Sister Lisa Maurer named finalist for Lumen Christi Award

The Northern Cross 

Sister Lisa Maurer, left, poses with Duluth Bishop Daniel Felton at a 2022 football game for the College of St. Scholastica. Sister Lisa is an assistant coach for the team. (Photo courtesy of the College of St. Scholastica) 

Last month, the Catholic Extension Society named the finalists for its prestigious 2024-25 Lumen Christi Award, and among the finalists is the nominee from the Diocese of Duluth, Benedictine Sister Lisa Maurer of St. Scholastica Monastery. 

“This year’s Lumen Christi Award finalists have each found a way to play their part in making a difference in the lives of others,” said Father Jack Wall, president of Catholic Extension Society, in a press release announcing the finalists. “They are helping to build up a better nation, where people care for one another, and where the pain of others does not fall on deaf ears. They feel called to be a blessing in places where there is no shortage of trouble and tribulation.” 

The announcement noted some of Sister Maurer’s ministries, notably coaching college players on football and faith. It described her as a “beloved and trusted figure for her team, for the College of St. Scholastica, and for the entire Diocese of Duluth in northeast Minnesota.” 

In fact, Sister Lisa is broadly involved with the different athletic teams at the College of St. Scholastica, having prayer services with each team at the beginning of its season and being available to coaches and students. She says she tries to make most of the home games. 

Sister Lisa is also vocations director for the monastery and director of mission integration and formation for Duluth Benedictine Ministries, the new public juridic person that helps oversee the ministries shared by the Benedictine Sisters, which include healthcare and education ministries. Outside of the St. Scholastica community, she is also board chair for the Women’s Care Center in Duluth. 

In an interview with The Northern Cross, Sister Lisa said she was “shocked and surprised” to learn she’d been nominated by the diocese, knowing “the other beautiful things that happen across the diocese.” 

“I was shocked,” she said. “I was honored. I thought it was lovely.” 

Learning that from the 37 nominations submitted she was among seven finalists for the award was an even bigger surprise. She had read about the other nominees and knew the reach and breadth of the Catholic Extension Society. Sister Lisa Maurer watches from the sidelines during a play at a Saints football game. Sister Lisa is a finalist for the prestigious Lumen Christi Award from the Catholic Extension Society. (Photo courtesy of the College of St. Scholastica)
“You know, I’m blessed with what I get to do at the college, in particular with the student athletes, and especially with the football team,” she said. “And that kind of stuff just comes naturally to me. I just do it because it’s what I love and it’s what I feel called to do. You know, then to look at the other nominees, the different people that are doing things, I think what I do is so simple.  

“But then it’s good for me to think about really the reach of what it means to work with the student athletes, and with the college students, just to talk about faith and to help them to realize that we can live our faith in everything that we’re doing, even on the football field.” 

Sister Lisa said the whole St. Scholastica community was excited about the nomination, which she said honors the community, as well. 

The Catholic Extension Society says the annual Lumen Christi Award, established in 1978, is its highest honor and a reminder of the transformative impact of the Catholic Church in society. It said this year’s finalists represent the good work of the Catholic Church in action. 

Other nominees include Deacon Stephen Sellers from the Diocese of Beaumont, Texas; Holy Rosary Catholic Church in the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama; Sister Mary Lisa Renfer from the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee; Eddie Michael from the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky; Sarah Alley of the Diocese of Memphis, Tennessee; and Father Earl Henley from the Diocese of San Bernardino, Calif. To read more about this year’s Lumen Christi finalists, visit catholicextension.org/finalists. 

The last finalist for the award from the Diocese of Duluth was Sister Rose Marie Messingschlager, who was then the diocesan director of Indian Ministry, in 2012. 

Award finalists receive $10,000 to support and enhance their ministry. The eventual award recipient will be given a $25,000 grant, along with an additional $25,000 grant for the nominating diocese. The award recipient will be revealed this fall. 

Sister Lisa said she’s not sure how the ministries she’s involved with will use the money, but she does have plans for a small amount of it: Benedictine medals that she has blessed and then gives out to all the players on all of St. Scholastica’s athletic teams. They come in different styles, she said, and she likes to give different ones each year so the student athletes can collect a different one each year. 

“For sure it’s going to go to keep me in Benedictine medals for the greatly foreseeable future,” she said.