October 29, 2025 • 29 mins
P*rn*graphy is destroying lives, families, and faith — but one Catholic priest isn’t afraid to confront it head-on.
In this powerful episode of The Covenant Eyes Podcast, Fr. Jonathan Meyer (Archdiocese of Indianapolis) joins Karen Potter and Theo McManigal to talk openly about the spiritual, emotional, and relational impact of p*rn*graphy—and the path to real freedom in Christ.
💬 What you’ll learn:
• Fr. Meyer’s personal story and journey to the priesthood
• The Catholic Church’s teaching on p*rnography and human dignity
• The role of confession, accountability, and grace in overcoming addiction
• How p*rnography affects youth, marriages, and family relationships
• Practical advice for parents to protect their homes
• Why priests must courageously preach on this issue
💡 Key takeaway:
You are not the sum of your sins—you are the sum of the Father’s love for you. God calls each of us to live in freedom, not shame.
🙏 Resources Mentioned:
Covenant Eyes Accountability Software: https://cvnteyes.co/4gb6xme
Fr. Jonathan Meyer’s Parish: https://AllSaintsCatholic.net
YouTube Channel: All Saints – We Are One
🔔 Subscribe to The Covenant Eyes Podcast for more faith-based conversations about overcoming digital temptation and living a life of purity and purpose.
#Faith #CatholicChurch #PornographyAddiction #TheologyOfTheBody #Purity #Confession #Healing #FreedomInChrist #CovenantEyesPodcast
🕒 Chapters
00:00 – Welcome to The Covenant Eyes Podcast
00:45 – Meet Fr. Jonathan Meyer (Archdiocese of Indianapolis)
02:00 – His journey to the priesthood
03:45 – Early exposure to p*rnography and personal struggle
05:20 – The devastating effects of *orn in confession and real life
07:20 – What the Catholic Church teaches about p*rnography
08:00 – The Theology of the Body and human dignity
10:10 – How p*rnography is reshaping today’s youth
13:20 – Intimacy, relationships, and the loss of real connection
14:30 – Breaking free from shame and guilt
17:00 – Living in freedom through grace
18:00 – Why accountability and community are vital
20:00 – How Fr. Meyer addresses p*rn in his parish
22:00 – The “Three B’s” to avoid: Bedroom, Bathroom, Basement
23:00 – Advice for parents raising children in a digital world
25:30 – A bold challenge to priests and Church leaders
27:00 – How to pray for Fr. Meyer and his ministry
28:30 – Final thoughts and how to connect
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
Welcome to TheCovenant Eyes Podcast.
It's so good to have you backwith us. And Theo.
Thanks for joining us again.
I am really excitedabout today's conversation.
As am I, yes.
We have, a very good priesthere in this country
from the Archdioceseof Indianapolis with us.
He's, pretty well knownon the internet.
His name is fatherJonathan Meyer.
(00:27):
Father Meyer, thank you forbeing with us.
How are you today?
It is a great joy to be,Yeah, with you all.
And for those of youwho are listening, what a joy.
Seriously?
To have conversationsthat are meaningful
and powerful.
That's what we're supposedto be doing as Christians.
So praise the Lord for that.
Amen.
Father Meyer caught my eyebecause he is a priest
who is not afraidto preach on both this subject
(00:51):
of pornography,as well as many others.
If you look at the YouTubepage for his parish,
you will find acouple of homilies, a couple of
very good ones on this issueof pornography.
And, as thosewho follow our podcast
and our channels know that I,as the Catholic Church
outreach specialist,I spend a chunk of my time
trying to get parishes, diocesesto at least dedicate one Sunday
(01:12):
out of the year to preach aboutthis topic.
And even withoutdoing Safe Haven Sunday, Father
Meyer has already been doing it.
So let's just start with,Father Meyer, can you tell us
just a little bit about yourselfand how you discovered
your vocation to the priesthood?
Yeah.
So thanks be to God.
I was born, raised what I calla typical American family.
I had a mom.
I had a dad, which,I don't know if that's
(01:34):
always typical anymore.
These days that I was born,I would lived in suburban life.
And the majority of my childhoodwas spent in Wisconsin.
My mom was Catholic,my dad was Lutheran, and I
found out that I waspretty good at running.
So running reallywas my life as a child.
So much so that,my biggest influences in life
(01:55):
were really my coaches.
And so when I beganasking myself, like,
what am I do when I grow up?
I was like,I want to be a coach.
And in the 1990s,if you want to be a coach, back
in those days,the only way that I knew
you could be a coach,you had to be a teacher.
That is not the caseanymore, by the way.
But that was the casein the 90s.
And so I was like, well, I guessI have to be a teacher.
(02:15):
And so I went to to college toreally to be a coach.
But, I studied, historyand communication.
And it was when I was in collegethat some non-denominational
Christiansreally came into my life
and invited me to some,like a revival that they were
having on campus and praiseand worship, opportunities.
(02:36):
And it was therethat I really felt
the love of Godfor the first time in my life.
And within that was alsome hearing
the voice of God saying,John, be a priest.
I never thoughtabout being a priest.
Had a girlfriend for twoand a half years.
I had my whole life planned outabout coaching in high school
and college.
And, it was,towards the end of that
that I made ultimately,the decision to say
if this is real,that God is calling
(02:57):
me to be a priest,then maybe I need to
figure in my life out.
So that led me on a journey ofBible studies
and men's prayer groupsand a lot of prayer,
which eventually led meinto seminary
with this burning desireto help people
fall in love with Jesus.
And, so it's been anamazing journey
that I've first feltthat experience
(03:17):
of the love of Godfor the first time,
back in the fall of 1996.
And, been a priest for 21 years.
And it's been it'sbeen powerful.
Thank you for sharing.
Kind of your historyand how you got
into the priesthood.
It's amazing the workthat you're doing.
And as a priest, I'm sure thatover the years
(03:38):
you've seen the impactof pornography on individuals
in the church.
So, you know, talk to usa little bit
about your experiencewith helping people
with this issue over the years.
Yeah.
So, I mean, I,I can admit the fact
that pornographywas a part of my life,
I was first exposed pornographyon a Boy Scout trip.
We were a bunch of uswere messing around
(03:59):
at a gas station,when we were gassing up
vehicles anda magazine was found.
This was.
This would have beenin the 1980s.
A magazine was found in a gutterand everybody's, you know,
ripping pages out of itand taking it
to their homes. And, that was myfirst experience
when I had my conversionin college.
One of my experiences of,you know,
(04:20):
trying to draw closer toJesus was taking the, VHS tapes
that were in mycollege apartment.
I had three collegeroommates and myself,
and bringing them to a dumpsterand throwing them away, and
and this is all beforethe age of the internet.
And as a priest now,clearly, I spend,
I hear confessionsevery day of the week.
(04:42):
We do a lot of confessionhearing in my parish.
We we have 12hours of confession
two times a week on first andthird Fridays.
And my whole entire priesthoodhas been very, very caught up
in youth work.
So my first five years,five and a half
years of preaching, I was thethe director of youth
and young adult ministryfor the Archdiocese
of Indianapolis.
And so I can just say, like, I,I hear about pornography,
(05:08):
I see the effects of it,in the confessional, outside of
the confessional.
And that's really where I thinkthe passion in my heart came,
because when you see this,this struggle, this hurt,
this wound, you want todo something.
And I see it from alldifferent levels.
I see the young who are easilybeing addicted,
(05:32):
falling into the trap.
I see it in marriages, both endsof the spectrum.
Both men or womenwho are addicted, that want out.
I see the grieving spousewho struggles terribly,
with their own self-worth,their own image,
their own dignitybecause of the addiction
(05:54):
of their spouse.
And then I see children who arehave the, the effects of
a dad who is addicted.
And the way thatthey look at their dad
knowing that the addictionis a part of his life.
And so I got the opportunityto really see it from all these
(06:14):
different aspects.
And that's why I'm so passionateabout it.
It's like it's likeit would be like me
saying that, you know,alcoholism isn't real or that,
you know, addiction to marijuanaor crack cocaine isn't real.
No, it is real.
And it has a huge effect,not just on the individual,
but it has a huge effect onall of their
(06:35):
other relationships,then their relationships
with their family,their relationship
with their spouse.
It it's and their own,their own self-worth, their own
self dignity is caught upin that as well.
So that I don't knowif that helps
explain my journey, I guess.
No. That's perfect.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for,you know, talking
to us a little bitabout how you've seen this come
(06:57):
up in your ministryand we'll dig more into that.
Tell us a bit about,but the Catholic
Church has to say we knowthe church teaches
that it's wrong,but what does the church
have to say about pornography,both in light of God's
design for sexuality?
As well as, in, in, in light ofhuman dignity.
And are there any,influential saints
or theologians or, or popeswhose teachings have been
(07:19):
influential to youin this regard as well?
Yeah. Thank you. Theo.
And I would actuallyjust like this.
The way that I wouldactually encapsulate
that is for me,I had the tremendous
blessing of studying in Romefrom 1999 to 2003, and
at the time,our Holy Father was Pope
John Paul the Second,and one of the great gifts
that Pope John Paulthat I can give to the church
(07:40):
is the theology of the body.
And the father'sbody is nothing new.
For those of youwho are Catholic or for those
who are Protestant,the theology body is biblical.
Reflections on the beautyof the human person,
the importance and the dignityof marriage.
And caught up in that is aproper understanding
of how we are called to lookat the human person.
(08:03):
And John Paul the second isnot afraid to in many ways
go behind the fig leaf and say,this is how God made us,
and our bodies mean something,and our bodies communicate
a theology.
We are made in God's imageand likeness.
(08:23):
The naked body is beautiful.
The naked body is good.
But our world and our fallenhuman nature looks at things
quite differently.
So I would say the mostinfluential person in my life
when it comes to my approachto helping people
with pornography is,Saint John Paul the second,
(08:44):
my time in Rome was deeplyprofound in that.
But of course, you know,as all Christians, as anybody
who reads the book likeJesus heightens Jesus heightens
it for us.
You know, it's not just,you know, thou shalt
not commit adultery.
I mean, that'd be prettyeasy for everybody.
If that was the case.
But he said, you know,if you look lustfully
(09:06):
at a woman, you havecommitted adultery.
And when wewhen we look at that,
that's not just like,do I look lustfully,
you know, at a womanat a strip club that's.
Do I look lustfully at a woman?
And that could be, you know,either on the internet
or off the internetor in a magazine or on a video,
or the woman at churchor the woman at work?
(09:29):
I'm not calledto look lustfully, at another.
And so, the Catholic Churchhas always held this to be true.
And, Yeah.
Thank you for that.
That was excellent.
And I thinka lot of our listeners,
especiallyour Catholic audience,
is going to be very receptive,to those teaching.
So, you know, you mentioned thatyou you love you have a heart
(09:51):
for the youth.
And you, you know, have spenta lot of time working with them.
How do you seepornography really
changing the landscapefor our young people
in ways that maybe,our generation didn't,
you know, havewe didn't have exposure
to the internet,so maybe it didn't
impact us the same way.
What changes have you seen?
I would say,number one, you see.
(10:15):
I hate seeing this, butyou see, young men no longer
pursuing women.
Like when I was a young man.
I was from my earliest days.
I was wanting toask girls on dates
and hang out with girlsand be with girls, and,
(10:36):
I wanted to learn how to,you know, have conversation.
And how do I lookthem in the eye?
How do I listen to them?
How do I engage them?
I mean, that was my childhood.
I mean, I was always very muchso attracted to women
and wanted togain their attention.
And that is doesn't seem to bethe main longing of, of young
(11:02):
men anymore.
I really do thinkthat particularly the
the rise ofinternet pornography,
also the addiction of internetgaming as a whole,
that's a whole other topic too.
But I, I think so manyyoung boys, because of
their exposureto internet pornography,
have less of this desire toto wonder, to explore, to,
(11:28):
to get to know.
Because in a certain sense,the veil has been ripped back.
They've seen raw,hardcore pornography.
So this desire to how do Ipursue this girl, even if,
let's say, it's an impuremotive, let's say, oh,
why do I sleep with this girl?
Which of course not good.
But this desire to know andto be curious and to find out
(11:51):
that's all been taken away.
And.
But then also then the pursuitor the goal of what they want
is, has been modeled to themsince, like, you know,
age nine, ten, 11, 12,whatever it might be.
That well, my only goalis to have sex with her anyways,
because that's so dating,getting to know each other,
(12:14):
having conversation,looking each other in the eye,
wasting time together has allbeen kind of eroded.
I mean, so I opened a coffeeshop in my in my parish,
about a year and a half ago.
And one of the reasons I didis because I want people
to come backto looking each other
in the eye,having a conversation.
(12:35):
I mean, we we've all seen it.
You go to a restaurant,you go to anywhere,
and it's a bunch of young peopleon their phone the entire time.
I mean, I rememberbeing in middle school
and going on my first datesand how awkward it was to sit
across the table from a girland to try to entertain her
with conversation.
The the entire time.
(12:55):
I rememberI went to a homecoming,
and it was this girl that Ireally, really liked.
And I asked her, and, you know,I had gotten the flowers
and my tie matched her dress,and it was all.
And the table conversation wasso awkward, is so awkward.
But now, like,nothing would be awkward
(13:16):
because it would just be like,they wouldn't do that
because there's no expectationthat you actually have
a relationship.
There's more just a relationshipthat you're
you're with each other texting.
That's what you'd be doingin your bedroom anyways.
I'd be sitting at homeby myself.
So it's just I really thinkit has like the desire for true
intimacy of mebeing with someone.
(13:39):
Can I can I just say thatthat that has just given
me a new appreciation forjust being together,
even if it's awkwardand I don't know what to say.
Lately I've had,you know, just moments
like that.
But, you know, people canlove each other and be around
each other, even if they're notsaying anything.
But you're right that thatnow we have
(14:00):
a way out of that andbut we're less for it as people.
We really are,especially young people.
So yeah, thank you forcommenting on that.
I, I really didfind a lot of value in that.
One of the biggest thingsthat keeps people both stuck
in pornography,and it fuels further acting out,
but it's also the consequences,the problem of shame.
(14:23):
And so it keeps people quiet.
But of course, peoplewill come to confession
about it.
But as a priest,how do you help people
move from shamein a way that's both,
compassionate, but alsohow do you help them
move out of shameand into hope in a way that's
both compassionatebut still grounded in the truth?
Yeah.
So Saint JohnPaul the Second, who,
(14:45):
really had a deep, profoundimpact on my life
when he came to,Denver, Colorado in 1993
for for World Youth Dayand I was not there.
I was not engaged in my faith,at that point.
But, one thing that he saidis that you are not the sum of
your sins, your brokennessin your past.
You are the sum of the father'slove for you.
(15:09):
And so I think one thingthat I always try
to bring to people'sattention is the fact
that they are not their sins,they are not who
they were yesterday.
They are not their brokenness.
They are not their addiction.
They are not, their worst day.
They are a child of God.
They are a son of God.
They are a daughter of God.
They are God's beloved.
(15:31):
And if all we do islive in our past,
we're not living as God's sonsand daughters.
And so the importanceof knowing.
In a genuine sense, like,yeah, whose I am, which is I am
God's beloved son.
I am God's mother.
So for those of youwho are listening to this,
(15:52):
that have been shackledby addiction, like it's
the same thing, you know, inmany of you know, this,
but like, depending on your ageand how pornography came
into your life, like for manyof you, for, for for
many of you, like,there is no intention for you
in your heart of saying,I'm going to choose
to become a porn addict.
I think we can lookat other addictions,
and that's not that's not alwaysthe case.
(16:14):
I mean, I would say like,I was raised in the 80s
and I was told from, you know,the earliest moment of my life
that smokingcigarets would kill you.
I had a knowledge.
That was there many people atthe age of eight
and nine and ten, 11that are being exposed
in a prophecy.
They hadn't heard anything.
(16:34):
And this addiction begins.
And so it isthere is a form of abuse
that is there that is real.
And so I think that needsto be acknowledged.
This isn't even somethingthat you even maybe
chose for yourself,but that means
that you also needto be very merciful
with yourself.
This is something that,you are not your sins.
You are not your past.
And when you stay trappedin that shame and you stay
(16:58):
trapped in that,you can't truly live
in the freedomthat God wants for you.
So what's importantis for you to say, okay,
I haven't lookedat pornography today.
Today I am free.
I'm going to live in my freedom.
That's what I'm goingto live in.
And so today I'm free and I'mliving in my freedom.
And I'm going tojust focus on today,
focus on this, this, this day,this hour, this moment.
(17:20):
For those of youwho are familiar
with the processes,for alcohol addiction, you don't
make the commitmentthat I'm going to be alcohol
free for the rest of my lifeand that I'd be alcohol
free at this very moment.
I'm going to be alcoholfree for the next hour,
and that's what I'm going to do.
And so I think in that you havethe ability to say,
I'm not yesterday, I'mnot two weeks ago,
(17:42):
I'm not two years ago.
I am a child of God.
That is absolutelywonderful advice and I think
it's great wisdom.
So talk to us a little bitabout how accountability
and having a closecircle of people around us
during this journeyfrom pornography is so important
to the process of healingand restoration.
(18:03):
Yeah.
So, clearly God didn't make usfor ourselves.
He created Adam and Eve.
He didn't just create Adam.
He didn't just create Eve.
He created Adam and Eve.
When Jesus sent outthe apostles,
he didn't send them outone by one.
You sent them out two by two.
And we were made for community.
In fact, what are thebasic principles of the
theology of the body?
(18:24):
Is the fact that we weren'tmade to be alone.
Our bodies make no senseby themselves.
The male body makes no senseby itself.
The female body makesno sense by itself.
This is why we have guyslocker rooms and girls
locker rooms.
Because men togethermake no sense.
Women together make no sense.
It's when you put a manand a woman together
that they begin to make sense.
(18:45):
I mentioned that in thisjust to to to make reference
to the fact we were not madeto be alone.
We were not made in isolation.
We were made for each otherand of course, male and female
specifically were madefor each other in this
acronym, Holy matrimony,to complete each other.
But I wasn't made to be alonein anything.
I was not madeto be alone in my life.
(19:06):
I was made to be with otherswho are going to walk with me
and journey with me in life.
And this is truein my spiritual life.
It's true in my social life.
It's truein my emotional health.
But it's also truein my sexual health,
and particularlywhen one is dealing
with addiction, it'sthe fact that I have to walk
with someone elseand someone else
is to be walking with me.
(19:27):
And so accountability isso huge.
Because what the devilwants us to do is
the devil wantsus to live in isolation.
He wants us to livein loneliness.
He wants us, to feel thatwe're the only person
in the whole entire worldthat deals with this struggle,
that deals with this sin.
And so it's tremendouslyimportant for us to not to break
the cycle of isolation.
(19:48):
And that happens when one,is willing to
talk, to share and to,yeah, break the isolation
and the loneliness.
Amen, father.
Thank you, for,sharing your thoughts on that.
One of the thingsI want to make sure
we cover todayis that you and I have
talked a little bit, offline,so to speak, about the fact
(20:08):
that you are ministering inyour parish in a way that's
very intentionalabout this issue.
I mean, yes, you know,you preach about it.
Of course, you're hearingthis in confession, but what are
some of the things both inthe confessional,
as well as maybe outside of it,that you are doing
to spread awareness about this?
(20:29):
And, Minister, in regardto this issue in a more
intentional way.
Yeah.
So, I, I do preach about it,youth retreats and ministries
and opportunities,I specifically give
topics on this often,separated gender.
And then I also, there'sa playlist
(20:49):
on my YouTube channel,that is dedicated specifically
to pornography.
I think there's maybe 6or 7 videos there.
And then, I also havea lot of resources
in the confessional,whether it be like
business cards or lettersthat I've written,
but different things that I useto help individuals be able to
try to break free to getout of the struggle.
(21:11):
That is, yeah, bringing themto depression and loneliness
and isolation.
And one of those YouTube videos,you talked about, a letter
that you wrote specificallyto the young men who come into
the confessional.
Yeah, I, I have aone is on blue paper
and one is on pink paper.
Is that same letter Ialso have like a
female version of it, but yes,I have a letter
(21:32):
that I specifically hand out,that covers just steps
that I believe are helpfulfor people to overcome
the addiction.
And you have the three BSas the places
to avoid, right? Yeah.
So when we talk aboutisolation and, my experience.
So when people confesspornography to me,
(21:54):
my first questionthat I think they need
to name the device.
So I'm like phone or computer,you need to name the device.
You need to name the device.
You need to be awareof the device.
And then there's my secondquestion is I always just say
bedroom, bathroom, basement,culturally in my area because I
preach about it publicly.
People know it. But,the three main places where
(22:17):
most people look at pornography,all the rooms happen
to start with a, B,so I refer to it.
And those are the three B's.
But bedroom,bathroom and basement
and they're all roomsof isolation,
the rooms of loneliness.
And the rooms where I,where I can
I can live in secrecy,which is what Satan wants.
And, so we just need to step outof those places and choose
to be in places where,I'm in community,
(22:37):
I'm with others, I'm alive.
I'm not in darkness.
And, things begin to change.
I believe.
Father, a lot of parentsare asking questions.
They call us frequentlyand want to know how
they can better protect theirtheir children and and guide
their children.
What advice do you havefor families that you know
where they can build a homethat's a sanction,
(22:59):
a sanctuary from thisdigital temptation?
Yeah.
So am I.
In my in my community,we talk very much like parents.
You need to set boundaries,very real boundaries.
And so we talk about the factthat like bedroom,
bathroom, basement,that no technology should be
in those places, that all phonesin technology
should always be chargedin a public place,
particularly in the eveningwhere mom and dad can make sure
(23:21):
that there's no phones in placeswhere they shouldn't be.
But then there alsoneeds to be software.
And this is, of course,what Covenant Eyes
is able to providewhere we're able to actually
see and live in communityand not live in isolation.
You know, there is this ideathat that's my phone.
Well, I was like to askparents, like, really?
Is that their phone?
I'm pretty sureyou pay the bill.
(23:41):
And I'm pretty surethat if they're living
in their house, it'snot their internet.
And so you're providingthe internet, you're providing
the device.
And so you haveevery right to say,
I'm also going to make surethat what we're doing in
this house, is glorifying Godand is, good for your future
marriage.
I think we, you know,we need to always keep
that in mind as well.
Like, this is about notthis is about their now,
(24:02):
but it's also about theirtheir future and their ability
to see their body.
I mean, so, I mean,we can go on and on
and on and on about whatpornography does, but, I mean,
do you wantyour daughter to think
that she is beautifulor do you want your daughter
to compare yourselfto porn stars for the rest
of her life?
Do you want your young sonto believe he's actually,
(24:23):
you know, a strong young man?
Or do you want him to, you know,always be ashamed of his body
because he's compared himselfto porn stars.
We want them to havea sexual relationship
as a married couplethat is healthy and beautiful.
Do you want them toI mean, it, it it really is
about their future.
And so, parents, you have everyright to be a parent
and you need to be strong,for their own good
(24:47):
and to realize that, yeah,that your role as a parent
is really to protect.
Thank you for those wordsof encouragement to those of us
who are parents.
On the spiritual paternityside, we, you know, many
priests are very devoted,and they're hearing about this
in the confessionalall the time.
But, you know,I it's understandable
(25:09):
that some might, you know,they're having a hard time
getting themselvesto broach this topic,
either in their homiliesor in the Republic
teaching or even,you know, to handle it
in the confessionalin a way that's
sufficiently thoroughto actually help create
lasting change in the penitence.
What words of encouragementwould you have
for your brother priestswho may, just not know
(25:29):
how to go about thisor may be a bit timid in
in handling this,what would you say to them?
I would the imagethat I love to use, that I take
from Matthew Kelly.
And this was when MatthewKelly was speaking
just about televisionin the home.
If there was a sewageof raw sewage pipe dumping raw
sewage into yourparishioners home, would you say
(25:50):
nothing about itif there was raw sewage
dumping into the childrenat your Catholic schools home
and you knew it was happeningand you said nothing,
are you not culpable?
And that's exactlywhat's happening.
In fact, it'sworse than raw sewage
in so many ways.
(26:10):
If we really beginto look at things,
because you can clean upraw sewage and that house
can be like once pornographyis in someone's mind,
those images are therefor the rest of their life.
And you can clean up sewageand you can you can change
things, but it's pretty hard.
(26:34):
To clean up after pornography.
So I think it's pretty importantto remember that.
Father, how can our audiencepray for you and your ministry
and your boldnessto speak on this topic?
Oh, well, thank you very much.
Yeah.
Just please pray for me.
And I mean that priest.
Pray for, pray for theyoung people that,
I clearly speak a lotto young people.
(26:55):
Please pray for young peoplethat they're open and receptive.
Pray for young people.
That.
And when they hearthese messages
that they're not afraid,but that they're really that
they're encouragedby the Holy Spirit to act upon
the gift of fortitudegiven to them, particularly
at confirmation.
And, I would also just,yeah, pray
that one of the thingsthat I think we so it's not just
I think this is key,but it's not just
about taking away,I think so often we want to
(27:18):
take things away.
So like the take it, take awaythe pornography, take away
the things that are bad.
We also need tothen be teaching people
how to have what actuallythey're longing for,
which is community,which is relationship.
And so I think if you couldalso just pray for me
like that's something that I'mtrying to figure
out as a priest.
So if I keep saying like, don'tlook at pornography,
(27:39):
don't be addictedto internet gaming,
what am I also thenproviding as a pastor,
then to then say, okay, here'sthe things that you actually
should be having in your life.
Here is community,here is fellowship.
Like I said, we openeda coffee shop of
recent in my parish, and that'sone of the reasons,
that it's there.
And so just yeah,the creative ways that I'm able
to do that, to be able to,to bring that to my people,
(28:01):
is powerful and needed.
Well, that's, well,thank you so much for, for your
priestly ministry,for your time today,
for blessing uswith your wisdom,
for your willingnessto tackle this head on.
And, you know, not letyour parishioners
homes be flooded bywhat's what really is
worse than raw sewage.
(28:23):
I think you nailed that.
So, you know, from one Catholicto another to a priest.
Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
Well, with that, we're going tobring today's
episode to a close.
We do.
Thank you all for tuning into this episode of The Covenant
Eyes Podcast.
And thank you so much, father,for joining us
for this conversation.
And how can people, get in touchwith you or learn
(28:45):
more about yourthe things you're doing
in your parish? Yeah.
So if you go to All SaintsCatholic dot net, All Saints
Catholic dot net, that is ourparish website.
We have a YouTube channel,which you can
access from the parishwebsite, all Saints
Catholic dot net.
But on YouTubewe are All saints.
We are oneAll Saints, we are one.
If you also just typein All Saints,
(29:06):
Father Jonathan Meier,our channel will come right up.
And there is a playlist on thereabout pornography, but also many
other topicsthat you can, dig into.
Perfect.
We'll put all those linksin the show
notes for our listeners.
Thank you,everybody, for tuning in
to this episodeof The Covenant Eyes
Podcast. Take care.
God bless.
We'll see you next time.
Welcome to TheCovenant Eyes Podcast.
It's so good to have you backwith us. And Theo.
Thanks for joining us again.
I am really excitedabout today's conversation.
As am I, yes.
We have, a very good priesthere in this country
from the Archdioceseof Indianapolis with us.
He's, pretty well knownon the internet.
His name is fatherJonathan Meyer.
(00:27):
Father Meyer, thank you forbeing with us.
How are you today?
It is a great joy to be,Yeah, with you all.
And for those of youwho are listening, what a joy.
Seriously?
To have conversationsthat are meaningful
and powerful.
That's what we're supposedto be doing as Christians.
So praise the Lord for that.
Amen.
Father Meyer caught my eyebecause he is a priest
who is not afraidto preach on both this subject
(00:51):
of pornography,as well as many others.
If you look at the YouTubepage for his parish,
you will find acouple of homilies, a couple of
very good ones on this issueof pornography.
And, as thosewho follow our podcast
and our channels know that I,as the Catholic Church
outreach specialist,I spend a chunk of my time
trying to get parishes, diocesesto at least dedicate one Sunday
(01:12):
out of the year to preach aboutthis topic.
And even withoutdoing Safe Haven Sunday, Father
Meyer has already been doing it.
So let's just start with,Father Meyer, can you tell us
just a little bit about yourselfand how you discovered
your vocation to the priesthood?
Yeah.
So thanks be to God.
I was born, raised what I calla typical American family.
I had a mom.
I had a dad, which,I don't know if that's
(01:34):
always typical anymore.
These days that I was born,I would lived in suburban life.
And the majority of my childhoodwas spent in Wisconsin.
My mom was Catholic,my dad was Lutheran, and I
found out that I waspretty good at running.
So running reallywas my life as a child.
So much so that,my biggest influences in life
(01:55):
were really my coaches.
And so when I beganasking myself, like,
what am I do when I grow up?
I was like,I want to be a coach.
And in the 1990s,if you want to be a coach, back
in those days,the only way that I knew
you could be a coach,you had to be a teacher.
That is not the caseanymore, by the way.
But that was the casein the 90s.
And so I was like, well, I guessI have to be a teacher.
(02:15):
And so I went to to college toreally to be a coach.
But, I studied, historyand communication.
And it was when I was in collegethat some non-denominational
Christiansreally came into my life
and invited me to some,like a revival that they were
having on campus and praiseand worship, opportunities.
(02:36):
And it was therethat I really felt
the love of Godfor the first time in my life.
And within that was alsome hearing
the voice of God saying,John, be a priest.
I never thoughtabout being a priest.
Had a girlfriend for twoand a half years.
I had my whole life planned outabout coaching in high school
and college.
And, it was,towards the end of that
that I made ultimately,the decision to say
if this is real,that God is calling
(02:57):
me to be a priest,then maybe I need to
figure in my life out.
So that led me on a journey ofBible studies
and men's prayer groupsand a lot of prayer,
which eventually led meinto seminary
with this burning desireto help people
fall in love with Jesus.
And, so it's been anamazing journey
that I've first feltthat experience
(03:17):
of the love of Godfor the first time,
back in the fall of 1996.
And, been a priest for 21 years.
And it's been it'sbeen powerful.
Thank you for sharing.
Kind of your historyand how you got
into the priesthood.
It's amazing the workthat you're doing.
And as a priest, I'm sure thatover the years
(03:38):
you've seen the impactof pornography on individuals
in the church.
So, you know, talk to usa little bit
about your experiencewith helping people
with this issue over the years.
Yeah.
So, I mean, I,I can admit the fact
that pornographywas a part of my life,
I was first exposed pornographyon a Boy Scout trip.
We were a bunch of uswere messing around
(03:59):
at a gas station,when we were gassing up
vehicles anda magazine was found.
This was.
This would have beenin the 1980s.
A magazine was found in a gutterand everybody's, you know,
ripping pages out of itand taking it
to their homes. And, that was myfirst experience
when I had my conversionin college.
One of my experiences of,you know,
(04:20):
trying to draw closer toJesus was taking the, VHS tapes
that were in mycollege apartment.
I had three collegeroommates and myself,
and bringing them to a dumpsterand throwing them away, and
and this is all beforethe age of the internet.
And as a priest now,clearly, I spend,
I hear confessionsevery day of the week.
(04:42):
We do a lot of confessionhearing in my parish.
We we have 12hours of confession
two times a week on first andthird Fridays.
And my whole entire priesthoodhas been very, very caught up
in youth work.
So my first five years,five and a half
years of preaching, I was thethe director of youth
and young adult ministryfor the Archdiocese
of Indianapolis.
And so I can just say, like, I,I hear about pornography,
(05:08):
I see the effects of it,in the confessional, outside of
the confessional.
And that's really where I thinkthe passion in my heart came,
because when you see this,this struggle, this hurt,
this wound, you want todo something.
And I see it from alldifferent levels.
I see the young who are easilybeing addicted,
(05:32):
falling into the trap.
I see it in marriages, both endsof the spectrum.
Both men or womenwho are addicted, that want out.
I see the grieving spousewho struggles terribly,
with their own self-worth,their own image,
their own dignitybecause of the addiction
(05:54):
of their spouse.
And then I see children who arehave the, the effects of
a dad who is addicted.
And the way thatthey look at their dad
knowing that the addictionis a part of his life.
And so I got the opportunityto really see it from all these
(06:14):
different aspects.
And that's why I'm so passionateabout it.
It's like it's likeit would be like me
saying that, you know,alcoholism isn't real or that,
you know, addiction to marijuanaor crack cocaine isn't real.
No, it is real.
And it has a huge effect,not just on the individual,
but it has a huge effect onall of their
(06:35):
other relationships,then their relationships
with their family,their relationship
with their spouse.
It it's and their own,their own self-worth, their own
self dignity is caught upin that as well.
So that I don't knowif that helps
explain my journey, I guess.
No. That's perfect.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for,you know, talking
to us a little bitabout how you've seen this come
(06:57):
up in your ministryand we'll dig more into that.
Tell us a bit about,but the Catholic
Church has to say we knowthe church teaches
that it's wrong,but what does the church
have to say about pornography,both in light of God's
design for sexuality?
As well as, in, in, in light ofhuman dignity.
And are there any,influential saints
or theologians or, or popeswhose teachings have been
(07:19):
influential to youin this regard as well?
Yeah. Thank you. Theo.
And I would actuallyjust like this.
The way that I wouldactually encapsulate
that is for me,I had the tremendous
blessing of studying in Romefrom 1999 to 2003, and
at the time,our Holy Father was Pope
John Paul the Second,and one of the great gifts
that Pope John Paulthat I can give to the church
(07:40):
is the theology of the body.
And the father'sbody is nothing new.
For those of youwho are Catholic or for those
who are Protestant,the theology body is biblical.
Reflections on the beautyof the human person,
the importance and the dignityof marriage.
And caught up in that is aproper understanding
of how we are called to lookat the human person.
(08:03):
And John Paul the second isnot afraid to in many ways
go behind the fig leaf and say,this is how God made us,
and our bodies mean something,and our bodies communicate
a theology.
We are made in God's imageand likeness.
(08:23):
The naked body is beautiful.
The naked body is good.
But our world and our fallenhuman nature looks at things
quite differently.
So I would say the mostinfluential person in my life
when it comes to my approachto helping people
with pornography is,Saint John Paul the second,
(08:44):
my time in Rome was deeplyprofound in that.
But of course, you know,as all Christians, as anybody
who reads the book likeJesus heightens Jesus heightens
it for us.
You know, it's not just,you know, thou shalt
not commit adultery.
I mean, that'd be prettyeasy for everybody.
If that was the case.
But he said, you know,if you look lustfully
(09:06):
at a woman, you havecommitted adultery.
And when wewhen we look at that,
that's not just like,do I look lustfully,
you know, at a womanat a strip club that's.
Do I look lustfully at a woman?
And that could be, you know,either on the internet
or off the internetor in a magazine or on a video,
or the woman at churchor the woman at work?
(09:29):
I'm not calledto look lustfully, at another.
And so, the Catholic Churchhas always held this to be true.
And, Yeah.
Thank you for that.
That was excellent.
And I thinka lot of our listeners,
especiallyour Catholic audience,
is going to be very receptive,to those teaching.
So, you know, you mentioned thatyou you love you have a heart
(09:51):
for the youth.
And you, you know, have spenta lot of time working with them.
How do you seepornography really
changing the landscapefor our young people
in ways that maybe,our generation didn't,
you know, havewe didn't have exposure
to the internet,so maybe it didn't
impact us the same way.
What changes have you seen?
I would say,number one, you see.
(10:15):
I hate seeing this, butyou see, young men no longer
pursuing women.
Like when I was a young man.
I was from my earliest days.
I was wanting toask girls on dates
and hang out with girlsand be with girls, and,
(10:36):
I wanted to learn how to,you know, have conversation.
And how do I lookthem in the eye?
How do I listen to them?
How do I engage them?
I mean, that was my childhood.
I mean, I was always very muchso attracted to women
and wanted togain their attention.
And that is doesn't seem to bethe main longing of, of young
(11:02):
men anymore.
I really do thinkthat particularly the
the rise ofinternet pornography,
also the addiction of internetgaming as a whole,
that's a whole other topic too.
But I, I think so manyyoung boys, because of
their exposureto internet pornography,
have less of this desire toto wonder, to explore, to,
(11:28):
to get to know.
Because in a certain sense,the veil has been ripped back.
They've seen raw,hardcore pornography.
So this desire to how do Ipursue this girl, even if,
let's say, it's an impuremotive, let's say, oh,
why do I sleep with this girl?
Which of course not good.
But this desire to know andto be curious and to find out
(11:51):
that's all been taken away.
And.
But then also then the pursuitor the goal of what they want
is, has been modeled to themsince, like, you know,
age nine, ten, 11, 12,whatever it might be.
That well, my only goalis to have sex with her anyways,
because that's so dating,getting to know each other,
(12:14):
having conversation,looking each other in the eye,
wasting time together has allbeen kind of eroded.
I mean, so I opened a coffeeshop in my in my parish,
about a year and a half ago.
And one of the reasons I didis because I want people
to come backto looking each other
in the eye,having a conversation.
(12:35):
I mean, we we've all seen it.
You go to a restaurant,you go to anywhere,
and it's a bunch of young peopleon their phone the entire time.
I mean, I rememberbeing in middle school
and going on my first datesand how awkward it was to sit
across the table from a girland to try to entertain her
with conversation.
The the entire time.
(12:55):
I rememberI went to a homecoming,
and it was this girl that Ireally, really liked.
And I asked her, and, you know,I had gotten the flowers
and my tie matched her dress,and it was all.
And the table conversation wasso awkward, is so awkward.
But now, like,nothing would be awkward
(13:16):
because it would just be like,they wouldn't do that
because there's no expectationthat you actually have
a relationship.
There's more just a relationshipthat you're
you're with each other texting.
That's what you'd be doingin your bedroom anyways.
I'd be sitting at homeby myself.
So it's just I really thinkit has like the desire for true
intimacy of mebeing with someone.
(13:39):
Can I can I just say thatthat that has just given
me a new appreciation forjust being together,
even if it's awkwardand I don't know what to say.
Lately I've had,you know, just moments
like that.
But, you know, people canlove each other and be around
each other, even if they're notsaying anything.
But you're right that thatnow we have
(14:00):
a way out of that andbut we're less for it as people.
We really are,especially young people.
So yeah, thank you forcommenting on that.
I, I really didfind a lot of value in that.
One of the biggest thingsthat keeps people both stuck
in pornography,and it fuels further acting out,
but it's also the consequences,the problem of shame.
(14:23):
And so it keeps people quiet.
But of course, peoplewill come to confession
about it.
But as a priest,how do you help people
move from shamein a way that's both,
compassionate, but alsohow do you help them
move out of shameand into hope in a way that's
both compassionatebut still grounded in the truth?
Yeah.
So Saint JohnPaul the Second, who,
(14:45):
really had a deep, profoundimpact on my life
when he came to,Denver, Colorado in 1993
for for World Youth Dayand I was not there.
I was not engaged in my faith,at that point.
But, one thing that he saidis that you are not the sum of
your sins, your brokennessin your past.
You are the sum of the father'slove for you.
(15:09):
And so I think one thingthat I always try
to bring to people'sattention is the fact
that they are not their sins,they are not who
they were yesterday.
They are not their brokenness.
They are not their addiction.
They are not, their worst day.
They are a child of God.
They are a son of God.
They are a daughter of God.
They are God's beloved.
(15:31):
And if all we do islive in our past,
we're not living as God's sonsand daughters.
And so the importanceof knowing.
In a genuine sense, like,yeah, whose I am, which is I am
God's beloved son.
I am God's mother.
So for those of youwho are listening to this,
(15:52):
that have been shackledby addiction, like it's
the same thing, you know, inmany of you know, this,
but like, depending on your ageand how pornography came
into your life, like for manyof you, for, for for
many of you, like,there is no intention for you
in your heart of saying,I'm going to choose
to become a porn addict.
I think we can lookat other addictions,
and that's not that's not alwaysthe case.
(16:14):
I mean, I would say like,I was raised in the 80s
and I was told from, you know,the earliest moment of my life
that smokingcigarets would kill you.
I had a knowledge.
That was there many people atthe age of eight
and nine and ten, 11that are being exposed
in a prophecy.
They hadn't heard anything.
(16:34):
And this addiction begins.
And so it isthere is a form of abuse
that is there that is real.
And so I think that needsto be acknowledged.
This isn't even somethingthat you even maybe
chose for yourself,but that means
that you also needto be very merciful
with yourself.
This is something that,you are not your sins.
You are not your past.
And when you stay trappedin that shame and you stay
(16:58):
trapped in that,you can't truly live
in the freedomthat God wants for you.
So what's importantis for you to say, okay,
I haven't lookedat pornography today.
Today I am free.
I'm going to live in my freedom.
That's what I'm goingto live in.
And so today I'm free and I'mliving in my freedom.
And I'm going tojust focus on today,
focus on this, this, this day,this hour, this moment.
(17:20):
For those of youwho are familiar
with the processes,for alcohol addiction, you don't
make the commitmentthat I'm going to be alcohol
free for the rest of my lifeand that I'd be alcohol
free at this very moment.
I'm going to be alcoholfree for the next hour,
and that's what I'm going to do.
And so I think in that you havethe ability to say,
I'm not yesterday, I'mnot two weeks ago,
(17:42):
I'm not two years ago.
I am a child of God.
That is absolutelywonderful advice and I think
it's great wisdom.
So talk to us a little bitabout how accountability
and having a closecircle of people around us
during this journeyfrom pornography is so important
to the process of healingand restoration.
(18:03):
Yeah.
So, clearly God didn't make usfor ourselves.
He created Adam and Eve.
He didn't just create Adam.
He didn't just create Eve.
He created Adam and Eve.
When Jesus sent outthe apostles,
he didn't send them outone by one.
You sent them out two by two.
And we were made for community.
In fact, what are thebasic principles of the
theology of the body?
(18:24):
Is the fact that we weren'tmade to be alone.
Our bodies make no senseby themselves.
The male body makes no senseby itself.
The female body makesno sense by itself.
This is why we have guyslocker rooms and girls
locker rooms.
Because men togethermake no sense.
Women together make no sense.
It's when you put a manand a woman together
that they begin to make sense.
(18:45):
I mentioned that in thisjust to to to make reference
to the fact we were not madeto be alone.
We were not made in isolation.
We were made for each otherand of course, male and female
specifically were madefor each other in this
acronym, Holy matrimony,to complete each other.
But I wasn't made to be alonein anything.
I was not madeto be alone in my life.
(19:06):
I was made to be with otherswho are going to walk with me
and journey with me in life.
And this is truein my spiritual life.
It's true in my social life.
It's truein my emotional health.
But it's also truein my sexual health,
and particularlywhen one is dealing
with addiction, it'sthe fact that I have to walk
with someone elseand someone else
is to be walking with me.
(19:27):
And so accountability isso huge.
Because what the devilwants us to do is
the devil wantsus to live in isolation.
He wants us to livein loneliness.
He wants us, to feel thatwe're the only person
in the whole entire worldthat deals with this struggle,
that deals with this sin.
And so it's tremendouslyimportant for us to not to break
the cycle of isolation.
(19:48):
And that happens when one,is willing to
talk, to share and to,yeah, break the isolation
and the loneliness.
Amen, father.
Thank you, for,sharing your thoughts on that.
One of the thingsI want to make sure
we cover todayis that you and I have
talked a little bit, offline,so to speak, about the fact
(20:08):
that you are ministering inyour parish in a way that's
very intentionalabout this issue.
I mean, yes, you know,you preach about it.
Of course, you're hearingthis in confession, but what are
some of the things both inthe confessional,
as well as maybe outside of it,that you are doing
to spread awareness about this?
(20:29):
And, Minister, in regardto this issue in a more
intentional way.
Yeah.
So, I, I do preach about it,youth retreats and ministries
and opportunities,I specifically give
topics on this often,separated gender.
And then I also, there'sa playlist
(20:49):
on my YouTube channel,that is dedicated specifically
to pornography.
I think there's maybe 6or 7 videos there.
And then, I also havea lot of resources
in the confessional,whether it be like
business cards or lettersthat I've written,
but different things that I useto help individuals be able to
try to break free to getout of the struggle.
(21:11):
That is, yeah, bringing themto depression and loneliness
and isolation.
And one of those YouTube videos,you talked about, a letter
that you wrote specificallyto the young men who come into
the confessional.
Yeah, I, I have aone is on blue paper
and one is on pink paper.
Is that same letter Ialso have like a
female version of it, but yes,I have a letter
(21:32):
that I specifically hand out,that covers just steps
that I believe are helpfulfor people to overcome
the addiction.
And you have the three BSas the places
to avoid, right? Yeah.
So when we talk aboutisolation and, my experience.
So when people confesspornography to me,
(21:54):
my first questionthat I think they need
to name the device.
So I'm like phone or computer,you need to name the device.
You need to name the device.
You need to be awareof the device.
And then there's my secondquestion is I always just say
bedroom, bathroom, basement,culturally in my area because I
preach about it publicly.
People know it. But,the three main places where
(22:17):
most people look at pornography,all the rooms happen
to start with a, B,so I refer to it.
And those are the three B's.
But bedroom,bathroom and basement
and they're all roomsof isolation,
the rooms of loneliness.
And the rooms where I,where I can
I can live in secrecy,which is what Satan wants.
And, so we just need to step outof those places and choose
to be in places where,I'm in community,
(22:37):
I'm with others, I'm alive.
I'm not in darkness.
And, things begin to change.
I believe.
Father, a lot of parentsare asking questions.
They call us frequentlyand want to know how
they can better protect theirtheir children and and guide
their children.
What advice do you havefor families that you know
where they can build a homethat's a sanction,
(22:59):
a sanctuary from thisdigital temptation?
Yeah.
So am I.
In my in my community,we talk very much like parents.
You need to set boundaries,very real boundaries.
And so we talk about the factthat like bedroom,
bathroom, basement,that no technology should be
in those places, that all phonesin technology
should always be chargedin a public place,
particularly in the eveningwhere mom and dad can make sure
(23:21):
that there's no phones in placeswhere they shouldn't be.
But then there alsoneeds to be software.
And this is, of course,what Covenant Eyes
is able to providewhere we're able to actually
see and live in communityand not live in isolation.
You know, there is this ideathat that's my phone.
Well, I was like to askparents, like, really?
Is that their phone?
I'm pretty sureyou pay the bill.
(23:41):
And I'm pretty surethat if they're living
in their house, it'snot their internet.
And so you're providingthe internet, you're providing
the device.
And so you haveevery right to say,
I'm also going to make surethat what we're doing in
this house, is glorifying Godand is, good for your future
marriage.
I think we, you know,we need to always keep
that in mind as well.
Like, this is about notthis is about their now,
(24:02):
but it's also about theirtheir future and their ability
to see their body.
I mean, so, I mean,we can go on and on
and on and on about whatpornography does, but, I mean,
do you wantyour daughter to think
that she is beautifulor do you want your daughter
to compare yourselfto porn stars for the rest
of her life?
Do you want your young sonto believe he's actually,
(24:23):
you know, a strong young man?
Or do you want him to, you know,always be ashamed of his body
because he's compared himselfto porn stars.
We want them to havea sexual relationship
as a married couplethat is healthy and beautiful.
Do you want them toI mean, it, it it really is
about their future.
And so, parents, you have everyright to be a parent
and you need to be strong,for their own good
(24:47):
and to realize that, yeah,that your role as a parent
is really to protect.
Thank you for those wordsof encouragement to those of us
who are parents.
On the spiritual paternityside, we, you know, many
priests are very devoted,and they're hearing about this
in the confessionalall the time.
But, you know,I it's understandable
(25:09):
that some might, you know,they're having a hard time
getting themselvesto broach this topic,
either in their homiliesor in the Republic
teaching or even,you know, to handle it
in the confessionalin a way that's
sufficiently thoroughto actually help create
lasting change in the penitence.
What words of encouragementwould you have
for your brother priestswho may, just not know
(25:29):
how to go about thisor may be a bit timid in
in handling this,what would you say to them?
I would the imagethat I love to use, that I take
from Matthew Kelly.
And this was when MatthewKelly was speaking
just about televisionin the home.
If there was a sewageof raw sewage pipe dumping raw
sewage into yourparishioners home, would you say
(25:50):
nothing about itif there was raw sewage
dumping into the childrenat your Catholic schools home
and you knew it was happeningand you said nothing,
are you not culpable?
And that's exactlywhat's happening.
In fact, it'sworse than raw sewage
in so many ways.
(26:10):
If we really beginto look at things,
because you can clean upraw sewage and that house
can be like once pornographyis in someone's mind,
those images are therefor the rest of their life.
And you can clean up sewageand you can you can change
things, but it's pretty hard.
(26:34):
To clean up after pornography.
So I think it's pretty importantto remember that.
Father, how can our audiencepray for you and your ministry
and your boldnessto speak on this topic?
Oh, well, thank you very much.
Yeah.
Just please pray for me.
And I mean that priest.
Pray for, pray for theyoung people that,
I clearly speak a lotto young people.
(26:55):
Please pray for young peoplethat they're open and receptive.
Pray for young people.
That.
And when they hearthese messages
that they're not afraid,but that they're really that
they're encouragedby the Holy Spirit to act upon
the gift of fortitudegiven to them, particularly
at confirmation.
And, I would also just,yeah, pray
that one of the thingsthat I think we so it's not just
I think this is key,but it's not just
about taking away,I think so often we want to
(27:18):
take things away.
So like the take it, take awaythe pornography, take away
the things that are bad.
We also need tothen be teaching people
how to have what actuallythey're longing for,
which is community,which is relationship.
And so I think if you couldalso just pray for me
like that's something that I'mtrying to figure
out as a priest.
So if I keep saying like, don'tlook at pornography,
(27:39):
don't be addictedto internet gaming,
what am I also thenproviding as a pastor,
then to then say, okay, here'sthe things that you actually
should be having in your life.
Here is community,here is fellowship.
Like I said, we openeda coffee shop of
recent in my parish, and that'sone of the reasons,
that it's there.
And so just yeah,the creative ways that I'm able
to do that, to be able to,to bring that to my people,
(28:01):
is powerful and needed.
Well, that's, well,thank you so much for, for your
priestly ministry,for your time today,
for blessing uswith your wisdom,
for your willingnessto tackle this head on.
And, you know, not letyour parishioners
homes be flooded bywhat's what really is
worse than raw sewage.
(28:23):
I think you nailed that.
So, you know, from one Catholicto another to a priest.
Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
Well, with that, we're going tobring today's
episode to a close.
We do.
Thank you all for tuning into this episode of The Covenant
Eyes Podcast.
And thank you so much, father,for joining us
for this conversation.
And how can people, get in touchwith you or learn
(28:45):
more about yourthe things you're doing
in your parish? Yeah.
So if you go to All SaintsCatholic dot net, All Saints
Catholic dot net, that is ourparish website.
We have a YouTube channel,which you can
access from the parishwebsite, all Saints
Catholic dot net.
But on YouTubewe are All saints.
We are oneAll Saints, we are one.
If you also just typein All Saints,
(29:06):
Father Jonathan Meier,our channel will come right up.
And there is a playlist on thereabout pornography, but also many
other topicsthat you can, dig into.
Perfect.
We'll put all those linksin the show
notes for our listeners.
Thank you,everybody, for tuning in
to this episodeof The Covenant Eyes
Podcast. Take care.
God bless.
We'll see you next time.
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