Fellowship of Catholic University Students

Fellowship of Catholic University Students

January 2005 For Immediate Publication

Contact: Nikki Shasserre, FOCUS

(970) 336-9881

www.focusonline.org

1500 College Students Gather for Annual FOCUS Conference

Denver, CO (FOCUS)- Over a thousand college students made Denver, CO their home for the weekend, coming together for the 2005 FOCUS National Student Leadership Conference. Long bus rides and harsh weather across the Midwest could not stop the 1500 conference participants from making their way to the dynamic conference. “Once for All” (Hebrews 10:10) is the theme the seventh annual FOCUS Conference took throughout the weekend, held at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in downtown Denver. Students participated in talks and breakout sessions with such titles as, “How the FOCUS Big Three of chastity, sobriety and excellence truly allow you to come alive”, “Evangelization: It’s Easier Than You Think”, “Could Jesus be calling you to the religious life?”, “The Genius of Woman” and a presentation and workshop introducing FOCUS Summer Mission Trips.

Friday evening featured Australian speaker and author, Matthew Kelly, with a message of “Who you become is infinitely more important than what you do, or what your have.” Large group speakers included Curtis Martin, President and Founder of FOCUS, Tim Gray, Director of the Catholic Biblical School in Denver, Dr. Edward P. Sri, author and professor, Dr. J. Reyes, FOCUS Vice President of Campus Ministry, and FOCUS staff members, including FOCUS Chaplain Father Mark De Battista. The Saturday evening Awards Banquet featuring keynote speaker, Dr. Scott Hahn, author, speaker and professor, was held at the Adam’s Mark Hotel Ballroom with close to 1700 participants. FOCUS student leaders were honored at the banquet for their example of Christ-like leadership and presented with the St. Francis and St. Clare awards for excellence. Keegan O’Rourke from the University of Colorado at Boulder was presented with the St. Francis award and Katie Crane from the University of North Dakota was the recipient of the St. Clare award. FOCUS Executive Vice President Craig Miller was presented with the St. Joseph Award, which honors a FOCUS benefactor for their generosity and support of the FOCUS vision.

Gold Sponsors for the FOCUS 2005 National Student Leadership Conference included Our Sunday Visitor, The Denver Catholic Register, Ave Maria School of Law and Benedictine College (Atchison, KS). Representatives of each sponsoring organization were in attendance. Special guests also included, Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Denver, Most Reverend Jose Gomez, Archbishop-elect of San Antonio, TX, Most Reverend Michael J. Sheridan, Bishop of Colorado Springs, Most Reverend Samuel J. Aquila, Bishop of Fargo, ND and Most Reverend Robert Finn, Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. During his Sunday morning homily, Bishop Aquila encouraged the conference participants, “Little in my imagination did I dream I’d stand before so many young people whose hearts have been set on fire by that vision seven years ago. God has placed you at this time in history in 2005 for a specific purpose”, he said. “He has called you by name.”

Olivia DuBois, FOCUS Campus Director at Troy University, was inspired to see the conference participants embracing the Gospel message being shared by the conference speakers, “You can see the excitement in the student’s lives!” St. Francis award winner, Keegan O’Rourke, is ready to take what he heard at the conference back to his campus at the University of Colorado, which was recently voted one of the top party schools in the nation. FOCUS student leaders are refusing to accept the party lifestyle of drunkenness found on many college campuses, “Many people are saying this is not what we want,” said O’Rourke, referring to the party image of the University. “We have the power and ability, through Christ, to create a different image and lifestyle”.

“People think the Church is dying”, said Curtis Martin, who founded the FOCUS apostolate over seven years ago and has watched its growth explode in recent years. “But it’s bearing fruit”, he said. “Day to day growth can seem slow, but when you look out into this crowd of over a thousand college students, the principle of spiritual multiplication is evident and inspiring.” Dr. J. Reyes agrees. “Look at what one human being who follows Christ can do”, he said referring to Martin’s vision for FOCUS that took root seven years ago, and led Reyes to uproot his family from Virginia and move to Colorado to work with FOCUS at its Greeley headquarters office. Martin challenged the crowd saying that giving their lives to God will cost them everything, but the reward of doing so is life changing, “He loves you in a way that’s absolutely breathtaking.”

The first conference began outside of Kansas City in January of 1999 with 25 students. The FOCUS program, in its seventh year of operation, exists on 26 campuses in 13 states, with close to 90 full-time missionaries. FOCUS plans to expand to additional campuses during the 2005-06 school year. FOCUS is a national outreach program designed to help college students incorporate the Catholic faith into their daily lives. www.focusonline.org