Ryan Jackson CWNC Community Service Essay Religion 9

The Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic community service program allowed me to serve God

by serving others which should be one of our main priorities in life. I was able to do this by

volunteering at the St. Sebastian Festival, actively participating as an altar server at St. Monica

Parish, attending and taking part in the March for Life in Washington D.C., and by being actively

involved at CWNC Open House for new students and their parents.

At the St. Sebastian Festival, I interacted with many of the elderly parishioners and

attendants of the festival and assisted them with information, directions, or any physical help that

they may have need like serving the food that they ordered and assisting them with playing

bingo. I learned that sometimes helping people other than myself can make a difference in

someone's day and can make yourself feel good as well. I helped some of the other festival

workers with different tasks in order to decrease their workload. It was very interesting to see

how easy it was to bring a smile to someone's face by just doing a simple good deed. Many

people offered to give me tips at the festival. However, I kindly declined them because I knew I

was volunteering as a duty for God as a member of the Catholic Church. I loved to experience

the "glow" on people's faces when I would do something as little as holding a door open for them

as they walked through. Being a volunteer for this festival allowed me to appreciate and better

understand how it is the little things in life that make a difference in the world. This activity

allowed me to participate in the very strong Catholic faith community that is quite evident in this

parish.

The March for Life is an annual march which protests both the practice and legality of

abortion. It is held in Washington, D.C. around the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I am a strong

advocate of the Pro-Life movement and it really meant a lot to me to be able to participate in the
march, attend mass, listen to outstanding Catholic speakers, and be with my classmates from

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic as we stood up for the importance of human life and protecting

the rights of the unborn child. We proudly marched up Constitution Avenue to the Supreme

Court and Capitol Building. We celebrated Mass with Cardinal Wuerl and bishops from around

the country. As stated by President Trump, “We are protecting the sanctity of life and the family

as the foundation of our society.” This was a very memorable experience for me to be able to

participate in a national event with thousands of other supporters with the aim to advocate and

promote the importance of every human life from conception.

At St. Monica Parish, I serve as an altar server. I really enjoy serving in the Eucharistic

celebration of Mass. I believe that it serves God by helping the priest and the parishioners. It

helps to bring me into a closer relationship with Him. It has helped to strengthen my prayer life,

and I believe it has brought me closer to Christ. Volunteering as an altar server has allowed me

to gain a greater appreciation for the details of the Catholic Mass.

I have volunteered at the Fall and Spring CWNC Open Houses. I have worked as a tour

guide for new students and their families. I have been able to show great pride in my school and

share my experiences of the ways that the school, its teachers, and the students are very special.

It has allowed me to demonstrate how CWNC has helped to make me a mature Catholic man and

how the school has helped to develop my education and faith.

Upon reflecting on Matthew 25:31-46, it is very clear that our Lord Jesus expects us to

serve others. The service to the “least” concerns all people everywhere. It is important to serve

others by acting with great joy, by acting out of mercy, by serving others that are less fortunate,

and by doing kind deeds for others. The parable of judgment is focused on the life of mercy and

doing good things for others. It specifically states that at the Last Judgement, it is not about what
one has, but about how one has served and reached out to others. This passage is concerned with

how believers let their actions portray their faith so that they may give glory to God through their

volunteer service to others. This passage in Matthew also expresses how when one serves others

it is truly serving the Lord. The Lord is in every person, and we are therefore called to serve all

peoples. The Lord also particularly mentions those who are often considered to be “outcasts” of

society. I feel that through the participation in the various service projects that I have been

involved with that I have been able to reach out to some of these outcast populations including

the unborn and the elderly. These are some peoples that are often forgotten about or not cared for

due to their age or mental capacity. The Lord says that it in the work done to the “least of these

brothers and sisters of mine” that He is present. I think that is essential for Christians to perform

charitable service because that is the example that Christ gave us. He specifically calls His

followers in this passage to serve all peoples which in turn glorifies God. Christians are called to

portray their faith through actions so that others may see the work of God through them.

Overall, the community service project has been a great way of helping me to serve God

by serving others. I feel that it has helped me to have a better understanding of what it means to

serve and to see the impact that simple actions can make in the life of another. I believe that it is

essential for Christians to perform community service in order to use their gifts to bring others

closer to Christ. Volunteer service to all peoples brings the spirit and love of Christ to me and to

others.