SEEK and you shall find

By Theresa Amberg

The Diocese of Colorado Springs Young Adult Ministry began the Jubilee Year with a trip out to Salt Lake City, Utah, for a five-day life-changing journey. Sponsored by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), SEEK is an annual Catholic conference geared towards young adults. With 18,000 participants, hundreds of seminarians, priests, and up to 20 bishops in attendance, it is hard to walk away from the week without a changed heart. This year, our group was nine young adults strong, and we were proudly accompanied by a few of the Salesian sisters.

Each day began with a nationally-broadcast rosary facilitated by Relevant Radio, followed by the greatest gift of all celebrated in the Mass. After Mass, there were a wide variety of talks given by well-known speakers such as Father Mike Schmitz, Dr. Edward Sri and Sr. Mary Grace, SV. There were also speakers who were less well known but who brought us amazing messages, ranging from advice on the dating world to the scientific proof for Jesus’ Resurrection.

Many of the attendees signed up for the conference because a friend was going or because a religious man or woman encouraged or convinced them. This year, I decided to go because I saw an ad on social media that spoke to me. I did not think I had much to hear or learn, so I just thought I would spend the week having a fun time connecting a little more closely with Christ. Little did I know what God really had in store for me.

The opening Mass had me in tears. When we go to Mass every Sunday, we see most of the same parishioners, priests, deacons, choir, and even our routes hardly vary from week to week. It is so easy to go through the motions and exist in our own solo Catholic bubble. It is even easier to forget how vast and alive our faith truly is. I was brought to my knees watching the first procession and remembering how un-alone we all are in our faith.

On the second day, I had a normal morning as far as conferences go. I could feel myself falling deeper in love with Christ and, again, I was thinking that this was all I would be getting out of the weekend. After lunch, I went to some talks that had titles that interested me, only to find that the subject matter was not at all what I expected. Apart from a very notable meditation, I felt as though I was receiving nothing from the conference. The jubilation and love I had been feeling during the first 20 hours was crudely ripped away and left me to feel empty. Going to bed that night, I called one of my friends from back home to tell her I was too old for God to care for me in this way. I told her that my whole life I had felt completely fulfilled from countless camps, retreats and conferences, but God was done loving me in that way. I was not sure where to go to find him now.

On the third day of the conference, the sun rose from behind some clouds and I started to debate leaving the weekend early. I told myself I would push through until lunch and then go look at earlier flight options. I went to yet another talk with a title that seemed mismatched with the subject matter. I planned to go to one more talk before lunch, and on my way across this enormous conference center, (that, by the way, we Catholics had completely taken over) the Holy Spirit had me take a left where I should have gone straight. I was walking through the main hub of the conference called Mission Way, where vendors had set up booths to sell Catholic-related items — ranging from books and rosaries to jewelry and apparel — and where religious men and women displayed materials about their orders’ various charisms. I stopped at the Salesian sisters’ booth without intending to, and with grace, one of the sisters asked me how my day was going. Overcome by the Holy Spirit, I began to weep heavily.

We left Mission Way and found a corner in the hallway to talk and pray. As I cried, I kept telling the sister that I did not know why I was crying, but as the Holy Spirit flowed my emotions through me, I found the source of my tears. The Lord does not always make our areas of need known to us until we are ready to heal, and that is what he did for me. He revealed the innermost workings of my heart and invited me to heal from them. Several hours later, the evening of the third day, that is just what he did.

Gathered in the space where Mass was held, everyone at the conference entered a solemn place of adoration of the exposed Blessed Sacrament. For two hours, every heart focused on the same place. In this time, I was able to give to the Lord all my pain, and in the place where it had been, receive his love fully. This is our faith, a faith centered totally and completely around love.

Coming home from the weekend is always a hard journey to make. The sadness of leaving a purely Catholic environment and nervousness about coming back to the real world almost overpowers the exhaustion that comes from five hours of sleep each night and creates a desire to never leave. The time comes, however, to be home with our families and go back to our jobs. What we carry on with us is the desire to be in that pure space of infinite love, gathering two or more in his name so he may be present with us.

The young adult ministry in the Diocese of Colorado Springs is alive and is yearning for you to be with us. We would love to share what we have learned and experienced. We would love to give away the love, compassion, and grace we found in such abundance.

We are extremely excited to welcome SEEK to Denver in 2026, as it is one of the three locations FOCUS has chosen for next year’s conference. Please join us there. For more information on young adult ministry activities in the diocese, visit https://www.diocs.org/Ministries/Young-Adult-Ministry-Late-Teens-20s-and-30s.