In real time, vocational discernment can be grueling and complex, but often in hindsight, important moments can stand out more clearly.
Rosy (second from right) and her husband, Associate Paul Hartz (right), initially committed as associates in 2009, at this Henderson-Las Vegas region commitment ceremony with several others.
For Associate Rosy Hartz, her public high school graduation, where she ran into her own youth minister, stands out as one of these moments. “I asked her, ‘Why are you here? Do you know someone graduating?’ And she said, ‘I’m here for you,’” Rosy explained. “My youth minister always showed up for me. And that’s a feeling that will always stay with me.”
Rosy has been Director of Youth Ministry at St. Viator Catholic Community in Las Vegas since 2000 and a Viatorian associate since 2009. At the Fourth Viatorian General Assembly in October, Rosy was one of six Viatorians who congregation leadership invited to give a witness talk on Viatorian vocation and ministry. We recorded Rosy’s talk to bring it back to our US audience and now share it on our Viatorian Voices podcast, as Episode 100 in our main feed.
Rosy goes on to discuss her invitation to Viatorian life – which came from then-Br. John Eustice, CSV, to both her and her husband, Associate Paul Hartz – and her longtime ministry in her parish, launched by special moments from her youth ministry experience as a teen.
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Rosy has been in youth ministry for almost 25 years, including many trips as a delegation leader and workshop presenter for the Viatorian Youth Congress, such as this visio divina session at VYC 2022.
Another big moment came during a health crisis she faced just after beginning her job at St. Viator. She celebrates the full support she received from her pastor, now-retired Fr. Richard Rinn, CSV. “He said to me, ‘The doctors are not God. Wait and see,’” Rosy said, after wondering to Fr. Rinn if she should resign. “I have been now employed as the Director of Youth Ministry for 24 years.”
Viatorians believe God continues to invite young men to Viatorian religious life and women and men to Viatorian association. Stories of witness, such as Rosy’s, evoke resonance with others’ experience and help fuel faithful discernment. Listen to all of Ep. 100 on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts to see what resonates with you.