Thomas Lyons

I must acknowledge that God has always been very kind to me. I was born into a Catholic family that attended Mass every week and prayed before meals. Even when the tragic plague of divorce struck my family in middle school, my parents tried their best to encourage semi-regular Mass attendance. God also gave me the gift of being part of a parish with a thriving youth ministry, with no shortage of examples of what our faith could look like when lived out.

Being part of this parish was my first “Yes” to God. It is important to note that this yes was conditional on my part, as it was ultimately rooted in a desire to be anywhere than home having to deal with the fallout of divorce. I was only willing to give God my spare time that wasn’t already occupied. Luckily, God’s yes to me wasn’t conditional. All He needed was the slightest crack to let His love penetrate my walled heart. His love for me, expressed through the witness of those around me at those youth nights, started to turn a place of refuge into a home.

During high school, my Yes to God became less conditional. I started to prioritize my Yes to Him and His Church more and more because, with every conversation in prayer, scripture, and peer testimony, I realized God would never abandon me.

This confidence led to my next “Yes” to God, accepting His call to enter seminary and discern the priesthood. This call came through whispers in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament, where I would ask, “How can I repay Your love?” He would respond, “Live for me and my Church.” My response led me to four years in the seminary, which I will always remain incredibly grateful for.

After this discernment, it was clear that God wanted me to say “Yes” to Him again, this time, in the words “I do.” In May of 2022, my wife Amanda and I were married in the Church where my first two Yeses took place, surrounded by people whose yeses inspired my own. My goal for my story is to proclaim that God loves us and to alleviate all fear of trusting in Him so that we may all one day say the same final “Yes” to God when he invites us to join Him and all the saints who have gone before us in the Kingdom of His everlasting love.