Brainerd Catholic Events
Steubenville Mission Trip
Steubenville Mission Trip 2022!!!
To make a donation to a student or to the General Steubenville Student Fund, click HERE and select the Steubenville Donation Image.
When: July 7th - 13th
Where: Missouri - Springfield and St. Louis
Cost: $850 per student
Who can go: Current 9th - 12th Grade BLCC students
Our annual Steubenville Mission Trip is scheduled for July 7th - July 13th. Steubenville Mid-America, as this particular conference is titled, will have roughly 5,000 high school students in attendance, worshiping God and journeying together in faith!
Steubenville is a high-energy youth conference in which teens encounter Jesus through dynamic speakers, amazing worship music, the Sacraments, Mass, reconciliation, small group discussion and fellowship with other teens.
After the conference we will spend a day doing volunteer work at various locations in and around St. Louis, Missouri. Sometimes we don't have exact plans for our service work until the dates get closer, but in the past we've done things such as: bringing food to the homeless, preparing meals, cleaning up city parks, volunteering at inner-city day camps for youth, helping at women's shelter, assisting in community-owned thrift shops, cleaning church grounds, and more!
This week-long trip brings a large group of teens from our Faith Formation program and chaperones close together. The time that we spend on the bus as well as the time spent at the converence and vounteering is invaluable for building a community of believers. With small group time, free time, meal time, service work, and our fun day at Six Flags St. Louis, we are constantly striving to be disciples to everyone around us and are working on relational ministry.
These teens will return from this trip stronger in the faith, clearer about their future as Christians, and even more prepared to live as a follower of Christ.
If you have any questions about this trip, please contact Dan or Britt Johnson at St. Andrew's church.
Totus Tuus Summer Program
Totus Tuus - "Totally Yours", is a summer Catholic youth program dedicated to sharing the Gospel and promoting the Catholic faith through evangelization, catechesis, Christian witness, and Eucharistic worship.
For students entering grades 1 - 6, June 13 - 17, 9:00am - 2:20pm at St. Andrew's Church
For students entering grades 7 - 12, June 12 - 16, 7:00pm - 9:00pm at St. Andrew's Church
Fee: $35.00 per child/youth
More Info
TOTUS TUUS - “TOTALLY YOURS” Totus Tuus is a summer Catholic youth program dedicated to sharing the Gospel and promoting the Catholic faith through evangelization, catechesis, Christian witness, and Eucharistic worship. Our week-long parish summer catechetical program assists parents and parishes by supplementing the work already being done in a way that is fun for both the Totus Tuus Teachers and youth alike. The methodology, structure, content, and enthusiasm of Totus Tuus is concerned not only with teaching the faith, but also igniting the hearts of the team members and young people. The result has been the formation of young adults who continue to dedicate themselves to the Church’s mission of evangelization.
OUR MISSION The mission of Totus Tuus is to help young people develop an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and to understand their faith through catechesis in a way that makes the faith real to the youth and helps them live as a witness in today’s world. To accomplish this, we emphasize a devotion and love for Our Lord in the Eucharist and for Mary our Mother.
OUR MOTIVATION Totus Tuus, a Latin phrase meaning “Totally Yours,” was the motto of Blessed John Paul II. Taken from St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary, it signifies our desire to give ourselves entirely to Jesus Christ through Mary. It also expresses our effort to give our all to every young person we encounter. Through the teams’ example of joy and service, the youth see that these men and women are on fire with the Catholic faith and long for the same thing in their lives.
OUR METHOD Totus Tuus calls upon college students and seminarians from the Catholic Diocese of Duluth and across the United States to carry this mission to every young person they encounter in the parish program. Students are hired for their energy, enthusiasm, love for the faith, commitment to spiritual growth, ability to work with a team and a desire to work with youth. Parish catechists are grouped into teams of four, each consisting of two men and two women, and are invited to a different parish every week for seven weeks, where they conduct a week-long “parish mission,” teaching and inspiring the parish’s first through twelfth grade youth.
Each teacher is trained to articulate the information contained in the 2022 curriculum and all aspects of the parish catechetical program. Additional training includes instruction in: the mission of Totus Tuus, prayer, Catholic doctrine, Christian relationships, and evangelization skills.
THE FIVE MARKS OF TOTUS TUUS
Proclamation of the Gospel – to arouse faith.
Apologetics – examination of the reasons for our beliefs.
Christian Witness – an experience of Christian living.
Celebration of the Sacraments – especially Holy Eucharist and Confession.
Active Witness: Participation in the missionary nature of the Catholic Church Totus Tuus joins the Church in her proclamation of the Gospel to arouse faith in the youth of the Catholic Diocese of Duluth. Ready with an “explanation...for the reason for your hope” (1 Peter 3:15), Totus Tuus catechists expound upon the reasons for our beliefs and share their personal testimonies with the young people. 2 Pope Saint Paul VI wrote, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they were first witnesses.” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 41). With this in mind, Totus Tuus team members are immersed in a life of prayer and give witness to the fruits of that experience of Christian living to the youth. Additionally, the daily schedule of the Totus Tuus catechist revolves around the Mass, the Sacraments and prayer. A summer given entirely to God and the young people of the Catholic Diocese of Duluth would not be possible otherwise.
THE FIVE PILLARS OF TOTUS TUUS
The Eucharist
The Eucharist has pride of place in the Totus Tuus schedule, for both team members and participants. prayer-the Liturgy of the Hours, the Rosary, the Angelus, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament-provide the structure, but the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the “source and summit” of the daily schedule.
Marian Devotion
Totus Tuus catechists and counselors will lead the young people to Jesus for a week; however, Mary will lead them to Jesus for a lifetime. Therefore, Totus Tuus promotes Marian devotion. Meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, we come to see how Mary always leads us to her Son. Praying with her and to her, we hear her say to us, “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5)
Catechetical Instruction
An authentic catechesis, rooted in an orderly and systematic explanation of God’s revelation of Himself through the person of Jesus Christ, provides the foundation of the program’s teaching. Totus Tuus instructs young people in the basic tenets of the Catholic faith to cultivate both a firm intellectual grounding and a solid relationship with Jesus. All of our teaching aims to help young people grow in the understanding of, strengthen their faith in, and, most importantly, develop an intimate friendship with Jesus Christ.
Vocational Discernment
Totus Tuus strives to foster Christian vocations by encouraging young people to being discerning God’s call in their life to be married, a priest, a religious or a consecrated single. Team members sign a “covenant” in which they promise to be open to and actively discern God’s will for them. Because they are striving to live an authentic Christian life and are actively discerning their vocation, they can better help the youth to do the same.
Fun
Finally, Totus Tuus demonstrates that one can be a faithful Catholic and still have fun. Morning “pump up,” silly skits and songs, recess, water fights in the parishes, and all of the many Totus Tuus activities infuse the element of fun in the program