“You are seeking validation from a world that crucified a perfect man.” 

I encountered this quote while scrolling my Instagram feed the other day, and I attributed the root issue to be one of identity. I often catch myself measuring my value by my alignment with the world’s standards. In actuality, identity is far more than matching the appearance of influencers, earning the best grades or being accepted by “that” group. 

The word “identity” derives from a Latin root meaning “same; oneness.” Colossians 3:11 reads, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all.”

It is imperative to know three things that make up the foundation of authentic identity: every individual is created by God, for God and loved by God. Every person is born with inherent worth and dignity. In our baptism, we become members of Christ’s family. Hence, we are created for God. 

Perhaps the root of it all appears in the last foundational piece — our identity is to ultimately be rooted in the unconditional love our Father possesses for us.

When it comes to identity, His love for us is so easily overshadowed and forgotten. Plenty of forces can negatively impact one’s identity, such as cultural trends, peer pressures and comparison. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about the thief of my authentic identity is social media. Since birth, my generation has aimed to define worth through popularity and appearance. 

A key component of authentic identity is knowing you are loved by the Creator — so why should we care about the approval of others? It is natural to desire the support of peers; however, no one’s love can surpass the God of the Universe. 

Another of the many things that challenge authentic identity is comparison. I often hear the phrase “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Each person is made uniquely, and limiting oneself to the perceived perfection of another ultimately devastates the plan God has in store for the individual. 

How might one truly discover identity in Christ? Personally, I retreat to prayer, specifically adoration. While I could be better about attending regularly, nothing quite surpasses the peace I feel in the quiet presence of the Eucharist. I’ve become so used to the hustle and bustle of the world that I often discover myself in awe of how evident the voice of God is in those moments. In conversation with the Lord, we may better learn how to anchor our identity in Him. 

Not only does prayer elicit the formation of identity in Christ, but the lives of the saints also serve as supreme examples of living out true Christian identity. This exact concept is particularly evident in the story of the recently canonized St. Carlo Acutis, who used media to craft a website summarizing Eucharistic miracles. Instead of using technology for what the world deems to be its purpose, he exemplified his identity in Christ by creating a faith-based site. 

True identity will never be restrictive. I once heard a Sister speak on vocations, and she said, “You may think there is no way you could enjoy life if called down a different path than the one you intended. But from the time you were knit together in your mother’s womb, He had a plan for your life. You will find true joy in answering His call, not in convincing yourself that your plan is greater.” 

The same concept applies to identity. Authentic identity in the Lord never restricts, for through it we flourish. 

Oakley Wilbur is a parishioner at Christ the King Church in Little Rock and attends Mount St. Mary Academy.

The groundbreaking of the new St. Edward’s Outreach Center in Texarkana was held Oct. 2 with Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, pastor Father William Burmester and staff members of Catholic Charities of Arkansas in attendance. A successful pledge drive has provided funds for the much-needed new building. Deacon Leon Pesek, executive director, and a group of dedicated volunteers have provided bag lunches to senior citizens, the homeless and those with food insecurities for decades. In September, they provided an average of 290 to 350 lunches each weekday. The new building will allow volunteers to better serve the clients.

St. Edward Outreach Center is this year’s partner for the diocesan initiative, One Church. All donations to One Church through August 2026 will support the center’s operations. To donate or for more information, visit dolr.org/one-church.

TONTITOWN — The path is not always straight, and no one understands that like Chase Feltner.

As the new hire for the dean of athletics at Ozark Catholic Academy in Tontitown, Feltner feels his circuitous path has brought him to the place he needs to be. 

Most people associate the Feltner name with either running or burgers. And both would be true.

Feltner can lay claim to both, just at different times in his life.

As a high school student, Feltner ran mid-distance races and broke state and regional records, earning him the All-American title in track at Russellville High School in 2002. In 2003, he was awarded the highly regarded Gatorade Track Player of the Year. 

His success also carried over to the classroom, where he graduated with a 4.0 grade point. Combined, it was his athleticism and academics that got the attention of the legendary Coach John McDonald at the University of Arkansas, who offered Feltner and his twin brother scholarships to run.

“Being successful in the classroom was important to me,” Feltner said, “and focusing on my studies and what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to make sure I could be successful and prepare for my future.” 

The running genes were legitimate. Their father, John, was a running phenom and was inducted into the Arkansas Hall of Fame more than 20 years ago. Chase Feltner would later be inducted in 2021, an honor he holds dear as he and his dad are currently the only father-son duo.

Despite his love for running, after three semesters, he and his brother, Travis, both decided to hang up their running cleats and focus on school.

“It came down to the joy that I had experienced running, it just wasn’t there anymore,” Feltner said. “I had lived out a dream to wear the U of A jersey and everything was there, but something was missing, and that was really the first time in life that I was experiencing that emptiness, but I didn’t know what that was.” 

Running had been his life, but something was missing. 

Following graduating in 2007 with a degree in marketing management and a minor in finance and communications, Feltner moved to Los Angeles, worked in a restaurant on Sunset Strip across from the famous Mel’s Diner, often frequented by the stars. The following year, he moved to Panama City Beach, Fla., and worked as a bartender while his brother, Travis, worked as a weather reporter.

With these experiences under their belt, both brothers moved back home to Fayetteville the following year and opened the iconic “Feltner Brothers” that has been a part of the local scene for 16 years. Not veering too far off the path, one could say there were “burgers in their blood.” Their grandfather had opened the original “Feltner’s Whataburger” in Russellville in 1967. Still open today, the restaurant continues under their aunt. 

“Our restaurants were not affiliated, but we knew we could be successful with the name,” he said. “We were so young, and we didn’t want to work for anyone else,” Feltner said with a laugh of their 2009 restaurant debut in Fayetteville.

Still, the demands of keeping a flourishing business afloat took their toll on both brothers. A second location, interestingly, was opened in Tontitown in the summer of 2018 before OCA opened its doors. 

“But we had to keep an eye on what’s important,” the 40-year-old said. 

As the family grew and changed, so did their dreams for the business. Feltner and his brother took different paths, but their younger brother, Grant, stepped in as a new owner of the business. When the pandemic hit in 2020, it was a struggle to keep both establishments, so the Tontitown location closed.

“We spent time refocusing our efforts with the rebranding and refreshing of the business in Fayetteville to keep it successful,” he said. 

All the while, that still small voice had gotten louder for Feltner.

In 2023, he entered the seminary with the Diocese of Little Rock and continued discerning what a life of holiness looked like for him. That led him a year later to join the Trappist monks at St. Joseph Abbey, an old dairy farm turned monastery, in Massachusetts, where Feltner said it was isolated and the cold winters appealed to him. 

But the voice continued to call, and Feltner said it brought him back to Arkansas to be with his family. 

“The Lord was asking me to come home, and there was a peace in making the decision,” Feltner said. “I have never felt more free in making that decision.”

Feltner, who attends both Fayetteville parishes of St. Thomas Aquinas and St Joseph, reflects on how his resume has been a primer for this new position, which includes overseeing all athletic programs and coaches.

“I told the Lord, after 18 years of doing the same thing, and then from 2023-2025 bouncing around, he better have something good for me,” he said with a laugh. “When I learned that the dean of athletics position was open, I felt really fortunate.”

“I feel the Lord has prepared me in all the aspects — faith, business, sports and working with youth — to be better prepared to do this job,” Feltner said. “I find myself sitting in the chapel at OCA and see the Lord’s humor. I have to pinch myself in this moment. This school has a mission and vision to help get the kids to heaven and to help them with who God intends them to be. We get a chance to develop who they are as athletes and individuals, and I am excited to be a part of that mission.”

Being a junior studying biology and global health at Georgetown University is already prestigious — but Vittoria Gratton, a parishioner of Mary Mother of God Church in Harrison, is eager to do more. 

“I’m pre-med, so I’m wanting to become a doctor primarily,” she said. “But I chose this major because I want to truly help people, not just in a lab, but I want to be in the field working with people.”

Helping others is part of what inspired Gratton, who is already an accomplished pianist, to learn to play the organ. 

“I’ve turned that talent into a way to help the Church.”

Gratton, 20, began playing piano at the age of 6 and started playing for Mass when she was only 10. Now, as she receives organ lessons from the choir director at Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart — the chapel on campus at Georgetown — she’s able to help even more, playing for Masses and musical events on campus and back at home, as well as assisting at Vacation Bible School. 

For Gratton, who began to explore her faith life as a young adult in college, music deepened her love for the Catholic faith and brought her even closer to the Church — it helped her just as much as she was able to help others. 

“Maybe music was what called me to the Church, what had me stick with it, but now I feel like it’s not the only reason I’m there.”

What is a song that makes you happy or energized? 

“These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ by Nancy Sinatra. I love that song.”

Samantha Stover knows that when you sing, you pray twice. Between her role as cantor at her home parish of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Little Italy and in the Cathedral of St. Andrew’s choir and instructing students as the new music teacher at Immaculate Conception School in North Little Rock, she spends a lot of time praying. 

Being involved in the community and showing up even after a long day proves to be fruitful. 

“Music is my biggest thing — being able to connect with the Mass in that way and being able to connect with my faith in a way that’s a little bit more thought-provoking,” she said. “You have to focus quite a bit, you have to practice and think on these things a lot if you’re going to be active in the music of the Church. It’s like a meditative practice in its own way — its own little prayer process.”

Stover, 27, said music provided her with an avenue to learn more about her faith. 

“The Catholic Church is one of the integral parts of the formation of Western music,” she said. “… I think that’s important, and it’s an interesting way to develop your faith and familiarize yourself with the roots of your faith, because you have to know Church history in order to function musically.”

Now, as the music teacher, Stover can share that love of music with her students and, in turn, deepen their faith. 

“The Church fosters a really welcoming space for creative people to come in and participate in that way. … I think that’s a really interesting entryway for some people to come in and eventually discover that they are more interested also in other aspects of the Church as well.”

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

“Consistency is the key to life. Showing up and doing the thing is better than not showing up at all. Also, tilt your larynx forward while you sing.”

For Isabel Vacca, a parishioner of St. Agnes Church in Mena, being involved in youth activities has played a pivotal role in the blossoming of her faith life. Until graduating high school in May, Vacca was on the diocese’s Youth Advisory Council, the prayer team and on one of the organizing teams for Search. This fall, she began studying theology at the University of Dallas.

“I would say I’ve been pretty involved in both my parish and on a diocesan level, and I’ve loved every minute of it,” she said. 

Being involved in an array of Catholic activities helps her, as someone who lives in a majority Protestant rural town. 

“We’re very blessed to be in a community of believers, but even then, it’s like you still feel a little bit out of place because our beliefs are obviously a little bit different,” she said. “Some of the biggest challenges are just having to defend the faith. When I was younger, it was always very stressful. … But as I’ve gotten older, I’m seeing it as a blessing. I love when people ask me questions about the faith.”

Vacca, 18, said she is always looking for ways to connect with other young Catholics, whether it’s giving a helping hand at St. Agnes, or on stage leading an ice breaker at a state youth convention. She knows firsthand the challenges that Catholic youth face, not just from Protestant peers, but in a culture of death that convinces young people that they are somehow unworthy. So much of her ministry with other youths has been spent convincing them that they are worthy of God’s love.

“I think a lot of people think, ‘Oh well, I’ve gone so far, I can’t come back.’ That’s never the case,” Vacca said. “It’s never too late. You’re never too far gone.” 

What is a song that makes you happy or energizes you? 

“‘All These Things That I’ve Done’ by The Killers. My dad used to play it all the time, and he would play it when we took us to school every day and that was our time with him in the morning before he went to work and before we went to school.”

They say that becoming a parent changes you, and Samantha Ellis would agree. The logistics engineer for JB Hunt Transport gave birth to her daughter just days after the COVID-19 lockdown, just months after getting a divorce. 

“A few years ago … a lot of life happened, and I was really going through it. I thought to myself, ‘Who would I be proud of my daughter becoming as a woman, and what do I need to do to emulate that?’” Ellis said. “… And so I found myself thinking about the phrase, ‘You’re the average of your five closest people.’ … And I recognized I wasn’t surrounding myself with people who I wanted to be like.”

Soon, Ellis, 29, said, she was “faced with miracles and the miracle of motherhood,” and that drew her back into the Church. One day at Mass, looking around the cry room with her daughter at the congregation, she saw many people happy to see her. Ellis realized she was in the right place. 

“It just hit me. I was like, ‘This is what matters, and having this passion for faith and especially passion for kids, I feel like I’m being pulled here.’”

She became involved in Christ the King Church in Little Rock’s young adult ministry, eager to help other young adults navigate challenges and obstacles. 

“Ever since then, I’ve been involved in the young adults group there, and I’ve made some amazing friends — the best friends of my whole life.”

Ellis knows that when times are hard, you have to take it one day at a time, and consistency is key. 

“There’s power in going through the motions, even if you’re not feeling it,” she said. “… There’s power in going to Mass and reciting the prayers and going to confession. The Lord wants you. You just have to pursue that. And he’s a gentleman — he’s going to wait patiently for you to let him in.”

What would you be the patron saint of? 

“It would have to be moms, or something to do with children. I’ve always felt called to be a mom. I love kids so much. Pregnant women — they just radiate joy. It’s like you’re a living miracle when you’re growing a baby. They talk about Moses, who would go and pray, and he was in the presence of the Lord, and he had to hide his face when he came back because it was radiant. I think that’s why mothers glow — because they are growing a miracle and they’re so close to holiness in that.”

Connor Evans grew up in Fort Smith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, attending services with his family, singing in the choir and volunteering in teen ministry and service projects. 

Inspired by John 6:35, “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst,” he grew to love the rich Catholic tradition and the Eucharist while in college at Arkansas Tech in Russellville. He attended RCIA classes taught by Colton Ketter, his instructor and godfather, at St. Leo the Great University Parish. 

“We come from a very long line and can trace our succession back to the apostles,” Evans said. “In my childhood faith, we were encouraged to be stern and ready to give a defense against other faiths. After encountering Catholic teachings and doctrines back to the Church Fathers, I can attest to the antiquity of Catholicism. We are Christianity.”

His father, who grew up in a different faith, was glad Evans found a faith he was on fire for, but his church family needed a little warming up.

He was happy that both of his parents were present at his baptism in 2023. When his father died shortly after, Father John Antony, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Fort Smith, gave Evans spiritual direction and blessed his father’s grave.

Evans, 23, is now a graduate student in business at Arkansas Tech and works at St. Leo’s, teaching OCIA classes, leading Wednesday night Bible studies and volunteering in music ministry. 

“The most inspiring thing I get to see is how students become convicted to become Catholic. I have a unique perspective because I was in their shoes. In times of crisis, our Lord raises up saints,” he said.

What is the best piece of advice you have received?

My late father once told me to never let anything steal my happiness. I’ve since realized that true joy cannot be measured by emotion or good living; rather, it is by drawing near to the One who gave us everything. Every heartbeat and breath that we take is an undeserved gift from the Lord; how could we not be joyful?

She has been a volunteer in two countries and two different churches, so it is easy to understand why Cindy Argueta makes a difference in any parish she attends.

A parishioner of St. Mary Parish in Siloam Springs, Argueta, 20, has taken on various roles and been actively involved with everything from youth retreats to parish religious education classes to Vacation Bible School. For the past two to three years, Argueta has divided her time between the demands of being a college student, working and volunteering at her parish. But, as in other aspects of her life, Argueta has not shied away from a challenge.  

Currently, Argueta is a junior studying kinesiology and sports medicine at John Brown University in Siloam Springs. She juggles her demanding academics while working two jobs. She manages the women’s soccer team with the work/study program at JBU and also at the Walton Family Health Complex.

In her home country of El Salvador, Argueta said she was very involved with her childhood church. Since moving from El Salvador with her parents and older brother as an early teen, Argueta decided to continue her desire to volunteer at her church and became involved at St. Mary’s.

“I am inspired by the people around me,” she said. “I have people who helped bring me closer to Christ, and I want to do the same,” she said.

If you were canonized, what would you be the patron saint of? 

“I think I would be the patron saint of smiles. I like smiling, being kind and helping others.” 

The Elser family at Christ the King Church in Little Rock is known for being an example of the quintessential Catholics, and Dr. Ashley Elser is no exception. 

When Elser, an anesthesiologist, isn’t bustling around UAMS, she’s involved in the parish choir and candle ministry, in addition to Serra Club — a given, considering that her two of her brothers, Father Stephen Elser and soon-to-be priest Deacon Christopher Elser — are clergy. 

“I think having my family around me also helps build up my faith life. … All faith starts in the family,” she said. “I just feel so fortunate to have them as an example.”

It’s in the behind-the-scenes ministries that Elser, 29, is involved in her parish with her family where she finds the greatest rewards. While changing out and tending to candles, Elser has the time to pray and prepare for the week ahead.

“It’s just a small little act, but I feel like it’s a way that I can also give back to the Church.”

In a stressful career, Elser finds that her faith keeps her grounded. 

“It’s like every day, even if it is a challenge, God is getting me through it,” she said.

Elser makes sure to stay up to date on Catholic Social Teaching and ethics to ensure that she’s living her faith authentically with every patient. 

“God is working through us to be able to heal the people that come to us in the hospital,” she said. “So I always try to remember that and think, ‘This is not me doing the work for these patients. This is God working, I’m his vessel. God is working through me.’”

What is a hobby or skill that you want to learn? 

“One thing I’ve always wanted to get into — and my sister’s done it, and it has inspired me, and I’m always looking to do it — I want to learn how to horseback ride. I know it sounds funny, but ever since I was little, I’ve always wanted to do it… My sister signed up to do horseback riding lessons in college, and I thought that was so cool.”