March 6
| 2022
VOL 31 NO 7
IN THIS ISSUE
A7 NEWLYWED REUNION
Cathedral couples would do it all again
A14
120 YEARS AND COUNTING Knights Council 645 is still making history
LIKE ST. TABITHA B1 BE All Saints sewing ministry helping women around the world
He dwells among us ......................... A3 Parish news ....................................... B4 Diocesan calendar ............................ B5 Columns ............................................. B6 Catholic youth .............................. B7,10 La Cosecha ............................Section C
SEEK22 regional event brings youth to diocese Nearly 1,000 FOCUS students attend conference in downtown Knoxville
By Gabrielle Nolan
GABRIELLE NOLAN (2)
D
raw near to God and He will draw near to you.” College students traveled to Knoxville to do just that for SEEK22, the annual winter conference hosted Feb. 4-6 by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). FOCUS has adapted SEEK the past two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the in-person conference usually is hosted in one central location for participants to travel to, recent years have seen a hybrid event of local, smaller gatherings that feature livestreamed talks. John Zimmer, vice president of apostolic development for FOCUS, was present in Knoxville to give a live talk and commented on the atmosphere of the regional gathering. “It is amazing. This experience of the kind of smaller, regional conferences is really just a microcosm of what we do on a grand scale,” Mr. Zimmer said. “The conferences always have a role of helping people fall more in love with Jesus Christ and then recognizing that they’re called to mission.” Students, families, and parish leaders gathered at campuses, homes, or parishes all around the country, including Dallas, Miami, Orange, Calif., and Kansas City, Mo. Nationally, nearly 12,000 students gathered at campuses for the SEEK experience. Internationally, groups met in countries such as Ireland, England, Austria, and Mexico. The regional event held at the Knoxville Convention Center hosted 15 campuses from five states, including Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois. The conference drew a total crowd of 1,100 that included missionaries, benefactors, and mission partners. More than 90 percent of attendees were college students. In addition to his current role, Mr. Zimmer has previously served as a campus missionary and overseen the training and formation of missionary staff. “What we exist to do, really, is
SEEK and ye shall find Above: Students attending the FOCUS SEEK22 conference in Knoxville in February chat up the Holy Fathers, who were in facsimile attendance. Below: Bishop Richard F. Stika, who celebrated Mass for students attending the SEEK22 conference, visits with students after Mass.
to evangelize college students, yes, but then to launch them so they can go back to wherever they are,
whether that’s their college campus, whether that’s their neighborhood, and when they leave college to bring it into their workplaces, anywhere they go, their parish,” he said. “Part of what has always been at the heart of the conferences is that this isn’t about FOCUS. This is about Jesus Christ and the Great Commission,” Mr. Zimmer explained. “What we’re trying to do is bring the light of Christ and the enthusiasm of young people to the world.”
The atmosphere was energetic, alive, and full of emotion. Throughout the weekend, college students mentored and counseled one another. Some ran about waving their school flags with pride. Some students left the conference room crying, while others lifted their hands in worship as praise-filled music penetrated the air. Still others were heard through the hallways saying, “I love these people. I love being Catholic.” The conference being located adjacent to the University of Tennessee meant that a large showing of students would be clad in bright orange. Thomas Gardiner, a senior at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, said it was his first time attending a SEEK conference. “I kind of started taking my faith seriously more in college,” Mr. Gardiner said. “Everyone talked about
‘What are you waiting for?’
SEEK22 continued on page A15
FOCUS missionaries are changing lives by bringing the Catholic faith to university students By Claire Collins
M
y sophomore year of college at the University of Tennessee, I was getting closer and closer to leaving the Catholic
Church. While my Dominican Catholic education had convinced me of Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist, not much else was attracting my attention like the non-denominational ministry I also attended every week on campus. They were dynamic, welcoming, Gospel-centered, and many of my new college friends could be found there. Then, as if placed there in perfect divine providence, a team of missionaries with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) was sent to UT-Knoxville. I had heard from a friend about her incredible experience with FOCUS on
Column her campus, so I reached out to our FOCUS team director, Andrea, and attended a FOCUS SEEK conference that year with 6,000 other young Catholics. I couldn’t believe what I saw and heard those few days in Orlando, Fla.: young people alive for their faith, dynamic speakers with life-changing messages, college students on their knees adoring our eucharistic Lord. And my life was never the same. Back on campus, Andrea saw my hunger for the truth and invited me to pursue it more intentionally. She answered many of the theological questions I had come across during my years of searching. I then became a FOCUS student leader
on campus and began meeting regularly with Andrea. She taught me different ways to pray, how to lead a Bible study, how to evangelize and share the basics of the Gospel message with others and inspired me to want to start sharing my faith in a more direct and intentional way. I promised to live chastely, with sobriety, and personal excellence in my own life to the best of my ability. I had a lot to learn about the faith and how to lead others in it, but I was hungry and excited to follow where the Holy Spirit was leading. This lasted throughout the rest of my college experience, and I was able to lead Bible studies and mentor other students, develop a more regular prayer and sacramental life, and make some great friends in a beautiful and growing Catholic FOCUS continued on page A16