For 30 years outside of the Catholic Church, Dr. Valdemar Welz sought after the truth, and, for 30 years, he was disappointed. He did find helpful bits and pieces here and there, but not enough truth to bring peace to his soul. That would only come when he reconnected with the Church through prayer, reading St. Faustina’s Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul and going to confession.

Now, the dentist, who attends the annual conferences of Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy, loves to share the truth with anyone who will listen.

Honesty about his own status as a sinner is presented with humor and hope. For those searching for happiness, the 63-year-old Bostonian offers a simple solution: Get right with God.

In fact, Welz attributes his own zest for life primarily to daily Mass and Eucharistic adoration, along with weekly confession. He also recommends a dietary component — namely, vegan fare. He says this regimen gives him the energy to work on patients all week long, including those who are unable to pay for his services. About one-third of his patients (primarily priests and religious) receive dental work for free.

Welz, who does his part to fight what he calls “truth decay,” spoke with Register correspondent Trent Beattie in time for the Feb. 9 feast of St. Apollonia, patron of dentists and those with tooth problems.

 

You grew up Catholic but haven’t always been as devout as you are today, right?

That’s right. I grew up in Poland and came to America in 1959, when I was 8. I went to a Catholic grammar school, but was sidetracked when deciding which high school to attend. I wanted to go to Boston College High School, but my grammar school’s principal (a nun) said I could save my parents $500 per year if I went to Boston Latin School, a public institution. I did go there — and got a worldly education.

I started CCD classes in my freshman year, but so aggravated the teacher (a priest) with my persistent questioning that he actually stormed out of the classroom. Questions such as “How can we have free will if God knows what we’ll do tomorrow?” were not adequately answered for me by the Church — at least, not by the representatives of the Church I came into contact with.

For decades after the CCD incident, I replaced Catholicism with independent research into the meaning of life. I read numerous science, psychology, philosophy and religion books and found some truth, but also a lot of falsehood. The world is full of lies, and, many times, these lies are subtle twists of the truth rather than complete reversals of truth.

 

That’s when Divine Mercy changed your life?

Yes, it dawned on me, in late 1994, how important forgiveness is. Every one of us is imperfect and in need of healing; therefore, forgiveness is all-important. This was made plain as day in Luke 6, especially Verse 37, where we are told in direct terms that, if we forgive, we shall be forgiven. That’s God’s deal with us: We will be given from him what we have given others.

Around this same time in life, I had a hygienist named Christine who was a Divine Mercy devotee. She explained to me and my wife, Elzbieta (the Polish version of Elizabeth), the message that was entrusted to a nun in early-20th-century Poland. She was known as Blessed Maria Faustina Kowalska in 1994 and was canonized not too much later [in 2000 by John Paul II].

I read this nun’s diary (my first of around 28 readings), and it all made so much sense. I had reasoned my way into knowing the centrality of forgiveness, and, now, my thoughts were being spiritualized and completed by the message given by Jesus to this Polish mystic. My thirst for truth was being satisfied, and my life changed for the better.

I started praying more and, in 1995, while attending a conference on [the alleged apparitions at] Medjugorje, I got the courage to go to confession for the first time in 30 years. I was unsure of exactly what to do, but the priest made it easy for me. Instead of trying to remember everything I had done wrong over the past three decades, he asked me a series of questions about specific sins by going through the Ten Commandments, so I was able to say whether I had committed them and how many times. I was so relieved to be forgiven like that, just as Jesus instructed his priests to do in John 20:23.

Now, I love to go to confession. I even ask my wife and kids if they know of any sins I may have forgotten, so that I can make a complete confession.

 

You’ve spoken of the connection between gnashing of teeth and the Bible.

The context for wailing and gnashing of teeth is not good, but the remedy is easy: Get closer to God. The practice of jaw-clenching, which is natural to all of us, is very symbolic of a lack of acceptance of divine truth, just as wailing is. Someone who is habitually sad or angry is someone who does not have his will united to God’s.

When St. Faustina completely gave up her own will, which is described in No. 374 of her diary, she heard the Lord say that, from then on, she would not be judged. This is the polar opposite of someone who pursues his own will and does not accept God’s will, described as wailing and gnashing of teeth. In other words, when we give up our own schemes, we enjoy the peace that comes from self-surrendering to God’s unconditional love.

A longer version of this story appears at NCRegister.com.

Trent Beattie

writes from Seattle.