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Salt & Light Newsletter December 2025
December 2025 Edition
We are thrilled to welcome Bishop O'Donnell to the diocese!
We are so incredibly grateful for our new bishop, ordained October 28th at the Cathedral of St. Joseph. Bishop O'Donnell was able to join us for a few days of NCYC, one of his his first public gatherings as our Bishop, which was a highlight for our group. Checkout the article in the Catholic Missourian about NCYC.
Many have been asking about Confirmation scheduling. Please remember we are scheduling these months later than we typically do, though confirmations are running at the same time as previous years. Rest assured we are working on this but we will not be responding to individual updates at this time so we can focus on getting the confirmations scheduled. We are so grateful that we are able to have a bishop potentially present for confirmations this year and ask for your patience and prayers as we work swiftly. You will hear from the Bishops Office and Fr. Berhorst when these are scheduled.
November 2025
Youth Office Contact
Director of Youth Ministry
Maureen Quinn
573-635-9127, ext. 233
Assistant Director of Catechetical Formation
Mary Madelyn Mertes
573-635-9127, ext. 228
Administrative Assistant
Abby Thompson
573-635-9127, ext. 237
Moderator of Youth and
Young Adult Ministry
Fr. Joseph Luzindana
660-665-2466
Alphonse J. Schwartze
Memorial Catholic Center
2207 West Main St
Jefferson City, MO 65109-0914
Domestic Church Resource
Start With Sunday
This bilingual resource from the Diocese of Bridgeport helps families prepare for Mass on Sunday with animated videos of the Sunday readings. Parents, grandparents, catechists, and more can sign up to receive a weekly email with the readings, videos of the readings, and an activity for the week to help them prepare children for what they'll hear at Mass on Sunday.
Way of the Star: Advent Prayer Service
We are pleased to welcome The Vigil Project at the Cathedral of St. Joseph on Monday, December 8th for an evening of Scripture, music, art, and Eucharistic encounter!
This prayerful gathering is meant for all ages and is sure to be a powerful experience as we prepare for Christmas.
No need to RSVP, just come December 8th and bring others with you.
If you are needing to go to Mass for the holy day of obligation, Cathedral will have mass at 5:30pm before the Way of the Star.
Totus Tuus
We are preparing to release the Totus Tuus parish registration for returning parishes by Wednesday, December 3.
It will be released to all parishes on If your parish on Monday, December 15. If you would like to host Totus Tuus for the first time, consider partnering up with a nearby parish to share costs and responsibilities for hosting the program. Be prepared to submit a registration for Totus Tuus. Payment is not due until February. If you have any questions about what this program entails, you may call Abby or schedule a phone call with Maureen.
For a full timeline:
- Wednesday, December 3: Registration will be sent to returning Parishes
- Monday, December 15: Registration will be in the Monday Morning Memo for ALL Parishes, Parish Manual will be released
- February 2026 Payment 1 is due
- May 2026 Payment 2 is due
- May 26-June 6: Summer Training
- June 7-12: Week 1
- June 14-19: Week 2
- June 21-26: Week 3
- June 28-July 3: Week 4
- July 12-17: Week 5
- July 19-24: Week 6
Pope Leo XIV Live Digital Encounter at NCYC
If you have not heard about this Live Digital Encounter with Pope Leo XIV, I would highly recommend you watch the full experience, which is linked below.
Currently NFCYM has provided a Watch Party Resource which includes personal reflection questions and conversation starters.
NFCYM says they are sharing more indepth resources December 4th which can be found on the digital experience page linked below.
At the end of the dialgue Pope Leo posed 3 questions for the young people to reflect on:
- What can I offer the Church for the future?
- How can I help others come to know Christ?
- How can I build peace and friendship around me?
Please consider taking time in the coming weeks and months to reflect on these questions personally and consider ways where your young people can reflect on them as well.
Join the Dio Jeff City DREYM Team on GroupMe
This is a new(er) resource for our office that we are going to start using more with DREYM Team. This is a way for us to share resources, get quick feedback from others, share successes, add calendar invites, send out reminders. It functions much like text messages but is its own app (which can be accessed on your phone or a desktop computer) with more features such as events, polls or document sharing.
Event Calendar: We will be using the calendar feature which allows people to easily get the info, reminders, express interest and add things to your personal calendar.
Polls: We will use polls especially when needing quick feedback from people.
Topics: If this grows into something that is used often, then we will add topics that individuals can choose to join. For example there could be a topic on Jubilee year where people could share ideas they are doing in their individual parishes or there could be one for an event we are hosting that those who are going could join and share info throughout the event.
Summer Staff Recruitment
Applications for young adult employment opportunities for Camp Staff and Totus Tuus for Summer 2026 are open! Please pray for those who may be called to this opportunity. If you know any young adults that may be open to discerning whether they may be called to these programs, they can find the application at the link below.
Your help in spreading the word for these opportunities is crucial to the success of these programs. Please consider inviting young people to apply.
Missouri Catholic Summit
The Missouri Catholic Summit (MCS) is a large gathering of Catholic young adults, age 18-25, from across the state of Missouri. The summit is a day of celebration of the Christian life and fellowship amongst faithful young adults. Young adults grow together through a warm and vibrant atmosphere, talks from esteemed speakers, reflection, and prayer.
There will be a breakout for adults who are working to gather college aged young adults in their parish community as well! Angelle from the Newman Center will be helping lead this and is a great resource to our diocese.
Join us for MO Catholic Summit 2026 on February 28, 2026 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City, MO!
Currently we have 50 people registered and we are hoping to increase this to 150 by Christmas. We need your help in spreading the word on this gathering!
Fall 2025 Calendar
December 3
Totus Tuus Registration open to returning parishes
December 8
Way of the Star Advent program with the Vigil Project, Jefferson City
December 15
Totus Tuus Registration open to ALL parishes
2026 Calendar
January 15
Winter DREYM Workshop (being offered twice-Thursday option)
January 17
Winter DREYM Workshop (being offered twice-Saturday option)
January 31
Summer Camp Registration opens
February TBA
OCIA Regional Gatherings (dates and more info to come)
February 28
Missouri Catholic College Conference, Jefferson City
March 28
Lenten Faith Leader Retreat (Location TBA)
April 22-30
End-of-year Deanery Gatherings
Ongoing Formation
DREYM Team Chat Survey
We are exploring options for DREYM Team Chats for 2026 that best fit the needs of our parish leaders. Please consider filling out the following survey to help give us feedback. We plan to start the Chats back up in January 2026
For those who are not aware, DREYM Team Chats have been a way for us to check in with one another on a regular basis. We want to keep this resource but are exploring what is most needed by our DREs and Youth Ministers.