“Be open to what the Lord has in store for you,” Pope Leo XIV said in a video address to thousands of youth and young adults attending the SEEK 2026 conference.

The annual gathering, taking place January 1-5 at event locations in Columbus, Ohio, Denver, and Fort Worth, Texas, has drawn an estimated 26,000 participants for talks and workshops on encountering Christ, with the schedule including daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation, and fellowship.

Among the scheduled keynote speakers were Father Mike Schmitz, Matt Fradd, Chris Stefanick, Sister of Life Mary Grace, and Sister Josephine Garrett, a sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

For 2026, conference organizer FOCUS, an international Catholic outreach ministering on more than 200 college campuses in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe, as well as at some 20 parishes, selected the theme “To the Heights,” a favorite exhortation of the recently canonized St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, an avid mountaineer and patron of young adults.

As of midday January 2, FOCUS reported that attendees numbered 16,115 in Columbus, 5,907 in Denver and 4,503 in Fort Worth.

Reflecting on the call of the first disciples

In his pre-recorded video message to the SEEK attendees, which was posted along with a transcript to the Vatican website, Pope Leo appeared to echo St. Frassati’s sentiment, urging SEEK attendees to reflect on the call of the first two disciples of Jesus as detailed in John 1:35-51.

The pope said that Andrew and the other disciple, initially followers of John the Baptist, pursued Jesus, whose first recorded words in John’s Gospel were a question posed to the two: “What do you seek?”

“Jesus asks the disciples this question because he knows their hearts,” said Pope Leo. “They were restless, in a good way. They did not want to settle for the normal routine of life. They were open to God and were longing for meaning.”

And, said the pope, “today, Jesus directs this same question to each one of you.”

Pope Leo noted that conference attendees’ hearts may also be “restless, searching for meaning and fulfillment” as well as for “direction in your lives.”

To such profound questions, said the pope, “The answer is found in a person. The Lord Jesus alone brings us true peace and joy, and fulfills every one of our deepest desires.”

John’s Gospel passage details the process of discovering Christ and developing a life-changing relationship with him, said the pope, noting that the first two disciples replied to Jesus’ question by asking where he was staying.

“They wanted to get to know him personally by spending time with him,” said Pope Leo.

An encounter that changes lives

Although “the two disciples were initially with Jesus only for a few hours,” said the pope, “that encounter changed their lives forever.”

Andrew immediately sought out his brother Simon (whom Jesus later renamed Peter), excitedly sharing that he had found the Messiah, “in other words, ‘We have found the one we were looking for!'” said the pope.

Such a response to meeting Christ “is the answer that all of us can give once we too get to know the Lord,” said Pope Leo, adding that the Gospel passage “also therefore speaks to us of what it means to be a missionary. … We desire to share with others what we have received so that they, too, can come to know the fullness of love and truth found only in him.”

As they “draw close to Jesus” during the SEEK 2026 conference, Pope Leo urged attendees, “Do not be afraid to ask him what he is calling you to,” whether that vocation is the priesthood, religious life, or marriage and family life.

“If you sense the Lord calling you, do not be afraid,” said Pope Leo. “Once again, let me emphasize that he alone knows the deepest, perhaps hidden, longings of your heart, and the path that will lead you to true fulfillment. Let him lead and guide you!”

Pointing to the conference start date of January 1, the feast of Mary, Mother of God, Pope Leo entrusted attendees to her maternal intercession.

He concluded his message with a blessing, saying, “I gladly invoke upon all of you and upon your families the divine blessings of this Christmas season.”

—

Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X.