Group of Holy Cross parishioners earn Certificates in Pastoral Ministry

By Violeta Rocha
Special to The Texas Catholic

IRVING—Over the last three years, María Rosalinda Cuarenta has juggled her work schedule and family dynamics with traveling around different parishes in the Diocese of Dallas to attend her weekly classes and earn a Certificate in Pastoral Ministry.

At times, it was difficult and exhausting for the mother of three, but Cuarenta, who has been serving as a children’s catechist since 2017, didn’t let those challenges get in the way of her mission: becoming a better servant for the Church.

Cuarenta has been a parishioner for almost two decades at Holy Cross Catholic Church, but she said one of her most special moments came on May 11 when she received her certificate after a Mass celebrated at the Church of the Incarnation on the campus of the University of Dallas.

Better disciples
“I wish many more would be encouraged to study,” said Cuarenta, a native of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. “I want to share my knowledge with the children in my parish’s catechism classes because I want to inspire them to learn and understand more and more about their faith.”

Together with six other parishioners from Holy Cross, Cuarenta graduated as part of the Class of 2024 from the University of Dallas Neuhoff Institute Catholic Biblical School, receiving a certificate in pastoral ministry.

A total of 32 Spanish-speaking parishioners representing 12 different parishes in the Diocese of Dallas graduated on that day.

“I feel very accomplished,” said Jesus Gutierrez, a native of Guanajuato, Mexico, who completed the program along with his wife, Yolanda.

“We learned to be good catechists, preachers and among all, be good people,” he said.

Both Jesus and Yolanda have served in the Holy Cross parish for a decade, helping in the hospitality ministry, preparing couples for marriage, and participating as members of the ministry Young Adults for Christ.

“The most important lesson I learned through the program was that it wasn’t about me growing, but seeing Christ grow in me,” Yolanda said. “Through me and my knowledge, Christ is now going to guide and teach others.”

The couple agreed that preparation is key to better ministering to parishioners at Holy Cross and, in particular, to its growing Hispanic community.

“We are a very large community, and it is not enough to just be content with what we have traditionally heard from others,” Yolanda said. “We have to prepare ourselves with real knowledge, with the expertise of good teachers who have studied the faith, so we can transmit that to other people in our community.”

The Holy Cross group attended classes in the parishes of St. Francis of Assisi in Frisco, Good Shepherd in Garland, St. Luke in Irving, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Dallas, among others.

Father Elmer Herrera-Guzman, pastor of Holy Cross Catholic Church, said he is grateful for the fruits these parishioners bring for the future of the Church.

“Their success is grace for me,” said Father Herrera-Guzman, who first encouraged the parishioners to complete the pastoral ministry certificate program in 2020 while he was serving as parochial vicar at Holy Cross.

“I felt motivated seeing that we have people in our community who want to cultivate their faith and make progress in life, but more than anything, become better disciples of Christ,” the priest added.

Father Herrera-Guzman said the pastoral ministry certificate inspires parishioners to “fall in love with the truth that is Jesus Christ and by being in love, they are prepared to teach others”.

The graduates, many from low-income households, received help from Holy Cross parish to be able to pay some of the cost of the three-year program.

Luz Gutierrez-Olvera, registration and enrollment manager at the Neuhoff Institute, said that for some of them, the certificate was not only a testament of their love for the Church, but also a milestone that has been elusive during most of their lives.

“They were shepherding each other, valuing the efforts and even lending a hand to cover a portion of the tuition cost,” Gutierrez-Olvera said. “At the individual level, this often represents the only educational certificate they had ever received.”

Such was the experience for Cuarenta.

“I had never graduated in my life, and I thank God that I didn’t do it when I was young and that I’m getting this now as an adult,” she said with a heart full of joy.

“I never thought I was going to have a diploma on pastoral ministry ever,” added Yolanda, “but we have to reflect Christ in ourselves.”

Looking to the future and the opportunities to learn more is what excites Santos Anabel Amaya after receiving her pastoral ministry certificate.

“I know there’s much more to learn, but this graduation means we are on the road to discovering how great God’s creations are,” said Amaya, a parishioner serving Holy Cross for more than 15 years. “Each class gave me a lot of knowledge; and although I thought I was a well-educated Catholic, I now recognize my lack of knowledge. When I now read the Bible, I feel more and more in love with learning.”

Although Father Herrera-Guzman didn’t participate in the program himself, his parishioners’ experience reminded him of the story of his mother, who was a school teacher in El Salvador, but after migrating to the U.S., had to work in different low paying jobs.

“She started working by cleaning at a school,” Father Herrera-Guzman recalled. “Our families often have to do things that are not at the same level that they used to have in their home countries, so being able to receive an achievement of this magnitude celebrates the dignity of them. and that is very special to someone like me.”

Cutline for featured image: Jonathan J. Sanford (left), president of the University of Dallas, Father Rafael Ramirez (center back), Father Elmer Herrera-Guzman (right back) and other faculty associated with the Bible School and Certificate of Pastoral Ministry program, pose with the group of graduates on May 11 at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas in Irving.

Find more images from the graduation in the photo gallery.