A Summation of the Last Half of Totus Tuus

Admittedly, I've failed at keeping up the weekly Totus Tuus correspondence. Hopefully that means I was investing the extra effort into the youth of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois...

The last half of the summer was incredibly busy and very intense. We went from St. Peter's in Quincy, which had the largest numbers of any parish this summer (85 day and 55 night!), to St. Francis Xavier in Jerseyville (not a small parish itself), to St. Agnes in Springfield (also pretty substantial), finally finishing up in Auburn at Holy Cross Parish.

Without going into much detail, I found that the last half of the summer was just as epic and grace-filled as the first (if not more). My teammates were all spectacular and I couldn't have asked for a better group of fellow missionaries. We worked hard this summer and hopefully contributed a little to the salvation of souls. I think I'll let prayer and the Holy Spirit take it from here...

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, Pray for us!!

Everyone Needs a Break Sometimes...

...And this one was very much needed. I don't remember being that tired after the first four weeks (five counting training) of Totus Tuus last year. But boy was I exhausted this time around.

To be honest, I was able to kick some of the weariness as the week went on and I looked more and more forward to traveling up to the Chicago area to see some of my friends from college. Even though it's only been a month and a half since I've graduated, it seemed like it had been forever since we last met.

I drove straight from Springfield to Flanagan, where I had dinner with Austin's family. We then drove up to Downer's Grove, dropped my car off at Maggie's, and finished the drive to Libertyville, where we crashed for the night with Dan! We visited some place called the Island for a drink and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep during a movie when we returned home.

The next day we bummed around Libertyville. Later that day, we ended up in Naperville, where Dana was so nice as to invite us for dinner and a pool party. Dinner was delicious, but the company was what I truly missed. I was SHOCKED when everyone showed up...it was literally everyone that I was hoping to see during my trip up to Chicago (with the exception of Claire and Tim, who I saw earlier that day during Mass at Marytown). It was like a dream come true. It was so great being back together for one more meal before we all part ways for the school year.

After a night of awesomeness, Komo, Austin, Maggie, and I retired back in Downer's Grove. After Komo left the next afternoon, the happy couple and I wandered around the DG area and had a very nice dinner. We spent most of the night drinking strawberry daiquiris and playing Trivial Pursuit (that's right...and it was awesome). This is why I love my friends. I then fell asleep (again) during a movie.

After a great weekend, I drove home to visit family. Now, after visiting a few high school friends and spending a very restful few days at home, I'm armed and ready to start another four weeks of Totus Tuus!

I love my friends.

P.S. I'm sorry most of the posts this summer haven't been terribly interesting or cleverly worded...my method the past few posts has definitely been word-vomit until my mind is purged and don't try to spice it up at all. I'll see if I can work on that.

Totus Tuus Parish #4: St. John Vianney, Sherman

Whew! It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted. You can attribute that to the fact that I was pretty tired during our fourth week of...catechizing those kids!!

After having distanced myself from the work by a week, let's see how much of a memory I can produce of that wonderful time spent in Sherman.

First off, the church was beautiful (especially for a 1960s construction), as you can see for yourself:

As it turns out, the pastor of the parish is also the Vicar General of our diocese, so it was also great to get to know him a little bit. He's an incredibly busy man, but he managed to clear his schedule and spend some time with us!!
The beginning of the week was a little shaky, with a somewhat low turnout of the jr. high/high school kids. But by the end of the week, the numbers for both the daytime program and nighttime program grew, and I managed to get over my initial tiredness and be there for the kids! Totus Tuus...not halfus tuus; something frequently said to remind ourselves that the kids and families we encounter deserve more.

Final thought for this (not-so-well-put-together) post: something by St. John Vianney that was written on the side of the church.

Legend of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste

This week, the Gold Team is at the parish of Forty Martyrs in Tuscola, IL and St. John the Baptist in Arcola (pictured below respectively, outside then in).

I'm not sure I had ever heard the story of the forty martyrs, but it's pretty interesting. Here's the story as found on a holy card I found in the church:

"About 320 A.D., Roman Christian soldiers ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods refused and were exposed naked on ice in a lake, tempted by a warm bath nearby. One renounced his faith, entered the warm water, and died. A guard nearby had visions of angels giving them precious gifts. Moved by the Holy Spirit he removed his clothes and died with them."

The week has been pretty great so far! The team's a little tired, but there have been many moments through the week where I feel as though God is picking me up and encouraging me onward. Adoration this week was spectacular...gotta love spending an hour with Jesus in the middle of a crazy hectic week!

Sorry for the short post. I was hoping to do more, but it's almost prayer time and I'm a little tired. Pax!

Hello, Paris!

Okay, sure, it's not quite as exciting as Paris, France, but it's a start, right?!

The Gold Team for Totus Tuus 2011 Springfield just arrived yesterday at our new digs in Paris, IL, still located in the very eastern part of our fine diocese/state. Paris is a town of about 9,100 and was founded in 1823 (I think that's what I read on the sign on the way into town?). This week, the three other missionaries and I will be serving the parishes of St. Mary (pictured below) and St. Aloysius (which is a smaller, rural parish nearby).

If you can't tell from the pictures, the architecture of the Church is astounding and fairly unique to our diocese (at least what I've seen of it). St. Aloysius was similarly beautiful, albeit in a less sweeping way. St. Al's is apparently (from what Father told us in the car ride over to Mass at 7 am this morning) the oldest running parish in the diocese, having its start in a log cabin built in 1817 as a part of some diocese in Kentucky. They're located only about 5 miles from the border to Indiana and we actually crossed the road which marks the border between the old United States and Indian Territory. A nice little piece of history for this morning!

After a long day of playing on a jet ski, swimming, and cooking out (with the girls' host family) at Twin Lakes, we settled down for the evening program, preceded by a performance from a band consisting of four of the kids who were coming to the program. The parish provided pizza and they provided the music...a nice way to get the kids to come out and participate! It must have worked, as 27 people ended up being our final tally for the night program (only about half that were previously registered I think...). Praise God! I'm feeling good things coming out of this parish!

Mary, Mother of God and St. Aloysius, Pray for us!!

Goodbye, Robinson!

So for the first week of Totus Tuus, the eight missionaries made ourselves at home in Robinson, IL, welcomed so kindly by the parishioners of St. Elizabeth (church pictured below) and Our Lady of Lourdes.

The families we met were incredible and having the two teams together in one parish was an amazing experience. We all bonded so well that it made it very difficult to want to separate for our next 6 parishes. But that's the essence of our mission!! Gotta spread the love!

Before we left, we had the great blessing of spending Friday night with one of the host families, whose son happened to be turning 9. I think it was probably one of the funnest nights I've had in quite a while. We laughed and laughed...mostly about the goofy stuff that we do to get kids to open up to God...but it made the union and family into which Christ calls us seem so tangible. It was an absolutely beautiful thing.

Yesterday afternoon, as we were driving to the new parish, the girls read the note that the high-school aged daughter of that family had written to us. She explained how seeing a group of excited, college-aged kids who were so willing to be goofy was all it took to get her to "want to be Catholic for the rest of her life." I was so floored by her note. While I certainly don't seek or hope for those earthly consolations, I believe that God does indeed provide them for specific reasons. I know that in the difficult moments of this summer, I'll be able to think back to how I, through God's graces and talents within me, have helped to draw her closer in union with Christ and His plan for our salvation. And sometimes, a small consolation like that is all we need to take up our cross and carry on...

Training Complete--Now on to the Real Stuff

Wahoo!! Totus Tuus training is officially complete. After a whirl-wind week full of lots of learning and bonding, my seven teammates and I are finally fully commissioned little portals of evangelization!

Can I just say that BroomTree retreat center in Irene, SD is like a little slice of heaven? I very much enjoyed my week there without internet or other worldly distractions (not that we'd have much time for them if they were present).

Here are the cabins that we called home for a week:

And a picture of Sts. Isidore and Maria chapel just on the other hill! And it's inside:

And the lodge where we trained:

Also, there's just something about spending a week with complete strangers in a strange place that brings you together. The eight missionaries on the Springfield team are basically best friends now, despite the fact that we've only known each other for about 10 days. Here's my team (it's the only pic I have of all four of us right now...bear with me. Long story short: scavenger hunt requiring awkward family photo):

My mission this week leads me to the beautiful little town of Robinson, IL. Not too small and not too big. St. Elizabeth's and Our Lady of Lourdes (in Oblong, IL) are the Catholic Churches we are serving this week, and I'm very happy to be here! Tonight, the parish surprised us with 14 junior high and high schoolers that showed up, when only 5 were registered! Here's to starting the summer off right!