Written by Sarah Chivers

Somehow we find ourselves nearing the middle of July already, though it feels like just yesterday I stood with others on the parish staff to wave our Incarnation School students off into summer. 

While the Incarnation Campus can feel eerily quiet without the sounds of students playing on the playground throughout the day, I can't help but still feel the busyness of summer. Staff members are at various summer camps with our middle and high school students across the country, others are at conferences and conventions, and still others are working hard in the office to prepare for the upcoming year. We have new major programs rolling out this year like the Rescue Project series, new events like our Parish Picnic and exciting opportunities for parishioners approaching quickly, such as a one-day bus trip to the Eucharistic Congress. 

It is exciting to be a part of a church staff that has so much in store for its parishioners. As a member of the team who has only been here for six months, I'm always inspired and amazed at how thoughtfully our staff considers its decisions and plans to ensure that all members of our community are accounted for and welcome. It is our mission to walk with others in their everyday life to bring them closer to God, and to do that requires a lot of time and energy.

Our work (God's work) is so rewarding; we are always looking for the next way we can help make Heaven more present around us. Sometimes I am so eager for the next thing that it feels like there is no time to rest (in truth, sometimes I don't want to rest!). But as July catches up to me and I find my calendar filled to the brim, I remember that God's work is sometimes found in the resting times. God is so often found in the quiet. 

With all of the summer traveling and holidays coming up, it's easy to find yourself overwhelmed. Things to do, an itemized list of things to buy and prepare, hours on the road away from home... If you find any time to yourself amongst the travel and yard work and events, it's easy to just crash and turn on your favorite show or scroll on your phone. It's comfortable to just zone out when we're overwhelmed. 

But the true comfort is found when we remember to prioritize time with God. As the Digital Communication Specialist for our family of parishes, I find it my responsibility to mention every now and then that we need to put our phones down and just be in the quiet with Him. I try to mention that every now and then on our social media - try this new prayer, seek God in these moments, stop the scroll and say hi to God. He is our source of peace amongst the noise.

This can often be easier said than done. As a mother of toddlers and a full-time worker, I find myself spending my ride home going through the list of things that need to get done that evening: cook dinner, eat dinner, unload, reload, do a load of laundry, bath time... but also... make enough time to read a few stories with the girls before bed, and also you need to clean the bathrooms at some point or maybe finally vacuum but also take care of your nightly routine and find time to talk with your husband about the day then also read the next chapter of your book that you've been dying to get to since you set it down the night before with a massive cliffhanger... 

But I forget to schedule time for prayer. 

And I'm exhausted.

And I forget to prioritize what I can't see. 

Even if that thing I cannot see is the only thing that needs to happen that day.

As we prepare for the upcoming school year, I want to challenge you to find new ways to prioritize your relationship with God. Place your Bible in front of your bedroom door so you can't open the door without moving it first if you need to. Wake up just fifteen minutes earlier and start your day with His Word. Put it at the start of your day so that the overwhelming list of things to do isn't in your way yet. God comes first. When He comes first, everything else falls into place. 

And know that I am right there with you, walking alongside you as we seek a deeper relationship with our God who loves us so much. Sometimes we fall away, sometimes we fail. But as Fr. Brian mentioned in his homily this past weekend, God doesn't say "My grace is enough if you are sinless within the next five weeks." He knows we're human, He knows our shortcomings and frankly knows us better than we know ourselves. But He always loves us and will always be waiting for us to return to Him. 

Find peace in Him in the busyness. He is the source of all we are looking for in earthly things.

Blessed Carlo Acutis was beatified on October 10,2020.  He is known as the Apostle to the Internet, since as a teenager he cataloged all the reported  Eucharistic Miracles in the history of our Church.  He made a website so that all can see those miracles.  During our Corpus Christi celebration, we had numerous Eucharistic Miracle panels displayed in the gathering space of the St. Francis campus. With his mother, Carlo would walk the streets and help the homeless when he was about 14 years old.  He will be canonized a saint in the near future.  
 
We have many saints in our Church that give us an example of holiness.  Last month I wrote about Michelle Duppong, who hopefully will be the next American Saint.  What these two have in common, is they realized that God was calling them to have a relationship with Him. 
 
As we are trying to define what our vision and mission of Our Lady of Light Family of Parishes.  Our staff and had a team building morning. I spoke with our Family Pastoral Council, and other groups and asked them what does it mean to be a parishioner of Our Lady of Light Family of Parishes.  I also asked them what habits does a missionary disciple have?
 
It was interesting because many people didn’t really know how to define a missionary disciple (and I must admit that I have learned over the past few years as well).  It is a term that we use today to describe someone who is seeking a greater relationship with Jesus in their life and a greater relationship being in communion with those around them.  A disciple seeks prayer, time with scripture, connecting to a small prayer group or connection group, normal reception of the sacraments, acts of service to name a few.  
 
These are all traits that we want to see in our people.  Yet, at the same time we have to realize that we are not the ones who are initiating the relationships.  It is God first who is initiating and inspiring us to have a greater relationship with Him in Jesus, and a greater relationship with those around them.  
 
That is why we realized that we have to help people understand and realize that God wants a relationship with every single person.  He never stops reaching out to us and share His life and love with us.
 
God makes His life present to us in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, and especially in Jesus’ true presence in the Eucharist.  We make heaven present to others with things like acts of service, showing forgiveness, and great worship of God.
 
We are called to help others come to know God personally, because we already know him personally.  He wants a relationship with all His children and wants to walk with us in our every day life.
 
Our Lady of Light Family of parishes has a new vision and mission statement:
Vision: We are called to make heaven present here and now.
 
What this means is that when we go to Mass, heaven is made present to us in the Eucharist. When Jesus said “Do this in memory of me,” God brings the action of Jesus’ Passover with apostles 2,000 years ago present to us today. We are sitting in the upper room with them, and all of the heavenly court of angels and saints.
 
God’s life is communicated to us in the Eucharist. We are called to take this reception of God’s greatest gift to humanity, the true presence of the resurrected Christ, and make that present for others.  What we receive fuels our zeal to serve others around us, walk with each other in the journey of faith, serve the poor, be volunteers to help with youth programming, and live our faith wherever we are: at work, at home, and show Christ to all we meet.
 
Our Mission then is to help people walk with God in their every day life.  This could mean something different to every person or family since we all have different situations.  
 
As we move toward our parish picnic, we will be highlighting saints that were not priests, nuns, or other types of religious.  We will be highlighting saints that lived as “lay people”, or people that lived the vocations of marriage or single life.  These are two great vocations that bring love and fruitfulness to the Church.  St. Gianna Molla, St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, Sts. Zelie and Louis Martin, St. Thomas More, Blessed (soon to be Saint) Carlo Acutis, Blessed Chiara Bodano.  These are all saints who were parents, sons or daughters, doctors, merchants, in politics.  They all lived lives of families and sought to live the life of heaven here and now.  
 
In Christ,
Fr. Brian  

When it was determined a parish family name was needed to describe our new Beacons of Light family more, we all wondered... Can we? How will we? Who will dream the name we will all learn to love as a parish family?
 
Well, “yes, we can”, “together we will”, and “our dreamer gave us a name”.

The Process

Confirmation #2 | Fr. Brian, Pastor
Monday following holiday weekend. Sarah spoke with Fr. Brian about the “coincidental” prayer card story. Fr. Brian added that his grandmother attended the apparitions of Our Lady of Light in Cincinnati back in the 90’s.

“My grandmother went to Falmouth, KY multiple times. On the night of the purported apparition, she came back with a picture that she took. I still remember those pictures. They had struck me because I still remember seeing what seemed to look like a form of the Blessed Mother. She would also go to the Holy Spirit Center every year for the annual Mass with those who also went to the purported apparitions.  The last one I remember that she went to was during the first weekend I was in seminary in 2007.  I went with her that time as well.” 

Since the announcement of the parish family name, several parishioners & staff have come forward with their own personal story of previously observing, reading, or hearing of Our Lady of Light. 

Private revelation is not required to be believed.  Pope Francis said, “A prophet, brothers and sisters, is each one of us.  A prophet is he who, by virtue of baptism, helps others read the present under the action of the Holy Spirit," which helps people "understand God's plans and align yourselves" with them.  And clearly the Holy Spirit visited the review team when choosing the name submitted by only one person.  The Holy Spirit’s guidance, through each one of us, pointed us to the most perfect messenger from God…Our Blessed Mother, resulting in a most wonderful parish family name…Our Lady of Light Family of Parishes.

Come, Holy Spirit, and continue to fill the hearts of our family of parishes as we look to Our Mother to guide us and pray for us as the “Our Lady of Light” family of parishes, to forever rejoice in the love of Jesus, our Everlasting Light.  Amen.

And that is ‘what’s in a name’!

It isn't everyday that you find someone with a commitment to the inclusion of persons with disabilities as strong as Noelle Collis-DeVito's. From volunteering with youth programs and assisting students with disabilities to developing an office at the Archdiocesan level dedicated to serving persons with disabilities, Noelle found her passion for this community of believers with disabilities through years of working side-by-side and advocating for all to be included.

Currently in pursuit of her Master's Degree in Pastoral Ministry with a certificate in Disability and Ministry, Noelle fondly remembers the start of her ministry journey as a volunteer for the youth ministry program at St. Francis of Assisi in the early 2000s. At the time, she was working on her Bachelor's Degree in Religious Studies, and upon graduation she accepted the position of High School Youth Ministry Coordinator at St. Francis of Assisi. When her second child was born, Noelle made the decision to stay home with her children, but continued to share her gifts with the Church through parish missions, conferences, retreats and volunteering. 

In 2018, after her children were comfortable settled into school, Noelle accepted a position with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in the Respect Life Ministries. There, she worked to establish the Office for Persons with Disabilities. Today, Noelle works for the University of Dayton in the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives where she is developing curriculum for adult learners surrounding catechesis. 

Noelle Collis-DeVito's commitment to including those with disabilities is clearly expressed through her impressive resume of leadership in the field. In addition to her position at the University of Dayton, she serves on the Council on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities for the National Catholic Partnership on Disability. She is also a national speaker and writer on the topics of sensory-friendly Mass, adaptive catechesis, and multi-sensory learning for accessible classroom. 

Noelle is currently pursuing her Master's Degree in Pastoral Ministry with a certificate in Disability and Ministry. For her practicum, Noelle  offered an integrative program over the summer for families at Our Lady of Light centered around the Eucharistic Revival. Inspired by those living with disabilities within her own community, Noelle wanted to make a difference for those with disabilities within the Our Lady of Light Family by fulling integrating those with developmental and learning disabilities with the full Body of Christ. She modeled her practicum to allow full families to encounter the Eucharist through integration of diverse considerations, including multiple-intelligence learning theory, sensory-oriented experiences, a family model approach and a Montessori feel, with the hope that the program would be reproducible and offer best practices for parishes who are exploring solutions for new catechetical approaches.

Overseeing this program energized and revitalized Noelle's faith as she witnessed how the Eucharist is seen through the eyes of children learning about Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. How wonderful it would be to understand how deeply and truly Jesus loves you for the first time all over again.

Luckily, we have that opportunity each week at the Mass. Each week we relive the Last Supper together. Just as Jesus gathered with His disciples around the table, told stories and broke bread, we too gather around the altar, tell stories from the old and new testaments and receive Jesus in the Eucharist. If you've felt stuck in a period of repetition and going with the motions at Mass, let this weekend be a fresh start. At Mass this weekend, open your eyes and your heart and understand how deeply our Father in Heaven loves you.

Last week I watched two documentaries.  The first was the documentary on Ulysses S. Grant called Grant.  The second was the documentary on Abraham Lincoln called Lincoln.  They could have been more imaginative about naming them.
 
Grant and Lincoln are polar opposites of each other.  Both came from poor backgrounds but one was an academic and one was a hard worker and confident in his skills and courage.  Lincoln read Shakespeare, the King James Bible, and all the great English literature.  He also read Euclid and Greek philosophers.  He taught himself to read by reading these books. U.S. Grant read what he had to read.
 
Yet, they both learned whatever they could to perfect their craft and their careers.  Lincoln was about politics, and Grant was about war.  Yet, they both knew that they must apply themselves in order to understand their craft and careers.
 
Faith is no different.  We must apply ourselves to learn about our faith. We also must apply ourselves to journey to the heart of God.  
 
St. Anselm of Canterbury said “Fides quarens intellectum.”  This means "Faith seeking understanding.”  This means that faith is the gift given to us by God so that we may come to understand the truth of God.  
 
St. Augustine once said “Credo ut intelligam.”  This means “I believe so that I may understand.”  This means that my belief in God helps me to understand the truth of God and what He has created. 
 
Both St. Anselm and St. Augustine hit at the very center of our struggle of faith.  We struggle to understand because God is greater than what we can ever imagine.  We must learn about our faith and be knowledgeable about our faith.  God gives us the gift of faith not to find the depths of all the dogmas of our faith first, but to know the heart of God first.
 
It is most important to know the heart of God first.  The greatest theologians of the Church were not always the best educated, they were the ones who understood the heart God most personally.  St. Catherine of Siena was the greatest theologian of her time and was not educated.  She knew God so well because of how she prayed, and answered God’s voice.  Popes listened to her and she greatly influenced many because of how well she knew the heart of God.  St. Thomas Aquinas was visited by Jesus towards the end of his life and he said that all his writings were merely straw compared to the love of Jesus Christ standing in front of him.  
 
St. Augustine tried to understand God so much that he gave us the beginning of the teachings on grace, sacraments, mercy, the Trinity to name a few.  Yet, his greatest desire was to know God so well that he said “O Lord, my heart is restless until it rests in you (Confessions of Augustine).”
 
We struggle to understand the dogmas of our faith.  Dogmas are the revealed truth that God has revealed to us to be true.  Yet, we will never know the depths of them fully.  God desires that we know the depth of His love, mercy, and His loving heart.  The pinnacle of this relationship is at Mass receiving the Eucharist due to how Jesus Christ poured his heart out for us on the cross.  Through His heart we come to know the depths of the dogmas of the Church.
 
When we pray the Our Father, we pray “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” This is the heart of God.  Our journey is coming to know that heart of God who pours His love and mercy out for us.

​In Christ,
Fr. Brian

I remember the first time I went to a place that a true canonized saint walked in the United States.  At the end of my internship year, I went on a mission trip to Winnebago, NE to the reservation of the Winnebago Tribe.  There was a parish out there that had a mission that was started by St. Katherine Drexel.  She began the mission as part of her ministry to Native American and African Americans.  

She went to see Pope Leo XIII and told him of the plight of the peoples in the United States.  She asked who will you send to minister to these people.  Pope Leo XIII said why don’t you become a missionary.  Well, after much prayer she did. She formed the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to minister to the the African American and Native American peoples.  

Today, there is a woman that was a FOCUS Missionary whose cause is up for sainthood.  Servant of God Michelle Duppong passed away on December 25, 2015 at the age of 31 from cancer when she was the Director of Adult Faith Formation for the diocese of Bismarck, ND.  She was a FOCUS Missionary for 6 years before her work for the diocese.

She was described as a young woman of great faith, compassion, prayer, and always walked with college students with great love.  She could walk with college students and speak with them in a very real way about their lives and faith.

After her death, “people have attributed miraculous healings and personal consolations to Duppong’s intercession, or have claimed to hear her voice giving them courage, her mother told OSV News. 

This shows us that saints are from all walks of life, and God is still inspiring us to holiness.  This past Sunday was Pentecost where we celebrated the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.  Today we still see the movement of the Holy Spirit in people like Michelle Duppong.  

How do we see the Holy Spirit moving in our family of parishes? How has the Holy Spirit moved in your life and and inspiring you to live your faith?  How has the Holy Spirit renewed your faith?  How has the Holy Spirit shown you how to help you to live a greater life of love and seek holiness?  Holiness is our participation with God by allowing God to guide us to be the people he created us to be.  

In Christ,
Fr. Brian

In high school we had to take one art class.  We could choose from theatre, art, or band.  Well I was horrible in all three of those, so I chose the lesser of three evils and chose art.  When we got there, we were told that the lowest grade anyone will ever get is an 85.   You can guess what my final grade was for the class, an 85.

One assignment we had to draw a self portrait of our face.  We had to look at ourselves in the mirror, and then then draw what we saw.  I did the best I could but at the end I got tired of looking at myself in the mirror.  The drawing got an 85, but it also helped me to appreciate my family.  I take after the Italian side of the family.  It made me think of my dad, my grandma, my uncles.  It also made me think of my grandfather whom I never met because he died right before I was born, and my middle name is named after him: William.

Just looking at my face made me think of all of that.  

This past Lent and Easter, the Holy Face of Jesus has been a place of prayer for me.  It is a devotion that many saints have cultivated, especially St. Therese of Lisieux.  Her name is St. Therese of the Holy Face of Jesus.  

What struck me was that the Holy Face of Jesus is always shown very serene, asleep in death before the resurrection.

This past year, though, there was another word that came to me in my prayer.  That word was calmness.  In the Holy Face of Jesus we see the calmness of Christ.  Jesus faced the agony and the terror of his passion and death.  Yet, we see him walk that path with great calmness.  He always had control over the situation and reminded Pilate that any power that seemed to be his, was given to him by God the Father. Jesus was in total control through his life, death, and resurrection.  

We too can lean on that calmness of Christ.  Really, calmness is a sign strength.  We do not need to face things with our own calmness and strength because we don't always have that in us, but that Jesus' calmness can permeate our lives.

It is very human of us to worry, be anxious or allow things around to rob us of our joy, peace, and grace.  What Christ shows us is that we can turn to him and he can calm those storms in our lives as he did in the Gospels.  He has total control and wants us to turn to him. 

Whenever we have a time of needing our Lord to calm the storms in our lives, he wants us to say a simple prayer of "Lord I give these things to you.  Show me the way to your peace and help me walk that path."

That is why he sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, so that we may always be connected to him through the Holy Spirit. We are given all of the gifts we need.  The Holy Spirit purifies our prayers, and the Holy Spirit guides us on the path to holiness. Let us take some time to look at the face of Jesus and sees the calmness of his face and know it in our own lives.

This image is a body of Jesus that was cast from the Shroud of Turin.  They were able to make this from a holographic image of the Shroud.  Just notice his face is not a face of terror or horror, but the face of calmness knowing that his mission is now complete.  He can send us the Holy Spirit to give us what we need. All we need to do is ask.

We also see his face here in the Eucharist.  We can sit in front of Him and we can see his loving, calm face.