culture has just perverted that equation so profusely, it's it's it's sad, you know. And without somebody coming across, you know, the reality of God's plan, how do they know better? You know, if they were a product of that environment, that's all they know. And I, you know, I can't help but resort to the beauty of the Claymore Battle Plan. You know, it explains in nuts and bolts how to walk this walk. You know, we were created by love himself, the Father and the Son, through their love, created the Holy Spirit. And that Holy Trinity is the whole design and the idea of marriage as well. You know, we have the spousal marriage between man and woman, and God is in that union, you know, and sadly our culture doesn't even recognize that.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

Yeah, Catholic teaching is very clear on this, as John Paul is too, that if you know marriage, again, is a reflection of Trinitarian love, and if you're not connected to to Christ, who we say is the bridegroom, you know, hanging on the cross, giving his life for his bride, who's the church, and people are disconnected. David, I think if you're disconnected from grace, to Danny's point, you white knuckle your you white knuckle your marriage, and you're just waiting, like Danny said, for for you know, the next person to come along to fill you with with five kids. You can you imagine what you would do to your children if if you and uh Joanna just decided this doesn't feel like love anymore. Love is not existent, and you're not doing it for me, and I'm not doing it for you, so let's let's go find somebody else and form a couple other families. I mean, what a disaster, huh?

SPEAKER_00 15:47

I know. You know, I mean, families are breaking up all the time, and even in good good Catholic families, you see a lot of discord and and division. Uh, and it's really, really sad. You know, Satan can really work uh his magic with even the best of families, but you really have to look at at the blueprint that God laid out for us. You know, every everybody says, you know, there there's no manual to to parenting, right? There's no parent manual. Uh, but I disagree. I mean, God lays out, you know, how how to live. And if you live according to his uh his truth, you're gonna and and you stay close to the church and the sacraments, odds are you're gonna win in the end as a family.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

Yeah, thank you. You know, as we start to close up here, we try to keep this short because we know these young guys don't have the the great attention span I used to have when I was young, of course, you know. But this is a three-step battle plan. And the beauty of that is that you get your heart back first. You understand you're created good in the image and likeness of God. What does that mean to you? You're gonna find out in there. Then then an extension of that, God is a relationship, and marriage and in a woman to a man and a man to a woman is that relationship. And as Danny pointed out, you know, the two man and and and wife, right, husband and wife become one, become three. Can you imagine that? The two become one in marital intimacy in the sexual union, and there's a love bomb explosion that goes off, and there's a third. It's amazing. Three persons and one, reflecting three persons and one what we know of the Trinity. When you bring those together, when you're making love to your spouse and you're opening yourself up to grace, I'm telling you, things change. It just changes. You talk to any men uh that understand this and women that understand this, it's a game changer. And and uh it's not easy being uh married with with with five kids and and still do keeping a relationship going, you know? It's got to be open to grace, man. That's the only way you keep that fire going. And I can look at my spouse and say, wow, she's still beautiful after I've been married over 40 years, you know. And how how how is she still beautiful? Well, she is, and I think that's just grace, right? I mean, grace pours into you, and you you know, you you don't you no longer see them as an object, but you see their hearts, you see the the the image of God within them, and it's it's incredibly beautiful. But I I don't know how you sustain that without uh grace. Any any last words on that, guys?

Morning Ritual Temptations And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Well, great stuff, Jack. I mean, you know, you you kind of summed everything up in a in a nutshell there. Uh the reality is, again, you know, we were we were created for love, and the evil one is constantly on the attack and trying to bring us down another road. So we need to, you know, we need to stay focused on what's important. And uh, you know, I think the the the fact that we have this uh 10 more 10-minute morning ritual, you know, out of bed, down on the knees, open up the day with prayer, our offering to God, I th I think it's a wonderful way to start the day and build a daily foundation and build on there from that. But yeah, some great stuff today.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

Yeah, thanks for mentioning that. That's a must-do. You know, before you look at that phone in the morning, if you want to change your life, before you look at the phone in the morning, drop down to your knees, do the 10-minute Claymore morning ritual that Danny just brought up. It's right in the outline. All you gotta do, you can go right to our website, you can take a look at that, print it out for yourself, have it right right next to that the Claymore handbook, and and practice that every day. And here's the other thing you know, we say, you know, read one act a week, which is okay. But the reality is if you really want to change your heart, 10 minutes in the morning, read one act a day for 52 days by by June, let's call it the middle of June right now. If you started today, by the middle of June, the beginning before summer actually starts, you'll be done and you'll have a foundation that you can then go out into the world and start to bring love and truth into the world. And not only that, in confidence, and you'll have God, the gospel going with you, so that you can really change the world right around you. And this is David I'm gonna throw it to you. But I mean, what would the world be like if every man stood up and he just said, I'm gonna be the hero to in in my own family. You know, I I'm gonna I'm gonna bring virtue and values, everything that's true, good, and beautiful, you know, from my heart, I'm gonna get it in here first, and I'm gonna bring it out to my family, to my brothers, to my sisters, my neighbor, etc. And we we restore the culture that way. It's uh it's amazing. It's not brain surgery, is it? It's the two great commandments love God and then go out and love others.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Amen. And and Jack, uh bringing it back to this act, you know, I think every man needs to really understand that uh that we're created good, not just good, but very good, right? And we're we're made in his likeness. Uh you though you know, we fall from that that beauty that God created us, we uh we're always we always need to be looking at the truth and the beauty in every single person and every single relationship. And you look deeper than just the physical attraction, you really need to understand uh the the depth of that beauty so that we can change the world. Because if we can't we can if we can't fix ourselves and our understanding of beauty, how do we expect the world to change?

SPEAKER_02 21:20

That's perfect. And I'm gonna just add one thing for the guys struggling. When you do the Claymore morning ritual, the second part of that is praying with temptations. And so, how do you get that heart that David's talking about? You have to open up. You can't be afraid to open up those temptations. Temptation's not a sin. And just open up those temptations to grace. Read Act 11, it's gonna tell you exactly how to do that. Hey, God bless you guys. Thank you so much for being with me. Thanks, everyone. Talk to you again soon. Bye bye.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

Take care. Good to see you guys.