Summer Program July 14-19, 2019: Totus Tuus

Totus Tuus is an internationally successful ministry that is inaugurated its first summer in the Panhandle. Part vacation bible school and part mini-camp, Totus Tuus consists of a day program for children entering grades 1-6 and a three part evening program for those entering grades 7 & 8. Many high schoolers came out to help during the day and there was a mini-retreat for them on Thursday evening. Totus Tuus is Latin for “Totally Yours” and was the motto of Pope St. John Paul II.

Overview

The day program for younger children ran July 15-19, 8:30am-2:30pm. The evening program for pre-teens was July 14-16, 6:30-830pm, and high schoolers had a mini-retreat on Thursday, July 17 from 6:30-10pm. A team of four college-age summer missionaries, assisted by our staff and families, joyfully came and served to our parish, puting on the program. These missionaries, having completed two weeks of training, are dedicated their whole summer to bringing our children and families to Jesus & Mary. Please keep Julia, Kevin, Lisette, and Peter in your prayers and appreciation for their dedication to our parish!

Content & Activities

Totus Tuus celebrates the essentials of the Catholic Christian faith. The spiritual approach of this program, which has become a movement, is to be led to Jesus through Mary.

Participants in the day program were busy with games, skits, and crafts. This summer’s Totus Tuus lessons centered on the Sacraments and the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. More than learning, the program guided children to pray and live our faith through prayer with each lesson, group prayer of the Rosary, and daily Mass. The day program ended on with a water fight and by making a human sundae of the missionaries!

The evening program offered a meal, time for sports & games, and witness reflections from the missionaries. Each night also had time for group prayer.

The mini-retreat was an oasis for high schoolers to reflect and connect with God.