Episode Transcript  

One

A “No” Stronger Than Death

Today, the Church honors St. Maria Goretti. She was born in 1890. When she was nine, her father died of malaria, leaving her mother, Assunta, to care for the family and work the fields. On July 5, 1902, eleven-year-old Maria was sitting outside her home, sewing and watching her little sister, while her mother worked nearby.

Twenty-year-old Alessandro Serenelli knew she was alone. He approached the house and tried to force himself upon her. Maria resisted with everything she had. She cried out, “No! It is a sin! God does not want it!” Alessandro threatened to kill her if she did not give in. Still, she refused. Then he stabbed her fourteen times and fled.

Maria was taken to the hospital, but her wounds were too severe. The next day, before she died, she forgave Alessandro and said she wanted him to be with her in heaven. Maria was not yet twelve years old. She had no physical power to stop the knife. But she had a greater power, the power to say “No” to evil, even at the cost of her life.

St. Paul writes, “You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

Two

Mercy That Breaks Chains

Alessandro was arrested and sent to prison, where he was so violent that he was placed in solitary confinement. For years, he remained bitter and unrepentant. Then, six years into his sentence, everything changed. One night, Maria appeared to him in a dream or vision. She was standing in a beautiful garden. She picked fourteen white lilies, one for each stab wound he had inflicted upon her, and placed them into his hands.

That act of mercy shattered his hardened heart. He woke up overwhelmed with sorrow, asked for a priest, and made a full confession. From that moment forward, he became a changed man. The violent prisoner became humble, gentle, and totally transformed.

When Alessandro was released, his first stop was the home of Maria’s mother, Assunta. He fell to his knees and begged her forgiveness. And Assunta did the unthinkable. She forgave him. She lifted him up, called him her son, and took him to Mass. The mother of the murdered child and the man who killed her received Holy Communion side by side. Alessandro then entered a Franciscan monastery, where he spent the rest of his life in prayer, penance, and quiet labor.

Maria Goretti was canonized on June 24th, 1950, by Pope Pius XII. Among the 500,000 pilgrims, most of them young people, stood her mother, four siblings, and Alessandro, the man she had forgiven. Addressing the crowd, the Pope asked: “Young people, delight of the eyes of Jesus, are you determined to resist any attack on your chastity with the help of God’s grace?” A thunderous “Yes!” rang out in reply.

Three

Maria’s Challenge to Women

St. Maria Goretti has a message for women. God has given women a tremendous moral power. Women have the power to say “Yes” and “No.” And those two words shape the world. A woman longs to be understood, cherished, and loved. A man, in turn, longs to win the heart of a woman worthy of his best. He may be tempted to use a body, but he is inspired by a woman who knows her dignity and calls forth the best in him.

When a woman says, “I will not be used. I will not be reduced to an object. I will not give my body apart from love, commitment, and marriage,” she does not lose power. She exercises it. The world tells women that their power is in arousing desire. Maria tells them their deeper power is in awakening virtue. Fear says, “If you say no, you will be alone.”

Saint Maria Goretti upheld her chastity at the cost of her life. Are you willing to preserve your chastity even at the risk of loneliness? It’s a risk worth taking, but rest assured, you won’t be alone.

If God intends for you to marry, He will provide the right man. Trust in God. The fear of being alone is a temptation from the devil. Trust that if you honor God and follow His will, He will take care of your vocation.

Four

Allesandro’s Challenge to Men

Allesandro also has a message for men. Alessandro later admitted that impure images led him down the road to ruin. Sinful sexual images train a man to look, take, use, and discard. It teaches him to separate the body from the person. It turns desire into appetite, and appetite into slavery.

Jesus does not treat lust lightly. He says, “Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Then He immediately adds, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off.”

That means we must be serious. Sin is often tied to the environment. If we remain in the near occasion of sin, we will fall. If we remove the occasion, the intensity of temptation often drops.

So ask plainly: what must I remove? A device? An app? A streaming service? A private habit? A pattern of isolation late at night? Do not negotiate with what is destroying you. Change the environment. Put the phone in another room. Turn screens to grayscale. Install real accountability. Go to Confession quickly. Receive the Eucharist frequently. When the first lustful thought comes, do not entertain it. Replace it immediately with a Hail Mary.

Men, your strength was made to provide and protect, not prey. Maria’s “No” calls forth your great “Yes” to heroic purity.

Five

Freedom from Lust and Resentment

This is an age of lust, impure images, resentment, and bitterness. Lust often grips men. Resentment often grips women. And both can enslave anyone. Resentment is the habit of replaying a wound until it becomes part of our identity. Someone failed us. Someone used us. Someone abandoned us. Someone did not protect us. And instead of bringing the wound to Jesus, we hold onto it. We become hard. We say, “I will never be vulnerable again. I will never depend on anyone again. I will become strong enough that no one can hurt me.”

But that is not freedom. That is a prison. Maria had every human reason to become resentful. Her father was gone. No one protected her. Alessandro violated her dignity and took her life. Yet she forgave him. Assunta had every reason to hate the man who killed her daughter. Yet she forgave him and welcomed him as a son.

They did not deny the evil. They broke its power.

How do we begin? Look at Christ on the Cross. Here is the Man who will never use you, betray you, or abandon you. Here is the Bridegroom who gives His life for you. Here is the Father’s love made visible. Then speak the words of Jesus when he said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Speak forgiveness aloud, even if your emotions lag behind.

St. Maria Goretti, pray for us. Teach us purity without fear, mercy without weakness, and forgiveness without resentment.

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