Totus Tuus

Totus Tuus (Latin for Totally Yours) is a Catholic program that brings 4 college students to a parish for what other denominations would call, Vacation Bible School.  These students could be local or come from states away but wherever they are from, they come for one purpose – to spend the entire summer teaching youth about their Catholic faith.

I had tried mercilessly to get my priest to bring Totus Tuus to our parish. Actually, I never really asked the priest. All decisions that went on in our parish were left up to the office staff and our deacon. When we got a new priest 3 years ago, I didn’t even have to ask. He told ME that they were coming!! And it turns out that the priest is actually in charge of decision-making in parishes. Who would have thunk?!

This year, our family was able to attend Totus Tuus on 2 separate weeks. The first week was at Our Lady of Lourdes in Harrisonville while my bigger kids were in Guatemala. It gave my younger kids something to do so they didn’t miss their siblings so much.

It turns out that all 4 of the Totus Tuus staff were on staff at Camp Savio back in June. All of my kids knew them already! I knew Samantha and Max would be jealous if they knew who I was spending my week with so I took selfies with all of them to send to Roy. My evil plan worked. They were jealousJ

This past week, we were all hoping and praying that the same team would be at our parish so Samantha and Max could spend more time with them.

They were!

Samantha spent all day and evening with them as they played and prayed together.

The week ended with an evening party at our house. We had Gaga ball, volleyball and basketball.

All 35 of us walked our hiking trails as we prayed the rosary together.

 

After all the students left, the Totus Tuus team and our family relaxed, talked and prayed together.

We are so blessed to be fortunate enough to host gatherings for such remarkable, selfless people. They inspire young people to keep their faith as they grow into adulthood. It takes great courage and self-discipline to keep and grow in your faith just after you leave home and are considered “free”. Yes, they are all free. They are free to choose the good. They are free to love and serve God. They are free to love and serve hundreds of young people this summer. They served my children and I can’t thank them enough for sharing themselves with them.