Finn Christ – Essay Winner 7th-8th grade category
Love and Care for Others
What do I see in our parish in the next fifty years? This is an interesting question and can be seen from many perspectives. The perspective that I see it from is not the physical accomplishments, but the how we treat each other. For the past 80 years of our parish the people of the St. Thomas community have helped each other along the rough and easy patches. I believe that in the next fifty years that the St. Thomas community will continue to help one another and love each even more than before.
Love is what binds people together and what makes us closer. The great thing about St. Thomas is that everyone loves each other. Even though you might not get along with some people, they will always look out for you in a loving way. The St. Thomas community will always continue to love one another and the bond between the community will always keep on growing. You can see love throughout the parish wherever you go to mass, or any parish event. Another thing that I see in the next 50 years is the St. Thomas community is that will begin to help one another even more. When we help one another we are showing compassion toward that other person. At St. Thomas we are a small parish, but are compassion toward one another is extremely strong.
We will help those in need in the hardest cases and even the small ones. I see all the time in mass people, helping others with songs and Eucharist. Other times, tour whole community come together to make something great. When Jack Cline died, our whole St. Thomas community came together and created Jack’s Pack and helped his family. I remember vividly when I went to visit Jack after he had died and to see him, there was a line that at least had around 200 people in it. This shows how much we care about each other and how on event at St. Thomas will pull us all closer to each other. My mother had breast cancer when I was in third grade and it was very hard for me to get through it, but with the help of the community they helped me and my family get through it. One other example that happened every year is Sausage Fest, which draws in the whole community and we all help and volunteer to make it the best time for everyone. We all work together to make one of the biggest event in the city.
Our community has always done the same thing to those who need help, take them in and show compassion to them. I hope that this will continue in the next fifty years because this what makes St. Thomas special. St. Thomas might be small, but with the community, we can do anything.