Here are some clips from my Keynote Talk "For God and Country" at the 2012 National Youth for Christ Conference at Hofstra University.

A Thirst so Dire, A Promise so Sweet

With my every activity

I meditate on its mystery,
The answer seems shrouded, hidden from sight
The question brings me closer, into the light.

How can I speak of that which I do not know?
How can I write about it? Will my passion show?
Can mere letters grouped together on this tiny page,
Justify the one emotion that has dumbfounded the wisest of every age?

If they, who earthly wisdom has allowed to rule
Who read the most profound works and graduated the most prestigious schools,
If they cannot decipher the human hearts most primordial cry,
What makes me think I can provide the answer as to why?

I believe my ignorance of all except the soul,
Of it’s longings which groan and it’s wants which flow,
Of it's thirst so dire, to grasp the promise so sweet
Of a love, a lover, so charming, so deep.

So I bring my tired heart, once again to the edge
Examining why we desire with our all to pledge
Love everlasting to another for whom we thirst
To give ourselves completely to our one and only, our first.

Like fireworks on the fourth of July
Like the sun reaching through a cloudy midday sky,
Like waves that slowly push onto the scorching shore
What is it about love that makes us want more?

Is it biological, merely a reaction in the brain?
If so, then love can be no different than pain.
Is it lust that makes our hearts yearn to feast?
If so then I can claim to be no more than a beast.

Unseen by those who cannot believe, I see love frequently manifest
In good and bad situations, when we are put to the test
In poverty, loneliness, despair and grave health
We can see those who believe rise up, those who posses true wealth.

In danger, threats, calamity or storm
No matter the icy grip of evil, loves keeps us warm.
It brings light to all the dark crevices of the earth
It brings life, it brings conversion, it brings new birth.

In romantic dinners with candles dancing in the dark
With the language of a kiss it whispers softly all the desires of the heart
Souls unite in love and save for last the best
When two become one, in marriage, when love is made flesh

No sweeter word than mother has ever escaped our lips
No sweeter sign of affection than a mother’s healing kiss.
A father’s strong right arm, we cling to as we battle the worldly wind
A father’s love made flesh, saved us from death, saved us from our sin.

I could praise the beauty of love for many pages, but I digress,
I could write of my longing for love for hours, but I must confess,
There is only one way to satisfy the desire for love so true,
THIS IS MY BODY; THIS IS MY BLOOD, GIVEN UP FOR YOU.

So I end this poem with an upbeat rhyme
Knowing when God will’s... an end will come to my time
But I despair not, for I will have entered a Heavenly place,
To finally behold true love, at last, face to face!

Put on the New Man

THE DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED FROM 2/21 TO THE NEXT NIGHT 2/22!!!



Anthony Gentile speaking at St. Kilian's Mens Group!