Luceat!

This past week, I traveled down to Texas to be on-site in preparation for the 10^th Anniversary FOCUS National Conference. I am on the steering committee for the Conference and we were taking part in an intense 36 hours of meetings and planning. I had some time Wednesday morning for some personal prayer, which led me to some deep convictions about why people should attend this conference and more importantly live a life intimately connected with Jesus Christ!

This is my seventh year with some major connection to FOCUS. I encountered FOCUS as a freshman in college, where I found true friendship for the first time with my fellow peers and Jesus Christ. I remember having to cast off much of my “old life.” My friends and family members could not understand my new convictions, which led to much struggle and strife. But I had experienced the Person of Truth, which set my life on fire and brought upon me a liberating peace which I had never known before.

The fire that was kindled in me during the first days of my encounter with Christ has been stoked all the more in the past 7 years. In those 7 years, I have been to 6 FOCUS Conferences, in which I encountered Jesus anew, each time, in life-changing ways. Each time was different. During my first conference experience, I was convicted of major sin in my life while I knelt before Jesus in the Eucharist and immediately saw a priest, confessed my sins, and knew the unending love of the Father of Mercies. In my third conference, I heard a speaker, talk about the reality of spiritual warfare. My heart was convicted to fight for Jesus and I answered the call to be a missionary.

So as I sat and prayed, in the nicest hotel I had ever stepped foot in, I knew that this Conference that I am planning had nothing to do with how nice the hotel was, that Third Day was performing, and the big Catholic names that are speaking. This Conference is the chance of a lifetime to be part of the movement of the Holy Spirit in the Church. God is at work here! Just under 10 years ago, FOCUS was 24 students in a little house in no-whereville, KS and now we are expected near 4000 people from all around the country.

But, FOCUS Conference is not about an event or being part of some organization or system. It is the opportunity for you and me to join together in the age of the New Evangelization. It is the opportunity to meet and walk with the Person of Jesus. It is the opportunity to experience the Church and her Motherly care. It is the opportunity to commit anew to Jesus Christ and be open to the workings of the Holy Spirit. Be not afraid to answer the call from Jesus. See you in Texas! Go, and Set the World on Fire!