Mary Morrison Catholic Parish Recipient Saint Patrick's Parish, Corning, IA

From the teen recommendation by Lauren Anderson
As an incoming freshman, I knew that my Wednesday nights for religious education would now be spent at Mary Morrison's house rather than our parish center along with all of the younger kids. The first Wednesday night that I attended class at Mary's I was nervous. I knew that my catechism would not only be with my class now, but with all of the upperclassmen, too. I rang the doorbell, not wanting to intrude. I was greeted by an upperclassman who assured me that I did not need to ring the doorbell. She told me Mary would insist that I make myself feel at home.

Once arriving to "our" basement, my butterflies ceased. I was told to grab a pop, get a bite to eat, and find a seat on one of her big, comfy couches. It was great. Mary made me feel so comfortable and welcome. From then on out, I've always looked forward to my Wednesday nights at Mary's. Mary learned that I was a vegetarian and always spoiled me, making me my own portion of our meal without meat.

Brian Singer-Towns presents the Ambassador of Christ Recgonition Award to Mary at her parish.

Every Christmas, our parish buys gifts for children from unfortunate families. Mary always loves to go above and beyond to make sure these children love their Christmas. She buys extra gifts for the kids, and she wants to be positive that they'll like the gifts they receive. Last year, she asked me to accompany her on her shopping adventure and I was amazed at all of the consideration she took for each and every gift she purchased.

I remember when I was younger, just beginning to serve at masses. We were all a little unsure about serving. When were we supposed to do things again? But Mary was always sitting right behind us, reminding us when to do things, and reassuring us when we hesitated. Even as a small child, before I had developed an intimate relationship with Mary, she always greeted me with a lot of compassion. Mary always addresses all the youth of our church by name, and she knows the name of every one of us.

Mary has always made sure the topics she chose for class were ones that pertained to us, ones that we could relate to. Mary always explains things to us in a way that we can understand, making sure we get something from each lesson.

A couple of years ago, Mary had a hip-replacement that she was hospitalized for. Her beautiful lawn has always been a source of pride for her. Being in the hospital, she couldn't maintain her garden, so our youth group took it upon ourselves to help out with her yard work and gardening. Mary was very appreciative.

Sadly, this summer, Mary fell and broke her leg. Our youth group got together, all eager to see Mary, and visited her in the hospital. She was thrilled to see us all and to hear what was going on in all of our lives. Mary genuinely cares about each and every one of us kids. She displays a very strong faith, and I'm very proud to know Mary. I hope that one day I can touch as many lives as she has. I believe she's very deserving of this award.