'The Graces Just Keep Coming'

Catholic lay evangelist and blogger Gary Zimak is the host of Following The Truth on BlogTalkRadio (Monday-Friday, 8 p.m. Eastern) and the author of A Worrier's Guide To The Bible and Listen To Your Blessed Mother. For the past three years, he's been leading hundreds of his listeners through total consecration to Jesus through Mary. We caught up with him to discuss how this all came about and the fruits he's been seeing from his efforts.

How did you first come to make your own consecration to Jesus through Mary?
In 2011 I met a gentleman named Ray who asked if I had made my total consecration to Jesus through Mary. I said, "No I haven't," but I had been interested in doing it. So once he suggested it, I decided to go for it that year.

How did you decide to start leading your listeners in consecrating themselves to Jesus through Mary?
As soon as I decided to do it in 2011, I put it out on my radio show. I thought, "Let me just try to see if anybody wants to do this with me." We got about 200 people who were interested. In that first year, I, along with about 200 other people, made it for the first time. I just had a feeling that it was worthwhile, it was something that I wanted to do, and they did it with me.

How did you decide to lead people to make their consecrations on Oct. 7? Why pick that feast?
It was basically arbitrary. When I first decided to do it, the 2011 Catholic trade show was in August. I decided to go for the next possible start date, which was Sept. 4. That's why we've been making [the consecration] on Oct. 7. I'm glad that we're doing it on Oct. 7 because I've really grown to love praying the rosary everyday. But really, it was just the next available date at the time.

And that first time it was whose version of the consecration?
I used a version that was put out by the De Montfort Fathers - as Fr. Gaitley calls it, the "prayer marathon."

Why is it so important to make the consecration?
You know, I can look back in my life and I never had a relationship with Mary, even though I'm a cradle Catholic. I've seen what she's done for me in my life since I made my total consecration. I've grown to love Jesus more, to love being with Him more, and to love her more, too. I want everybody to share in this, because each day that I live this total consecration, it gets a little bit better. The graces just keep coming.

At what point in the process did you know you were called to go into full-time ministry?
I made my total consecration on Oct. 7, 2011. At the time, I was very unhappy at my day job. I was a computer programmer, and I had been unhappy for a long time. I wanted to work for the Lord full time. Nothing was happening. Finally, when I made my total consecration in October, I was able to accept my day job. I was peaceful. I thought, "Lord, if this is where you want me, it's fine with me." On Jan. 6, 2012, I got laid off for the first time in 30 years. And that was really the incentive for me to go full time as a Catholic evangelist.

Why did you decide to use Fr. Mike's 33 Days to Morning Glory on your show this year? What has the response been?
Last year when I was doing it, we used the updated book from the De Montfort Fathers, the one by Fr. Gillespie. I was always looking for new material to supplement the material that we were using. I heard about Fr. Mike's book. I bought a copy of it last year, and I said, "Wow, this is really great. This complements the other method nicely." So I used some of the material last year, just a few tidbits, but this year I thought, "You know, it would be perfect to use this book." Once word got out that I was using 33 Days to Morning Glory, we got many, many people to sign up. People knew about the book, people knew about the method, and it's been very effective.

What's really stood out for you in the course of this year's consecration?
I talked to Fr. Mike about this when he was on my show the other day. People told me they've tried to make this consecration for years and weren't able to do it, but this year, they're going through with it. Different people have tried to make it for several years, but they've quit. For some reason, they've had issues with this or that, but this year, a lot of the people are onboard, especially some of them who've quit in the past. Something about his method just resonates with people.

Talk to me a little bit about having Fr. Mike on your show. What was that like? What was going on behind the scenes?
For me, the fact that he would take the time to do it was very special. I've gotten a lot of comments from the listeners stating that they loved listening to him. He touched many people the other night, and the fact that he gave us his blessing meant a lot to all of us. We're also honored that he's praying for us while in Mexico. It's very touching, and his appearance helped to "personalize" the book.

Anything else from this consecration experience that you wish to share?
I would like to say that Fr. Mike's 33 Days to Morning Glory method has helped me to better understand what Marian consecration is all about. I think all the methods are good in their own ways, but [after using 33 Days to Morning Glory,] I think we have a better idea of what Marian consecration is all about. Mary's going to do her thing, but [when] we know what to expect, we can better respond to the grace that she's giving us.

This'll be about a week short of Pope Francis's consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart. What do you think of that coincidence of timing?
I love it. I love it, and I'm getting a lot of questions about that. We get a lot of attention from the national media with 1,400 people doing total consecration. I'm going on several national shows talking about Marian consecration, and specifically what Pope Francis is doing consecrating the world to Mary. I think the timing is phenomenal, and a lot of our people are prepared to join in his consecration as well.

And are you going to renew your consecration on the 13th with the Pope?
You bet!

To learn more about the 33 Days to Morning Glory method of total consecration to Jesus through Mary, see here.