Welcome to my first blog on new David Keys Ministries site. Yes that’s me to the left, getting a personal blessing from Pope Francis. From my Bio, one can see that I did not have a routine path into the field of Theology.
I was raised Catholic, attended Catholic grade school and high school. At one point I thought I might have a calling to the priesthood in grade school, but the lure of girls and sports took me in another direction. The lure of girls did take me into the married life, but, let’s just say that as a 5’ 11”, 160-170 lb young man who couldn’t dunk in basketball, I didn’t get very far into the world of sports— only a little venture into the world of college basketball. However, the lure of sports did get me to go Washington University in St. Louis, a NCAA Division III school.
There in the spring of my sophomore year the school dropped the sport from its programs (at least temporarily for a number of years). This was just after I had my highest scoring game. (Oh well—according to the Doris Day song, “Que Sera, Sera, whatever will be will be”. Washington University’s dropping the basketball program turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. It allowed me to fully concentrate on academics, which eventually led me to a PhD in physics and the search for the truth of physical reality.
Over time, if you continue to read my blog, you will see that physics is really not that far from Theology. In the Theology case, not only is one searching for the truth of spiritual reality (after all God is spirit), but one also is seeking an understanding of how God uses the physical to achieve the spiritual. Eventually, I became a Medical Physicist, working in Radiation Oncology (Radiation treatments), while also being involved n the physics of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine. Eventually the desire to really know the reasons behind my Catholic faith, I entered into a Masters program in Theology from Franciscan University in Steubenville. In 2012 after 38 years in the field, I quit my profession, finished my Masters, wrote a book (Exploring the Belief in the Real Presence) and started a new career desiring to explain the faith to others, which takes me to today.
The purpose of writing this blog then is to discuss, from a Catholic point of view, some of the various going-ons in the world today. Along the way, I intend to explain some of the various teachings of the Catholic Church. I have found in my own life that just knowing a teaching, while good in itself, is really inadequate for me. I want to know why the teaching exists (as much as it is possible to know the reason).
Even just tagging a particular teaching to a scripture verse, really doesn’t satisfy. Knowing that a teaching is found in Scripture tells you that it is true, but knowing the reason behind the teaching is even better! (“Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,” 1 Pt 3:15) My plan is to post weekly blogs. Comments are certainly welcome. Let’s see if we can have a little fun(?) with this, and deepen the understanding of our Catholic Faith.