The Totus Tuus human sundae has no intended theological symbolism. But the children find it really amusing to dump bottles of chocolate syrup, whipped cream and sprinkles over the missionaries.

“The human sundae was so funny,” participant Ezekial Williams said while laughing. “I mean, they poured chocolate syrup, whipped cream and sprinkles all over the counselors!”

The traditional human sundae encapsulates the Totus Tuus summer program: an opportunity for grade school students to recognize the fun and excitement within the Catholic faith, and an opportunity for the missionaries to give everything — including their hair.

Fostering the faith

A program of the archdiocesan Office of Youth Ministry, Totus Tuus is dedicated to sharing the Gospel and forming disciples. Young adult catechists, known as missionaries, travel to parishes each week to lead a day program for first- through sixth-graders and an evening program for seventh- through 12th-graders.

St. Theodore Parish in Flint Hill hosted Totus Tuus for the first time last year, drawing 125 participants, and saw immense fruits from it, said Katie Maxwell, the parish’s director of family catechesis. This year, 160 students participated in the day program and 25 incoming kindergarten students partook in a similar opportunity designed by Maxwell.

Evangelization at St. Theodore starts from the bottom up, Maxwell said, adding that the parish’s young population is growing. “We have a lot of young kids, so when you can evangelize to them at that very important age when they have wonder and awe and are still very open, they go home and share it with mom and dad. Then it is those young families that evangelize and get other parishioners excited about the faith.”

St. Theodore relied on 25 high school volunteers to help the camp run smoothly and parish families to host the college missionaries. But those missionaries are the driving force behind the program, teaching the grade school children about the Rosary, the Mass, salvation history and more in classroom sessions, leading them in activities and playing games with them.

Ali Baalman loved her first year as a missionary but was initially hesitant to dedicate another summer to the program. But the Lord called, and she answered.

“During a silent retreat this year, I felt like He called me saying, ‘I want you to do Totus Tuus for the sake of your teammates, for your kids, for everyone. The summer is not going to be how I want it unless you’re there,’” Baalman said. “I had to surrender to that, and I am so glad I did.”

In addition to their days with the children and evenings with the teens, missionaries spend time with their host families and others from the parish, then wake up and do it all again. Every day, the missionaries live out the program’s name, Totus Tuus, which is Latin for “Totally Yours.”

“A priest during training explained that the best way to live Totus Tuus is to ‘shush those buts that you have inside your head and just trust in the Lord,’” Baalmann said. “It’s as easy as just trusting in the Lord. You are not able to understand what the Lord will do going into the summer, but you just have to fully give yourself even on the days when you don’t think you have any more to give.”

Giving everything for a summer can be a life-changing experience for the missionaries. Sam Sargent, youth minister at St. Theodore, served on the first Totus Tuus team in the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 2017. Throughout the summer, she formed lasting relationships with her fellow missionaries, including recently ordained Father Jacob Braun and seminarian Ben Wolf.

“There were so many fruits from that summer especially learning how to live in a community, which transferred back to college and now in youth ministry,” Sargent said. “I really fell in love with parish life, seeing the capability of a parish to foster the faith lives of entire families and watch how an entire family could experience Totus Tuus through the day, evening and hosting program.”

Sargent continues to savor many memories from her time as a Totus Tuus missionary such as how her team attended the funeral of a high schooler’s father or when they witnessed an entire family becoming U.S. citizens at the end of the week.

“As missionaries, you are very transient,” Sargent said. “But being able to rejoice and be present with families for those special moments is so neat.”

At the end of the week at St. Theodore, the missionaries and parish community witnessed their own moving moment. As the children were about to partake in an epic water battle, two of them were in for a

surprise. Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Heppermann, father of David and Hailey Heppermann, had been deployed to Kuwait and was not expected to return until September. But as the participants watched the human sundae unfold, he walked across the parking lot, surprising his children.

A ministry of presence

Missionaries focus on a ministry of presence. Whether it be through leading classroom sessions on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary or lauging and playing with the students during recess, the missionaries seek to show that being Catholic is fun, said Nick Bagatti.

“The most important thing we do through our presence is getting across the message that we love God as young college students and that we have a lot of fun following Christ,” Bagatti said. “If we can pass that message along to the kids, I think that could be very impactful for them because it is easier for them to connect with us than it is to connect with some of the older members at church.”

Through the witness of the missionaries, participants walk away better formed in their faith and inspired to pursue Christ in their daily lives. Sixth-grader Mason Dykstra learned a lot about the Catholic faith during the week, lessons that he hopes his daily life will reflect.

“Totus Tuus taught me a lot about really cool miracles and about the life of Jesus and the saints,” Mason said. “It’s important to learn about the saints so I can be like them.”

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>> About Totus Tuus

Totus Tuus is a program of the archdiocesan Office of Youth Ministry. Teams of young adult missionaries travel to different parishes each week to host programming for the parish youth. Each day of the week, missionaries teach first- through sixth-graders about the Catholic faith through classroom sessions and engaging activities. Missionaries then share their own testimony and witness with teens in middle and high school at an evening program.