More than 3,400 college students packed the makeshift pews in the Washington Hilton’s International Ballroom between Jan. 2 and 5. Flags bearing the colors and mascots of schools across the East Coast waved high and mighty, and the air buzzed with an intense zeal.
As the world gathered to celebrate the new year, young Catholics gathered together to praise and encounter the one who matters most: Jesus.
Every year, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, or FOCUS, hosts a nationwide SEEK conference that invites college students to learn about the faith, connect with other young adults and develop a deeper relationship with God through Mass and the sacraments.
For the first time ever, FOCUS held two conferences at the same time: The main conference took place Jan. 2 through 5 in Salt Lake City, and a satellite conference was held in Washington, D.C. Attendees garnered different experiences depending on their location.
More than 20,000 people attended the conference in Utah, while the smaller D.C. conference sold out at around 3,400.
For many students, the addition of the smaller D.C. conference made the experience more memorable and unique. University of Pittsburgh senior Quan Tian, who attended SEEK for the fourth time, said that this experience felt more tight-knit compared to previous years.
“It feels a lot more homey,” Tian explained. “You run into the same people all the time.”
On the other hand, some students missed having one national SEEK. University of Pittsburgh junior Zach Bobro attended his first conference last year in St. Louis, Missouri, which more than 20,000 people attended.
“You’re kind of missing out on the symbolism of the Church's universality,” he said.
Bishops from dioceses on the East Coast celebrated daily Mass, including Washington’s Cardinal Wilton Gregory. Other Mass celebrants included Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Pérez; Boston Archbishop Richard Henning; and Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn, New York.
Throughout the week, various speakers, from lay to religious life, spoke on topics such as dating and vocations, Christian hope, the theology of the body, the Eucharist, and more. Keynote addressed were also offered throughout the conference.
Camilla Short, a freshman at St. Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania, said that listening to the talks was an experience she’ll never forget.
“Sitting with my spiritual director during a discernment talk during one of the impact sessions was so powerful to me. Being able to sit with him allowed him to give me bits of sense that could add to my life,” Short said. “He knows a lot about me, so being able to put those details into my life to strengthen my relationship with Jesus was definitely a highlight of SEEK for me.”
In addition to large group talks, men and women could attend concurrent sessions daily. It was in these women’s discussions that fellow St. Francis University sophomore Delaney Urban gained something special: a new friendship.
“Getting closer with Camilla was the highlight of my week. At the talk today for the women’s group, it was all about finding the right people to grow in the faith with. For the longest time, I was trying to find people either at school or just in my life to have that relationship with. To be honest, no one really clicked with me until I met Camilla this weekend,” she said. “After the talk, the speaker was like, ‘Who are you going to run this race with?’ I went to Camilla, and I said, ‘Would you like to run this race with me?’”
Throughout conference, students could visit more than a dozen booths as various religious orders, missionary organizations, and vendors lined portions of the hotel. In the evenings, FOCUS provided entertainment.
Short said these encounters fueled the flames of her faith.
“SEEK is just adding coals right now,” Short chuckled. “It’s really putting the tools in my toolbox that I need to get through the year and put God not just as a place in my life but as the center of my life. It’s such a beautiful way to start the year to add these coals to my slow-burning fire.”
In the middle of SEEK, the Most Blessed Sacrament was exposed for an evening of praise and worship adoration. Before the Holy Hour, keynote speaker Sister Miriam James Heidland, a sister of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, explained how through prayer, Jesus can meet us in our deepest places of pain and care for our needs.
“Where are the parts of your heart where you are yearning?” she asked. “Where are the places in your life and in my life where Jesus is inviting us to something, and we turned him away?”
Confession lines wrapped and slinked around hallways. During prayer, many were reminded of their hope in God, especially with the start of the Jubilee Year.
Bobro said that his hope is to be placed in the Lord’s mercy.
He said he learned that “the proper response to God’s creation is love, and I think that that is strongly related to how the basis for our hope in God is: in His mercy and in His love and how we’re invited this year to have more trust in His mercy. We’re called to live out our response to His creation with more perfect love.”
Next year, FOCUS plans to expand the SEEK conference even further by hosting three locations: Denver, Colorado; Fort Worth, Texas; and Columbus, Ohio.
With SEEK25 now over, the approximately 3,400 students who attended are encouraged to share their encounters back on their campuses.
Tian described how these fruits are meant to be shared.
“SEEK is a good field to reinvigorate our faith, but it’s important to know what we do afterward. What we do back on our campuses or where we live is the true fruit of this,” he said. “I hope everyone goes back to school refueling their faith, and as St. Catherine of Siena once said, ‘Be who God wants you to be, and you will set the world on fire!’”
(Elizabeth Polo is a journalism student at the University of Maryland and is a contributing writer for the Catholic Standard.)
