NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE OF KNOXVILLE
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Youth travel to SEEK conference Some 100 students from the Diocese of Knoxville celebrate their faith at the event in Ohio By Bee Goodman
BEE GOODMAN
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ost people enjoy traveling, and among those many are young adults. Finally getting a taste of freedom, they enjoy taking a spring-break trip to Daytona or making their way to Disney World between semesters, but they usually don’t make plans to travel to Ohio on New Year’s Day. But a very special group of more than 26,000 Catholic youth and young adults packed their bags for pilgrimages to Ohio, Colorado, and Texas. Each year, missionaries from the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) gather at the five-day SEEK conference for students. The conference invites bishops, Sisters, other clergy members, keynote speakers, merchants, and others to gather for a celebration of faith. Students in the Diocese of Knoxville from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga, and East Tennessee State University in Johnson City attended the SEEK26 conference held in Columbus, Ohio, Jan. 1-5. Along with the students, diocesan director of Youth, Young Adult, and Pastoral Juvenil Amanda Henderson traveled to the conference. Ms. Henderson shared the importance of youth and young adults attending conferences like SEEK where she sees the impact
Representing NDHS Students from Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga pose with three Diocese of Knoxville seminarians. Those pictured were among more than 16,000 at the SEEK26 conference in Columbus, Ohio. on them upon their return. “Students return more confident in their faith and more willing to engage with it intentionally,” she said. “SEEK helps young people realize they are not alone in seeking out their faith. Being surrounded by peers who are asking the same questions, praying together, and worshiping together creates a deep sense of solidarity. That experience often stays with them long after they return
home.” Ms. Henderson continued: “SEEK is an investment in the spiritual foundation of young people at a critical stage of life. These experiences often become moments of clarity and renewal that shape how students live their faith moving forward, influencing their choices, priorities, and involvement in the Church.” With SEEK hosting more than 26,000 participants across the
country, it’s easy to feel lost in the sea of college students. But among them are hundreds of bishops, priests, women religious, monks, and other clergy members. Their presence certainly has a place in Mass, but they have an importance beyond that, Ms. Henderson shared. “The presence of bishops and priests at events like SEEK matters not only during the liturgy, SEEK continued on page B2
Seeking God in abundant ways UT-Chattanooga student joins others at event ‘yearning for what God was calling all of us to do’
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joined 16,000 other Catholics in Columbus, Ohio, Jan. 1-5 for the annual SEEK26 conference to kick off the new year seeking what God had in store for me. The SEEK conference is put on by FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, whose goal is to keep college students alive for their faith while still balancing college life. I was invited to SEEK by the FOCUS missionaries at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where I currently attend. It was there that I was given the invitation to participate in the SEEK conference, and I became instantly interested. I traveled to Columbus with 20 other students from my school and our four missionaries. As I sat on the bus, I felt a sense of gratitude as I was surrounded by college students choosing to travel on New Year’s Day for eight hours on a bus all yearning for what God was calling of us to do. As we arrived in Columbus, we were welcomed with bustling crowds everywhere as 16,000 Catholics settled into the city. The first thing on the agenda was celebrating Mass together in the Greater Columbus Convention Center, the high point of the conference every day. In the procession of Mass each day, hundreds of priests, seminarians, and bishops from across the country participated in the procession, displaying that shining light for each college student in the representa-
Commentary tion of their faith. It personally was a beautiful scene for me to witness each day as they all were together in communion with one another. One of the most exciting things I experienced at SEEK was a message following Mass from our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. Something that made that special was that a pope had never given a message to SEEK participants before. It was beautiful to hear him talk specifically to us college students and care about our faith journey so intentionally. Another thing that was enjoyable each evening was being able to listen to two featured keynote speakers for the night. The keynoters were usually well-known Catholic authors, speakers, religious, etc. Each keynote speaker would bring his or her own experience and connection; it was beautiful to learn how the keynoters have their own journey of faith and how each of us can learn from them. The bulk of full conference days were all set up similarly. We were able to start the day in prayer, praying the rosary together, followed by celebrating Mass together each day. Having Mass as the first big group event of the day was personally a great way to be in communion with each other, a nice reminder of how Christ calls each of us to have that with each other and Himself. Following Mass each day, I participated in the large women’s
COURTESY OF MAGGIE PARSONS
By Maggie Parsons
SEEKers from UTC Maggie Parsons (center) stands with fellow University of Tennessee at Chattanooga students (from left) Cassie Wilson, Molly Rembold, Brooke Rabensteine, and Natalie Pokelwaldt. concurrent session where I was able to learn the importance of my identity as a daughter of God and how I should not jeopardize that, especially when navigating life in college. I listened to other women’s testimonies on their own personal journeys and how I might apply that to my life. It was a beautiful way for me to be able to understand my identity in college and how important I am in the eyes of my Heavenly Father. Following our concurrent session each morning, we attended various breakout sessions covering a wide range of topics. Each session was
designed to help you learn valuable things in your faith in day-to-day life. I picked my breakout sessions based on what I wanted to grow in my faith life or anything I wanted to deepen my knowledge about. One of the breakout sessions I was most interested in was the Bible study master class. In this session, I learned the ins and outs of starting my own Bible study at my college campus. I learned from someone who was in the same shoes I am in now, navigating their faith in college but wanting to reach out to others who should hear FOCUS continued on page B3