Wow Powerful Keynote at SEEK 26 by Former Soccer Player Fr. Chase Hilgenbrinck on Authentic Christianity!
The Rescue Mission: Overcoming the Kingdom of Discouragement
Keynote : Fr. Chase Hilgenbrinck (SEEK 26)
Authentic Christianity Vs. the Horizon of Evil
Fr. Chase begins by reflecting on the famous words of Pope Benedict XVI: authentic Christianity is the result of an encounter with God that gives life a "new horizon and a decisive direction." However, Fr. Chase posits a sobering parallel: an encounter with evil can also give a life a new horizon and a decisive direction.
He recalls a childhood memory—a story of a young boy kidnapped from his stroller at Disney World during a momentary distraction. For a young Chase, this shattered his innocence. It introduced him to a world of fear, helplessness, and captivity. He realized then that evil was real, and it left him with a lingering fear of becoming "that boy"—someone so lost they couldn't find their way home. Fr. John Riccardo often uses this image of captivity to describe sin: a state so helpless that only an encounter with the Kingdom of God crashing into the kingdom of evil can liberate the soul.
Don't Listen to the Demon of Discouragement
As he grew, Fr. Chase realized he had underestimated the power of sin, specifically a temptation the Desert Fathers warned could derail the entire Christian life: Discouragement.
He distinguishes between depression and discouragement:
Depression: The feeling that becoming a saint or choosing the good isn't even possible; the horizon is dark.
Discouragement: Seeing the possibility, wanting to be a saint, but feeling that your heart is too weak to reach it.
Etymologically, "discouragement" means to "steal the heart." It is the perfect demonic ploy—allowing you to see the goal while convincing you that you lack the strength to achieve it. In his own life as a professional athlete, this manifested as the "game of comparison." He justified his sins by noting he wasn't "as bad" as his teammates or by leaning on the "mass on Sunday" as a spiritual safety net while his heart remained stolen.
The Mysterious Confessor
The turning point occurred while Fr. Chase was playing professional soccer in Chile. Living a double life—moving from mortal sin to mortal sin while maintaining a routine of confession—he describes himself as a "presumptuous confessor." He didn't want to change; he just didn't want to go to hell. He hopped from church to church so priests wouldn't recognize his pattern.
One Friday, he entered a dimly lit parish and encountered a mysterious priest in a "light box" confessional. When Chase stated it had been one week since his last confession, the priest sternly asked, "Why are you here?"
Offended and competitive, Chase "dropped bombs"—confessing his worst sins to "win" the encounter. The priest’s response was a blunt wake-up call: "You’re twenty-four years old. You’re too old for this. Do not come back until you are ready to be serious."
Hearing the Coach's Voice
Initially, Chase thought the priest was a jerk. But as he walked through the town, he realized the priest’s voice sounded familiar. It was the voice of the great coaches he had played for—men who spoke sternly because they believed their players were capable of more. They were saying: "You are not living up to your potential."
Fr. Chase realized that the priest saw a young man whose heart had been stolen and was unwilling to be reconciled. This encounter was the "rescue mission" sent by God to break the victim mentality that had seeped into his spiritual life.
Refusing to be a Victim
Fr. Chase concludes with a call to action against the "tyranny of entitlement" and the "victim mentality." While we are all victims of original sin and the sins of others, we are not helpless.
He challenges the audience to recognize that if they see the possibility of holiness but feel unable to choose it, they are suffering from discouragement. He urges them to put sin on notice and reject the lies of the enemy that suggest God doesn't care about them specifically.
"Take heart. Take your heart back," he concludes. The rescue mission has been deployed, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and an encounter with Christ is ready to shatter the horizon of discouragement and provide a new, decisive direction.
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