Dear Friends in Christ,
It is my great joy to welcome you to the Light the World! Summer Institute page. Here you'll find information on our program, our application, our staff, and more!
As a two-time undergraduate counselor ('17-18) before taking over Light the World! in 2020, I can speak from first-hand experience of how amazing this program truly is. Our main goal here at Light the World! is to help form the Young Church to be Missionary Disciples, agents of evangelization, sent out to their families, schools, sports teams, youth groups, etc. ready to share the Joy of the Gospel with all they meet! We do this through our exploration of the intellectual tradition of the Church, by introducing our participants to faithful leaders in their fields who witness to God's goodness in their daily lives, by providing practical skills to support the spiritual life, and by welcoming our participants into the network of over 300 young people who have attended Light the World! since its inception in 2016. It is through the friendships that our participants make that they accompany and pray for one another as they journey on this long road to God on which we all find ourselves.
As Pope Francis says in Christus Vivit, "Youth is a blessed time for the young and a grace for the Church and for the world...Making the most of our youthful years entails seeing this season of life as worthwhile in itself, and not simply as a brief prelude to adulthood," (CV, 135). It is our hope that the time that young people spend with us here at Light the World! will help them to capture this truth and live it joyfully!
We hope our page can give you the glimpse into our program that you are hoping for, whether you're a high schooler yourself, a parent, a youth minister, or someone looking for a Catholic summer program for a young person in your life. If we can be of any other assistance to you, please just let us know! We hope to welcome you or your loved one to our campus this upcoming Summer!
Peace,