A word from Lindsey....
My name is Lindsey Volz, and I am a senior at the University of Connecticut. During my time at UConn, I have had the opportunity to attend three FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) conferences and participate as a student leader on campus.
This year’s conference took place last week with over 6000 college students from all over the country. It was incredible to see so many people going to mass and sharing the same values. Much of society seems to look down on this generation as one lacking good morals, but I know the church is alive in college students today. The theme of this conference was Seek What Moves You. We were called to seek out our Lord in a new way. God has continued to reveal His love to me in my experience with this conference and in so many other areas of my life. Now, I am really starting to see the ways in which I need to return this love throughout my life after graduation. Please have faith in the college students in your lives and keep us in your prayers.
And now from Kelly.... (Alumni of Saint Paul School)
Last week I had the privilege of attending the SEEK 2013 conference in Orlando, Florida with 6,000 other Catholic college students from across the country. This being my first SEEK conference, I didn’t know what to expect when I boarded the bus with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) at my college, UConn. But throughout the week, I was shocked at how close we all came as a group to experience the word of God and develop a stronger understanding of our religion.
We spent our days listening to various speakers including Leah Darrow, a woman who converted to Catholicism after appearing on America’s Next Top Model, and Fr. Mike Schmitz, whose homilies can be found on YouTube. We went to lectures pertaining to topics of interest to us, like how to make your prayers meaningful, the media’s effect on our religion, and overcoming fear in the Christian life. We also had the opportunity to go to confession, daily mass, and adoration as well as getting to know the thousands of other college students seeking to get closer to Christ.
This was a life changing week for me and completely reaffirmed my faith in Jesus Christ. I would strongly encourage all college students who want to grow stronger in their faith to attend the next national SEEK conference in Nashville in 2015 and get involved with the FOCUS group at their university.