“God does not need you.”

David Calavitta began his talk by speaking these words. These are words that you don’t necessarily want to hear. They may cause feelings of doubt or worry or even fear. However, David did not end his message there. He continued that thought by saying, “God does not need you, and that’s good news. God wants you.” What a wonderful feeling to be wanted, to be longed for by someone, to belong. If God didn’t want you, He wouldn’t have created you!

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This year, Christopher Kennebeck is serving as our Liturgy MC (Master of Ceremonies) for both of our conferences; his job includes not only planning our liturgies, but making sure that they run smoothly. He attended three of our conferences as a teen participant, and this is his second conference as a seminarian staff member.

This fall he will be a junior at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, and, God willing, will be ordained a priest seven years from now.  When he is not working as our Liturgy MC, you can find him hanging out with other seminarians, going to the movies with his brother, watching his sister perform in theater, playing disc golf, baseball, and dodgeball, as well as singing in the seminary choir.

His two favorite parts of the weekend are seeing the joy on everyone’s face as they come out of confession, and the men’s talk.

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Today was my third time being at the volunteer Mass on Friday before the Steubenville conference begins, and it’s one of my favorite Masses to attend all year. The anticipation is real. The hype is real. Steuby is finally here!

Over 100 volunteers gathered at Missouri State University’s Catholic Student Center to celebrate Mass before the conference. These men and women willingly gave up their entire weekend to serve at this conference.  At the beginning of his homily, Bishop Edward Rice of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese thanked the volunteers for their commitment.

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