Young adults interested in sharing their faith journey with elementary and high school students have an opportunity to do so through a local summer program.
Nancy Schulte Palacheck — family and laity outreach coordinator with the archdiocese and coordinator with Catholic youth organization Totus Tuus, which has a Minnesota location in Lake Elmo — recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to discuss opportunities for young adults to participate in missionary work.
Palacheck described the Totus Tuus organization as “sharing the Gospel, promoting the Catholic faith through catechesis, evangelization (and) Christian witness” with young adults.
The organization is seeking Catholic college-age men and women to be missionaries. Those interested participate in a paid summer program — this year to be held June 2 through July 29, with a week’s break for July 4. First, a week of training sessions help the missionaries share their faith with youngsters and youth in grades 1-12. Then, missionary teams travel to various parishes, meet with youth and talk about faith.
Martin Gawarecki, a senior at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, spoke about his experience with Totus Tuus during the “Practicing Catholic” conversation, particularly the ways it allowed him to engage with the community and spread the Gospel.
“It was great to be able to see just the different encounters that each of the kids were able to have with Jesus and the different ways that he was made present to them through the program,” Gawarecki said. “To, kind of, be the tool in some aspects that offers them the truth of the Gospel is just a profound experience.”
Those interested in the Totus Tuus program can learn more here: archspm.org/catholic-education-youth-formation/family-ministries/totus-tuus.
To hear the full interview, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts 9 p.m. Jan. 6 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. Jan. 7 and 2 p.m. Jan. 8.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes discussion of a July 19-23 Tekakwitha Conference celebrating the faith and culture of Native American Catholics and a conversation with Father Tom Wilson, a well-known Relevant Radio spiritual director, about masculine spirituality.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at practicingcatholicshow.com or choose a streaming platform at anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.
