A summer of faith and a whole lot of fun!

by Kevin Losleben

As the Diocese of New Ulm Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry concluded another successful summer of diocesan youth programming on August 4, we celebrated the growth of the Totus Tuus, a Catholic youth program dedicated to sharing the Gospel and promoting the Catholic faith through catechesis, evangelization, Christian witness, and Eucharistic worship. With 12 young adult missionaries, including participants from as far as Anchorage, Alaska, a recordbreaking 700 youth in 18 different parishes across the diocese were served, marking a significant increase in attendance since the program began in 2017.

Diocese of New Ulm priest Fr. Tanner Thooft, this year’s Totus Tuus chaplain who served on the first Totus Tuus team when it was first introduced in the diocese, shared his transformative experience, saying, “I served on the first Totus Tuus team in 2017. It was instrumental in my formation as a priest and has been for many other young adults throughout the years. It’s so great to see it continuing to grow and reach even more youth and young adults throughout the diocese and beyond!”

Caroline Meis, a Totus Tuus missionary from Le Mars, Iowa, shared her summer experience, saying, “It was amazing! I had three incredible teammates, and each week, we were able to invest deeply in a new community of parishioners.”

Every day, missionaries pray the rosary, Liturgy of the Hours, and a “holy hour” of adoration. Unlike other Totus Tuus programs across the country, the Diocese of New Ulm’s Totus Tuus program is unique in how it places heavy emphasisi on prayer.

“Even when I was tired and felt like I had nothing to offer, I saw the Lord working through my weakness,” said Meis. “I feel like my heart is 100 times bigger than it was at the beginning of the summer.”

Totus Tuus missionaries begin their summer of service at the end of May with a 10-day intensive training conducted by the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry at Schoenstatt on the Lake in Sleepy Eye. They then serve for six weeks in parishes, teaching youth of all ages about different tenets of the Catholic faith through games, skits, and classroom experiences.

“Totus Tuus has changed my perspective on life,” said Anissa Kulzer, a second-year missionary from St. Philip’s in Litchfield. “The conversations shared at breakfast, a cup of coffee in the parish offices, playing tag at recess, sharing testimonies, these little moments of witness are so powerful.”

The missionaries’ summer ends with four diocesan camps: Camp Beloved and Camp Greatness, each with a middle school and high school iteration.

This year, all four camps experienced record levels of attendance, doubling in size from last year and creating the need for a waiting list for Camp Greatness.

“What I love most about Camp Greatness is the team building and fellowship,” said Paul Goedtke, a sophomore from St. Mary’s in Sleepy Eye.

Camp Greatness – a camp for boys, focuses on practical tools for teens to live virtuous lives in the real world.

“[Camp] has helped me develop a consistent prayer life, making sure to spend time with Jesus every day,” said Goedtke.

But Camp Greatness is not short on activity. The camp is filled with sports, some unique to Camp Greatness.

“ManBall has taken on a life of its own,” said Fr. Tanner Thooft who is also chaplain for Camp Greatness and assistant vocations director for the diocese. “It’s basically dodgeball, but instead of two teams, there are four. So you’ve got ‘em coming at you from all angles.”

At Camp Greatness, high school, teams are assigned based on the deanery from which each camper comes. These teams are called contrada, the Italian word for