Southern Cross, Page 8
Vocations Essay Contest Winners 2020
Thursday, February 25, 2021
2020
Vocation Essay Contest Winners
THE QUESTION PRESENTED TO THE 7TH GRADE STUDENTS THIS YEAR WAS:
gg Imagine yourself for a moment as a priest, religious brother,
— SPONSORED BY —
THE AUGUSTA/SAVANNAH
VOCATION MINISTRIES
& THE
or religious sister. How would you spend your day? 91
2020 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WINNING ESSAYS
Sofia Khan—1st Place
St. Anne-Pacelli Catholic School
Columbus
If I were to be a religious sister, I would
devote my life to worshiping God. In essence,
my life would be very different from what it
is today. My only focus would be to serve God.
Although prayer and worship are important
aspects of my current life, everything I do
would be some form of worship as a religious
sister. People who dedicate their lives to the
worship and service of God have no desires of
their own. Even though it may seem very dif
ficult to five this simple form of life, religious
sisters find tremendous gratification and fulfill
ment in doing God’s work. As a religious sister,
my day would begin with the Morning Prayer
according to the Liturgy of the Hours. I would
pray for my fellow sisters, everyone who has
asked me to keep them in my prayers, those
who are suffering throughout the world, and my
family. After prayer, I would help my sisters
make breakfast. We would eat together while
reading newspaper articles to keep ourselves
informed on what is happening throughout the
world. Once breakfast is over, I would get ready
to go to work.
I teach religion at a Catholic school, not too
far from our convent. I teach middle schoolers
about the Catholic faith and how they can
incorporate Catholic principles into their daily
fives. Working with kids is one of the most
exciting experiences of my fife. It makes me
happy knowing that I can create a positive
impact in the fives of youth, especially in a
time when teenagers feel less connected to God.
Once school is dismissed, I return to the con
vent and help my fellow sisters prepare dinner.
We eat together while telling one another about
our day. After dinner, we congregate in the
church for Evening Mass. Before I go to bed, I
pray to God in solitude. I thank him for his tre
mendous blessings and ask him for guidance on
how I can best fulfill my purpose as his servant.
Isabelle Anestis— 2nd Place
St. Anne-Pacelli Catholic School
Columbus
As a sister, I get up as early as I can to greet
the Lord a good morning and pray for people
throughout the world. After I pray, I go to the
kitchen to make breakfast for the children in
the orphanage. Today they will have apple cin
namon oatmeal with a side of watermelon or
cantaloupe. After I finish cooking, I go to wake
the children in the orphanage since it’s time for
breakfast here. The children sit together with
their friends and once they are finished, they
go outside to play with one another. I then go
to Mass with a few of my sisters while others
watch the children outside. Once Mass was fin
ished, I would take the children inside to teach
them about our Savior, Jesus Christ. That is my
subject besides science. After all my classes, it
is time for lunch, and since I cooked breakfast
for the children, another sister will cook them
lunch. But many times like today, I offered to
cook instead so she could attend Mass and pray.
After the children were full of grilled cheese and
tomato soup, I would go to a soup kitchen and
help the people that are suffering. I would stay
there until every last person was served lunch
at the soup kitchen. I would then wait to help
clean up everything so the breakfast would be
easier to cook. I would then head to the store
to buy an Advent wreath since it was almost
Advent and I want the children to understand
everything that we were talking about in my
religion classes. I also bought a Jesse tree for
my classes so that they could be interactive with
the days until Christmas. I would then go to
the outreach center and help out with the par
ents that are struggling with food, or even their
children. I will then go back to the orphanage to
help with the dinner, and because tonight was
a Friday night, the children would get dessert
after their dinner. After the children go to bed, I
would then go back to the church to pray more.
However, this time, I would thank God for such
an amazing day and pray for another amazing
day tomorrow. I also pray for those that are in
need of God’s healing touch. I would then go to
my room, fie down in my bed, and dream.
Cannon Aceneaux—3rd Place
St. Anne-Pacelli Catholic School
Columbus
My day as a priest, I wake up at 6 am and
start my day off by praying my rosary. Then I
head to the dining room to have breakfast with
my fellow priests. We say a prayer at the begin
ning of the meal. After breakfast, I visit the
sick at the local hospital. I try to bring prayer
and God into their fives and to know that there
is always someone there for them, even in the
toughest times.
That same day we had confession after the
10:30 Mass, I was the priest at that Mass, and
today I wore my purple vestments. The Mass
went very well, and I loved the Gospel reading.
After Mass, people started fining up for confes
sion. As a priest, I love to know that people are
sharing their sins with me, and it really makes
me feel good taking a burden off their shoulders.
After the confession, I head back to the rectory
to have lunch. Before lunch, I pray, and then
we all eat.
After lunch, I have a break. Yes I’m still a
person and can have a little free time. For my
break, I decided to enjoy time with my fellow
priests, we had a fun time. After we play, we
get back to work. I went to the lower school to
tell the kids a little bit about my lifestyle, just
like I’m telling you now. I tell them about all
the responsibilities priests have and that it can
be hard, but that it is very worthwhile because
I get super close to God after all of this time.
And since I’m so close to him and know so much
about his fife. I love being able to teach it to
others and bring God into their fives.
After I’m done with the kids, it’s about 3:00,
so I went to head to this outside spot that I
love to pray. I have nice benches and flowers,
and it’s so nice to be in the fresh air. I pray for
about one hour and thirty minutes. I head back
to the rectory to watch some basketball. It was
dinner time, and we ate. Then I pray for about
thirty minutes, and I head to bed.
