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Scottsdale teens find spiritual enrichment in rosary
By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
March 20, 2008
SCOTTSDALE — Even though more than 20 young Catholics found themselves near St. Bernadette Parish during Mass time one Sunday, they never went inside.
Instead, they spent three hours trekking the one-mile block surrounding the church, praying the rosary for the intentions of fellow parishioners.
Their Rosary WalkAbout March 9 was both a fundraiser and a spiritual exercise to prepare the teenagers for this summer’s two-week World Youth Day pilgrimage in Sydney, Australia.
“We were looking for something that would involve the kids’ spirituality and prepare them for this pilgrimage,” said Gretchen McGill, a mother of one of the 29 youth and young adults going to World Youth Day from St. Bernadette’s.
The walk also let the community know about the popular Catholic pilgrimage.
The youth spent half of the WalkAbout praying the joyful and luminous mysteries of the rosary as a large group. They circled the parish grounds in smaller groups for the remainder of their journey, meditating on the sorrowful and glorious mysteries.
This allowed the youth — and two community members who joined the procession — to pray at their own pace and style. The youth recited five to seven rosaries each, or 133 total, with one group singing every “Hail Mary.”
Praying in small groups also increased the chances that parishioners arriving for Mass would see some of them. The visual statement was important because the youth promised parishioners they would carry their special intentions with them.
“We all have our intentions,” said Sarah McCroy, one of the teens on the WalkAbout. “How much more awesome to be able to pray for everyone else.”
She hoped the prayers for the community’s concerns, challenges, blessings and joys would please God even more. McCroy carried more than 180 handwritten intentions for every mile. The teens collected the intentions after Masses for two weeks leading up to the event.
The youth — who assumed the role of pilgrims for the WalkAbout — will also carry those intentions with them to all of their World Youth Day activities, including a Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.
“We hope that these prayers will go directly from the pilgrims’ lips to God’s ears,” McGill said.
They already went to the youth’s ears and hearts. Although the youth could not go into specifics, they were surprised at how personal some of the intentions were and felt honored that they had the trust of fellow parishioners.
Allison Hinderman found it helpful to have the community intentions with her as she circled the mile-long path six times praying the rosary. Hinderman also liked walking with her peers, admitting she might not have had the willpower to pray so many rosaries by herself.
The WalkAbout also helped the youth and young adults raise money to send them on their Australian pilgrimage. Parishioners collectively pledged and donated more than $5,400 that will be split among the teens.
One woman was interested in making a donation after encountering a few teens as they prayed the rosary around the parish.
The youth also secured private donations to help offset the cost of the trip.
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