Viatorian Voices: Conversations on the Way

Cristo Rey St. Martin is a Cristo Rey Network school in Waukegan, Illinois that is endorsed by the Viatorians. This high school has a unique campus: a reformatted former big-box store with a sizeable parking lot right off a busy, main street in town. The Viatorians are proud of the rich service outreach these students do in their community, directed by Mr. Jim Dippold, and two of their projects du...

The Bishop McNamara Catholic Schools community, with its predecessor names and parish schools, celebrates its 100th year of Catholic educational ministry. Viatorians led the school for fifty of those years (1931-1981) and continue to support the school in various ways today. In this episode, Pre-Associate Terry Granger, former elementary school principal and current system president, shares more a...

The consistent ethic of life is an integral Catholic social teaching that life is dignified and valuable from conception to natural death. It was articulated by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until his death in 1996 from pancreatic cancer. Fr. Mark Francis, CSV had many interactions with Cardinal Bernardin during his time as a professor, as Viatorian Superior G...

As the regional population grew around Las Vegas, residents in the Green Valley area of Henderson saw a need to start a new parish in their area. Early gatherings started in 1984 and were held in a preschool and later a mortuary chapel. In 1986, the Diocese of Las Vegas established St. Thomas More Catholic Community with Viatorian priest Fr. Tom Long, CSV as its first pastor. The parish first buil...

Viatorian Associates David and Susan Surprenant run a family farm in Manteno, Illinois, near many Viatorian ministry sites in Kankakee County, Illinois. After decades of milking Holstein dairy cows, they sold them to start a cow-calf operation with Black Angus livestock. Care for God's Creation is central to their agricultural vocation, mindfully tending the soil and the cows. In this conversation...

Unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the US are initially placed in group homes, but upon turning 18, they are transferred to prisons. In 2017, Br. Michael Gosch, CSV and Fr. Corey Brost, CSV, with the support of the Viatorian Community, founded Viator House of Hospitality. This is a community home that receives young men on or after their 18th birthday and provide hope, healing, and opportuni...

Associates Ky, Tommy, and Anthony join Pre-Associate Dan Masterton from Vocation Ministry for a roundtable. Three Millennials and one Gen-Z'er talk about faith among young adults, the trends they see in the Church and lived faith among their generations, and the way association and the community life of the Viatorians are a strength of living faith. This episode was recorded during the Las Vegas D...

Associates Romeo Perez and Paul Hartz are both Viatorian associates, husbands of women who are also Viatorian associates, and dads to two teenaged kids, and their families both belong to Saint Viator Catholic Community in Las Vegas. In this episode, they offer some reflections from family life, and how their Viatorian identity informs their vocations as associates, parents, and spouses. (This epis...

This episode offers an audiobook version of excerpts from our discernment guide called Exploring God's Invitation. The episode offers a few guides and inventories meant to support people in the process of discernment. Each section has a musical cue to indicate that section has concluded, and that the listener(s) may want to pause the episode to take notes, journal, pray, or reflect. This book is a...

In this episode, we catch some fresh reflections from VYC 2022's young adult leaders. Mikey Schumaker (St. Viator High School), Deja Otto (St. Viator Catholic Community Las Vegas), and Kyle Wallisch (St. Viator High School) share some thoughts live from St. George Parish in Bourbonnais, where they are among seven young adults serving as leaders with this year's delegates. Listen in for hope-filled...

This bonus episode is an audio companion meant for the participants and leaders of the Viatorian Youth Congress (VYC 2022), who on Tuesday, July 26, will take a short driving pilgrimage through the past and present of Viatorian ministries in the Bourbonnais-Kankakee region. For those not at VYC, it could also serve as a brief history and overview of our presence in this area. Hosted on Acast. See...

Associate Curt Saindon grew up in Beaverville, Illinois, where Viatorians led his parish, St. Mary, and then has settled in Bourbonnais, where Viatorians lead his parish, St. George. Fr. Dan Belanger, CSV, encouraged Curt to explore lay association, and the formation and discernment helped Curt integrate the parts of his faith life, joining his Viatorian history with his commitment to service and...

Associate Brian Hansen is a young adult who is committed to sound discernment and being of service to others. Here, Brian reflects on his time as a Saint Viator High School student ('11), his theological studies, his ministries as a Catholic retreat minister and theology teacher, and his exploration of religious life and eventual discernment of marriage and lay association. (This episode debuted o...

Mary O'Connell graduated from Saint Viator High School in 2016 and went on to study environmental science and theology at Saint Louis University, graduating in 2020. She has since served and lived as a horticulturist at Jerusalem Farm in Kansas City, MO, an intentional Catholic community. Mary shares about growing in her faith and coming to examine social injustice while at SVHS and the ways she t...

Fr. Arnold "Arnie" Perham, CSV is living his religious life into his nineties, and his ability to reach back through these many decades of his life is chock full of perspective and wisdom. Listen in to hear stories of St. Viator Parish in Chicago back in the 1920s and 1930s, the amazing story of a Viatorian novice master freshly returned from internment by Japanese military forces in Manchuria, an...

Fr. Mick Egan, CSV has served in many places around Illinois and Nevada as a professed Viatorian. Moreover, after his brothers twice elected him Provincial and now Superior General, he has gotten to walk with lots of Viatorians, and now is tasked with setting a course with the worldwide community. Drawing on decades as a Viatorian and many miles traveled in leadership, Fr. Egan has a unique perspe...

Fr. Moses Mesh, CSV professed first vows in 2005 and was ordained a priest in 2011. He is a native of Belize, and he first encountered the Viatorians while the congregation led a foundation in the country (1998-2015). Initially, Fr. Moses served the parish that the Viatorians led, St. Francis Xavier Parish in Corazal Town, Belize. He later came to the US, where he previously served as parochial vi...

For this roundtable, we are marking Religious Brothers Day, celebrated each year on May 1 along with the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. The Viatorian Community is comprised of professed brothers and priests as well as lay associates, so today we join the Church in celebrating the religious brothers of our community and all those who serve worldwide. Our guests: Br. Rob Robertson, CSV has been in...

Viatorians founded Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, NV in 1954, the first in the area and the only one until the opening of Cristo Rey St. Viator in 2019. Viatorians no longer lead the school, but some of us continue working on the faculty and staff. In this episode, we hear from Associate Connie Gerber, retired after 41 years at Bishop Gorman, including serving as its principal, and Associ...

The Viatorian Youth Congress is a place where youth and campus ministers bring delegations of high-school aged young people from all of our Viatorian communities, but this great experience only happens with the leadership and coordination of young adults! Two young adult coordinators (YACs) and several young adult leaders (YALs) team up to make the four days special and fun for the delegates. Patr...

In this roundtable, Fr. Patrick Render, CSV joins Br. John Eustice, CSV to discuss Viatorian religious life and community life across decades and generations, looking back and moving forward. The two men bring a diverse breadth of experience and offer a rich portrait of our community that will stir reflections on all that we've done as well as celebrate the potential in front of us in years to com...

Cristo Rey St. Viator opened to its first students in fall 2019, and it's now it just months away from serving four years' of high schoolers. In this episode, Associate Deborah Perez, CRSV's Director of Corporate Work Study, and Principal Melissa Gruenhagen talk about the academics, student life, and school community they are raising together with the families of the Las Vegas area. (This episode...

To mark World Day for Consecrated Life, we gathered together a panel of two sisters, one priest, and one brother, representing four religious communities. Together, they offered witness to religious life today and offered reflections and insights to the Church, with a particular eye to young people and those exploring God's invitation to religious life. (This episode debuted on February 3, 2022.)...

Fr. Jason Nesbit, CSV serves Maternity BVM Parish in Bourbonnais, IL as its pastor. As the first permanent mission of the Viatorians in the United States, it's seen as the mother church of the community in this country. In this episode, Fr. Jason shares some reflections from his perspective as pastor, from the excitement of the 175th anniversary of the parish to the fabric of parish life and youth...

VYC is set to return this summer! As we get our booster shots and continue striving to manage this virus responsibly, plans are moving ahead for VYC 2022 at St. George Parish and the Bourbonnais-Kankakee Region of the province. Join Br. John and Juliann in refreshing your memory on what VYC is all about and how we can get the ball rolling for a great event this summer! (This episode debuted on Jan...