Live Jesus! 2025
The 20th Annual Live Jesus! Virginia is on March 29, 2025 at St. John Neumann Parish in Reston, VA. This year’s Live Jesus! theme is “Bend Don’t Break: The Art of Salesian Spirituality.” St. Francis’ words remind us that we need encouragement and hope to help us find true peace and joy.
Registration Opens January 1st
March 29, 2025
8:00 AM – Continental Breakfast
9:00 AM – 12:45 PM Program & Mass
Location
Saint John Neumann Catholic Community
11900 Lawyers Road, Reston, VA 20191
Keynote Speaker
Fr. Jim Greenfield, OSFS
Fr. Jim Greenfield, OSFS, has been president of his alma mater, DeSales University, in Center Valley, PA since 2018. He holds advanced degrees in theology and human development and is no stranger to Live Jesus gatherings.
Session Description
As keynote speaker, Fr. Jim will share down-to-earth principles emerging from the teachings of St. Francis de Sales for our daily living. One of the classic hallmarks of Salesian Spirituality is equanimity of spirit. This concept can be described as flexibility in our present day. St. Francis de Sales shared that a flexible heart will never break because it knows how to bend. Fr. Jim's presentation will show how the mastery of Salesian flexibility can assist us in dealing with our own or others' grandiosity, need for control, unpredictability, uncertainty, and the multiple demands of our busy lives.
Featured Speakers
Olivia Wills Kane
Olivia has worked in Catholic secondary and higher education administration for over thirty years, in addition to educational nonprofits and religious communities, including the Sisters of the Visitation and the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. A 1985 graduate of Georgetown Visitation and the mother of four alumnae, Director of Admissions, Director of Christian Service, and from 2016 - 2024 as the founding Director of the St. Jane de Chantal Salesian Center. Last August, Olivia began a new chapter in “carrying the charism” of the Visitation Sisters, joining the National Visitation Salesian Network (VSN) of Schools as their first Ministry Coordinator.
Session Description
“The Art of Surrender” ~ Olivia Wills Kane
God desires to create a masterpiece of our lives, yet sometimes we stand in the way of his craftsmanship. By shifting perspectives, letting go of unhealthy expectations, and embracing flexibility as a love language, we make space for the peace of Christ to abide in our hearts. Moment by moment, relationship by relationship, we are invited to stretch the vital Salesian muscle of flexibility so as to lovingly surrender to God’s will and accept the beautifully broken and blessed reality of our lives.
Carol Swiger
Carol is a member of the Saint John Neumann Catholic Community in Reston, Virginia, where she currently coordinates Salesian programs and gatherings. Additionally, she often leads Salesian Spirituality classes that focus on the practical ways to incorporate the Salesian spirit of gentleness and optimism, and the Catholic sense of resilience and redemption into our daily living.
Session Description
“Bend don’t break: The Art of Living Jesus!” ~ Carol Swiger
Like Francis de Sales and many great saints, we, too, may struggle with disappointment, sorrow, and anxiety. We need encouragement and hope to help us find true peace and joy. Francis shows us that Jesus is always pointing at us. He is constantly calling us and inviting us to grow in our faith and in our relationship with one another.