Young adults enrolled in the Bilingual Certification Program on Missionary Discipleship at the University of Dayton led the rosary in Spanish at the Cathedral of the Assumption May 1, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker.
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz opened the service with a pre-recorded video message in which he thanked the young adults for leading the service and encouraged Catholics to pray the rosary.
“I’m so excited you are part of this way of honoring our Blessed Mother and the gift of prayer in the rosary,” he told the congregation of about 50 people and others who can watch the recorded service above.
“When you say the Hail Mary, you’re not only saying an awful lot of Scripture, but you’re also meditating on a number of the mysteries of Christ’s life. And that gift of meditation not only is a prayer offered to God through our Blessed Mother, through her intercession, it has a great calming effect on our lives, an effect that allows us to become more the children of God that God wants us to be.”
The prayer service gave the students an opportunity to practice what they are learning in the Dayton program and to begin their public ministry as members of the cohort, said Eva Gonzalez, director of Hispanic Ministry for the Archdiocese of Louisville.
The missionary discipleship program is designed for Hispanic young adults — ages 18 to 35 — who have a ministry or would like to have a ministry at the parish or diocesan level.
It’s meant for those who “wish to be formed as missionary disciples capable of making other young people … fall in love with Jesus and create inclusive and diverse communities of faith,” the program materials say.
The archdiocese’s 18 participants come from six parishes — St. Rita, St. Bartholomew, Annunciation, Epiphany, St. Edward and St. Peter the Apostle.
