Finding the Pearl of Great Price

This week's article is written by Deacon Scott Pederson - seminarian for the Diocese of Superior assigned to Saint Patrick Parish for the summer of 2026.

The readings for this weekend point toward being called to give of ourselves to receive spiritual rewards. Seminary has offered many opportunities to grow in the four dimensions of formation: human, intellectual, spiritual, and pastoral, but summer assignments have been the place to put that formation into practice. This summer here at St. Patrick’s is one of these assignments. I get to be involved in the daily life of the parish. The previous two summers were learning hospital chaplaincy and working in a migrant shelter with people seeking asylum. 

Two massive experiences that are highlights of my time as a seminarian are the first two summers with Totus Tuus in the Diocese of Superior. Two pearls that opened my heart to the call of God in my life.

A summer as a Totus Tuus missionary is quite the whirlwind. Being a seminarian gave me a leg up as the week of training is enough theology, church teaching, scripture study, prayer, name games, active games, silly songs, and serious songs to make anyone’s head spin. My leg up was much of the intellectual material was review instead of new. 

After the wild week of training the summer doesn’t really slow down a whole lot. Each week is a new parish with varying levels of experience with or desires for Totus Tuus. A whole different set of kids with varying levels of behavior compounds onto the new town and living arrangement that make each week special. Just writing the experience down makes me wonder how I survived the summer with any memory of it. 

Wonder is good because resolution usually ends at God. In prayer, we find that what makes a crazy time survivable, or even fruitful, is grace. It was being the support for the missionaries as the diocesan intern that made this truly sink in. Just about every week there was a call about this or that mishap. Something that just wasn’t quite right with a liturgy or parish life that forced a change to the daily schedule. 

Despite the many difficulties, grace still flows. This is especially evident in the response of a priest to the question, what is your favorite part about Totus Tuus? It could have been the encounter the kids have with Jesus through the missionaries. It could have been the transformative power on a parish getting to see four young adults on fire for the Lord. Instead his favorite thing about Totus Tuus is the pearl that each missionary encounters. This is evidenced by the sheer number of religious and priestly vocations that come out of or go through a summer as a Totus Tuus missionary. To help the grace flow please pray for the Totus Tuus missionaries this week as they give their summer to the Lord that they might continue to seek earnestly the pearl of great price.

~Deacon Scott Pederson