Archive for category: Featured Stories

Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

Beloved teacher, mentor and principal Mary Grable is to retire for the second time as principal of St. Edward School, Cynthiana. Her dedication and devotion to St. Edward School was celebrated by the community at the end of year Rose and Candle Ceremony.

This annual ceremony is a farewell to the fifth graders as they prepare to leave St. Edward for the local middle school, however this year the community was also saying goodbye to Mrs. Grable. During the Rose and Candle Ceremony the fourth graders give the fifth graders roses to take with them on their new adventure and the fifth graders give the fourth graders a candle, reminding them to lead the school with the light of Christ.

Mrs. Grable and principal-elect, Mark Hatmaker, teacher at St. Edward School, participated also in this ceremony with Mrs. Grable bestowing the ceremonial candle to Mr. Hatmaker and Mr. Hatmaker presenting Mrs. Grable with a dozen roses.

“Twelve roses is probably not enough for all the dedication you’ve given to the school, but we thank you Mrs. Grable,” said one faculty member as the rose and candle exchange was occurring.

“I want to express my sincere gratitude to Mary Grable for coming out of retirement to serve as the interim principal of St. Edward School. She worked tireless during this time leading the school. Mary is a true servant leader who gave so much of her time to help St. Edward,” said Kendra McGuire, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Covington, in response to the Messenger request for a comment.

Mrs. Grable has been a tireless servant leader, in both her first and second term as principal, putting first the needs of the students and their faith formation. Upon her first arrival at St. Edward School the pastor at the time said that while academics are important, it was her job to turn them into saints. This was a motto she said that stuck with her throughout her tenure.

“My first year here we had a mirror that we put up,” said Mrs. Grable. She would tell the students, “You should see Christ in everybody, so go look in the mirror. Is Christ looking back at you, or is it somebody else?”

Father Niby Kannai, pastor at St. Edward Parish, Cynthiana, said about Mrs. Grable, “Her deep Catholic identity, lived so faithfully and joyfully, has been a shining example for our children and families. Her tireless dedication and tender love for every child has not only educated minds but also formed hearts in Christ.”

Mrs. Grable’s career started at Southside Elementary School, Cynthiana, where she served for 27 years as a special education teacher, before retiring from public education and transitioning to St. Edward School.

As a principal, Mrs. Grable says her favorite part is watching the kids grow up. “Watching people grow,” she said, “after all these years somebody comes back … it makes you feel like you’ve done something.”

Mrs. Grable expressed her sound support for the incoming principal, Mr. Hatmaker, “He’s interested in learning, but he’s also interested in what their future is going to hold and how close to God they’ll be. That’s what I think we need,” said Mrs. Grable.

Upon his being named principal, Mrs. Grable shared with Mr. Hatmaker a poem,

“Isn’t it strange that princes and kings,

And clowns that caper In sawdust rings, And common people,

Like you and me,

Are builders for eternity?

Each is given a bag of tools,

A shapeless mass,

A book of rules;

And each must make –

Ere life is flown –

A stumbling block

Or a steppingstone.”

Mrs. Grable said she hopes she has built a steppingstone for Mr. Hatmaker, and that he will build one for the next principal. Leaving a lasting legacy for the future students of St. Edward School.

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Thomas More University’s graduates were among the first to graduate as the Class of 2025 this year — celebrating their accomplishments with a baccalaureate Mass, May 16. Held in the campus’s Mary, Seat of Wisdom, chapel — Bishop John Iffert visited to celebrate the Mass with the Class of 2025.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Bishop Iffert began his homily quoting John 14, and reflecting on a story of a young girl he met when he was pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish in Columbia, Illinois. The little girl, a fifth grader, who had been caught cheating, was distraught. “Literally bawling,” said Bishop Iffert.

The little girl believed because of this mistake, she would not get into the best high school, or college, and feared that she would not “fulfill her potential worth.”

“As I sat there and watched this young girl, just riddled with anxiety,” Bishop Iffert said, “I wanted to punish someone. But, it wasn’t her. Her parents, the school, myself, maybe, for ratcheting up the pressure on this girl. That anxiety, it’s a killer.”

“We are the most rejected generation,” Bishop Iffert quoted a young man in an article for the New York Times. College applications, internships and even jobs, all have a lower acceptance rate now than ever, according to the article.

“Rejection reinforces the dark world mentality,” said Bishop Iffert, “that is so prevalent in our culture. The idea that the world is menacing and that people and institutions are untrustworthy. It’s a dark view of the world that believes that our neighbors are out to get us, or even in constant competition.”

“Here at Thomas More University,” he continued, “I hope that you have learned a few things that will help you stand against that dark view of the world. I hope that you have learned that you possess an unalienable dignity that comes to you as a free gift from God, and that can never be taken away from you because of anyone’s judgment or rejection.”

“This dignity is yours by right,” Bishop Iffert said, “You are created with it. You do not have to earn it. It is yours.”

For more graduation coverage including a listing of the Class of 2025 from Thomas More University and all nine Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Covington, see page 9.

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

“I remember one day during Advent many years ago, I was sitting in the church office by myself. It had been a few years since I returned from a Marian pilgrimage but happened to be reminiscing about it,” Father Jeffrey Von Lehmen, pastor, St. Patrick Parish, Taylor Mill, fondly recalled. “There was a stack of mail which I was not anxious to open, usually just more bills — I felt a sense of spiritual emptiness and exhaustion which sometimes come with the pre-Christmas season. On top of the stack of mail was a brown package. I saw a return address from Florida and recognized that it was someone with whom I had been on the Marian pilgrimage. I opened it, and there was a nice note and a DVD movie — ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’” Father Von Lehmen, who is this year celebrating his 40- year jubilee in the priesthood, noted that he felt “a little vulnerable and humble” at the gift.

“Here is someone who could see who I really was and how I felt at the time,” he said, “Like George Bailey, I didn’t set out to be extraordinary. I just kept showing up — one day at a time, one person at a time. And somehow, mysteriously, God uses these small, ordinary choices to touch lives. Pope Benedict said it best speaking about priests: ‘God makes use of us poor men in order to be, through us, present to all men and women.’ That’s the miracle of the priesthood. It’s not about doing great things — it’s about making Christ present in the quiet corners of people’s lives … This particular memory has helped me remember what I need to be as priest. People don’t need you to be impressive. They need you to be real — to be an example. That’s when they see Jesus.”

Father Von Lehmen mentioned that his “favorite” part of his calling is when “through the gift of priesthood, the people I am called to serve can feel and know God’s favor upon their hearts and minds — those freeing and loving graces now accessible in Christ.”

He recalled a memory in the old Good Shepherd convent, with a retired Irish nun, Sister Rita, whom Father Von Lehmen said spiritually adopted him, along with the Mother Superior, Sister Kevin. “Surrounding me at a distance in the back of the chapel where I had Mass and heard confessions from time to time were orphans, prostitutes, the lost, angry, hurt — darkened hearts and misguided minds from intense brokenness,” he said. “I saw there on the table a book or article called: ‘You Ain’t Nothing But A Nobody.’ In this true story, a young boy comes home with good grades for the first time and his mom tears up his report card, saying, ‘You ain’t nothing but a nobody.’ I thought to myself the people surrounding me right now have probably lived this story. I wondered how many people in the world must feel this way in various degrees whether wealthy or poor, educated or uneducated.”

Twenty years later, Father Von Lehmen recalled being “privileged to encounter these very same persons again” at the retirement of Sister Kevin. “They gathered to thank her for her vocation and how they came to know God’s favor and grace upon each of them.”

“That evening, I learned what the favorite part of my vocation is: to participate in Christ’s Priesthood to form others, to bring out their true selves in the image of God in this space called grace,” he said. “In short, to evangelize and form others as God’s favorites is a favorite part of my vocation. And formation here does not mean to be better than others, but to help persons to be better for themselves and others in the Kingdom of God.”

Looking back on these experiences in the past 40 years, Father Von Lehmen said that he has learned “some foresight and much more wisdom.”

“Much of my wisdom has come from being with the youth all these years in the classroom and as a chaplain,” he cited, “together each year we learn how easily and with not much thought people misperceive themselves, their image of God, their image of the Church and their image of different cultures. … How many people, including very intelligent and well-educated people, have misinterpreted reality let alone the Scriptures? And how much has false accusation or gossip contributed to false perceptions? … so, my wisdom I have learned over 40 years is this: we must develop a prayer life to see ourselves and each other through God’s eyes with the help Mother Church.”

“Interestingly,” Father Von Lehmen said, “Forty is a number meaning thresholds. I think I have grown inwardly enough to better cross these thresholds through integration from self-knowledge to self-restraint to self-gift for others. St. Pope John Paul II said in his book, ‘Threshold of Hope’, that the real threshold can be summed up in two words of Jesus: ‘Follow Me.’”

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Clergy and laity came together from across the diocese to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving for the election of Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native recently elected Pope by the cardinal conclave succeeding the late Pope Francis. The Mass was celebrated by Bishop John Iffert, May 12, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington.

Also the homilist for the Mass, Bishop Iffert recalled a quote from St. Augustine he had heard twice in recent times — from the installation of Archbishop Michael McGovern of Omaha, and from Pope Leo XIV when he was first introduced as pope.

“For you, I am a bishop, but, with you, I am a Christian,” Bishop Iffert repeated the quote. But, he said, the quote is taken out of context, explaining that “the former is a duty, the latter is a grace. The former is danger, the latter is salvation.”

Bishop Iffert recalled Cardinal Joseph Tobin’s words during the conclave. He recalled Pope Leo XIV’s fear as the voting ended and his apparent peace after the tally that declared him the next pope.

“Where does that peace come from,” Bishop Iffert asked the congregation during his homily, “for one who is facing stepping onto the world stage in a way that so few will ever have to face? To bear the burden of the weight of shepherding the entire Church of Christ on earth. How does one bear under such a strain?”

“There’s only one way,” Bishop Iffert explained, “These men, Francis, and now Leo — they are practiced at listening for the voice of the shepherd. They are practiced at hearing his call and letting it be their comfort … He is joined to the body of Christ, and he finds there among us, with Christ, the strength to allow himself to be sacrificed in all the various ways he will be sacrificed.”

“We come together today to acknowledge the sacrifice our brother is making,” Bishop Iffert said, “and to give thanks to God for choosing him and for supporting him with his grace, for guiding him in the way of Christ.”

Laura Keener

Editor

Thomas More University announced this week the completion of the Covington Latin School leadership team. Randy Dennis is appointed Head of School for Covington Latin School and will assume the role on July 1, 2025.

Mr. Dennis joins Covington Latin School at an exciting time, with the 2025-26 academic year to be the first under a new affiliation with Thomas More University. As Head of School, Dennis will work collaboratively to leverage the advantages of this new partnership and lead strategic planning initiatives that maintain and advance Covington Latin School’s mission to provide a rigorous Catholic, classical education for the region’s most gifted learners.

“I am thrilled to welcome Randy Dennis as Head of School for Covington Latin School,” says Thomas More University President Joseph L. Chillo, LP.D. “As an experienced and visionary educational leader, Dennis is uniquely suited to lead Covington Latin into a new era.

Mr. Dennis most recently served as principal of St. Lawrence Catholic School in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. He successfully led the merge of St. Lawrence with St. Mary School (Aurora, Indiana), while overseeing a period of record growth in enrollment and demonstrating a strong ability to unite faculty, staff, students and families under a shared mission and vision. He holds a Bachelor of Science in secondary education from Indiana University and a Master of Arts in curriculum and instruction from University of St. Mary.

Earlier this month three people were appointed to the CLS leadership team: Samantha Darpel Rice, Dean of Studies; James Stebbins, Dean of Students and Madison Light, director of Campus Ministry. They join Amy Darpel, director for Advancement and Zack Ryle, director for Enrollment Management and Marketing, both of whom are currently serving in their respective roles.

“We love the energy and the excitement that people are bringing,” said Dr. Joseph Chillo, president, TMU, not only from the leadership team but also from parents, students, teachers, alumni and supporters.

“The leadership team that’s there in the building has just been really youthful excitement and, more importantly, the focus on mission is critically important at a time when we’re trying to redefine Catholic education with this model that we’re working on.”

Over the last year, leaders at Thomas More University and the Diocese of Covington have been transitioning Covington Latin School to TMU as a University affiliated school. On June 1, TMU will begin oversight of the affiliation and begin to run the CLS based on the model. While there will be no changes to curriculum for the upcoming 2025–2026 school year, Dr. Chillo said that plans are already in the works “in terms of what academic pathways are going to like” for the 2026–2025 academic year. Covington Latin School’s name, motto, accelerated program and classical Catholic education will not change.

“That’s the foundation. We are firm believers that there’s lots of similarities between a classical education and the Catholic intellectual tradition, which serves as a grounding for our university,” said Dr. Chillo. “Being able to integrate both the acceleration format along with the Catholic education component are tremendous assets and benefits that will lead into these new academic pathways that will allow students at Covington Latin to earn college credits at Thomas More and then us those college credits regardless of where they want to go to college after their time at Covington Latin.”

About the TMU/CLS affiliation, Dr. Chillo said, “I think this partnership, this affiliation, is really allowing us to utilize the best talents of both places to advance that educational experience for the students and the families who will be here.”

Bishop John Iffert welcomes the new head of school and expressed gratitude for the TMU/CLS transition team.

“I welcome Mr. Dennis to the Diocese of Covington as he accepts the position as Head of School for Covington Latin,” said Bishop Iffert. “In our meeting I found Mr. Dennis to be an energetic and mission-oriented leader. He is an accomplished educator who has effectively led Catholic schools through a period of transition. I thank Dr. Chillo, Kendra McGuire, our diocesan superintendent of Schools, and the TMU and CLS transition team for their expertise in leading this unique and innovative model in Catholic education for Northern Kentucky. My prayers and blessings to all as we continue to provide our children the highest quality academic education, grounded in Catholic teaching and modeled after Jesus Christ.”