Catechetical program encourages total giving to Christ through Mary

By KARA KOCZUR, Globe staff reporter
April 17, 2008

Mark Thomason didn't make a lot of calls recruiting parishes to sign up for the summer catechetical program Totus Tuus this year. He didn't have to. They called him first.

Designed for youth in grades 1 - 12, Totus Tuus was founded 20 years ago by Father Bernie Gorges, then a seminarian for the Diocese of Wichita, Kan. What began as a summer program for one Kansas parish, has in the course of two decades spanned eight states and is taught in 13 dioceses.

Totus Tuus is centered on the Eucharist and Mary, Thomason said. The goal of the program, he added, is "the conversion of heart and mind to Jesus Christ through the Eucharist and Mary, the transformation of our culture and the increase in vocations and the fulfillment of the promise of Totus Tuus, [which is] a generation of people totally dedicated to Jesus Christ and his one true church."

While it may seem like Totus Tuus is a Vacation Bible School program, Thomason said it is different in many ways, one way being that it is centered on the Eucharist and another that it is simple.

"Truly the thing that makes Totus Tuus unique is its simplicity," he said. "Our faith is much simpler than we make it."

Totus Tuus is able to convey the simplicity and beauty of the faith to students in grades 1-6 by using string and games. Each day children tie a different colored string around their wrists to help them remember themes and mysteries of the rosary.

"We stick with the fundamentals: the Eucharist, the rosary - those things that speak to our hearts easily," he continued. "Totus Tuus is full - on Catholic, and I think that's what makes it more effective."

The younger students attend Mass or pray the rosary daily as part of the program. A highlight of the week for many of them comes on Friday, when some of them get to turn a teacher into a "human sundae" using ice cream toppings.

One of the concerns people had prior to the start of last summer was that too much prayer was involved in the program, or that students wouldn't understand adoration, Thomason noted. However, the number one comment Thomason said he receives from the high school students is how much they enjoyed adoration.

Another difference is that college students are the teachers. Two teams of four students, with two girls and two boys on each, serve the diocese. They travel from parish to parish throughout the diocese, stopping for a week at a time to put on the program.

"The energy that the college kids bring is unrepeatable," he said, adding that it gives the program a new dynamism.

Prior to hitting the road, teachers are required to undergo a week of intensive training with other teams from Sioux Falls, S.D., Thomason said. They learn the curriculum, which this year is the Ten Commandments and the glorious mysteries of the rosary, as well as teaching techniques.

Everything is taught one level above the teachers, who in turn are expected to teach one level above their students, giving them something to reach for, Thomason said.

However, teachers are still supposed to "translate" their academic knowledge of the faith to a level their students will understand.

"In the translation process, they infuse it with their own personal experiences, their knowledge of the faith [and] their prayer life," Thomason continued, adding that academic knowledge of the faith comprises only a small part of catechesis. "Those things are what make catechesis, the passing on of faith, not simply classroom learning, but true sharing of faith."

The fact that Totus Tuus is "uniquely and unabashedly Catholic," as Thomason puts it, is one reason why parishes like the program so much, he said. They also like that it creates less work for them and that the long-term effects from the program can be seen generationally.

One of those long-term effects is vocations. College students willing to discern their vocations is one thing Thomason looks for in applicants. Seminarians have served on teams in the past and one teacher from last year is now a postulant with a religious order, he noted.

Vocations are also discussed as part of Totus Tuus. In particular, one of the evening sessions for the junior and senior high school students is centered on marriage, priesthood and sisterhood.

"We need families, we need priests, we need sisters," Thomason added. "That's something about Totus Tuus-the long-term effects of it are what I find most attractive."

And if there weren't enough reasons to attend Totus Tuus, there is also an incentive. If 2,000 students participate, Thomason will shave his head. Last year the goal was set at 1,500, but fell short with the total participation of 1,200 youth.

But that doesn't discourage Thomason. It will be a new summer. He said he believes the goal is attainable and that the youth of the Diocese of Sioux City can rise to the challenge.