Teen Finds Joy of Life Working in God’s Vineyard

St. Paul admonished the early Christians in his Letter to the Philippians to be humble, “each looking out not for his own interests, but also everyone for those of others.”   

Marcus Roberts follows this principle by making sure all the parts come together for his church, school and community. 

“The importance of helping others in need was the main core belief that I learned from my family and my religious education teachers,” Roberts said. “I exemplify this through my community service opportunities in school and helping out at church. I also like to mentor the underclassmen in my clubs to help them grow and continue the progress of the clubs.”

Denise Louviere, director of religious education at St. Jean Vianney Church in Baton Rouge, where Roberts is a member, said she can call on Roberts to fill in wherever there is a need, whether it’s moving books from one PSR classroom to another or stepping into the role of St. John the Baptist in a play by the younger students.

“I knew that no matter what, it was my responsibility to help. When one role is missing the entire group suffers,” said Roberts.

He applies this principle to his job at a local fast food restaurant because when he knows when one team member is absent the entire team has a hard night. When crew members fail to show up for shifts, he often picks up extra shifts on days he’s not scheduled or works as late as 3 a.m.  

“No matter how small the task, every role is important,” said Roberts.

He graduated May 17 from Baton Rouge Magnet High School, where he completed many service hours through the National Honor Society, Beta Club and DECA Club. Some of his favorite service opportunities he and his clubmates participated in were the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, 5K walk/runs for ALS and Alzheimer’s Awareness events, helping set up the Baton Rouge Mini Maker Faires and inventorying and sanitizing at a local elementary school.  

Some of the challenges of this type of work for Roberts was getting up early in the morning, the heat of staying outside all day and lifting and moving heavy items.  

“However, the joy of seeing the smiles on the participants’ faces as we hosted cheer stations at the 5Ks was priceless. I also enjoyed interacting with members of the community when I ran T-shirts and food stations,” said Roberts. 

He recently received the Baton Rouge High’s Brotherhood Award for treating all he interacts with as brothers and sisters.

Roberts does this while maintaining academic excellence. He graduated with a 4.33 GPA and has an AP Scholar with Honor’s award designation.

Roberts is scheduled to attend Duke University and plans to study statistical science and public policy. 

“I’m still not sure what specific career path I will take, but hopefully one day if given a position of power I will create an organizational culture rooted in my Catholic faith with those principles guiding the decision making and policies,” said Roberts.

He noted he will attend Mass at the Catholic student center on campus and look for opportunities to get involved there. Currently ushering with his younger brother, Brandon, at SJV Sunday evening Masses, he may continue to usher at college as well. 

As he ventures forth to write new chapters of his life Roberts knows the answers for any young person’s quest to find their meaning in life is found in the joy of working in God’s vineyard itself.

“Of course everybody has a purpose in God’s divine plan, but it’s important to find something you love to do and grow in that. After finding what you love, search for ways to do God’s work in that journey. The only way to have a love for life is to love what you do,” Roberts said.