Mission accomplished: Milan parish hosts Totus Tuus
Catholic summer experience for children, teens was offered bilingually for a multicultural community
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“There’s no place I’d rather be ... than here in your love ... here in your love.”
Bright, reverent voices swelled into the sanctuary of St. Mary Church in Milan.
Only minutes previously, the same children were cajoling each other through a raucous game of “King Solomon Says” in the sparkling new parish hall.
St. Mary’s inaugural hosting of “Totus Tuus” was winding down to a successful finish.
“We’re lucky to have a church that takes care of us,” said Joel Bahena, a fifth-grader and lifelong parishioner who attended the five-day Catholic immersion experience for children and teens.
Three teams of four young-adult Totus Tuus missionaries spread out over 18 parishes this summer, offering fun and engaging ways to learn about the faith and put it into practice.
Totus Tuus is Latin for “Completely Yours,” which was Pope St. John Paul II’s papal motto.
Local volunteers in the parishes worked with the young missionaries, making each Totus Tuus iteration a unique experience.
This was the first time the Milan parish, where Spanish is the foundational language for many parishioners, hosted the missionaries.
Accordingly, it was the first time Totus Tuus was offered bilingually in this diocese.
More than 70 St. Mary parishioners in grades 1 through 12 — about 45 grade schoolers each morning and about 25 high schoolers each evening — participated.
“A lot of kids came here,” said fifth-grader Leonardo Bahena. “I didn’t think there would be so many. More kids means more fun!”
“We’re making memories and having a good time,” said his friend Joel. “We’re learning about the Ten Commandments. We’ve played some soccer. We spent some time in church. We’ve learned a lot.”
“It’s actually like a five-day camp where I always go to in the afternoons to learn about God and how to stay close to him,” ninth-grader Jaime Bahena stated.
That’s important because “God wants you to stay close to him, and the closer you are to God, the more positive you’ll be,” he said.
The missionaries came from in and beyond the diocese. The members of the St. Francis of Assisi team included: John Paul McGuire, a seminarian in the Configuration Stage formation; Stephen Kerr, a seminarian in the Propaedeutic Stage of formation; Abigail Emmett, a college student from St. Patrick Parish in Rolla; and Jo Crum, a bilingual teacher from Texas.
They had the high school teens jumping through colossal rounds of Gaga Ball in the church basement each evening after dinner, with Mr. McGuire leaping and throttling in his cassock.
Then, everyone headed up to the church for Evening Prayer.
Tobit Bahena, a high school senior and lifelong parishioner, helped with the grade schoolers in the morning and was part of the high school activities in the evening.
“This is an amazing thing,” he said. “Making new friends, meeting new people, it’s really fun. I learned more about Jesus.”
He’s been coming to Mass at St. Mary as long as he can remember, but he wants to know more and do more.
“That’s what I’m here for,” he said. “I’m praying to God. I want him to bring peace to the world. And praising him is one of the best things you do, for sure.”
Parishioners gathered for a Sunday evening potluck supper to open Totus Tuus.
About a dozen men and women, led by Lupita Flores, saw to it that the children and teens were fed well each day. The parish provided food for breakfast and lunch, and volunteers prepared and served it.
Individual families provided, prepared and served dinner.
Leonardo and Joel said the food was delicious, especially the pizza and tacos.
He pointed out that “God is No. 1.”
“Your family is No. 2,” he continued. “The things you need to live are No. 3. No. 4 is sharing with people who don’t have enough.”
Seventh-grader Tucker Lentz said it was an enjoyable week.
“I like the prayers they’ve said with us and really all they’ve done has been a really good thing for our church,” he said. “And I’ve met some new people.”
He said the four Totus Tuus missionaries, along with Jose Funes, assistant director of pastoral ministry for the Jefferson City diocese — did a great job leading the week’s activities.
“I think they definitely have a future in ministry,” he said.
He enjoyed the games he and his friends got to play.
“Some of them were pretty goofy!” he said. “They made me laugh a few times.”
Fully present
Mr. Funes sat down at the organ in church and spoke to the children over soothing chords.
“Look to Jesus and say, ‘Here I am,’” he said.
He encouraged them to gaze at the Blessed Sacrament, not at those around them.
“If you’re tired, tell God, ‘I’m tired, give me rest,’” he said. “If you’re overwhelmed, tell Jesus, ‘I want peace.’”
They sang a meditative hymn together, presenting themselves to God and asking for his direction.
Then Mr. Funes asked them to close their eyes and open their hearts.
“We lift our mind and our souls up to you, O Lord,” he prayed. “Your daughters and sons are here with you. Bless their lives, bless their families, their dreams, their talents.
“Heal them, give them peace and calm,” he continued.
He encouraged them to pray silently for the things they need, for their families, for people who need healing.
“God is always present,” he said. “He loves you, he trusts you. You just need to believe in him and follow his example.”
Mr. Kerr gathered the boys in the church undercroft for their final “man cave” gathering.
The boys had shared a lesson each day about growing up to be servants of God according to the example of Christ.
“Remember, we talked about prayer,” Mr. Kerr recounted. “We talked about leadership, we talked about respect, and we talked about sacrifice.
“Remember these things,” he said, “so that you can continue becoming the men of God you’re called to be.”
Comfort zone
Miss Emmett, a college junior who will be studying early childhood education at Missouri State University in Springfield this fall, grew up with Totus Tuus in Rolla.
“My whole childhood, I remember doing Totus Tuus down at St. Pat’s,” she said. “And I always looked up to the Totus Tuus missionaries who came each year.”
Last year, she became acutely aware that God was calling her to serve on a Totus Tuus team.
“But there was also this level of ‘I’m uncomfortable with it and I don’t know if I’d be good at it,’ and just a lot of doubt,” she said.
She wound up giving into her doubts instead of trusting God.
“I felt really bad about it,” she acknowledged. “I should have trusted God, and last summer would have been like this summer, where I’ve just fallen in love with it.”
Being part of the missionary team has been enriching and enlightening for her.
“It’s so beautiful to see each of my teammates work with students,” she said. “You see the different aspects of how we work together to meet each other’s needs and serve the students.”
She wishes she could go back to the first week and abate some of the jitters she felt back then.
“I wouldn’t lie to myself,” she said. “I’d say it’s going to be uncomfortable some of the time. You’re going to be nervous a lot, like when you give your testimony. But it’s all going to work out in the end. Your team is going to grow so much, individually and together, and it’s going to be great.”
Taking root
Deacon John Weaver, who assists the pastor of the Milan parish and the Mission of St. Mary in Unionville, marveled at how effectively the week’s festivities were bringing parishioners together.
“Obviously, it was a motivating event for the parish,” he said. “There was some level of pride and accomplishment in the fact that we had 72 children participate. For us, that’s a pretty great number.”
He heard the volunteers who prepared and served the food talk about how pleased they were to be able to work together and serve the parish.
He noted that the parish’s newly completed, 7,200-square-foot hall with a large fellowship area, a full-service kitchen, classrooms, offices and restrooms proved to be an ideal venue for Totus Tuus.
“Without the hall, an event like this would have been physically impossible,” he said. “Prior to now, we just didn’t have the resources or facilities.”
The new hall is becoming a hub of community activity.
“I think having so many kids here every day gave a lot of parishioners an opportunity to see the facility in action,” said Deacon Weaver.
He believes this summer’s Totus Tuus will lead to a reawakening of middle school and high school youth ministry in the parish.
“The seventh and eighth graders exhibited enough enthusiasm that we would hope to pick up that energy and carry it forward,” he said.
One of the volunteers, parishioner Carla van Ingen, was received into the Church in Clinton before she and her husband moved to Milan 30 years ago.
She’s a retired teacher. Deacon Weaver asked her to help with Totus Tuus throughout the week. She said “yes.”
“I believe in education, and I believe in helping our children grow in their Catholic faith,” she stated.
It gave her a bird’s-eye view of cooperation, generosity, commitment and joy in action.
“I can’t put words to what it’s like to be there when these little kids are participating in Adoration — the calmness, the spirituality, the devotion,” she said. “You see them listening and praying, and you know that something’s reaching them.”
Her husband Dan is a lifelong Catholic. Shortly after they got married, Mrs. van Ingen was invited to be godmother for her sister-in-law’s son.
“She said, ‘One day, I think you’ll be Catholic,’” Mrs. van Ingen recalled. “And our son was about a year old, and I felt like I needed to be Catholic.”
She was immersed in the initiation process when she suffered a miscarriage.
“The priest came into the hospital room and gave me a blessing, and I had this sense of peace that I can’t explain,” she said.
That Easter, when the priest laid hands on her with the blessing of the Holy Spirit, “I felt power that I can’t even describe from my head to my toes,” she said.
Mr. and Mrs. van Ingen were teaching in the Milan school district when the nearby meat-processing plant opened in the mid-1990s.
The student body gradually diversified as young immigrant families moved to the area in search of a steady living.
Mrs. van Ingen recalls the adjustments the school, the parish and the community made to welcome people from so many other cultures.
“There were people from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica,” she said. “And here we are, seeing our church full of families and all these kids. It’s such an amazing thing!”
Mutual encounter
Mr. Funes, who’s bilingual, spent the week in Milan with the Totus Tuus team, helping with music, teaching and translation.
He said the most delightful surprise was the enthusiasm and openness of everyone’s hearts.
“Seeing all the happy, smiling kids,” he said. “To see so many of them trying to learn and open their hearts to the Lord. It was a blessing. The harvest is plentiful.”
He said it’s important for people, especially people who feel left out, to know that the Church stands in prayerful solidarity with them.
“We need to be companions to them, to walk with them, to help them see how valuable they are, how much we need them as part of the Church,” he said. “By coming here, we showed them, ‘We will never forget about you. We are here with you, working with you, praying with you.’”
He hopes the children won’t forget the frequent encounters with Christ they experienced through Totus Tuus.
“Seeing all the volunteers and the missionaries put God’s word into action, I’m sure that created memories for them that will last,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll be sharing that with their friends when they’re back in school.”
He believes the adult parishioners have also been left with a lasting impression.
“People have seen what the Lord has done with these beautiful kids this summer, through Totus Tuus,” he said. “They’ve seen the kids coming to Mass and praying and worshiping God and singing the songs. I’m confident that something big will come from all of this.”
Mr. Funes asked for prayers for the parishioners of St. Mary in Milan to remember that people are praying for them, “that we are fighting for them, that we are walking with them, that they are not alone.”
“Pray that they’ll keep sending out the message, ‘Come and you will see the Lord and know his presence,’” he suggested.
“Love God with all your heart,” Leonardo stated. “Pray for the people who think love doesn’t exist.”
