Holy Cross parishioner Tommy Benjamin to receive Bishop’s Award for Service to the Church

By Amy White
The Texas Catholic

As a child in Louisiana, Tommy Benjamin watched both his parents faithfully and generously give their time in service. Now an adult, Benjamin lives out his parents’ legacy by serving his community at Holy Cross Catholic Church.

“My parents lived the Beatitudes,” he said. “I’m living by the example that I saw from them.”

Benjamin first encountered Holy Cross Catholic Church in September 2011. Although he and his seven siblings grew up Baptist—their father’s faith—Benjamin decided in 2011 that he would like to become Catholic. His mother, a cradle Catholic, had brought him to Masses as a child, and he retained a lifelong love for the religion.

When Benjamin visited Holy Cross for the first time on Sep. 11, 2011, he knew it was a fit.

“That first day, I felt that that was where I was supposed to be,” he said. “That’s how welcoming it was. I knew I was in the right place.”

He began RCIA classes at Holy Cross in 2011 and joined the Church in 2012.

Shortly after joining, he followed his parents’ example by jumping into service at his new community. At the request of Father Timothy Gollob, the pastor at the time, Benjamin became the team leader for the social justice committee at Holy Cross. The group addressed needs in immigration and voter registration and assisted with the food bank and the senior center.

“The main function of social justice is to help others,” Benjamin said. “I like being a contributor to anything where people are going to benefit.”

Besides social justice, Benjamin has worn several other hats at the parish.

“He helps with anything that we ask him to do,” said Lari Newman-Williams, pastoral ministry director at Holy Cross. “He picks up garbage, he works outside, he gardens… He tries to help everyone.”

A full-circle moment of service came when Benjamin began serving his community by assisting with RCIA classes.

“I had gone through the RCIA process,” Benjamin said. “So, I could talk to them about what they were going to be experiencing and how they were going to be growing in their faith.”

Benjamin also pulled from his own experience in another of his service ventures at Holy Cross: his ministry to veterans.

Since late 2023, Benjamin has ministered to veterans through Soldiers’ Angels—a ministry close to his heart as a fellow veteran. He had served in the U.S. Air Force, 1988-1995, before moving to Dallas in 1995. He said the experience impacted him, and he has a heart for those who have served the country.

As the lead coordinator between Holy Cross and Soldiers’ Angels, Benjamin arranges monthly distributions for veterans.

“I make sure that they have what they need so that the whole process can go without any hiccups,” Benjamin said. “We’ve been averaging about 170 veterans every month, and they expect that to go up to maybe 200 once more and more people find out about it.”

Deeply touched by the veterans he serves, especially those who suffer from PTSD, Benjamin tries to make the distribution a positive and joyful event for them.

“We laugh and joke around and go from car to car and talk to the veterans and just have a good time doing it,” he said, adding, “I feel really good being able to do something else for the veterans.”

Benjamin also serves as a member of the Diocese of Dallas Catholic Social Ministries Committee.

For his service to his community, Benjamin is receiving the Bishop’s Award for Service to the Church. When asked what the award means to him, he said, “It means that I’m honoring what my mother and father did. It’s an honorary award for them.”

Read more stories from 2024 Bishop’s Award for Service to the Church honorees in the April 19 print edition of The Texas Catholic.