Over 500 college students attend SEEK event
Bishop Carl A. Kemme recesses after a Mass at the SEEK conference held Feb. 4-6 at the Wichita Hyall Regency Hotel. (Courtesy photo)
Over 500 college students from throughout Kansas took part in a regional SEEK event Feb. 4-6 at the Wichita Hyatt Regency Hotel.
SEEK is a conference for college students in association with the Fellowship of Catholic Universities. It is usually a live event, but this year it was divided into regions that were interconnected via the internet.
Austin Comito, a FOCUS missionary at Wichita State University, said about 650 took part in the Wichita regional event if FOCUS missionaries, priests, vendors, and others were included.
“Because of COVID last year and this year they broadcast the live speakers from around the country,” he said. “We had a regional gathering to watch the speakers, but it included a couple of live talks to make it more of an in-person experience.”
Comito said the event was held to connect Catholic students from around Kansas and the country “to see how big the church is and to understand they have so many brothers and sisters in Christ around the country.”
The FOCUS missionary said sometimes students get into their own bubble on campus. “It’s nice to come together and see…wow, I’m really part of a big movement!”
Another reason is to inspire students.
“We had some famous Catholic speakers such as Fr. Mike Schmitz, Sr. Miriam Heidland, and Fr. Joshua Johnson,” he said. “It’s really inspiring. The content of the talks over all kind of led us on a journey of Christian life talking about how to encounter Jesus, how to respond to him, how to get to know him, and have a call to action to go out and tell others.”
Comito, who was in charge of the Wichita regional event, said everything went smoothly.
He added that he received a lot of feedback from students that helped him understand that they were able to inspire students and connect them with others from throughout Kansas.
“Those objectives we had, I think, were accomplished,” he said. “The people encountered the Lord in adoration and at Mass.”
Over 20 priests heard confessions for two hours one night during adoration, Comito said.