Have you ever experienced something that made you look at life in a new way? Where you examined your life and your eyes were opened to the fact that something in your life needs to change? Well, SEEK 2019 has had this impact on my life. It has made me realize that something indeed must change in my life.
What is SEEK2019 you might ask. Well, let me tell you. SEEK is a five-day long retreat where college students from all over the U.S, and many even from other countries come together to experience the Lord in a new way. Many are Catholics who are super into their faith, while others come seeking to discover what the truth is.
All come seeking more than what this world provides for us. The world offers us pleasures and comforts of this life, but God offers the opportunity to spend eternity with him in paradise. Eternity is far longer than the time here on earth, and between you and me, sounds like a much better deal than the one the world gives us.
Imagine 17,000 young people gathering together because they want more than what the world has to offer, and you'll get a glimpse of what seek was like. So, what was the impact it had on my life? Well, as most young people, I had my struggles going into the retreat. Between the battle I fight with anxiety and depression, work being draining, and the financial stress of college, life just felt like it was piling higher than I could see.
Going into the week I felt like I was able to get away from my struggles and learn what it truly means to have peace and a stronger relationship with the Lord again. Coming to college, I often had found myself too busy for prayer, confession, daily Mass, adoration. I really found myself using excuses for why I wasn't spending much time with God. Sure I didn't lose my faith by going to college, but I sure didn't do a great job at taking care of it.
Going to a few Catholics On Campus events and showing up to Sunday Mass, isn't really much of a faith life. What it is, is keeping up a face of having a faith life. During the week I was at SEEK, through the influence of the speakers, people I encountered and the moments I spent in deep prayer, God showed me that I still had the ability to change the mess of a life I had.
That I needed to come back to Him. He reminded me of His great and unconditional love for me which is greater than any amount of love a human person could give me. He reminded me that I am not alone. That I am more than the sum of my problems.
He also showed me that I am apart of some bigger plan and that He does not want the world to go on without me. That I can make a difference in the world if I do my little part. My eyes were opened to the fact that I need to be who God made me to be. St. Catherine of Siena once said, "Be who you were meant to be and you will set the world on fire." There is only one you in the world, make it count.
