Cullen Avent ’23, Jason Lin ’24, Sebastian Mendez ’24, Elliot Smythe ’24, Brody Bazirgan ’25

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On February 28 during Community Time, Mr. Jason Evert spoke in the Parsley Center to our juniors and seniors about chastity.

A graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, Mr. Evert is a Catholic speaker and author who specializes in the topic of chastity. He has written over a dozen books and delivers talks to young audiences about the importance of discipline and self control in love. Mr. Evert spreads this message through social media as well.

Mr. Evert was greeted with enthusiastic applause before he had even started his speech. He began by posing the question: how far is too far? With this in the student’s mind, he used the analogy of the Grand Canyon to detail how one should approach limitations and rules for intimacy. You would not like to be brought closer and closer to the edge of a canyon’s cliffs, even if you knew that you would not fall. If getting closer and closer to a limit will inspire fear and anger, it may be best to not approach that limit at all–even with a willing partner. One can conclude from what Mr. Evert said that some lines are too thin to walk.

A key takeaway from his talk is the Catholic principle of universal human dignity: all people should be treated in a dignified manner, whatever their circumstances. 

In accordance with this principle, Mr. Evert cited the example of a Saint Vitalis of Gaza, who preached the gospel to ailing women to help them in regaining their dignity. “Instead of using these girls, he brought them the gospel,” Mr. Evert said.

Mr. Evert continued his talk by explaining how high schoolers specifically can practice chastity and live justly. Mr. Evert recalled his life and the lives of friends and other students who had experienced the difficulties of navigating high school under a great deal of pressure to indulge promiscuity, and he made comments about the futility of moving through life too quickly. 

“Purity is a gift from Jesus Christ,” Mr. Evert said.

Mr. Evert explained his practice of requesting the students at each talk to pray for those at the next. After he detailed his books and other services to the audience, his presentation concluded with a standing ovation from the assembled. 

Students who had attended the talk spoke highly of it: 

“Mr. Evert gave a very moving speech. It covered a difficult topic but he kept everyone engaged with his great speaking skills,” Ethan Smith ‘24 said.

“Mr. Evert had a really good speech with many surprising statistics I didn’t know about before. He also kept me engaged,” Michael Nguyen ‘24 said.

More information concerning this topic can be found on Mr. Evert’s website:  chastity.com.