FOCUS launches series of videos on stories of ‘prodigal sons’

The Catholic streaming service SEEK Replay has launched a video series of testimonials from fallen-away Catholics who returned to the faith, in hopes that their stories will inspire others to follow the same path.

“We all wander. God awaits our return,” an emailed press release about the videos from SEEK states. “The parable of the Prodigal Son reminds us that no matter how far we’ve gone, the Father is always waiting — eager to run to us with mercy and love. If you’ve been distant from God, or if someone you love has strayed, know this: the way back begins with just one step. That’s all He asks.”

These testimonials, titled “Prodigal Sessions,” have a simple message: God loves each of His prodigal sons and daughters. 

There is a profound difference between “hearing that He loves you versus experiencing, knowing that He actually loves you,” said Kim Zember in the first of these videos. “Not that He just loves everyone, that He loves me.”

Zember describes how she tried to “fill the deepest longings I had in my heart” for more than a decade of living a homosexual lifestyle before returning to the faith. Today, Zember is a Catholic speaker and author who runs the ministry Boldly Beloved.

The platform hosting these testimonials, SEEK Replay, is an offshoot of the SEEK conference, which is held each year by Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS).

SEEK Replay takes its name from SEEK, an annual Catholic conference.While many of the videos on SEEK Replay are recordings of public talks from SEEK conferences, some, like the Prodigal Sessions, are recordings of speakers in more intimate settings.

Another video features Father Mark-Mary Ames, known for hosting the popular podcast “Rosary in a Year.” 

Fr. Ames explains how, as a young man, he always tried to attain worldly pleasure and success. Eventually, this led him to stop attending Mass altogether in college. However, one night at a party he began arguing with an atheist in favor of God’s existence, and he had an epiphany that brought him to Christ. He then radically transformed his life and gave up much of what he had previously sought, but he says that this led him to find far more than he had ever hoped for.

“The Father is not outdone in generosity,” he said.

Heather Khym, Bill Donaghy, and Father Chase Hilgenbrinck, and also featured in the series. Each of the five videos tells a personal story of how God brings people back from sin to His love.

“The Father’s goodness just reminded me who I am,” said Fr. Ames.

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