A special disposition of grace

SEEK25 conference was inspirational regardless of the season of life you’re in

By Claire Collins

It had been five years since I last attended the Fellowship of Catholic University Students’ SEEK conference. After spending three years as a missionary with FOCUS, my husband and I went back to SEEK in Indianapolis in 2019 with a few folks from our parish in Kentucky. We were fired up to show them the great gift we had been given in experiencing this beautiful event, and the talks still proved they can speak right to our hearts despite being in a new season of life.

So, when it was announced that one of my best friends was receiving the St. Francis Xavier Honor at SEEK25 in Salt Lake City, we decided to return, making a pilgrimage across the nation to once again encounter the beauty and grace present at this conference.

I’ve heard it said before that events like SEEK, retreats, and pilgrimages carry with them a special disposition of grace to the souls encountering these life-changing events. The sheer numbers of priests, religious, and lay faithful together in one space, the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance and the Mass, the mercy of confession after confession in every hallway, nook, and cranny of the conference center, and the Holy Spirit alive in the minds and hearts of the souls attending talks and trainings. The grace is so palpable, you can almost taste it.

Hundreds of priests walk down the aisle as holy Mass begins, 17,000 faces attending in row after row after row of folding chairs. The diversity of the Church is shown in the variety of habits worn, languages spoken, and ages present. Talks about culture, relationships, masculinity and femininity, apologetics, and missionary evangelism fill large rooms with eager expectation. The energy builds as more and more hearts prepare to encounter Jesus in the sacraments and in adoration, where hearts are transformed, and sins are forgiven for hours on end.

While the conference is geared toward college students, adults and families gather to hear talks about what it means to live missionary discipleship; seminarians are encouraged in their journey toward the priesthood; campus ministers are refreshed and inspired; religious Sisters and Brothers are reminded of their calling; and priests experience fellowship and fraternity in their ministry.

FOCUS has made way for every person present to have a true and lasting encounter with the living God, for the first time or for the hundredth.

Some noteworthy themes carried throughout SEEK25. We live in a post-Christian culture where some old ways of living the faith in the world just no longer cut it. God has particularly chosen each soul that exists to be where they are, when they are, and what they are for a purpose. The Church is alive and ready to win the world back for Christ, and will never be overcome, no matter what she faces. Jesus deeply desires to heal the most broken parts of us. Every Catholic Christian is called to be a missionary disciple. And so, so much more.

I was particularly struck by a few points from several talks, which God so mercifully and intentionally weaved together to write a story just for me. Speaker Bill Donaghy, when speaking on technology and phones, called these devices that so often disrupt our relationships “digital contraception.” He described how they disrupt the natural order of human interaction, and how their consequences are far more devastating than we realize. And I thought about how much this digital contraception has interrupted my own life.

Then, Father John Burns spoke poetically about those first lies the evil one spoke to God’s children in the Garden of Eden, and how we still allow ourselves to be in conversation with the serpent in our own lives today. The devil loves to twist God’s goodness into something we should doubt, reject, run away from, and lose trust in. And my heart saw so many of the ways in which I do this in my motherhood, marriage, and missionary inspirations.

Monsignor James Shea gave a Tolkien-esque recount of the great saga of Jesus’s redemption of the world. Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, reminded us that God wants all of us, and gently invites us to deeper and deeper intimacy with Him no matter how long we have walked on the journey of faith.

And between these talks there were my own great reunions, joys, and encounters with Jesus in the sacraments. I left the conference renewed and changed.

If you are reading this, I would first encourage you to consider making SEEK26, or any future FOCUS conference, a part of your plans. The conference will be in three locations, the closest to our diocese being Columbus, Ohio. You can find everything you need to know about the conference at www.seek.focus.org. The “Making Missionary Disciples” track is an amazing opportunity for parishes and lay faithful, and this year featured prominent Catholic speakers including Dr. Scott Hahn, Curtis Martin, Dr. Edward Sri, and Hilary Draftz. I also would encourage you to visit www.seekreplay.com, where you can access many of the talks given at SEEK25 free of charge.

If you can’t make SEEK a part of your plans, I would gently encourage you to find another way to have a new and unique experience of God’s grace. Maybe it’s through a retreat (like at the Casa Maria Retreat Center in Irondale, Ala., or the Bethany Retreat House in Dickson, Tenn.). Maybe it’s through a series on FORMED.org or listening to the Bible, Catechism, or Rosary in a Year podcasts. Even making an appointment for confession or spiritual conversation with your local priest would probably bring many of God’s graces in your life to the forefront.

And lastly, I invite you to believe deep, deep in your heart that Jesus is after you, that He hasn’t given up on you, and that He’s not done pursuing you. He wants more. He wants all of you. If there’s anything in your life that you haven’t given to Him, I guarantee He’s trying to get your attention. So, make a simple prayer with me now: “Jesus, I invite you to open my eyes to your grace.” And I pray that you respond joyously when He calls.

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