From news reports
Nearly 13,000 attendees, most of them college students, began the new year by charging up their faith at SEEK2017 in San Antonio, Texas.
The biennial event, hosted Jan. 3-7 by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students based in Colorado, featured the theme “What Moves You.” Throughout the conference, attendees learned to see the truth of how God seeks them with sacrificial love and invites them to encounter him with their whole hearts.
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“This has shown me there are 13,000 people with me with the same beliefs and goals as I have,” said Kelley Hartman, a freshman at the University of South Alabama and Chicago native.
Her twin sister, Lauren, also a freshman at USA, agreed. “It’s been life-changing to be a part of something larger and more powerful than I ever thought. I’m excited to go back to college to share my faith with others.”
Founded in 1998, FOCUS “invites college students into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church, inspiring and equipping them for a lifetime of Christ-centered evangelization, discipleship and friendships in which they lead others to do the same,” according to the organization’s website. This academic year, more than 550 FOCUS missionaries are serving full-time in 125 college campuses across 38 states and two locations in Austria.
SEEK2017 was the first national FOCUS conference for the Hartman twins, as well as their sister, Maggie.
“You can see Christ reflected in each person and how he desires to meet each of us individually,” said Maggie Hartman, a senior at Harvard University studying pre-med and religion who will be a FOCUS missionary after graduation.
Nearly 53,000 people have attended FOCUS events since the inaugural National Conference held in 1999, where 25 students came together to pray, deepen their Catholic faith and learn how to share Christ with others. SEEK2017 attendees came from more than 500 college campuses, and a few dozen international attendees hailed from several other countries. The largest campus contingent was from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with nearly 400 registrants.
“Our hope for SEEK2017 is that God will light a fire in the hearts of young leaders,” said Curtis Martin, CEO and founder of FOCUS. “Then as we return to our campuses all over the country, we can encourage one another to live as world-changers.”
More than 300 priests concelebrated daily Mass during the event. Adoration and Confession throughout the event provided many opportunities for reflection and prayer. On Jan. 5 alone, more than 4,000 people went to Confession.
“I hope this week at SEEK2017 young adults experienced the Lord seeking each of them in a unique way,” said Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, O.F.M. Cap. “When people experience that God is seeking them, they’ll be more likely to seek him as well.”