"Young people are needed to resist the aging of the soul.""May young people be open to gratitude for what they have received."Brock Martin is senior director of Regional Evangelization of FOCUS. Being a young father himself, he is aware of the potential of young people to spread the Gospel. He knows that they are full of vitality and that "they long to be part of something bigger than themselves".
That's why he collaborates with the SEEK organization and knows first-hand the important details of the event. In this interview, he talks about the community that is created during the five days of the meeting, the youth as the future of the Church and the commitment of Catholics to the people around them.
What is the origin of SEEK and why is it oriented towards young people?
- FOCUS has hosted annual conferences since the very beginning in 1998. In 2013, the name, SEEK, was adopted and it really has become an amazing hub for leaders in the new evangelization to encounter tens of thousands of young people who are asking life's deeper questions. While there will be many participants from all age groups and demographics, young people remain the focal point as they are the future leaders in the Church and in the world.
Thanks to these events, you can be in contact with the youth of the U.S. What do young people miss, what are they looking for?
- I think young people today are starving for authentic connection, and the pandemic exacerbated this! Many of the institutions young people interact with are simply trying to sell them something. At SEEK, people aren't "sold" something, rather they are invited into the dynamic adventure of following the person of Jesus Christ. It reminds me of the great St. Augustine quote, " To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure, and to find him the greatest human achievement." Young people crave being a part of something bigger than just themselves and at SEEK, they will see and hear that invitation clearly.
One of SEEK's mottos is "Be the light". What does it mean and why is it important?
- The motto "be the light" flows from Jesus' words in Matthew 5 where he tells his followers "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden" We live in a day and age where we are often told that our faith must remain relegated to our private lives and shouldn't affect our public lives. Unfortunately, this has led to many problems as people separate their faith from their practice.
At SEEK, we will be reminded of the truth that God desires not just a part of our lives but our "whole" lives and it is contagious! Watching thousands of people commit to following the Lord inspires others to do the same, and when they go back home they can bring that light with them to others in their communities.
How do you achieve a sense of community when you bring together thousands of young people?
- Evangelization should be relational because human beings are relational. Community can be difficult to foster with so many attending, but community is fostered at SEEK in two ways.
First, ideally nobody would attend SEEK alone. Throughout history we know that saints come in clusters and journeying with friends is always more fruitful than journeying alone. Second, What happens at SEEK should notstay at SEEK!
The hope would be that SEEK provides the tools and encouragement to go home and begin or continue to live missionary discipleship with those you know and love at home. This is true whether you are returning to a campus as a student or a parish as a parishioner.
What is the focus of the event? What is the most important thing when you organize it?
- The focus of SEEK is to provide attendees with a powerful encounter with the Jesus Christ who is alive and active, and to inspire them to take that encounter home and live as missionary disciples with new fervor.
The most important thing when organizing the conference is to make sure we are getting out of the way and letting the Holy Spirit drive what happens in each individual's heart. We believe and have come to know that God desires to captivate hearts more than we ever could. We are called to set up an environment where he can work and then we step aside and let it happen!
How do you find the balance between making an event entertaining and maintaining God's presence?
- This balance is extremely important. Some people have said in the past that it is a sin to bore somebody with the gospel. We hope to create an environment that is entertaining and attractive to anyone. However, merely trying to entertain the audience would fall short of the larger purpose of the event, which as I said is to provide attendees with powerful encounters and inspire them to take that home.
We try to balance this by bringing in world-class speakers and entertainment, but the focus of the event remains bringing people together and placing them in God's presence. This is most notable on night 3 where there will be several hours of adoration and worship music all at the feet of Jesus in the Eucharist.
There are many renowned speakers at SEEK, what criteria do you follow to choose the people who participate and give the talks?
- At SEEK we are blessed to welcome so many renowned speakers. At its core, our vetting process starts with our main goals for the event: will this speaker help provide attendees with a powerful encounter with God? Will they help inspire people to take this home and live it out? Furthermore, the world offers people today so many cheap alternatives to the Gospel.
We want those speaking at SEEK to be able to wade into some of the typical questions people are asking and to provide a distinctly catholic way of responding to the issues facing humanity today.
For many young people participating in SEEK the event will be an experience that touches their hearts, what do you expect of them as Catholics who then take to the streets across the country?
- Three key takeaways I hope every attendee receives, in whatever way God is calling them, are: Divine Intimacy, Authentic Friendship, and Clarity and Conviction about living as a missionary disciple.
Regarding divine intimacy, I pray that each and every attendee walks away with the desire to cultivate a daily prayer life and receives the tools and encouragement to take the next step, regardless of where they are.
For authentic friendship, I hope people experience a taste of what it looks like when people commit to living as saints and doing so together. God created us as social creatures and our hearts long to be known, loved, and cared for.
And finally, I hope each attendee hears that, due to their baptism, they are called to be missionary disciples themselves. This isn't a "rule" the Church gives us but an overflow from what God is doing in our hearts. If attendees walk away with these three things then SEEK will have been a success!
