December 9, 2011
Personal Reflection
A wrinkle in time!
Speaker Adam Ritz is seen in a photograph provided by the program he established to get his message to athletes and teens. (Photo courtesy Adam Ritz) Click for a larger version.
By ZOE CANNON (Sacred Heart Church, Vincennes)
I was 14 years old when I became a godmother for the first time. The baby boy, Robert Adam Ritz, was my first cousin. He was a huge baby weighing over 10 pounds at birth. Holding him through the ceremony was a challenge. The privilege to participate in this Sacrament of Baptism gave me a great appreciation for my Catholic faith. The responsibility to be a good role model for my godson was something I took very seriously.
Even as a young boy, Adam did everything in life with great enthusiasm. Despite childhood allergies and asthma, he was an accomplished high school athlete and became part of the football team at Purdue, where he earned a degree in Communications. His sense of humor and zeal for life made Adam a very charismatic individual. This great gift of strength and character would catch up to his 6 foot 3 inch stature all wrapped up in the success of it all. Com-mitment to career and being successful in life are very important, but the motivation and dedication must be kept in check with a balance of faith and religious structure. When that balance becomes askew we become complacent and unfortunate things can happen.
Adam was a successful radio and television personality in Indianapolis. Life included a top rated afternoon radio program for Adam, which provided him with lots of time during the day to be a great dad. It was impressive to see this towering football athlete carry a diaper bag and care for his two little girls.
Eight years ago in 2003, at the age of 33, Adam’s happy life turned into a nightmare over the events of one night, one night too many of late night drinking. He found out the hard way that poor decisions have real negative consequences and no one is invincible. Unaware, his advances to a female friend turned into a sexual assault plea bargain and time spent incarcerated. Before his sentencing, Adam attended a Christ Renews His Parish Weekend at his Indianapolis Parish. The support of these men and his parish priest were the beginning of his healing and forgiveness, which saved him from despair. Ad-am’s biggest fear though was in being honest with his two little girls about what had happened that night in December. He knew the day would come when this 1 and 5 year old would have questions.
Many times throughout Scripture God is asking us to be childlike, innocent, pure, honest and loving. He knew there would be times when his grace and mercy would be needed to accomplish this type of childlike trust. In the Spirit of Advent, I share this story because the real gift comes from the innocence and love of a child. One person can forgive, but it takes two to reconcile when a relationship is damaged. His marriage did not survive the hurt from this lapse in judgment, but something positive emerged from it all, by the grace of God.
Adam has humbly turned this life-changing event into something positive. He created a nationally renowned program with an opportunity to speak to athletes and fraternities on college campuses, where drinking and a sense of invincibility can become rampant. The impact of this message has gained notoriety all over the country, as this enterprise has turned into a marketable message for pro athletes as well, with endorsements from Peyton Manning and NFL coaches. He has also designed a program for high school students to remind them what real success is all about.
His greatest success though, is in the relationship he has continued with his young daughters. The oldest was only 5 when this life-changing event occurred. She wrote these encouraging words about her Dad on her school blog recently. The title is “My Fighter.” The childlike honesty and trust in these words are a true testimony to the meaning of forgiveness, understanding and unconditional love. God had this in mind when he gave us his only Son to remove the pain and suffering which breeds in unforgiveness.
His daughter wrote: “In the book A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, the characters fight against The Black Thing. Like those characters in the book there is a fighter in my life also. He is my dad. He gives keynote speeches with enthusiasm even though the road to success is a little bumpy. My dad has been through it all and when times get tough he is not one to quit. He works hard to give speeches to promote alcohol and drug awareness. I love my dad because he is very humorous and can turn almost anything into a joke. This makes it fun for him to work with people, but he can also be serious. He is a big part of my life. He is a fighter of his own darkness and sorry to say that darkness has no chance in the match.”
In moments of weakness we find our strength, therefore all is not lost, but we must not cheat ourselves from the power of God’s love. There is no limit to what God can do, if we embrace his plan for reparation, reconciliation and redemption. Those who love unconditionally give hope where there was once despair. Amen!