NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE OF KNOXVILLE
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New Catholic bookstore open in DOK By Claire Collins
to pay so much to go to a retreat center, to go rent places out for the kids to do training, leadership training, stuff like that. So, I had thought about that, but it was about that same time that (the diocese) got the property for Christ Prince of Peace. And so that was kind of like, OK, God’s saying, ‘That’s not what you’re supposed to do,’” Mrs. Hartert-Forshee said, referring to St. Thérèse of Lisieux Parish in Cleveland and Christ Prince of Peace Retreat Center in Benton. Then in January 2024, after much discernment and prayer, Mrs. Hartert-Forshee decided it was time to go for it and open a Catholic bookstore. “I had my resale license for the store and was just doing a few things here and there for some of the local parishes and catechists,” she recounted. “And we really didn’t know for sure if it was going to happen, but we felt like it was God’s hand in it and that we were supposed to do this. So, I went ahead and got the retail license and everything and started making plans. But it took me until the end of August 2024 to get the zoning.” “We were proceeding on,” she continued, “except we just didn’t really feel like we could start knocking holes in the walls and making doorways and things like that that we needed to do in these buildings until August. So, from August to October, it was a huge family, you know, ‘let’s get this done’ kind of thing. My kids and
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new Catholic bookstore has opened in Georgetown near Chattanooga. Meliora, founded by Sandy Hartert-Forshee and her daughter, Angela Cowan, wants to provide the Diocese of Knoxville with beautiful sacred items, books, gifts, and Catholic goods. “I own the building. This is why it’s out in the country in this really rural area. And a lot of people’s feedback on that is, ‘Oh, I love the drive. It’s beautiful!’ So, I think no matter where I’m at, people would come because there’s such a need.” Mrs. Hartert-Forshee felt a stirring in her heart for a Catholic bookstore in her area. She had been working at a Christian bookstore in Cleveland after years of working in the areas of ministry and banking, but the only Catholic items available at the store were a Bible and a rosary. That’s when she got the idea for a store on her very own property. “I bought this land in 2002 and at that point, you know, it was a place to live, and it had all these buildings. And so many times I thought, ‘There’s something I should be doing with this.’ I really wasn’t quite sure what it was.” She continued using the buildings for storage, all the while discerning their potential. “At one point, I actually thought, maybe a retreat center because I was doing youth ministry at St. Thérèse and, you know, we’d have
BILL BREWER
Meliora store launched in Georgetown, offering sacred items, books, gifts, and more
‘There’s such a need’ Sandy Hartert-Forshee sits in the Meliora Catholic bookstore in Georgetown, surrounded by many of the items the new business has for sale my husband—we’ve all worked on it. The walls are concrete blocks, and we had to put in doors and do all sorts of digging and concretepouring and all sorts of things.” During many moments, Mrs. Hartert-Forshee could see God’s grace at work. One of those moments came in June 2024. “In June, I saw on Facebook, and we had no idea this was happening, so I know that God is in this, totally. We saw that The Paraclete was going to be closing.” The Paraclete Catholic book and gift store operated in Knoxville for 37 years and since 1990 at a build-
ing owned by the diocese at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus before closing on July 3, 2024. While she had no idea when her dreams for Meliora began that The Paraclete would be closing, Mrs. Hartert-Forshee was able to help give many of the items being sold at The Paraclete a new home in her store. Her daughter, Angela, who has been instrumental in the efforts toward opening Meliora, saw God’s hand so clearly in this time. “My mom and I knew there was a need for a Catholic bookstore,” Meliora continued on page B2
‘Fanning the Flame’ of the Eucharistic Congress St. Jude in Chattanooga hosts a three-weekend revival to celebrate the teachings of the Indy event By Dan McWilliams
COURTESY OF ROSE LOVELACE
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n organizing the Fanning the Flame Eucharistic Revival that took place over three weekends last month at St. Jude Church in Chattanooga, no one at the time realized how appropriate the Gospel reading for the closing Mass on Aug. 17 would turn out to be. Bishop Mark Beckman celebrated the liturgy to conclude the five-day event that presented the teachings of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress held last summer in Indianapolis and matched its five-day schedule from July 17-21, 2024. The congress was the first held in the United States since 1941. Fanning the Flame sessions, which presented to those attending several videos recorded at the congress and allowed area Catholics to give personal testimonies, were held Aug. 1-2, Aug. 9, and Aug. 1617. The Gospel reading on the final day came from Luke 12. “They chose the theme of ‘Fanning the Flame’ before they knew the Gospel this weekend that would close it, in which Jesus was saying how He wished that there would be a fire to spread over the earth. I used the homily to speak about the fire of the Spirit and His love,” Bishop Beckman said after Mass. Rose Lovelace of St. Jude organized the event, and she and her team drew a round of applause when the bishop acknowledged them at the end of Mass. Concelebrating the closing Mass were three Chattanooga Deanery
‘How I wish that it were already blazing’ Deacon Jim Bello hosted the Fanning the Flame opening weekend sessions, themed “From the Four Corners” and “The Greatest Love Story.” parish pastors: host Father Charlie Burton of St. Jude, Father Mike Nolan of St. Thérèse of Lisieux in Cleveland, and Father John Dowling of St. Augustine in Signal Mountain.
Deacon Butch Feldhaus of St. Jude was deacon of the Word, and Deacon Brian Gabor of the host parish was deacon of the altar. Deacon Frank Bosh of St. Jude also assisted.
Midlife Crisis, based at St. Stephen Parish in Chattanooga, provided music at the closing Mass. Mrs. Lovelace sang with the group. A reception was held in Siener Hall to conclude the evening. Three deanery deacons hosted Fanning the Flame sessions: Deacon Jim Bello of Holy Spirit in SoddyDaisy and Deacon Dave Waguespack and Deacon Gary Brinkworth of St. Stephen. “The words of Jesus tonight are powerful: ‘I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish that it were already blazing,’” Bishop Beckman said as he began his homily. “Those of us who have noticed the news about wildfires out west, we know how destructive those fires can be—so when Jesus uses that metaphor, it has power. “I remember hiking near Bend, Ore., in a forest where a fire had gone through recently, and the earth was scorched with the smell of ashes in the air, the dead trees, nothing green in that part of the trail. I remember the feeling of sadness that came over me, and yet there is something in Jesus that is on fire to have that which needs to be consumed, consumed.” The bishop added that “there is debris, underbrush that needs to be burned from our hearts, parts of who we are that are not like God, the self-centered parts of our hearts, the parts of us that are yet unmoved by the concerns of our neighbors, the parts of us that are still hard and cold when we see the suffering and vulnerable in our Fanning the Flame continued on page B3