Gabriel Garnica is crazy enough to believe that we can all be saints, and he refuses to buy the lie that we cannot. He is a college professor with degrees in law and mental health counseling. He was born in Colombia and came to the U.S. as a young child. While Gabe continues to enjoy teaching law, his greatest fulfillment as an educator has come from his ten years as a catechist at two local parishes. Gabe is passionate about sharing his faith through writing and speaking; and he has enjoyed giving numerous talks to children on such topics as Divine Mercy, David and Goliath, The Ten Commandments, and prioritizing one’s faith. While he enjoys talking to children, it is in writing and speaking to adults that Gabe truly feels he has found his calling. His goal is to continue developing his Catholic speaking and write several books on his topics of interest, which include meditations on the Ten Commandments, Divine Mercy, the saints, parable stories, general Scripture, Pro-Life, and The Virgin Mary. He enjoys writing for his blog Deus solus https://wordpress.com/posts/deussolus9.wordpress.com and as a columnist at Catholic Stand ww.catholicstand.com/author/gabriel-garnica/
Gabe’s favorite saints are Tarcisius, Therese “The Little Flower”, and Alphonsus de Liguori, whom he describes as giving us a powerful glimpse of the loving challenge which God has given each of us. As mentioned above, Gabe believes that we are all called to be saints, but we spend more time convincing ourselves why we cannot become one than trying to fulfill our true purpose in becoming precisely that. Gabe also speaks about Catholic marriage as being the true “Love Triangle”, with each partner and God.
Speaking Topics:
- A Christian's Feet
The Washing of The Feet is a powerful symbol of not only loving, humble service but, just as importantly, what a Christian’s feet should look like and why. This talk provides a compact and concise road map for how a Christian should and should not use his or her feet to fulfill the true purpose of bringing glory to God.
- David and Goliath Revisited
The famous story of David and Goliath is often incorrectly seen as a story of an underdog defeating a favorite. This talk challenges the listener to see this story as quite the opposite, and bridges that alternate suggestion to approaching the world while being true to God.
- Backbiting....Salvation Cancer
This talk illustrates how the greatly underestimated sin of backbiting destroys our chances for salvation by spreading three critical lies about our relationships with ourselves, others, and God.
- Christ.....The Anti-Selfie
This talk compares various characters of the Passion story to illustrate the difference between a selfie and anti-selfie mentality, and how the latter approach is the only way to fulfill one’s life mission.
- The Scriptural Faces of Divine Mercy
This talk combines the story of Judas vs. Peter, Gestas vs. Dismas, and the parables of The Prodigal Son and The Vine Workers to paint a moving image of Divine Mercy.
- The Our Father and The Magnificat as The Perfect Prayers
This talk presents The Lord’s Prayer and Mary’s Magnificat as the prototypical and perfect prayers which epitomize what all prayer should be.
- God's Math: Scriptural Illustrations of How Salvation is illustrated by the Basic Math Functions
This talk illustrates how addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication provide a concise and fundamental formula for eternal salvation in the context of popular Scriptural illustrations.
- Three Kings and a Baby
This talk illustrates how three kings, Solomon, Herod, and Henry VIII, each defined their lives, and fates, by how they viewed a baby and power.
- The Three Levels of Suffering Actualization
This talk takes the wisdom of Saint Therese “The Little Flower”, Saint Tarcisius, and Saint Alphonsus de Liguori to illustrate the three levels of suffering necessary for becoming the saint that we are all destined to become.
- Cognitive Dissonance and Sin
This talk illustrates how the famous psychological concept of cognitive dissonance explains the sinister and destructive cycle of sin.
- Divine Mercy as The Anti-Sin
This talk demonstrates that Divine Mercy is the exact opposite of sin, and therefore provides a concise explanation of why Divine Mercy breaks the cycle and lie that sin is.
- Gideon as The Blueprint for Salvation
This talk illustrates how the story of Gideon provides us with the exact road map to bringing peace, trust, faith, and salvation to our lives. Included in this discussion is the view of Catholic marriage as a love triangle with God.