Deacon David grew up Catholic, in upstate New York, but fell away from the Church in his early teens. After he was married, while attending a Marriage Encounter weekend that he first recognized the impact of this decision of leaving the Church. During one of the breaks, his wife, Charmaine, started crying. She broke down in tears because of his callousness about Christ in her life. The two spent a year in a non-denominational Bible community before returning to the Faith of their youth with a deep fervor. In the end, Hess says, “we didn’t feel that we could leave a faith we didn’t even know.” This conclusion led Hess to investigate the Church and recommit himself to Christ and his Catholic Church. Deacon David is a co-author of the book “Jesus, Peter & the Keys”.