Before a sea of twenty-four thousand young SEEK attendees stood a place to pray, the pilgrimage of a lifetime, and a prayer-themed tote bag to carry every book and pamphlet they’d received – all at the Relevant Radio booth in Mission Way. While many think radio doesn’t reach the young Church, our Associates heard time and time again how Relevant Radio touches lives – especially the Family Rosary Across America, broadcasted each morning of SEEK 2024 before Mass.
We heard from children of superfans, like Ania* who’s currently in RCIA: “My dad listens to Relevant Radio all day, and he’s not even Catholic! He’s married to my mom, a Presbyterian minister, and I think my dad would love being Catholic. I hope he’ll join me in RCIA next year.”
Participants who grew up with The Patrick Madrid Show and Morning Air playing on the way to school came by to offer their enthusiasm. Students and their mentors grabbed stickers, rosaries, and St. Joseph keychains for their loved ones and themselves. Some even took photos with Father Rocky in our photo booth!
“Relevant Radio is where Timmerie is, right?” Became as common a refrain as “How have I never heard of you guys before?” from all ages after the Rosary. Complete with live intentions from the audience of ten thousand SEEK pilgrims and co-hosted by many familiar FOCUS faces, the Rosary brought Relevant Radio into the lives of many who had never heard of us before.
College student Lu had never heard of Relevant Radio. She shared as she wrote intentions in our prayer book, “I love Father Rocky at the Rosary each morning. His voice is so calming and it’s a good start before Mass.”
Joanne from New York still remembers the impact of Relevant Radio on her and her husband during the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic as she met Fr. Rocky and Maggie Carrozza: “We would take walks and listen to Mass. I try to get everybody to listen to Relevant Radio. Why listen to anything else? It’s changed my life. I listen all day and it’s such a pleasure to meet Fr. Rocky and Maggie here today.”
Ashlynn is a student from Modesto who’s also a longtime listener. She was eager to share with the volunteers in our balloon-arched booth. “I love Relevant Radio because it gives such sound information and gives us a safe space to go to in social media today. It builds a culture of prayer and life.”
She also shared that her favorites were Patrick Madrid and Cale Clarke. Ashlynn actually dedicated her thesis to Patrick Madrid “to get a little more advertisement out into my secular campus”!
SEEK presented a unique opportunity for our staff to connect with the present young leaders of the Church, full of joy and energy to serve the Lord. Now, thousands of young leaders like Lu and Ashlynn have access to our 215 stations nationwide and the free app for all their daily spiritual needs.
So, is radio still relevant? Is Relevant Radio serving the youth? According to the attendees of SEEK 2024, the consensus is yes!
