Wherever you look at St. Viator Catholic Community and see teens participating, Associate Rosy Hartz is there. From sacramental preparation classes and service projects, to campus ministry and retreats, and even vacation Bible school,
Fr. Bill Haesaert and Associate Rosy Hartz prepared students for confirmation this year during the pandemic.
Rosy is a driving force. That’s not all. Every summer, Rosy leads a delegation of young people to the Viatorian Youth Congress, and every other year, she takes parish students to Youth Day in Los Angeles.
She and her husband, Paul, made their first commitments in 2009 as Viatorian associates. Since then, her passion for her faith has led Rosy to be elected last year as a co-leader of the Viatorian Community Council, which is the primary leadership group for the community.
Associates Paul and Rosy Hartz at a VYC session.
Associate Rosy Hartz, third from right in first row, with 2019 VYC delegates.
Yet, grounding her in all of her work is her journey with teens. Today, she celebrates 20 years as a youth minister at the parish and she expressed just how much accompanying teens through their spiritual journey, has changed her.
“It seems in so many ways impossible, but then I take a glimpse at some of these young faces and realize how lucky I am to have been a window in so many teens’ lives,” she said today. “Thank you, Fr. (Richard) Rinn and Fr. Bill (Haesaert) for hiring a young 20 year old. I have grown in more ways than I can imagine because of the Viatorian family.”