7 minute read
Witnessing the Church Alive: Reflections from SEEK
By Fr. Tony Klein '12, O'Gorman High School Chaplain
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” These are Jesus’ last words to his eleven disciples in Matthew’s Gospel. Often called “The Great Commission,” it is Jesus’ final command to those who have chosen to follow him.
It is difficult for me to imagine what it would have been like to hear those words from Jesus. After all, “all nations” is quite the task. For his followers, they were completely unaware of “all nations.” From our perspective now, their geographical task of “all nations,” is much larger than they ever imagined. Yet I think that is one of the main points of this commission. Jesus knows what is to be accomplished, but those who are “com-missioned” (on mission with) are unaware of everything to come. They know their only way to fulfill the command is by a single step at a time—one baptism at a time. As we know from our perspective in history, the faith spread. As more were baptized and instructed in the Gospel, more were able to share the message of Jesus’ saving power. What seems like an intimidating and impossible task—conversion of a multitude, or “all nations”—is actually seen as possible as the mission unfolds. With only 11 disciples, it may be nearly impossible, but if those 11 each make 1-2 disciples, and those followers do the same, we don’t have linear growth but exponential growth. Thus, the Gospel was spread.
Someone once told me that when the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) was initially founded—with the intention of ministering to university students around the country, forming them in intentional discipleship and making it possible to integrate the faith into a college experience—some snickered with apathy, saying, “How do you plan to do that? That seems like too much of a beast to tackle.” FOCUS leadership responded, “one student, then one campus at a time.” FOCUS is founded upon the Great Commission. Founded over 27 years ago, FOCUS now serves over 200 college campuses in the United States and abroad. Campuses with FOCUS have trained missionaries (typically recent college graduates) who do intentional discipleship with students, lead Bible studies, and help promote a life of holiness on their assigned campus.
The main event that FOCUS puts on every year is called the SEEK Conference. It is an attempt to bring together college students from around the country during their Christmas break. They present to them different talks, give them exposure to different religious orders and ministries of the Church, and they especially help them to see that they are not alone. What started with meager beginnings has grown to a massive conference, one disciple at a time. This past SEEK Conference was held in Salt Lake City and had 17,000 participants (with a 3,000-person “smaller” conference in Washington DC for size purposes).
They recently opened the conference up for high school seniors, and we were fortunate enough to bring eight seniors from O’Gorman High School to the conference. Our desire was twofold. First of all, we wanted them to see what the next step can be. These seniors have taken great strides in their faith in high school, but a lot can happen between graduation day and those first months of college. We wanted to show them how many college students are intentionally choosing to follow the Lord. The second desire was to help these students in their ability to lead their peers. Many of our underclassmen look up to seniors in various ways. Our desire was to help these students grow in their ability to walk with other students in the faith with greater knowledge of the Lord and confidence in his grace.
One of the seniors who attended was Karianna Skuza. She said she was struck by the size of the conference. “One of the most surprising parts of the conference was my first impression of walking into the main hall and seeing 17,000 Catholics gathered, waiting for the first keynote speaker to start,” Skuza said. “It made me realize how ‘alive’ the church is.” With so many statistics that show the Church in decline, it was a true witness of hope to see so many young people gathered in faith.
Although the conference was so large, it also demonstrated the sincere intentionality of the Church. Sarah Ulin, another student who attended, said, “The aspect of community was really surprising to me. With so many people, it was easy to assume that I would just be another person in the crowd, but every interaction I had was so relational. It was fulfilling to get to know other people and have true, genuine conversations.” She also mentioned that seeing so many college students gave her hope. “Having the opportunity to see so many young people on fire for their faith was really comforting,” she said. “It gave me a lot more confidence about having a faith community to depend on after high school.”
“IT MADE ME REALIZE HOW ‘ALIVE’ THE CHURCH IS.” - KARIANNA SKUZA
Two additional faculty members attended as chaperones, but they also received great fruits themselves from the conference. Carly Rahn is an English teacher at O’Gorman High School. She regularly helps out at various Campus Ministry events. She seeks to bring her faith into her classroom, and this conference gave her an opportunity to connect with a few students on a deeper level. She said, “Accompanying students to SEEK was a wonderful experience. Being a chaperone for this conference allowed me the opportunity to walk alongside them in their faith journey and witness their spiritual growth. It further inspired me in my role as both an educator and a spiritual mentor.”
Brian Stai, the Campus Minister at O’Gorman High School, previously served as a FOCUS missionary. He said his history with FOCUS made this opportunity particularly special for him. “It was very inspiring,” he said, “to see how our students engaged in the talks, Mass, and other activities at SEEK. The conversations amongst the students about the faith that came from the conference each day were great to listen to.”
Another great gift was to be able to connect with a number of O’Gorman alumni who were also at the conference, either as college students, FOCUS missionaries, priests or religious, or those working for the Church who were there with their particular ministry. There is so much offered to our students at O’Gorman, and it is a sign of hope that there are many alumni continuing to deepen their faith and service of the Lord and His Church.
Overall, the trip was a tremendous blessing for all involved. The fruits have continued, as some of them have made prayer commitments with each other while at school, and they hold each other accountable. It is our hope that we ourselves are fulfilling Jesus’ command to “make disciples of all nations,” one student at a time.
