The heart of the episode features student speakers Jane and Sophia, who take the stage to reflect on their transformative four-year journey.

Grounded in the wisdom of C.S. Lewis, they share a poignant and humorous look back at their evolution from nervous freshmen to confident leaders. From athletic victories and the introduction of the Bible in a Year challenge with Dr. Emmel, to the spiritual impact of the Rome pilgrimage, the March for Life, and senior assassin shenanigans, they celebrate the deep friendships, faith, and shared hardships that have uniquely prepared the Class of 2026 for their next chapter.

Being a SAINT Changes Lives, and when you give a gift to support our SAINTS, it changes your life too.

Choose YOUR impact at lightofchristfoundation.org.

Speaking at the Baccalaureate ceremony, President Vetter commends the 104th graduating class for their growth, gratitude, and leadership.

He offers the seniors a meaningful alumni gift, their official alumni sweatshirts, and leaves them with a simple yet powerful lifelong assignment: to stay grounded in faith through the daily practice of the Sign of the Cross.

Being a SAINT Changes Lives, and when you give a gift to support our SAINTS, it changes your life too.

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Principal Doll expresses his deep gratitude to the families, faculty, administration, and support staff who have sustained the student body throughout their journey.

Speaking directly to the graduates, the first class to share all four years of their high school career with him as principal, he delivers a powerful reminder of their unique purpose, the profound meaning of their lives, and the impact they can make in the world through small, everyday acts of joy, kindness, and faith.

Being a SAINT Changes Lives, and when you give a gift to support our SAINTS, it changes your life too.

Choose YOUR impact at lightofchristfoundation.org.

Fr. Jake Magnuson reflects on Jesus’ words: “I am the vine, you are the branches.”

As the school year comes to a close, Fr. Jake reminds students that the Christian life starts with staying close to Jesus. We do not bear fruit by trying harder on our own. We bear fruit by remaining with Him.

This homily is a simple challenge for summer: make a plan for prayer, Mass, confession, and friendship with God before the routine changes.

Because without Him, we can do nothing.

Being a SAINT Changes Lives, and when you give a gift to support our SAINTS, it changes your life too.

Choose YOUR impact at lightofchristfoundation.org.

Principal Michael Bichler of St. Mary’s Academy offers a heartfelt tribute to departing teachers, staff, and chaplains whose years of service have shaped generations at Light of Christ Catholic Schools. Through stories of vocation, humility, and faith-filled memories, this episode celebrates the quiet daily sacrifices of educators whose impact will continue to bear fruit in students’ lives.

Being a SAINT Changes Lives, and when you give a gift to support our SAINTS, it changes your life too.

Choose YOUR impact at lightofchristfoundation.org.

In this inspiring homily, Fr. Paul Gardner reflects on Jesus’ words, “I am the vine, you are the branches,” and what it really means to bear lasting fruit in the world. Drawing on the image of a vineyard and the surprising truth that the best grapes often grow on the weakest-looking branches, he shows how God uses our apparent weaknesses, not our strength, to pour grace into others.

Fr. Paul then turns to the story of Esther, a young Jewish queen who risks everything to intercede for her people, to illustrate the virtue of perseverance: going “through what is severe” rather than running from the pruning God allows in our lives. Speaking especially to young people, he urges listeners not to settle for comfort and fear, but to “show up” for the mission God has prepared for them, praying with Esther, “Lord, save me from my fear,” so that Christ can bear rich fruit through their lives.

Being a SAINT Changes Lives, and when you give a gift to support our SAINTS, it changes your life too.

Choose YOUR impact at lightofchristfoundation.org.

No Present Like the Time: The Parable of the Talents at St. Mary's Academy

In this episode of Saints Replay, Duane Eichle leads a heartfelt ceremony at St. Mary's Academy celebrating the 2026 Parable of the Talents project — a faith-in-action initiative where seventh-grade students are each given $10 and two weeks to grow and invest it in the service of others.

Duane shares a moving letter from Barb Johnson of Bishop Ryan Catholic Schools in Minot, detailing how their students' fundraising efforts supported Camp Rayray — a camp serving families affected by HIV/AIDS — and the life-changing story of a young teenager whose walls came crumbling down through the love and community she found there.

The episode culminates in a special moment as students present Bishop David Kagan with a check for $20,191.12, with proceeds designated for the Kenya Mission Water Filtration Project. Bishop Kagan closes with a powerful reflection on what makes Catholic education uniquely transformative — not just learning and doing, but living as imitators of Christ — and offers a simple, lasting challenge to the students: "Keep it up. Do it every day."

This episode is a beautiful reminder that when young people are given the opportunity to live their faith, the light they carry cannot be hidden.

"Just so your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father." — Matthew 5:16

Being a SAINT Changes Lives, and when you give a gift to support our SAINTS, it changes your life too.

Choose YOUR impact at lightofchristfoundation.org.

In this episode, Bishop David Kagan reflects on the enduring and eternal value of the Holy Mass. By referencing the Parable of the Talents, Bishop Kagan reminds us that we are all blessed with unique gifts and talents. 

He challenges listeners to use these God-given gifts to fulfill their purpose: saving their souls and helping others reach heaven. Bishop Kagan also discusses the discipline of Lent, prayer, works of charity and self-sacrifice, as a way to prepare us for Easter and our ultimate union with God.

Being a SAINT Changes Lives, and when you give a gift to support our SAINTS, it changes your life too.

Choose YOUR impact at lightofchristfoundation.org.

In this episode, Fr. Jake Magnuson reflects on the importance of building community, as demonstrated by the early Christians, and encourages us to take the love we receive and share it with others.

Being a SAINT Changes Lives, and when you give a gift to support our SAINTS, it changes your life too.

Choose YOUR impact at lightofchristfoundation.org.

What does it mean to truly succeed at your life — and what is the only way to fail? In this inspiring keynote address delivered at the 2026 Saints Ball in Bismarck, North Dakota, Monsignor James Patrick Shea, President of the University of Mary, shares a deeply personal reflection on the transformative power of Catholic education and the singular calling of every human life: sainthood.

Msgr. Shea opens by recalling the summer of 2002 — a turbulent moment in the history of the American Catholic Church — when, fresh from studies in Rome, he was unexpectedly sent back to teach at St. Mary Central High School. What he feared would be an ending turned out to be, in his words, "the romance of my life." He reflects on the profound moment he first walked into a classroom and felt the call to pour back into the Church everything it had given him.

He shares a moving story from a recent visit to St. Mary's, where he heard confessions from students and was astounded to recognize — word for word — phrases from an examination of conscience he had written 25 years earlier, still laminated in the chapel pews. It was a powerful reminder that our small acts of faithfulness echo far longer than we realize.

Msgr. Shea then turns to the deeper question at the heart of the evening: the nature of sainthood. Drawing on G.K. Chesterton, he challenges listeners to see that the only true tragedy in human life is "not to have been a saint." He remembers Amy Bortky, a former student full of radiant joy who died at 17, and asks his audience to consider who the real tragedy belongs to — not those who suffered and loved well, but those of us with time still remaining who haven't yet given our lives fully back to God.

The speech closes with a text message from a former student who, sitting alone in a university library, stumbled upon the lives of the saints and wrote: "Father, the church is so beautiful. Let's be saints."

Being a SAINT Changes Lives, and when you give a gift to support our SAINTS, it changes your life too.

Choose YOUR impact at lightofchristfoundation.org.