The Campus Ministry Program at St. Viator Catholic Community in Las Vegas is part of the fabric of the parish, and that was on full display over the weekend. During the seventh and eighth grade trip to Washington DC, students posed on the steps of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, after attending Mother’s Day Mass.
They appeared to be wearing their uniforms, but a closer look revealed that the students — and their trip leaders, Paul Mertzman and Kris Miller — were all wearing their Campus Ministry shirts.
That came as a pleasant surprise to Associate Rosy Hartz, who serves as Coordinator of Faith Formation and Campus Ministry at the parish.
It was nine years ago that Rosy, her husband Paul and Brian Barrett — all Viatorian associates — formed the Campus Ministry program for sixth, seventh and eighth grade students at the school.
The idea came after accompany teens to the Viatorian Youth Congress every summer, where they met students from schools and parishes around the country, all gathering to learn more about the Viatorian charism, while learning about prayer and social justice.
“We started to think that we could do more in Las Vegas to help foster the Viatorian identity,” says Viatorian Associate Rosy Hartz, “and we wanted to get to them earlier.”
Campus Ministry is now an integral part of the school’s mission, which takes its lead from from the Book of Micah, in the Old Testament: “Act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with God and each other.”