More than 1,800 experience immersive event

The Catholic Accent

GREENSBURG – More than 1,300 people, including 500 Catholic school students, experienced a one-of-a-kind event, KNOW HIM: Stunned Disciples, at Christ Our Shepherd Center Sept. 21. An additional 500 Catholic school students were able to experience the event through a traveling exhibit at the two Catholic high schools.

The event was the latest in experiential evangelization events designed to help the faithful grow closer to Christ by learning about his life and the lessons it taught the world. The engaging presentations include speakers, multimedia content, witness testimony and interactive activities.

KNOW HIM: Stunned Disciples featured actor Frank Runyeon. His dramatic portrayal of the Gospel of John, accompanied by stunning lighting and special effects, put the audience, including 500 students from Catholic schools in the Diocese, into scenes taken from the Gospel. Runyeon is known around the country for his one-man shows that adapt six texts from the New Testament. He appeared in the television shows “Falcon Crest,” “LA Law,” “Santa Barbara,” “General Hospital,” “Another World” and “The Young and the Restless.”

Those in attendance moved onto the Diocesan Heritage Center for “Tools of the Crucifixion,” a powerful exhibit of relics and a video presentation from Father Charles Samson, priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Mo., and professor of sacred Scripture and biblical archeology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. The exhibit’s sacred treasures include a sliver from the crown of thorns, a nail made with iron shavings of the nails that pierced Jesus, and images of Veronica’s veil. They were able to venerate a relic of the True Cross and experience an almost life-sized replica of the Shroud of Turin, the burial cloth in which Jesus’ body was wrapped.