Dan is a former professional baseball player from the Minnesota Twins Organization, a survivor of two near death experiences, a sought after inspirational and motivational speaker, and the author of Surviving COVID-19. Dan is a born again Catholic—his faith in Christ has been strengthened by unique and powerful interventions that God has made in his work and his family life.
In addition to speaking at schools, events, and retreats, Dan has been a featured guest on national, and international radio and television programs such as The Fox News Channel, The Sean Hannity Radio Show, ESPN Radio Sports Center Tonight, CBS, NY1, Currents News, Newsmax, CBN’s 700 Club and EWTN’s The Journey Home. He is also a member of Catholic Athletes for Christ.
Dan is a parishioner of The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson NJ where he is heavily involved in parish life and teaches in the RCIA program. He is a daily communicant, and a Rosary warrior--devoted to Our Lady, to Our Lord, and to the one, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Dan also serves on the leadership team for the Knights of the Immaculata, founded by St. Maximillian Kolbe. This group has grown from 12 to over 300 men, meeting each year for a retreat in Malvern PA. The objective: To win the world for Christ through the Immaculate heart of His mother.
Dan has a unique story to tell as a former professional baseball player, a successful fitness trainer and coach, a loving husband and father, and a passionate follower of Christ committed to sharing with others the power of faith, hope, love, and forgiveness. He resides in Northern NJ with his wife of 26 years and his two sons.
Talk Titles:
5 for 5—A Perfect Day at the Plate.
During Dan’s amateur and professional baseball career he always strove for perfection—for a hitter that means going 5 for 5 at the plate. Dan accomplished this feat outside of a Philadelphia abortion clinic, only this time he wasn’t alone in the batter’s box, he had the protection of the Holy Trinity and the Holy Family, and instead of a bat in hand, he had a Rosary. During this talk, Dan describes how and why he made this trip to the place he describes as “an entrance to hell” --a planned parenthood in south Philly. God used the sins of Dan’s past to help save some future souls.
The Power of Forgiveness—How to Let Go and Set Yourself Free.
Dan recounts what it was like growing up as the youngest child of four, raised by a single mom after his father deserted the family. Decades later, a powerful, life-changing intervention by the Holy Spirit transforms the animosity and hatred Dan had carried for his father. He demonstrates from his experience that the chains of unforgiveness are always lurking, always looking for an opportunity to wrap us again in the hurt and anger we feel toward the one who offended us. If we allow those chains, they will bury us in bitterness. Forgiveness, even if it means doing it over again, is the only way to break those chains and truly be set free. Dan has learned that forgiveness is not a one and done deal--he has forgiven his father, he is forgiving his father, and he will forgive his father.
Surviving Covid-19 How Faith Focus Fitness and Hydroxychloroquine Saved Me.
Dan Venezia offers a faith-based message of hope—not mere wishful thinking, but a confident expectation that God cares, is intimately involved in our everyday lives, and hears and answers prayer. A fitness trainer and former pro athlete comes face to face with death when the coronavirus attacks his strong, healthy body and challenges him—not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. Dan thought he had the personal strength within himself to overcome anything that life might throw at him. But on Palm Sunday, 2020, he found himself in a New Jersey hospital struggling to breathe, fighting to hold onto hope and his faith in God. A coach and motivational speaker himself, he needed others, and especially Another, to come beside him and help defeat an opponent much greater than any he had ever faced before.
My walk with Mary and the Bible on a string—A Most Powerful Weapon!
Dan used to think that the Rosary was too repetitive and that it was only reserved for old ladies. It took him 16 months after a near death experience to figure out that he had a spiritual Mother in Heaven who was interceding, intervening, and watching over him throughout his life. The sinless, perfect, Immaculate Mother of God was patiently waiting for his devotion. Once he started taking his walk with Our Lady, praying the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary he began to imitate what it contains and eventually he obtained what it promises. Dan’s prayers have been answered, crosses have been revealed, and an abundance of grace has been received. Mary has taken Dan by the hand and brought him directly to her Son.
Marriage—A Covenant Not a Contract.
In another God moment, Dan is prompted to take an early exit off the New Jersey Turnpike on this way to the beach. This divine traffic jam created the circumstance in which he met his future wife and soulmate, who had converted to Catholicism just one year before—no coincidences here. Their marriage could not have had a more charmed beginning, but it took 25 years for them to figure out that God was the third person of their covenant bond, a marital trinity that took their relationship to a heavenly level, revealing to them the importance of praying together, of taking up their crosses together, and of refocusing their priorities. Putting God first by attending daily Mass, praying the Rosary together, having frequent confessions, along with regular Adoration, fasting, and almsgiving is what they do. Their new-found faith is simple, yet laser focused with the goal of getting each other along with their sons to Heaven.
Born Again Catholic--The Sacrifice that Brought Me Home.
Dan was born and raised Catholic, but during his teenage years his faith waned. He left the Church, the tradition, the Sacraments. He still read the Bible, and focused in on John 3:16 and sola scriptura, but he was quite lost and still living a life entrenched in sin. Eventually he found his way back to the Church, but this time he was a luke-warm, a Catholic in name only going through the motions for many years. Through divine interventions, multiple infusions of the Holy Spirit, God winks, near death and Guardian Angels, Dan found his way all the way back to the One, True, Holy, and Catholic Apostolic Church.
