Ky Guerrero calls becoming a Viatorian Associate a “coming home” experience.
It all started as she grew up in Henderson, Nevada, going to St. Thomas More Catholic Community. Viatorians founded St. Thomas More in the 1980s as the population in the valley boomed, and our priests and associates were there to walk with Ky as she grew up in the faith. From an early age, music has always been a big part of her faith life.
“I’ve been part of St. Thomas More’s choir since I was a kid. I grew up doing that all throughout school, and I keep doing music ministry wherever I can,” Ky, who continues doing music ministry as a singer and a guitarist, said. “Our STM music director, Lisa Fairweather, taught us that singing is praying twice. I can really see how music especially touches teens through LifeTeen. Prayer is something many teens aren’t experiencing daily, and offering this kind of prayer is special.”
In 2014, the parish staff offered Ky a unique invitation: come on the Viatorian Youth Congress (VYC). Ky took the plunge to try this fairly new program. And the experience catalyzed the sense of joy and belonging she had already found at her home parish.
At VYC 2022, Ky co-MC’ed the retreat with Associate Tommy Gugino and also spent a lot of time collecting photos, editing them with her digital skills, and sharing them with the community.
Ky stayed local for college, studying film at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and she never got too far from St. Thomas More or from the Viatorians, finding ways to stay involved. “Ever since VYC 2014, I’ve had a mentality of wanting to find what’s next to stay active and grow my faith. After going on VYC as a delegate, I came back as a Young Adult Leader (YAL) and then a music leader,” Ky said.
These greater responsibilities only furthered Ky’s sense of calling to continue serving the Church and her peers in these ways. So, she decided on taking what she thought to be the next big step: When VYC takes place in the Arlington Heights-Chicago region, the delegations typically stay in Illinois an extra day for a fun outing around Chicago – it’s there, while with the group for VYC, that Ky recalls asking an even bigger question. “I remember talking to Associate Juliann Dwyer in the middle of the city, and I asked her: how can I become an associate? So it’s been a whirlwind of event after event, opportunity after opportunity.”
Juliann helped Ky complete her application and enter her two-year period of pre-association. Following that time of formation and discernment, Ky made her initial two-year commitment as a Viatorian Associate on October 22, 2020 and recommitted for three more years in 2022.
Ky (front, center behind Fr. Dan) enjoys the spiritual and community life in the Henderson-Las Vegas region, such as this reception with fellow Viatorians for the ordination weekend of Fr. John Eustice, CSV, who also grew up at St. Thomas More and was ordained to priesthood there.
For her day job, Ky is Manager of Digital Assets for a film distribution company. Outside of work, around the Henderson-Las Vegas region, Ky steadily lives out her Viatorian mission.
On the one hand, it’s staying busy at her home parish. “As a LifeTeen leader at St. Thomas More, I’m in charge of the Young Disciples – juniors and seniors in high school who come back and help lead the Confirmation program. It’s important to me to help foster leadership in young people to help them lead their peers in a life in Christ. I find hope that Catholics in young adulthood are willing to be involved. With St. Thomas More rejuvenating LifeTeen, I’ve seen a lot of teens return to be leaders because they care about it and how it goes,” Ky said.
On the other hand, it’s sharing her gifts in singing and playing guitar – both at St. Thomas More and with her familiar neighbors a few minutes north. “Whenever there’s any sort of music ministry needs at St. Viator, too, Anthony invites me over to share in it there,” Ky said, shouting out Associate Anthony Gugino, who’s a music ministry associate on St. Viator’s staff.
Many Catholics hunger for a more interactive and engaged faith and community life, and Ky is one of the faithful ministers of the Church who reaches out to peers and community members to make it happen. Part of what helps fuel her is this sense of equality and partnership she has always found with the Viatorian Community. “What’s unique about the Viatorians is being involved with my faith always felt so tangible. It’s different to go to a priest or brother to ask for advice straight up instead of only going through Confession or something,” Ky said. “It’s a person-to-person communication versus being someone higher and someone lower. What’s special about being an associate is working in tandem with priests and brothers. It’s a unique community I feel called to.”
Ky’s roots in leadership go back to St. Thomas More and then blossomed at VYC through young adult leadership and music ministry, including organizing the history exhibit and leading music in 2017 (top photos). During the pandemic, Ky popped in on the cancelled assembly in Las Vegas (bottom left) and assisted fellow Viatorians with Zoom Masses during social gathering restrictions (bottom right).
At this point, Ky is the youngest Viatorian in the US and one of just a few Viatorians worldwide from Gen-Z so far. Yet, it’s because of youth ministries such as LifeTeen and VYC that we can sow the seeds that for future Viatorians to respond to God’s invitations. And Ky has positive, impactful experiences of community life at St. Thomas More and in the Viatorian Community to draw upon as she seeks to share with peers and younger people.
“Going through religious education at St. Thomas More, you’re told this is a community you’re a part of. The reason I decided to be more involved and become an associate was that it felt like a reunion. That sentiment always carried,” Ky said. “I was always a familiar face, and people were glad to see me again. Becoming a Viatorian was a ‘coming home’ experience.”
More on Ky from Viatorians.com:
- FEATURE: VYC Formation Fosters Vocations of Commitment (2025): Ky is one of eight young adults who has become an associate, religious, or priest following VYC. We shared their stories and insights in this feature.
- Young Adults in Music Ministry (Viatorian Voices podcast appearance – 2023): Ky and Associate Anthony Gugino discuss their vocation as Viatorians in the context of of music ministry in their parishes and the spiritual life of the region and Viatorian Community.
- Young Adults in Association (Viatorian Voices podcast appearance – 2022): Ky, Anthony, and Associate Tommy Gugino share in a roundtable discussion about being younger Viatorians who found their vocations in association at a younger age and what it means to be a Viatorian and a Catholic as a young adult.
- Professed and Associates in Las Vegas Advance Viatorian Mission Together (2022): Ky was part of a group of associates making their recommitments, as the region also celebrated the start of a new cohort of pre-associates.
- Adapting Mass with the Help of Young Adults (2020): During the pandemic, Ky was part of a group of young adult leaders who partnered with Viatorians to adapt Mass into a Zoom format and facilitate liturgical ministries and faith-sharing with this remote gathering.