BRAINTREE -- Monica Canetta was amazed when her son Joseph came home from school excited to write an essay.

Joseph, a seventh grader at Malden Catholic, was one of 575 middle schoolers in the Archdiocese of Boston who entered the Hope in Scripture Essay Contest, hosted by the Catholic Schools Office. The contest was the centerpiece of the archdiocese's weeklong celebration of the global Jubilee of Education from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, part of the Jubilee Year of 2025.

Leah Ramsdell, associate superintendent of faith formation for the Catholic Schools Office, organized the events. She wanted them to show the wider community that Catholic schools are "places where students come to be seen for who they truly are."

"Whether that is as an artist or an athlete or a tremendous student, there's room for everyone in our schools," she said, "and they are an opportunity for the students to have a chance to reflect on and think about and really consider the ways in which their faith lives interact with their day-to-day lives as students."

In keeping with the Jubilee's theme, "Pilgrims of Hope," students were asked to write essays about a "Pilgrim of Hope" in their own lives. Joseph wrote about his mother, Monica, his dad, Carlo, and his brother, Matteo, who died in infancy. For Monica, her son's essay is proof that Matteo's life was "for real."

"He lived very little, but what a beautiful, what a beautiful life," she said.

Joseph was nine months old and the Canettas had just moved to Massachusetts from New York City when Monica discovered that her unborn child had cysts in his brain, club feet, and heart defects. She and her husband decided to name the boy Matteo -- "gift from God."

"He only lived a couple of hours, and then those two hours were very beautiful, because we were able to baptize him," Monica said. "And so, as a parent, I'm sure he's in heaven."

Every year on April 21, the anniversary of Matteo's birth and death, the Canettas eat birthday cake and visit his grave. Joseph was too young to have any memories of Matteo, so it's a way he can connect with his brother. On Oct. 2, the feast of the Guardian Angels, Joseph came home from school with good news; his teachers liked his essay.

"That to me was a sign," Monica said. "Oh, Matteo is a guardian angel and watching over us."

Joseph was runner-up in the seventh-grade division of the essay contest. At a reception for the winning essayists at the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Center in Braintree on Oct. 29, he received a Bible, a rosary blessed by Archbishop Richard G. Henning, and a $25 Visa gift card. The winners were accompanied by those they had written about.

"It changed my life because it's helped me follow Jesus more," Joseph said of his Catholic education. "If I went to a public school, I wouldn't be as close as I am."

The seventh-grade winner was Martha Jane Culot of Austin Prep in Reading, who wrote about her mother, Chelsea Mack.

"She has a really inspiring job," Martha Jane said. "She's a special ed teacher in East Boston, and she's a symbol of hope."

Mack cried when her daughter read the essay about her.

"It's an honor for her to have chosen me," she said, "and as a mother of a teenage girl, it isn't always easy day-to-day, but it made me feel really proud of her and like she's doing really well."

The sixth-grade winner and runner-up were Ire Ajala of St. John School in Wellesley and Tyler Blaney of St. Bridget School in Abington. The eighth-grade winner and runner-up were Catelyn Bansfield of St. Mary of the Annunciation School in Danvers and Malena Pham of St. Catherine of Siena School in Norwood.

The grand prize winner was Carly Cortes-Dilone, an eighth grader at St. Monica School in Methuen, for her essay on her school pastor, Father Marcos Pena.

"He inspired me, because he always goes around the school being joyful and being nice to everyone, always has a smile on his face, and I really think he was the perfect person to write about," Carly said of Father Pena.

She has been a student at St. Monica for seven years.

"It has changed my life in many ways, to really grow my relationship with God and how the teachers put a lot of effort into making, growing that relationship with God within all the kids," she said.

Ramsdell read almost 60 essays and was struck by the fact that only one of them was about a famous athlete. The rest were about students' family members, teachers, and priests.

"It's not about fame and fortune," she said. "Our students see witnesses of faith and hope and courage in the day-to-day, the ordinary routine and hustle and bustle in their lives. And that they find hope in the faces of the people who love them the most."

Archdiocese of Boston Superintendent of Catholic Schools Eileen McLaughlin read 12 of the finalists' essays. In them, she saw the qualities that she wanted to highlight during the Jubilee of Education. The students were looking at their lives through Scripture, proving to her that their teachers had taught them well.

"It affirmed for me that our Catholic schools are doing really good work," she said.

The archdiocese's celebrations began on Oct. 27, with a performance at the Pastoral Center by the choir of Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood.

"I didn't have much of a connection with my faith before I went to Xaverian Brothers, and going there and being in theology class and going to schoolwide Mass, this has really advanced my faith and my belief in God," said senior Dante Horsman.

After he graduates, he wants to work in sales.

"I think staying grounded with faith and being able to use that in your day-to-day life, and being able to rely on God and turn to God in times of struggle can help you anywhere in life, especially in that," he said.

Senior Brendan Wieher said that "it has been a wonderful experience" to get to know "other believers of God."

"Now I see God in my day-to-day life, and I have such a strong relationship with him," he said.

He wants to be a pediatric nurse, a career choice inspired by health issues he and his family have struggled with. The support he received at school inspired him to do what he feels God is calling him to do.

"I've made so many wonderful memories, and if I could do Xaverian all over again, I would choose to do it every time," he said.

Throughout the week, students in other schools throughout the archdiocese marked the Jubilee of Education with special events.

On Oct. 28, student artwork inspired by the Jubilee Year from Cheverus School in Malden was on display at the Pastoral Center. On Oct. 30, students at Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton prayed a "living rosary," in which each student represents a single bead of the rosary, leading a single Hail Mary. Other students lead the Glory Be, the Our Father, and announce each mystery. Throughout the week, students at Catholic Memorial donated toiletries for families at St. Mary's Center for Women and Children in Dorchester, while faculty members at Sacred Heart STEM School in Roslindale assembled gift bags for them.

"This week really highlights music and the arts, as well as reflection and writing, and I think that gives people an opportunity to see a little bit more than the regular, ordinary classroom experience," McLaughlin said.