God's Silent Soldier

For years, the tree looked through the windows into the full classrooms. He knew all of the children, from Stephen, the ornery little boy throwing snowballs at his friends, to Erin, the shy red-haired girl with freckles. He listened on Sunday afternoons while the parents cheered the baseball and football teams to victory, and he loved the festival that took place every summer. But what the tree loved most was that this parish was alive! There were people around and active from early morning till late night. Activities, both school and church, were going on all the time. One of the special projects the children had every spring was to plant beautiful flowers around the courtyard to prepare for the annual celebration of the Blessed Mother, during May Crowning. The tree looked on and felt the love that these children had, for their school, for their lives, and for their God. The tree grew.