In the Catholic high schools across Greater Philadelphia, young people are seizing the moment to make the faith they learn about something that is vibrantly lived. These moments often arrive gently, quietly in a retreat conversation, in the faith-filled witness of a friend beginning to see life differently, a thoughtful questioned answered by a faithful teacher, in school liturgies, the school’s daily routine of prayer, and for many students in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, during Eucharistic Adoration with Live Vertical.
For more than a decade, founders of Live Vertical Rob Longo and Luke LeTourneau have been leading students in prayer, serving alongside campus ministers, accompanying school communities, offering countless invitations into a lasting relationship with Jesus Christ.
The name itself carries the heart of the ministry. As Live Vertical’s founders tell it, the phrase was illuminated through prayer, Adoration and the bold witness of St. Carlo Acutis, whose life pointed young people beyond the passing things of the world and toward Heaven. Facing a culture that is sustained by comparison, pressure, and uncertainty, Live Vertical invites school communities to lift their eyes toward purpose, identity, mercy, and ultimately a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Their simple and profound mission is to take religion from a subject learned to a faith that is vibrantly lived. Their goal is to walk alongside Catholic school communities to become bridges into the rich Sacramental life of the Church.
At the center of Live Vertical’s model is a deeply personal question: Who is the one? Who is the one student whose life may be transformed through a Eucharistic encounter?
That focus gives the ministry both its urgency and its tenderness. While the reach of Live Vertical is broad, the heart of the work remains beautifully particular. One student, one invitation, one life changed by Christ.
In 2023, Live Vertical received a $35,000 Angel Award grant from The Catholic Foundation of Greater Philadelphia to expand its mission in local Catholic high schools. The grant helped Live Vertical strengthen its work of forming school communities where students are invited not only to know about Jesus, but to know Him personally.
For the Catholic Foundation, the Angel Award was more than a grant. It was an investment into an innovative evangelization effort.
“The Angel award gave us the necessary resources to carry out our simple but vital mission: getting more young people more time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. We do not charge a fee for those we serve. Our territory is expanding which means our team needs to grow. This year alone (‘25-’26 School year) we had 266 days of ministry onsite in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. And we expect that number to grow year after year not just in the Archdiocese, but (arch)dioceses all around the country. The Angel Award was a vital step in our expansion.”
Before receiving the Angel Award, Live Vertical had already served dozens of schools and facilitated hundreds of thousands of student encounters with Christ. But Rob and Luke knew the Holy Spirit was opening the door to something deeper. Their vision was not only to visit schools, but to help build a lasting Eucharistic culture in the communities they served.
This began as an initiative to form student and adult evangelization teams that would continue the work inside each school community. Out of these experiences of forming these teams, Rob and Luke identified four Eucharistic Pillars in order to more effectively carry out the mission of Live Vertical.
1. Guiding Prayer during Eucharistic Adoration
2. Eucharist centered Retreats
3. Eucharistic Consecrations
4. Training and Formation of others to live a Eucharistic life.
Rooted in these pillars, students encourage other students, faculty members become witnesses, campus ministers receive support and companionship and a school’s Catholic identity begins to deepen not only through programs, but through people formed and trained to carry the mission forward.
Live Vertical launched such an endeavor called ARMOR. This is an initiative the Archbishop John Carroll High School community in Radnor, PA has adopted to deploy students formed and trained by Live Vertical in these four Pillars to evangelize the people in their communities by way of intentional invitations into the Sacramental Life of the Church. The following is a “why statement” of one of these ARMOR missionaries: “Through the ARMOR initiative, I hope to make other people feel Jesus’ presence in the same way that I do. The joy of living for Jesus is what inspires me to want to bring others to the faith and the Church.”
The fruit of this work is often seen in small, holy signs. A student who had been distant from faith begins to linger in prayer. A campus minister feels renewed. A retreat opens a that had been waiting beneath the surface. A young person discovers that Catholic faith is not merely something inherited, but someone encountered.
That is the quiet miracle Live Vertical seeks to multiply.
Live Vertical is also a fund holder with The Catholic Foundation, ensuring that its mission can be supported with care, accountability, and long-term vision. The Live Vertical Fund supports the ministry’s operational endeavors and organizational growth. The Catholic Foundation continues to walk alongside Live Vertical as a trusted philanthropic partner helping sustain the work God has placed before them.
Rob and Luke have shared the following about their partnership with The Foundation:
“Working with the Catholic Foundation has been a tremendous blessing for our ministry. Their team has been more than supporters, they have been true partners who believe in our mission and actively help us advance it. Whether offering guidance on opportunities for growth, sharing new ideas, or inviting us to participate in events, they consistently demonstrate a genuine commitment to our success. Their accessibility, encouragement, and collaborative spirit have made them an invaluable partner in helping us expand our impact and serve more young people through our ministry.”
For Rob and Luke, the work remains rooted in prayer. It began with a novena. It grew through Eucharistic Adoration. It continues every time a student is invited to look up and discover that Christ is not distant, but near.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” For Live Vertical, this is more than a verse. It is a mission. To lift high the name of Jesus. To help Catholic schools become places where faith is encountered, embraced, and lived. And perhaps that is the true impact of Live Vertical. Students begin to see their lives differently. They begin to understand that they were made for more than the noise around them. They were made for communion with God. They were made for holiness.
They were made to Live Vertical!