by John Sorce
john.sorce@theleaven.org
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — For Father Colin Haganey, his three years of experience teaching Totus Tuus is coming in handy.
The pastor of St. Francis Xavier in Burlington, St. Joseph in Waverly, St. Theresa in Westphalia and St. Patrick, Emerald, is in his first year as the program’s chaplain for the archdiocese. He taught as a seminarian for Totus Tuus in 2008, 2010 and 2011.
“I think this is our best summer catechesis program,” Father Haganey said during a recent visit to a session at Christ the King Parish in Kansas City, Kansas. “It does a good job of mixing fun and entertainment for the kids, but it also has a very robust teaching aspect to it with the rotation of different topics taught each year.”
The program offers weeklong classes for kids entering first through 12th grade. First through sixth graders attend classes during the morning session, while seventh through 12th graders attend the evening session. It will run for six weeks this summer at various parishes in the archdiocese.
Program coordinator Pam Riordan said that things have been going well so far in Father Haganey’s first year as chaplain.
“Father Haganey has been great,” she said. “He spent time at training with us and has been great in supporting our missionaries. He’s also always had the program at his parishes since he became a pastor, so it’s nice to have somebody that supports the program and believes in the mission.”
This year, the Totus Tuus program was able to expand to three teams of missionaries, with each team consisting of four missionaries: two men and two women.
Riordan believes that Father Haganey is a key reason for that expansion.
“I would say Father Haganey was instrumental with us going to three teams,” she said. “This is our third year doing a deanery-wide one here in Wyandotte County, and even the numbers here have grown. We’ve also had parishes that have had positive experiences and want us to come back, so that is also good.”
Two of this year’s missionaries are Jimmy Mendoza and Allison Clegg.
Mendoza is a second-year missionary who is entering his fourth year at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis.
Totus Tuus was his summer assignment from Archbishop Emeritus Joseph F. Naumann last year, and he enjoyed it so much that he wanted to do it again.
“Last year was a really neat experience and there was a lot of joy that came with serving and spending time with a team I loved,” said Mendoza, who is from Overland Park and attends Holy Spirit. “I think the program is at a point where we can have a lot of growth, so I have been praying about it and realized I wanted to come back and help it grow.”
Clegg attended Totus Tuus from third grade all the way through her senior year of high school.
A native of Basehor and a Holy Angels parishioner, the incoming Kansas State freshman is in her first year serving as a missionary, but she knew it was something she wanted to do.
“As I grew up in the program, I recognized these people were truly on fire for the faith and I desired to have that pure joy through Jesus,” Clegg said. “We had one team come through Basehor that had the purest joy I had ever seen. I wanted to feel exactly as they did, and I wanted to be able to spread the faith in the way they did to me.”
Father Haganey has seen firsthand the lasting impact Totus Tuus can have on the students.
“I know kids from when I taught Totus Tuus that are still very active in the faith,” he said. “I was recently at a wedding for one of them and he mentioned during his speech that he was glad to see the church full for the wedding. But he wanted it to be full again on Sunday when they went to Mass.
“I know having attended Totus Tuus for years played a big part in that faith he is now sharing with others.”
Father Haganey believes Totus Tuus is a good way to continue education during a time of the year that is typically filled with other activities. And all parishes need to provide is the facilities.
“If your parish is looking to bolster its catechesis offerings for kids, especially in the summer when a lot of religious education classes aren’t going on, it’s a solid way to do it without having to put a lot of effort on the parish,” he said. “We send the people and bring everything we need. We just need the space.
“If you don’t have this program, encourage your pastor to seek it out. I would love it if we had the demand to hire five or six teams each year. Ultimately, that comes from what the parishes are asking for.”
The program is always looking for missionaries. They typically start the hiring process in November, and the only prerequisite is that you are a college student and an active member of the Catholic Church. All teaching materials are taught during training week.
For students, registration typically opens in January or February.
The main thing Father Haganey wants to do is keep things running well.
“As the chaplain, my role is a lot less busy once they get out into the parishes,” he said. “My job is everything before that — in making sure we’re hiring the right people to be missionaries, making sure they are well-prepared with their training and that their needs are being met.
“The biggest thing I want to do is keep the ship running well. Totus Tuus is one of the best programs we have, and that’s in large part to the training that is provided for us over in Wichita. They do a wonderful job in coordinating the national program and they set the standard for what a quality program should be.”
