Serra Club Vocations Essay

Student finds guidance through pastors to discover God’s will

By Grace Sidhom (Special to The Criterion)

All my life, I have always tried to do the right things and tried my best to be a good person. However, I always felt something was missing.

I couldn’t put my finger on it until my parents started to take my brother and I to church. When we finally found a home at St. Mark the Evangelist Church, I had the pleasure and the honor of meeting Father Tim Wyciskalla. He has been a big part of my spiritual journey.

In fact, he was so inspirational and influential in my life that I converted to Catholicism on Easter in 2024. Later in 2024, Father Tim was reassigned, and we were blessed to get Father Eric Johnson to lead our parish. They both have urged me to look to the Lord to show how the impossible is possible. As they have always said, “Nothing is impossible for God.”

They have, through their spiritual reflections, talks, homilies and personal examples, taught me what it really means to have confidence in God’s plan. I am a sinner and not perfect in many ways, even having doubts about myself and my future. But I always remember Father Tim and Father Eric’s wisdom to remind me that God has a plan for every single one of us—including me.

They have had (and continue to have) a profound influence and impact on my life, and I am forever grateful. Their commitment to pursuing a vocation serves as a very powerful reminder of the joy and fulfillment that comes from a life dedicated to God.

The fact that devoting your life to God is so extremely difficult helps me really appreciate and respect the commitment. The reward for it is the greatest of all rewards that we can ever get in this world. My dad always reminds me that, “without God, we are nothing.” This sticks with me in my heart, and both Father Tim and Father Eric’s commitment to God really gives meaning to my dad’s words.

Pursuing a vocation brings a profound sense of hope, as it really gives me a chance to ponder my purpose and what I can do to inspire others to follow in our Lord’s footsteps. I definitely have insecurities, but over the last couple of years since becoming Catholic, my confidence has grown, and I feel that I can accomplish anything with the Lord in my heart.

All I know is that I have a bigger purpose to help people and serve God than just focusing on myself. So, my past has led me to the present. Where do I go from here to open my heart to God’s calling? I dedicate myself to prayer, participating in my parish, using my abilities to help others, and really focusing on God’s love and appreciating our Lord’s sacrifice so that I can enter heaven one day.

I’m still unsure where God wants me to be. But I open my heart to accept his guidance. I show God’s love through volunteering, helping people, in gestures of kindness and just being as positive as I can be for those that I interact with. I am ever so grateful for my parents and will always have a special place in my heart for Father Tim and Father Eric and appreciate their vocation to God.
 

(Grace Sidhom and her parents, John and Shauna Sidhom, are members of St. Mark the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis. She recently completed 10th grade at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis and is the 10th-grade division winner in the Indianapolis Serra Club’s 2025 John D. Kelley Vocations Essay Contest.) †