By Jay Sorgi • Posted April 22, 2026

The cacophony of sound from hundreds of students enjoying themselves inside the Lansdale Catholic High School gym usually comes during a sold-out PCL basketball game.

That high volume instead came Wednesday from 200 Catholic school students who gathered Wednesday, April 15 for a service event  as they filled bags with items including encouraging messages and snacks for fellow young Philadelphians in need.

“The late Pope Francis … called you the ‘now of God,’ because you are now, through your compassion and your love, being a part of transforming the world,” Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez told the students from 27 archdiocesan high schools, parish schools and special schools of education.

They packed 1,500 bags full of non-perishable items for young people in seven Out of School Time Programs (OST) in Philadelphia served by Catholic Charities of Philadelphia (CCoP). In partnership with the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Children and Families, OST offer an array of creative after-school activities in the late afternoon aimed at youth development and family support.

>>> Scenes: Students Put Faith into Action with Catholic Charities Day of Service

“By taking part in today’s service project, you are sharing that love with people that you probably would never meet, but you’re sharing the love of Christ in heaven,” the Archbishop said.

“Every person in this gym has been called by Christ to love, to serve, and to be a light to others,” CCoP Secretary and Executive Vice President Heather Huot said.

“Today, through your service activity, you’re answering that call. You will be helping school-age children across our archdiocese, children who will feel supported, remembered, and cared for because of what you are doing. That is the love of Christ in action.”

The service day proved to be about 60 degrees warmer and a lot less snowier than its planned date of Jan. 28, which was postponed due to the severe snow which fell that day.

The students packed blue drawstring bags on Wednesday with food, coloring books, notebooks, crayons, and colored pencils, while they kept in mind the importance of service and social responsibility.

They also got to meet a young adult who understands both sides of the exchange in Christ’s compassion.

“I was once on the other side of the program. I was a child of OST,” said Nelson Mensah, the program director of St. Barnabas OST Program in Southwest Philadelphia. “Today, at 24 years old, I have the honor of serving as the youngest director in the program.

“Every act of service sends a powerful message to the children that we serve that they are seen, valued, and worth the investment.”

The students who gathered at Lansdale Catholic from across the five-county area didn’t just give their time, muscles, minds, and energy to packing boxes with needed items. They also enjoyed camaraderie and learned lessons of compassion that will germinate throughout their lives.

“I just had the principal from my elementary school come up to me, and he has kids here. I just ran into a kid that I taught when I taught elementary school, and she goes to Lansdale Catholic,” said Matt Walsh, the campus minister at Conwell-Egan Catholic High School in Fairless Hills, Bucks County.

“It’s good for these students to see, make connections with kids from other schools within the archdiocese.”

“Any time that you do something in service for someone else, you also reap a reward for yourself,” said Meghan Sidorski, assistant director of Family and Community Services for CCoP.

“It’s a great feeling to give time and energy for others, so I’m hoping that the students that are here today will get back as much as they’re giving.”

Archbishop Pérez also took time Wednesday to bless the new statue of St. Therese of Lisieux, Lansdale Catholic’s patroness. He and other leaders underscored the connections between her life and the lives of the young people involved in the morning of service.

“St. Therese of Lisieux always wanted to be a missionary, but she never went to the mission,” he said. “She would say going down to pick something up from the ground could be an act of kindness and love and offering to the Lord for others.”

“St. Therese emphasized that service to others is defined by love, not size,” said Meghan Callen, a 1996 graduate of Lansdale Catholic and the school’s president.

“She defined service in her little way, emphasizing love in small daily actions rather than grand gestures. As we all gather here today from schools across our great archdiocese to spend our time in service to others, remember her words, miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice.”

Those lessons stayed with the students who came and encountered Christ in their acts of service.

“It teaches us how even small things can mean a lot to somebody, and you never know what your actions can mean to someone else, and shows us to help people in any way we can, big or small,” said Adriana Bazarska, a seventh-grader at Queen of Angels Regional Catholic School in Willow Grove, Montgomery County.

The Archbishop further tied in St. Therese’s model of packing love into all that one does with each young person’s call to offer small acts of love in both prayer and direct action through their efforts to pack the bags.

“She dedicated much of her life to praying for missionaries around the world in her time, so much so that without ever really being a physical missionary someplace else, the Church has named her the patron of missionaries because she had a profound missionary heart,” he said.

Archbishop Pérez encouraged the 200 young people to use this event as a launchpad for a life of missionary discipleship, a day to show that faith can be spoken in loving action.

“I encourage you to live your faith as missionary disciples,” he said. “Be bold. Go out to others. Seek those who have fallen away.

“Acts of kindness, no matter how big they are or how small they are, really are contagious. They inspire others to do their part in reflecting God’s love and making the world a better place.”