Couldn’t make the Summit? You should have been there

Summit East 2022 was my first. I pray it will not be my last.

I was invited to attend at the eleventh hour to fill in for Christine Valentine-Owsik, who has taken health leave. Occasionally I had to explain my role and her absence to Legates at the Summit. I was reminded of what Thomas Jefferson, after he was appointed U.S. foreign minister to France in 1785, would say when asked if he was the replacement to the beloved former diplomat Benjamin Franklin: “No one can replace him, Sir; I am only his successor.” Please rest assured I am neither Christine’s successor nor her replacement; I am merely holding the fort until she returns.

I met several other first-timers who were actual Legates. They were as pumped about the Summit as I was. I found myself describing my experience as akin to a professional and spiritual retreat. The commonality among attendees in our fervent commitment to Catholic faith and values was palpable. We were allies in our convictions and in our perspectives on family and culture. Our souls and spirits were nourished through the daily offering of Mass, Confessions, the rosary, and eucharistic adoration.

Without exception, the keynote and general session speakers were stimulating, informative, and inspiring. They did not provide mere intellectual titillation, although there was plenty of that to go around; rather, there was the ever-present element of a call to action: Here is what we believe, and here is what we see happening in our church, our families, our communities, our nation, our world. How ought we respond?

The presentation topics varied, but their themes were beautifully interlaced. Evangelization. The common good. Care for the needy. Forgiveness. Healing. Mercy. Innovation. Transforming the culture. Restoring the family. Leading souls to Christ.

And the call went out to the assembled Legatus members. Will you put your particular gifts to use in supporting these endeavors? With your entrepreneurial skills, can you help arrive at bold, innovative strategies for reaching out to fallen-away Catholics, for creating newer and more effective models of Catholic education and parish ministries, for strengthening and rebuilding the two-parent family and the domestic church? Will you support good values-affirming causes, provide care for the poor among us, stand up for truth and the common good in the public square, and serve as agents of Christ’s healing and mercy in the world?

This is a call to greatness.

Legatus is not an enclave for the remnant; there was no bunker mentality at the Summit. Rather it was a muster for the battlefield, an urgent summons to engage in spiritual and temporal warfare against the forces of darkness and confusion. It was also a reminder to live proactively as ambassadors of Christ’s love and peace to others.

This is the work of Legates. This is Legatus. If you missed the 2022 Summit, make plans now for the 2023 Summit next February. I’ll hope to meet you there.

GERALD KORSON is an editorial consultant and staff writer for Legatus magazine. He is serving temporarily as acting editor.