Seminary Education Fund allows seminarians to focus on discernment, not finances

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Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

“I think it’s one of the best things we do,” said Father Conor Kunath, vocations director for the Diocese of Covington, about the Seminary Education Fund. The fund directly supports the formation of seminarians in the Diocese of Covington, helping them focus soley on discernment without the stress of financial strain.

There is an annual collection weekend for the Seminarian Education Fund, this year it is October 25-26; however the fund takes donations all year.

Currently, the Diocese of Covington has six men in seminary formation. One is in the second year of his configuration stage, two are in the discipleship stage and three are in their first year of formation — the propaedeutic year.

The propaedeutic year of seminary formation was introduced widely across the United States for the 2023-2024 school year after the Vatican identified an issue. “Young Catholic men aren’t as well formed coming out of high school and college as they had been in past generations,” said Father Kunath.

The Diocese of Covington has three seminarians studying in their propaedeutic year: Aaron Batson, Mother of God Parish, Covington; Evan Callahan, Sts. Peter and Paul, California; and Evan Ihrig, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Burlington.

“The idea of the propaedeutic year was to set aside a whole year in which guys could do intensive, human formation work. It’s more like a yearlong retreat that they go on where they’re really focused on deep self-reflection and deep human and spiritual formation,” explained Father Kunath.

Those in the propaedeutic year take almost no classes for credits, the whole year is set aside for personal and spiritual formation, ensuring that the seminarians are prepared for the “discipleship stage,” of seminary.

This stage, following the propaedeutic year, is where, “they’re going to enter more seriously into the intellectual formation that they need to do philosophy. You’re going to continue going on the stuff you did in the propaedeutic year, lots of human formation, a lot of spiritual formation in there as well,” said Father Kunath.

Two of the six seminarians for the Diocese of Covington are in the discipleship stage: William Fuller, Holy Cross Parish, Latonia, is in his second year of the discipleship stage, and Joseph O’Bryan, Immaculate Heart of Mary, is in his first year of this stage. During this point in formation, the seminarians will typically study to receive a college degree, in turn the discipleship stage will take 3-4 years to complete.

Following the discipleship stage is the configuration stage. Where a seminarian will do 3.5 years of study and formation before being ordained a deacon and ministering at a parish for the final six months.

In this stage, “your discernment is going to move from, ‘Am I called to be in seminary to Am I called to be ordained,’” said Father Kunath. “Now we have to give you the practical skills that you need for ministry as a priest in the diocese. How to be a confessor, how to do some level of parish administration. You’re also able to dive deeply into the theological life of the Church,” he said. The Diocese has one seminarian in the configuration stage, Michael Schulte, St. Pius X Parish, Edgewood, is in his second year of configuration.

The Seminary Education Fund raises money in support of all the seminarians in formation for the Diocese of Covington. “It’s an expensive ministry that we have,” said Father Kunath. “It really does show just how much we as a diocese love our seminarians and love our priests and I don’t think that you can really put a value on that.”

Cemeteries connect all members of the Church, living and the dead

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Laura Keener

Editor

Bishop John Iffert led prayer services, Oct. 18 and 19, at four diocesan cemeteries — St. John Cemetery and St. Mary Cemetery, Ft. Mitchell; St. Stephen Cemetery, Ft. Thomas and the priest cemetery — at St. Pius Cemetery, Erlanger.

In his homily, Bishop Iffert emphasized the purpose and importance of burying the dead on consecrated ground.

“Unlike Hollywood, we don’t bury on consecrated ground to try to preserve our dead from vampires or anything like that … we bury on consecrated ground to call the Church together to pray for those who have gone before us,” Bishop Iffert said.

The Church, Bishop Iffert said, “includes those who have died, includes those who are saints in heaven and live in the presence of God, it includes those who have died and might be suffering in that stage that we call purgatory.

“It’s a very comforting belief to know that in our prayers and in our sacrifices we can assist them (those in purgatory) and we can urge them on,” Bishop Iffert said. “Perhaps through our prayers they might receive some comfort. Perhaps through our prayers they might receive some encouragement. Perhaps through our prayers they might receive even entry into the kingdom of God.

“So, it’s very important. These cemeteries connect us to all the members of the Church who have gone before us. They remind us of our duty to pray for them and to hold them with honor in our hearts.”

Father Ryan Maher invites congregation to ‘ponder’ the love of oneself in the Lord at annual Pro-Life Mass

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

In commemoration of Respect Life Month, celebrated yearly in October, the Diocese of Covington celebrated its annual Pro-life Mass, Oct. 14, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington.

The Mass was celebrated by Bishop John Iffert and concelebrated by various priests from across the diocese — Father Ryan Maher, the Cathedral’s rector, was this year’s homilist, with a different priest chosen each year.

Recalling an experience he had at a recent priest retreat, Father Maher invited the congregation to ponder. Sharing the example of the Annunciation, he commented on “how Mary shares with us the way to ponder — to be in awe of God’s goodness, the grace, the identity of who we are.”

“Mary spent her whole life pondering,” Father Maher said, “the mysteries of her son’s life as they happen in real time … Luke says at the very end of that little passage (depicting the Annunciation) that Mary, returning to Nazareth, treasured all these things in her heart. That’s what is means to ponder God’s goodness, to treasure in our heart, to keep it alive every day … to spend time pondering with the Lord.”

“There are lots of things that keep us from ponder,” he continued, “Distractions, the endless livestreaming, scrolling, noise — those things keep us from pondering with the Lord.”

Father Maher said, “At this holy Mass, we give thanks to God for the gift of life, beginning with our own life. When Jesus gave the command to love, he said, ‘Love one another as you love yourself.’”

Father Maher asked those gathered if they ponder the words of that command, or if they live each day without “pondering the love of oneself in the Lord, and what that means.”

He listed the “many threats” against the gift of life in today’s world, including abortion, assisted suicide, political violence and the ill treatment of immigrants, refugees, prisoners, the elderly and those with disabilities — all things that “erode the gift of human life.”

“We are all meant to be holy,” said Father Maher, “and that is our call. And there is only one who is holy — God. Any holiness is derived from him and flows back to him through those who love him. We are what we are in the eyes of God.”

Quoting St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Father Maher remarked that “if every baptized person could say with Mother Teresa, ‘I am what I am in the eyes of God, I know who I am before God’ — if every baptized person received the healing graces the Lord desires for the heart, there would be less violence in the world. There would be less hatred in the world. There would be less assaults against the gift of human life in the world.”

“Today,” he said, “We pray for that grace. We pray that we look into our own hearts … We ask Mary, our mother, to accompany us. To help us to learn how to treasure the things of our daily lives, the movements of grace, the sufferings, the difficulties, the joys — to ponder them, to be in awe of what the Lord is doing.”

Seminary Ball invites diocese to ‘come together and pray’ for an evening in support of seminarians

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Perhaps the most important fundraiser in support of the Diocese of Covington’s seminarians, the Seminary Ball, was held Oct. 17, among a record crowd of nearly 700 guests — all present in support of seminarian education.

The Diocese of Covington currently supports six young men in priestly formation, who attend seminary thanks to the Seminarian Education Fund, which the ball directly supports.

The evening, held this year at the Receptions event center in Erlanger, included a cocktail hour to string music, a program including a “Q&A” with the seminarians and the premiere of a new video promoting vocations through the lens of Father Joshua Heskamp’s ordination last year, and a conclusion of music and dancing.

Jim Hess, director of the Office of Stewardship and Mission Services, which plans the Seminary Ball, thanked those in attendance for their support of seminarians, saying that through sponsors alone the ball had already raised over $180,000 in support of the Seminarian Education Fund at the beginning of the night. “This year, as in years past, I’m extremely grateful for the generosity of all our sponsors,” Mr. Hess said.

Bishop John Iffert, who concluded the program with remarks of his own, also shared words of thanks, saying, “Thank you to all of our sponsors, who helped make this such a successful and joyful event. Thank you for coming out and enjoying being together tonight. It’s wonderful to see a room like this in our little diocese.”

Bishop Iffert, who joked about not preferring to wear his cassock, recalled a story in which a fellow bishop with similar sentiments referred to his cassock as his “begging clothes” — which he tied in to say that at the Seminary Ball, he was a beggar.

“What I’m begging for,” said Bishop Iffert, “I’m begging for your time. I’m begging for your attention. I’m begging for you to center your life around Christ Jesus … The central truth that we proclaim is that you are so valuable that God becomes man for love of you, that God seeks you out and draws you to himself … Let that be the central truth that we cling to.”

Imploring those gathered, Bishop Iffert said to “help our young people to consider vocations and service to Christ in the Church that are outside the norm and let that flow from that central place of your love for Christ in your life. Make that who you are.”

“We look forward to this night all year long,” said Bishop Iffert. “To come together to pray, to be with one another, to encourage young people whose lives are so full of promise — we give you thanks for this night together.”

Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Father Phillip W. DeVous

Guest

One rarely hears much anymore about the “New Atheists”, or from other professional atheists in the public square. Given the relative silence of this previously influential contingent, it would be lovely to think they were successfully rebutted by the arguments for faith in Jesus Christ and defeated by the evidence supplied by lives of faith. While such arguments are not absent and such lives are present among us, I sense that atheism has largely triumphed, at least, socially, as the lingua franca of cultural life. In other words, their ideas were successful, and public opinion simply absorbed their notions as the default norm.

This gives us an opportunity to properly examine the true nature of atheism. Contrary to the common understanding, atheism is not simply a rejection of belief in God or the idea of God. Upon closer examination, one can see that atheism is a form of idolatry, of self-sufficiency, and a radical belief in oneself and in one’s own power to make oneself “good.” We see this phenomenon illustrated in the figure of the Pharisee when he prays, ostensibly to God, but really to himself: “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector.”

This is what one strain of atheistic idolatry looks like—praying to a god we have made in our own image and likeness. As the late Pope Benedict XVI noted in his deeply insightful book, Jesus of Nazareth:

“At the heart of all temptations . . . is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives. Constructing a world by our own lights, without reference to God, building on our own foundation; refusing to acknowledge the reality of anything beyond the political and material, while setting God aside as an illusion — that is the temptation that threatens us in many varied forms.”

Jesus is beckoning us to recognize the reality that even believers can be tempted to the corruption of atheistic-idolatry, even as they call on the name of the Lord in prayer and worship. We treat God as secondary, ourselves as first. We construct a god that suits our purposes and we end up worshiping the false gods of politics and material pursuits, which is to say, worshiping ourselves under various guises. In our age where materialism is regnant in every sphere of life, and deeply influences our understanding of the human person, this temptation is ever-present.

What then is the remedy to this powerful and often subtle temptation? Radical humility and an awareness of our poverty of spirit. As the Holy Gospel teaches, “for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  Humility does not come easily to us, as self-will and a refusal to acknowledge our relationship of dependence on God and others is a consequence of original sin, intensified by our personal sins. That is why we pray in the opening collect of the Holy Mass, “make us love what You command.” Left to our own devices, living according to our lights, we tend to “love” only what we want. If our wants are untutored by Gospel truth and untouched by grace, we end up in a state of unbelief and idolatry.

When we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us our poverty of spirit, our dearth of understanding about what truly matters, and what makes us whole as humans, we may well experience a profound sense of being brokenhearted. This is a natural consequence of recognizing where in our lives we have worshipped that which is unworthy, believed that which is false, and been made less than we are meant to be. This recognition, though painful, is the path to the highest good! As the psalmist proclaims, “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.”

This is the posture of radical humility that conquers the atheism which is really the idolatry of self and our state of possession by desires untutored by truth and untouched by grace. In faith, trusting that the Lord will rescue us from every evil, we turn to the Lord who is alive to us in the Holy Sacraments, praying, “perfect in us what lies within them, that what we now celebrate in signs we one day possess in truth.”

Father Phillip W. DeVous is the pastor of St. Charles Borromeo, Flemingsburg, and St. Rose of Lima, May’s Lick.

Advertising Sales Manager

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Due to an upcoming retirement, the Diocese of Covington is seeking a full-time ad salesperson for its official newspaper, the Messenger, beginning in January. The successful candidate will be a practicing Roman Catholic and an excellent representative of the newspaper and the diocese. The candidate will be ready to embrace the mission of the diocesan newspaper, has some previous sales experience, works well as a team member, is attentive to detail, and energetic in serving existing customers as well as expanding sales to new clients. The salary is commission-based, with medical and retirement benefits provided by the diocese. Interested candidates are asked to e-mail a letter of interest and a résumé outlining sales experience and other qualifications to Stephen Koplyay at [email protected]

 

Mother of Father Douglas Lauer remembered as sweet, kind, friendly and always with a smile

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Laura Keener

Editor

Patricia Ann Lauer (nee: Eilers), 86, mother of Father Douglas Lauer, peacefully passed away Oct. 2. She lived her life as a loving wife, mother, sister, grandmother, aunt and friend.

Born on Dec. 22, 1938, in Covington, Ky., Pat embodied a kind and loving spirit that touched many lives.

In an interview, Oct. 14, Father Lauer said that the four adjectives that he has repeatedly heard about his mom since her death are that she was sweet, kind, friendly and always smiled.

“That sort of encapsulates a lot of who she was, for people who only knew her for a short time, or people who knew her 60-plus years,” Father Lauer said.

Mrs. Lauer worked many years for Holy Spirit (formerly St. Stephen) Catholic parish and school in Newport as librarian, secretary and bookkeeper. She was a faithful member of Holy Spirit Parish, Holy Spirit Altar Society, Holy Spirit Social Club and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Ladies Auxiliary #280.

“She tried to help as much as she could,” said Father Lauer, who was a student at the same school. “She spent much of her time in her younger years, when we were growing up, at the school. She had lots of jobs, and she enjoyed her work.”

Father Lauer said that whatever advice his mother passed on to him and his siblings was communicated not by words but in deeds.

“She always worked hard; she didn’t float around from one thing to another. I think just by the way she lived we learned. She was kind and I think we learned kindness from her,” Father Lauer said.

Family was important to both his parents. They would regularly get together with siblings and their spouses for games. “They would go to each other’s house and loved to play Euchre,” he said.

From her friends who paid their respects at the funeral, Father Lauer learned that she was “really funny.”

“That was not a side of my mom that I necessarily knew, so it was sort of comical, in a way,” he said. “For her friends, that’s who she was. She didn’t like to be the center of attention, but somehow she was able to make her friends laugh and that’s nice.”

Mrs. Lauer is survived by her sons David (Cincinnati) and Rev. Douglas (Elsmere), her grandchildren Gary and Brittany, her siblings Joan Edgington, John, Nancy Woods, her in-laws, and many nieces, nephews and friends.

She is preceded in death by her parents Frank and Henrietta Eilers, her husband Joseph “Whitey”, siblings Frank, Earl, Catherine Vulhop, Mary Beckerich and Richard.

Mass of Christian Burial celebrated by Father William Cleves was Oct. 6 at Holy Spirit Parish with entombment at St. Stephen Cemetery, Ft. Thomas. Memorials are suggested to Holy Spirit Parish, 825 Washington Ave., Newport, KY 41071.

Tiny Saints brings the saints to life with pitched animated series

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Maura Baker

Staff Writer

It’s Carlo Acutis’s first day on the job — answering prayers out of “Intercession Station,” a fictional creation by the team behind the “Tiny Saints Show” where the saints work to answer our prayers.

This is the pitch for the first arc of the animated series — pitched for production by the Tiny Saints company, famous for its charms featuring “cartoon-ified” saints and other Catholic religious figures.

Ben West, creative director of Tiny Saints and one of the brains behind the Tiny Saints Show, who has a background in the animation field, is particularly excited for the project as it begins to take shape.

“The big picture is that, as a brand, we’ve always told the stories of the saints, just in a very tiny way,” said Mr. West, “This is an opportunity to go a little bigger.”

With over $115,000 raised in two weeks for the campaign, the show is pacing to reach its goal, but support is still needed, Mr. West said, with everything from the concepts, modeling, animation and more all put together by Tiny Saints’ dedicated team.

“The opportunity is here in an independent space where we’ve got a crack team who’s ready to bring a really high caliber animation to life,” Mr. West said. “We’ve got a brand and a group of people who are really passionate about this for all sorts of reasons, both from a storytelling perspective and a faith perspective.”

Faith, of course, being one of the animated series’ primary missions, according to Mr. West, in a culture over-saturated with children’s cartoons lacking heart and conscience.

With the goal to release a “pilot” episode in the spring, Tiny Saints continues to raise funds to bring the show to life — raising money right from their webpage, https://www.tinysaints.com.

“We need people’s donations to make it happen,” said Mr. West. “But spreading the word really is what counts for a lot … we’re thankfully well beyond the halfway point.”

Deacon Tom Nolan celebrates 40 years of diaconal ministry

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Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

Deacon Tom Nolan of St. Timothy Parish, Union, recently celebrated 40 years of diaconal ministry with the anniversary of his ordination on June 22. Within his 40 years of ministry, Deacon Nolan has spread the word of God to those he meets and now delivers Communion to those homebound or otherwise unable to attend Mass.

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Deacon Nolan had a brother and sister. He attended Xavier University, Cincinnati, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science with minors in both philosophy and Spanish. Following college, he married and the two “moved around the country for a period of time,” said Deacon Nolan, before settling back into the Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky area.

Deacon Nolan and his wife had always been very active in their parish, St. Paul, Florence, so when he approached his wife about becoming a deacon, he said it came as no surprise.

“She was highly in favor of it. She and I were very active in the Church to begin with, and she just saw that as confirmation that’s what the Lord wanted,” he said.

It was a close personal friend, Father Angelo Caserta of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, who encouraged his discernment to the diaconate.

“He came to me one day and said, ‘I think you’re being called to be a deacon,’ and I said, ‘That’s great but we don’t have the diaconate in the Diocese of Covington,’” said Deacon Nolan, recalling the conversation. Father Caserta encouraged the Deacon and Mrs. Nolan to sell their house in Kentucky and move into the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for their diaconate program.

“We thought seriously about doing that,” said Deacon Nolan, however the pair decided to, “wait it out,” he said. A year later, the Diocese of Covington announced its new diaconate program, and after consulting a close friend and spiritual advisor, Deacon Nolan applied to the program in 1980. Deacon Nolan, along with a class of four others, became the first deacons ordained in the Diocese of Covington.

Upon his ordination, he was assigned to St. Paul Parish. However, he was not there for long, “three years later a survey was done in Boone County, put together by Bishop Hughes, I was on the committee that did the survey. It was recommended that a new parish be established in Boone County. I was assigned to the new parish along with Father Ed Brodnick, who was the first pastor,” said Deacon Nolan. The new parish was St. Timothy Parish, Union, where Deacon Nolan still ministers.

“Right now, my primary ministry is taking care of the needs, the people who are in hospitals, nursing homes, and would like to receive all the Communion in their homes,” said Deacon Nolan, “over the years my wife and I were heavily involved in various things at St. Timothy. We directed the RCIA program together, we taught the Eucharistic preparation for little children. In the midst of all that I did a lot go weddings, baptisms and various other ministries.”

Of all his ministry however, he most enjoyed preaching the word of God, “that became a very strong part of my ministry,” he said. Over his 40 years of ministry Deacon Nolan served many. “I was called by the Lord to become a deacon, and I’m thankful that I answered the call along with my wife,” he said.