SEEK21

Early this past February a few of the girls in the house participated in FOCUS’s SEEK21 Conference. FOCUS is a Catholic organization that aims to share Christ’s gospel and specifically evangelize towards college students and young adults. SEEK is typically one of the largest Catholic conferences in the United States. Usually the conference is held in person, but due to the ongoing pandemic, it was held virtually. Although this was a bummer, God used this change for his Glory. This year there were over 27,000 attendees, which is more than double than last year.

I had the opportunity to lead a small group for the conference at the Lisieux House. At the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning, a few of us gathered for coffee and donuts and began the conference. We started off by listening to amazing talks, speaking about God making us in His image. This led into a fruitful discussion on how good it was that God made us male and female, and how much He desires to draw us into the virtue of unity through our human nature. We are made for relationship.

Later in the evening we heard messages that were powerful relating to letting ourselves be seen by God. That we often overestimate what it takes to turn back to God, and to let ourselves be loved by Him. Sometimes it can feel too good to be true, but God delights in us and wants to rejoice in His creation. Have we allowed Him to rejoice in who we are? Do we believe He delights in us?

Towards the end of the conference, more of the talks touched on the importance and necessity to share the gospel. At the end of our lives everything will pass away, Eternity is the only thing that matters. And we need to strive to bring as many people with us as we can. This can seem daunting, but we have the opportunity to bring Christ to others in the little choices we make each day. For myself I really want to work on being transparent with my coworkers, and sharing where I live with them, not everyone lives in an old convent! I also don’t want to shy away from how I live my life and what I do over the weekend (like going to mass!) I will be praying that you and I will be bold and available to those around us who seek questions about the source of our peace and joy.