About the Lumen Christi Award
The Lumen Christi Award is Catholic Extension Society’s highest honor given to people who radiate and reveal the light of Christ present in the communities where they serve.
New! Read about the 2024-2025 Lumen Christi Award recipient: Sister Mary Lisa Renfer, RSM, DO
Each year, Extension dioceses across the country submit nominations for the award. From these amazing nominees, several finalists are selected, followed by the recipient.
Award finalists receive $10,000 to support and enhance their ministry. From among these finalists the Lumen Christi Award recipient will ultimately be selected and given a $25,000 grant, along with an additional $25,000 grant for the nominating diocese. This annual award is a reminder of the positive and transformative impact of the Catholic Church in our society.
Meet the 2024-2025 award recipient:
Sister Mary Lisa Renfer, RSM, DO | Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee
In addition to being a Religious Sister of Mercy from Alma, Michigan, Sister Mary Lisa Renfer is also a physician. Her stethoscope hangs close to the cross she wears around her neck, showing not only “what” she does—treat patients—but also “why” she does it: to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.
As the medical director of St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic, she and her growing team of staff and volunteers provide primary care to improve the lives of the medically underserved and uninsured in the rural areas of East Tennessee. She says is important to never look at a patient as a bundle of complex problems to solve, but as a human being with dignity. “My goal here is to bring that light of Christ to each person that I meet, and I think that’s the goal of all of us that work together with the clinic,” she said.