Last week, Fr. John Eustice, CSV, and Fr. Jhobany Orduz, CSV, represented the Viatorian Community to Catholic young adults at the SEEK conference in Columbus, Ohio.
Fr. Jhobany talks to a young adult at our Mission Way table.
Organized by FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students), SEEK invites young adults together for talks, liturgy, prayer, and fellowship all as part of a multi-day conference. SEEK 2026 was held across three sites, gathering over 25,000 young adults altogether at conferences in Denver; Fort Worth, Texas; and Columbus, the largest of the three gatherings.
“Participants raved about being with so many other young people who are Catholic and excited to live out their faith,” Fr. John, who directs vocation ministry, said. “And as we spoke with young adults, we found a ton of openness about discernment and vocations – it gave us many chances to share how our community honors individuals and their interests and to invite young adults to consider how they could respond to God’s invitation to religious life.”
Fr. Jhobany and Fr. John
They staffed a Viatorian table on “Mission Way” alongside dozens of other religious communities. Over the course of several days, they had a wide range of conversations, gifted plenty of Viatorian swag, and exchanged cards and phone numbers with young adults interested in ongoing accompaniment. “It’s so worthwhile to go to these events. The conversations we’re having with folks are so meaningful. There’s a lot of priests and a big diocesan presence, so then also having the folks from religious communities there on Mission Way brings an additional important witness,” Fr. John said.
While each of them concelebrated a Mass and signed up to hear confessions, Fr. John and Fr. Jhobany also spent a lot of time simply among the crowds of Catholics, too, at Mass, in prayer, and in the hall. It’s the perfect mix for their personalities and for our Viatorian way of ministering. “There were some people from last year who reconnected,” Fr. John said, recalling their time at SEEK 2025 in Salt Lake City. “There were some folks who visited me for Reconciliation and then came up to our booth and said, ‘Hey, I had you for confessions!’”
Fr. John helped organize the fair with Saint Viator theology teachers and peer religious.
Shortly after returning to Arlington Heights, Illinois, it was time to resume the school year at Saint Viator High School. Fr. John, SVHS Chaplain, and Fr. Jhobany, SVHS Assistant Chaplain and Campus Minister, and Viatorians on staff then hosted religious peers at Saint Viator High School for two days of activities, including a vocations fair for juniors and vocation circle chats for seniors.
Religious women and men bring tabletop setups to engage with students during an open house or sit for roundtable chats with small-groups, having conversations about religious life, discernment, and prayer. We thank our faculty and staff at Saint Viator and our religious friends for their support and partnership in ministry to our students: Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, Claretian Missionaries, Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, Dominican Sisters, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Order of St. Augustine, and Divine Word Missionaries.