Catholic and Protestant students attend
Christian conferences over winter break
Ear-deafening music, bright lights, broad smiles, shouts of joy — typical descriptions of a New Year’s Eve celebration. While these are a part of the classic celebration in Times Square, they also describe how many Hillsdale students welcomed 2024.
Hillsdale students attended two different Christian worship events staged around the New Year. A group of Catholic students attended SEEK, and several Protestant students attended Passion, a Christian youth conference with speakers and worship.
This year, more than 60,000 people attended Passion, which sold out the Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, according to senior Addison Longnecker. Longnecker, along with senior Caitlin Dugan and freshman Eva Bessette, joined the attendees. Framed around Isaiah 26:8 — “Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your truth we wait for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our souls” — Passion is a conference for young adults, to begin the new year glorifying God.
“This verse drives the mission of Passion to see the name of Jesus lifted high on college campuses around the world,” Dugan said.
Dugan and Longnecker have both attended Passion in previous years. The conference always occurs around the new year, sometimes on New Year’s Eve. Although it did not fall on Dec. 31 this year, the purpose of preparing for the new year in worship remained the same.
“While this year it did not occur directly on the turn to the new year, it is a conference that helps surrender the year to God and His moving,” Longnecker said. “It is an incredible way to start the new year and to really center your focus on our purpose.”
Dugan has attended the conference for the past four years. She said her favorite song was a new release by Passion called “He Who Is To Come.”
“It was a powerful reminder that our God is coming back for us, and he is still on the throne no matter how dark and sinful this world gets,” Dugan said.
Junior Clare Oldenburg, who attended SEEK, agreed that spending time with Christ is a great way to start the new year.
“It set the tone for how I want the rest of the year to progress,” Oldenburg said. “I was able to reset and had a lot of time to think about what the Lord wants from me this year. It’s like a New Year’s resolution but better.”
SEEK is a five day conference designed for college-aged Catholics and run by FOCUS, a Catholic missionary organization. SEEK started 25 years ago with just 50 participants. This year, 44 Hillsdale students joined 20,000 other college students from around the country.
“It’s really uplifting. You look around you and see lots of normal people — kids my age in jeans and hoodies, laughing, joking, playing pranks even,” junior Paul Sri said. “You know that they are all there because they want to go deeper into their faith. It’s empowering to realize that the church is so alive right now.”
Last year, only 10 Hillsdale students attended the retreat. Sri said more were able to participate this year thanks to financial support from FOCUS’ digital outreach.
“This year was the first time we had an official group registered under Hillsdale,” Sri said. “We’re really excited to make this a tradition.”
Students began each day with Mass in the Dome at America’s Center, the same venue where Saint John Paul II celebrated Mass in 1998 when he visited St. Louis. Men and women then broke into separate sessions for morning lectures. In the afternoons, retreatants could choose from one of several lectures to attend
According to senior Elizabeth Dickinson, popular lectures quickly reached their maximum capacity.
“Multiple lectures — conquering perfectionism, ten tips for peace, well ordered family life — all maxed out per fire code restrictions and the doors had to be closed,” Dickinson said. “I wasn’t able to make it into some.”
Participants also attended keynote lectures together each evening. Oldenburg and Sri agreed that Msgr. James Shea, president of the University of St. Mary, gave the most impactful lecture of the week.
“He delivered the most profound and engaging account of the fallenness of mankind and our need for a Redeemer,” Sri said. “I can’t really describe it, but it was so real. I have heard many talks about our brokenness. Something about this talk resonated with each of the 22,000 people present.”
Between prayer and lectures, students also had time for fellowship at lunch and games and entertainment in the evening, including a concert from Judah and the Lion. Oldenburg said the retreat is a great opportunity to catch up with friends from high school, old parishes, and summer camp.
“I love the moments in between lectures when you can get to know the person next to you,” Oldenburg said. “I had a whole discussion about the platonic ideal of a shotty with a girl I met on the bus. What is a shotty? What would she be like? What would she look like?”
For many, the pinnacle of the week is a Eucharistist procession in the stadium. Dickinson said the retreatants were joined for adoration by an additional 4,000 Catholics from the St. Louis area.
“It’s such a beautiful testament to the true presence when you have such utter silence in reverence in such a massive crowd. You see 24,000 brought to their knees by the Eucharist,” Dickinson said. “It’s so nourishing in a time when you can be so dragged down by the rest of the problems the world has. It gives you so much hope.”
Crowds also formed for confession, which was heard by over 400 priests who also concelebrated mass together every morning. According to Dickinson, the line was over 1,000 people long.
“They heard over 4,000 confessions in just two hours,” Dickinson said.
Longnecker said she was also struck by the beauty of corporate worship at Passion.
“One of the most incredible moments was when the entire stadium burst into spontaneous praise at the end of one of the worship sessions,” Longnecker said. “Unprompted by the band, everyone began singing ‘holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty.’ It was such a moving thing to be a part of — the Holy Spirit was so present.”
The last morning of worship was a small glimpse of Heaven before the start of the semester, according to Longnecker.
“The worship lasted for almost 45 minutes but it felt like only a few minutes as we sang about our holy and worthy God who gave Himself to bring us back into a right relationship with himself,” she said. “I will never forget that moment!”
