For Evelia Raphael, the subject matter of the annual Friars’ Student Writing Contest in The Catholic Register hit real close to home.

The entrants in the annual Friars’ Student Writing Contest did not make it easy on judges from The Catholic Register. 

The contest drew many quality essays on the question referring to Deuteronomy 16:18-30: How can Catholics and Christians of all denominations unite to create a more just society and be examples of Christ’s healing grace in a broken world?

Last week we published the winning entry from Lucas Georgey of St. Michael’s Choir School. This week, we feature the second and third place winners — Vincent Pham from Chaminade College School and Nathan Nambiar from St. Francis Xavier Secondary School. Pham has earned the second-place prize of an iPad while Nambiar is awarded a Google Home smart speaker.