Tens of thousands of faith-filled young Catholics around the world began gathering in the annual SEEK conference, sponsored by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). The pivotal conference aims to form attendees in the faith — especially young Catholics, to encourage the faithful through community with tens of thousands of other Catholics, and to foster deep, meaningful encounters with the Lord Jesus through the talks offered, the Sacraments celebrated, and the prayer time made available.
This year, SEEK takes place in three cities: Salt Lake City, Utah; Washington, D.C.; and Cologne, Germany. A shift from previous years, when SEEK would occur in one U.S. city, the new structure seeks to afford more people the opportunity to attend.
On the closing day of SEEK Cologne, FOCUS’ first international SEEK conference, Denver’s own Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila offered a poignant reflection on Mary, the Mother of God, to whom the Church calls the faithful to turn at the beginning of each new year. A holy day of obligation, the great feast honoring the Theotokos kicks off the new year of God’s grace, mercy and goodness by reminding the Church of Mary’s central role in the life of faith.
“We can learn from Mary how to be disciples in the world today,” Archbishop Aquila said in his homily, recalling Mary’s courageous fiat, her faith-filled surrender to the angel’s message, despite her lack of understanding. “In that, she makes herself a total self-gift. She becomes the first disciple. She surrenders herself completely to God’s Word, to the Holy Spirit, and the Word is made flesh in her womb.
“We, too, are called to the same surrender,” Archbishop Aquila continued, encouraging those gathered to take to heart Mary’s example of faith and discipleship. “We, too, are called to say, ‘Let it be done to me according to your word’ — not my word, not things that I fully understand, but, rather, Lord, your word — and open our hearts to that.”
While such surrender can seem a tall order, one central truth rings through the ages: God is faithful to his promises, and Jesus’ words and promises in the Gospels will be fulfilled.
“Mary trusted completely in that word being fulfilled, even though she did not fully understand or comprehend it. She trusted. She believed and had faith, and had hope, that that word would be fulfilled,” Archbishop Aquila reminded those gathered.
“And, my brothers and sisters, my sons and daughters, it is essential that we pray for that same grace of trust and confidence,” he continued, recognizing the great challenge that this deep trust can be amid “a cacophony of voices in the world.” “We, too, are called as disciples to trust in the Word of God that he still speaks. And that Word is still fulfilled every time we turn to him.”
As we follow Mary’s example and encounter her son, Jesus, we are led to ever-deeper relationship with him. From that place of relationship, we receive our mission to go forth, Archbishop Aquila said.
(Photo by Martin Schaumberger, courtesy of FOCUS)
“Our great task in the world today, in the various countries that we come from — your great task here in Europe — is to renew the Church, to renew the faith, to point others to Jesus Christ and invite them to encounter Jesus, helping them to come to know and to receive his love for them,” the archbishop exhorted the attendees. “Just as there have been great missionaries throughout the centuries, so too today are each of you, and especially the young people, called to be missionaries on your college campuses and universities, in your families, with your coworkers, wherever it may be. By our lives, we are called also to point to Jesus and say, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’”
The call to this missionary discipleship with Jesus alongside Mary is one rooted in the theological virtue of hope, Archbishop Aquila reminded those gathered, noting Mary’s own hope in the Gospels as she kept her eyes fixed on the Lord despite the incredible sufferings she endured. As the Church begins the Jubilee Year of Hope, this hope-filled call is paramount.
“We, too, are called to the same hope. We, too, are called to be those who are hope-filled. If we do not have hope, then the world will only continue to move away from God and not encounter Jesus,” the archbishop said. “And so Mary continues to invite us on this very first day of 2025 to enter into the Jubilee Year because Jesus is our hope. And she, too, points to him today and says, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ And that is her desire for each one of us, for each one of you, that you be those witnesses, that you come to know her son and to love him.”
Recalling his own hope-filled call, Archbishop Aquila recounted a poignant message he received in prayer from Mary as a young bishop. While visiting the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City and praying before the miraculous tilma, he remembers hearing Mary gently say to him: “My little one, remember the far greater miracle that you celebrate every day, the far greater miracle than this tilma, which is the Eucharist.”
“She brought me back to her son, Jesus, in the Eucharist. Tears flowed, and I was filled with wonder and awe, knowing I did not deserve this visit from Mary. But she led me to her son. And she desires to do that with each one of you. So, during this Jubilee Year, I encourage you to make your own fiat, giving yourself a total self-gift as Mary did. Have trust and confidence that the words spoken to us in the Gospel, the words spoken to each and every one of you by Jesus, will be fulfilled. And become missionaries, pointing to Jesus as Mary did, inviting others to encounter Jesus, and do whatever he tells you,” Archbishop Aquila concluded.
