J.E. Cosgriff students respond to pope's summons

Friday, Nov. 25, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY – The Year of Mercy declared by Pope Francis was a summons “to go out to every man and woman, bringing the goodness and tenderness of God.” 

Responding to this summons, J.E. Cosgriff Memorial Catholic School student assembled 50 boxes of Thanksgiving food items to be given to parishioners of St. Patrick and St. Ambrose. 

School Principal Betsy Hunt prepared the seventh- and eighth-grade students to lead the activity ahead of time by giving them several steps to followed. These steps included instructing those leading the activity to talk to the other students about Thanksgiving, and that there are millions of families in the United States who will not have a special meal on Thanksgiving Day and may not have any food to eat at all.

The leaders also explained that in St. Patrick and St. Ambrose parishes, there are several families who may not be able to afford a special Thanksgiving dinner, or much of a dinner at all. The food items that all the students collected would be placed in a special box to be given to a family for their Thanksgiving feast. The food items were collected and money donated to purchase a turkey to show that those who gave greatly care about others, and act as good stewards and show love and compassion for others.

The students also were asked to make a Thanksgiving card for the veterans’ hospital and one to be placed in the food box for a special family. 

The idea was to continually talk about the Native American proverb “You can’t understand another person until you walk a mile in their moccasins.” This might mean trying to understand how it feels to be really hungry, or spending Thanksgiving alone.

The leaders also shared tips for showing mercy and becoming more compassionate, such as being a good listener and looking a person directly in the eye when speaking, including students at school who are alone or left out, sticking up for someone who is being teased, refraining from calling a person/group cruel or unkind names, and not reacting to rumors. The students were urged to visit often with someone who is not in their comfortable social group, and to each week do one nice thing for a family member or another student who was not their best friend.