Bishop Brossart High School, a National Blue Ribbon School in Alexandria, KY, is seeking a full-time Chemistry teacher to join our Science department for the 2025-2026 school year. The ideal candidate would be eligible for Kentucky state certification by next school year. All interested candidates should send a letter of interest and resume to Principal Chris Holtz at [email protected].
Bishop Brossart High School, a National Blue Ribbon School in Alexandria, KY, is seeking a full-time teacher to join our Math department for the 2025-2026 school year. The ideal candidate would be eligible for Kentucky state certification by next school year. All interested candidates should send a letter of interest and resume to Principal Chris Holtz at [email protected].
By David Cooley.
The love between a husband and a wife is beautiful and unique. It is both unitive and procreative and ordered toward a life filled with charity, fidelity, faith, and sacrifice. It is a life-long spiritual journey toward heaven that begins with the sacrament of marriage.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen famously said, “It takes three to get married.” Marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman and Jesus Christ.
Marriage, like life, is a great adventure, but it can be difficult and complicated to say the least. To persevere in holiness, couples need the Lord’s presence and his grace that he bestows through the sacraments. With that grace and constant support from the Catholic community, a husband and wife can persevere in love when facing daily difficulties and lifelong hardships.
Jesus shows us the kind of love we must strive for. He taught us that there is no greater love than laying down your life for others, and he demonstrated what love looks like when he allowed himself to be hung on a cross for our sins.
Jesus never held anything back or tried to diverge from his Father’s will. Jesus reveals to us that love is a complete outpouring of oneself as a gift. Holding nothing back and giving yourself over as a complete gift to your spouse is the vocational call of a husband and a wife.
St. Paul emphasized that “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong but rejoices in the right.” (Cor 13:4-6) And when a man and a woman learn to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things, their marriage becomes one of the most beautiful signs of Christ’s love for His Church.
We learn in the earliest parts of Genesis that God is the author of marriage and that the family is the foundational element of society. Strong, blessed, and happy marriages are the key to a strong, blessed, and happy society. Pope St. John Paul II pointed out that “as the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live.”
Today we must face the fact that there are popular alternative messages about love and marriage. These views bereft of God leave couples susceptible to confusion and disorder. Relationships are set up for failure.
In the Diocese of Covington, we have certain requirements that we ask couples to meet before their wedding day. These requirements are not meant to burden the couple by adding arbitrary tasks to their already-full schedule, but, on the contrary, are meant to help couples lay a solid foundation on which they can build the rest of their lives.
This solid foundation is a person — Jesus Christ. Strong Catholic marriages lead to strong Catholic families, which will in turn bless our parishes, communities, and culture. We must all do our part to recognize and defend the beauty of marriage and support the couples that the Lord brings into our lives.
David Cooley is co-director of the Office of Catechesis and Evangelization in the Diocese of Covington.
Laura Keener
Editor
With the announcement of the Campaign of Mercy last June, Bishop John Iffert is inviting the people of the Diocese of Covington to prayerfully consider a work of mercy and to engage in service to others, allowing that service to deepen their faith life and to draw them closer to Christ.
In support of the Campaign of Mercy, the Messenger has been highlighting a spiritual or corporal work of mercy and a person, parish ministry or local social service that embodies that work. The goal of the Campaign of Mercy is to evangelize through that work of service inviting someone — a family member, friend or acquaintance — to join you in that service work and through that relationship grow in faith.
With the onset of Lent, the Messenger is pausing its series on the works of mercy and turning attention to the foundational aspect of the Campaign of Mercy — personal and intercessory prayer. Lent is a penitential season of the Church that invites its members to a deepening of faith through the practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. For the Campaign of Mercy, the Messenger invites readers on a Lenten journey to Walk With One.
At the conclusion of the Eucharistic Congress last July, the U.S. bishops launched a national evangelization initiative entitled “Walk With One.”
“As we prayed, we realized that perhaps the profundity is found in the simplicity,” said Kris Frank, vice president of Growth and Marking for the National Eucharistic Congress, about the Walk With One Campaign. “That if one person can just reach out to one other person, that’s where we could see great results. That’s where we could see change really start to take root as the revival takes root in each one of us.”
Walk With One and the Campaign of Mercy dovetail perfectly. Both start by developing or increasing a personal relationship with the Lord through prayer. Both invite the Holy Spirit to lead to the person God has in mind for you to journey with. And both encourage daily intercessory prayer for the person so that their heart and mind will be open to Lord.
“When we’ve encountered Jesus, that changes us,” said Tanner Kalina, project manager, National Eucharistic Congress. “The Eucharist is not our private possession. The Eucharist longs to be shared with others and Jesus desires to do that through us.”
Resources developed by Eucharistic Congress organizers for the Walk With One campaign offer a four-step process: identify someone in a spirit of humility; intercede for that person in communion with the Holy Spirit; connect in Eucharistic friendship and invite that person on a path most suitable for him or her. With the help of the National Eucharistic Congress team, each of these four steps will be explored throughout the weeks of Lent, in print, on the web and the diocese’s YouTube page.
“The Church’s invitation for us to Walk With One is not an invitation for us to add one more task to do, it’s actually an invitation for us to step into the fullness of the Christian life by walking with someone and inviting them into different stages of the spiritual journey,” said Mr. Kalina. “We actually become more alive and closer to Jesus. It is about getting us to be a Eucharistic people, a people who are really living the fullness of the Christian life and, therefore, tasting the abundance and joy of the Christian life.”
The Messenger’s Lenten feature will be available online at covdio.org/messenger. For additional Walk With One resources from the National Eucharistic Congress visit eucharisticrevival.org/walk-with-one.
Laura Keener
Editor
One of the truly unique aspects of the With One Heart pastoral plan is that it includes not only the diocesan pastoral plan but also the pastoral plans of every parish in the Diocese. And while each parish’s pastoral plan is unique, common themes and initiatives have developed, especially around the need for faith formation and evangelization.
St. Thomas Parish, Ft. Thomas, has made great strides in implementing its parish pastoral plan. Its three stated priorities are welcoming, faith formation and outreach. What has been foundational to all three of these priorities has been updating the parish Camino database.
“Before we could do any outreach, we had to make sure that we know who we are and making sure that we have a good, accurate database of our parishioners so that we can communicate with them,” said Father Ross Kelsch, pastor.
Updating the parish database took a lot of time and effort by the parish staff. Data sheets for each family were distributed at Masses. Families that did not pick up a data sheet were called. What the parish found was that for the 1,000 families in the database, nearly 80 percent had inaccurate information — phone landlines were discontinued and replaced with mobile numbers, e-mail addresses had changed, some had new home addresses, children had moved out of the family home and started a new family of their own — all of these updates are important when trying to communicate with parishioners.
“What that has provided us now is a clean snapshot of who our parishioners are,” said Father Kelsch.
With the updated database, parish ministries can now accurately contact parishioners. So far, the parish is working on a new parish directory, with parishioners uploading their favorite photo to the database.
“Now, in the office here, we get to see those photos in Camino. When we’re talking on the phone with somebody, we can see their face and be like, oh, I see him at Mass every weekend or oh, I see her in the school pickup line. It’s been a real community builder to be able to put the face with the name,” said Elizabeth Gruenschlaeger, parish business manager.
Ms. Gruenschlaeger and her coworker, Audrey Wilson, helped Father Kelsch with the arduous task of updating the database. Their hard work is being rewarded. A ministry fair was held which garnered over 150 new registrations for parish and school ministries — from adding lectors and Eucharistic ministers, to servers, choir members, landscape help and more.
“It’s lightened the burden for everyone who has been serving, but it’s also just nice to have more people involved in ministry roles here,” said Ms. Gruenschlaeger.
Parishioners also receive a weekly digital communication from the parish right to their phone or e-mail through Flocknote.
“We went from no clear vision of who our parishioners are to being able to engage them intentionally and get them involved,” Father Kelsch said. “Outreach is not only helping people outside of the parish, it’s also helping us reach our own people and strengthening those connections, deepening those relationships, so that, ideally, people feel like they belong; to know that we would miss them if they were not here.”
Bella Young
Multimedia Correspondent
The Youth Ministry Office of the Diocese of Covington hosted what is known as a “Connect” retreat, Feb. 22, for sixth, seventh and eighth graders of the Diocese at Thomas More University, Crestview Hills. This retreat, which happens three times a year, serves to bring students together in community and helps them build a relationship with God.
Michelle Bump, senior theology student at Thomas More and a member of the leadership team, said, “The point is really to bring all the parishes together as a community … it is a time for them to come together for community and for faith and to get to know Jesus a little bit better.
“Any retreat, in particular Connect, is an opportunity for students and young people to get away from the craziness of their daily lives. Students are always packed with school and sports and extracurriculars and family time and friends. It can be really overwhelming … Connect is a special opportunity for students to take that step back and remember their roots, get back to the foundation of, ‘I am a child of God, and this is my time to spend with the people around me,’” said Ms. Bump.
During the retreat students break into small groups and hear from different speakers, they play ice breaker games, get know each other, sing worship songs and participate in Eucharistic adoration.
“We start with the ice breakers … get people comfortable with each other because that way when it is time to pray and praise the students feel more comfortable being themselves and openly worshipping Jesus,” said Ms. Bump.
This year, 130 students attended, a welcome increase from the 80 that attended last year. The students came from all over the Diocese, with many also being either homeschooled or attending a public school.
Angie Poat, diocesan Youth Minister, said about the 47 percent increase in attendance, “it’s really special, it speaks to the desire and the need this is filling … it is like casting the nets, come one, come all.”
Mary, Queen of Heaven School is seeking a full time Computer/STEM/Technology Lead Teacher to join our talented faculty and staff. All candidates should send a cover letter, resume and list of references to Meg Piatt at [email protected].
Holy Spirit Catholic Parish, a parish in the Diocese of Covington of 520 families, is seeking qualified applicants for the part-time position of Music Director.
The position of Music Director at Holy Spirit Catholic Parish in Newport, Kentucky, is a part-time role within parish leadership. The Music Director is responsible for organizing, leading, and growing the Music Ministry at Holy Spirit. The Music Director works collaboratively with clergy and lay leadership to plan and provide liturgical music and worship direction at all parish liturgies. The position must be filled by an individual with strong faith, commitment to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and a thorough understanding of liturgical music.
Interested candidates should send a cover letter and résumé to [email protected] by March 10, 2025. The anticipated start date is May 1, 2025. Any questions regarding the position and for a complete job description may also be sent to this email address.
St. Lawrence Catholic School (PreK-8), a cornerstone of the Lawrenceburg, Indiana community for over 150 years, is seeking a faith-driven, experienced PreK-8th grade principal for the 2025-2026 school year to lead our school of more than 250 students. Conveniently located in Southeastern Indiana, minutes from the Cincinnati tri-state area along Highway US 50, St. Lawrence continues its tradition of faith-based education, high-academic rigor, and service-centered curriculum and is the flagship Catholic school in Dearborn County, Indiana.
Key Responsibilities Include: – Leadership & Professional Development for faculty & staff – Building a strong faith-based school culture – Overseeing curriculum development & academic excellence – Managing budgeting & financial oversight – Leading marketing, outreach & enrollment growth
Required Qualifications: – Practicing Catholic in good standing – Valid Administrator’s License – Experience in Catholic school leadership – Passion for student achievement & teacher development – Strong communication & relationship-building skills
Why Join Us? Location: We are minutes from the I-275 loop, offering an easy commute from Cincinnati, OH, and Northern Kentucky. Our teachers and staff are from the Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and Southeastern Indiana regions.
Community: We serve all Dearborn County communities, including Aurora, Sunman, Dillsboro, Bright, Hidden Valley, and beyond.
Mission: We focus on faith formation, academic excellence, and community service.
Highly Competitive Salary Commensurate with Experience More information about St. Lawrence School can be found at https://stlschool.com/ [stlschool.com]
Applications will be accepted through March 28, 2025
Questions, along with resumes and any other supporting documentation (i.e. cover letter, references, letter of reference, etc.) should be directed to:
Anne Krieger
Office Manager, Administrative and Teacher Personnel
Office of Catholic Schools
317-236-1444