Benedictine Sisters Attend SEEK 2026

Benedictine Sister Nancy Rose Gucwa, OSB (left) and Sister Colleen Maura McGrane, OSB attended SEEK 2026 in January in Fort Worth. They are joined by one of the keynote speakers, Father Joshua Johnson of the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge.

Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Sister Nancy Rose Gucwa, OSB, and Sister Colleen Maura McGrane, OSB, attended SEEK 2026 in January in Fort Worth, Texas.

SEEK is a national Catholic conference that gathers tens of thousands of participants, including lay people, clergy and religious. Held simultaneously in multiple cities, the conference offers Mass, the sacraments, Eucharistic Adoration, opportunities for vocational discernment and a wide range of speakers, workshops, concerts and other events.

For Sister Colleen Maura, this was her first experience of SEEK, and it left a lasting impression.

“To be surrounded by 5,000 Catholic college students who were so committed to Christ and the Church was an inspiration to me,” she shared. “I was impressed by the fact that the conference provided both an experience of the sacramental life of the Church – daily Eucharist, opportunities for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Adoration – and its teaching through talks and workshops.”

Throughout the conference, the Sisters, who both serve on the congregation’s vocation committee, had many opportunities to engage with students and campus ministers, listening to their stories and sharing their own monastic vocation.

“It was a good opportunity to hear from students about their lives and to share with them about ours,” Sister Colleen Maura said. “Several students wanted to hear my vocation story. It was also wonderful to meet campus ministers from various universities, other vowed religious and clergy.”

The experience, she noted, was one of deep encouragement.

“It gave me much hope for the Church,” she said.

SEEK 2026 offered a powerful reminder of the vitality of faith among young adults and the importance of presence, prayer and witness within the wider Church – an experience both Sisters carried home with them back to the monastery and to their congregation.