Fr. Thomas Swierc’s journey to the priesthood

BY SUSANNE JANSSEN

After eight years of preparation, Fr. Thomas Swierc is excited that he will finally get to work. “School is not my favorite thing,” he shared. Preaching neither – but he is convinced that God will give him everything that he needs for his ministry. And he found the work in the parish fulfilling, “it felt right.”

Swierc felt excited and a bit nervous a few weeks before his ordination. “It is a big change that will happen,” he said. He was born in San Antonio and raised in College Station with an older sister. “Our family was active in the parish,” he said. His dad was in the choir, his mother taught religious education, and his sister was an altar server.

Around 20 years ago, his parish started perpetual adoration. His father chose Monday morning from 4-5 am, and when Thomas didn’t have school, he joined his dad. “I cannot say that it was my favorite thing, but I began to develop a relationship with Jesus.”

Two years into college at Texas A&M Kingsville, he had a serious discerning moment: “I was having a hard time doing my homework, and a thought came into my mind: maybe this is the moment God is telling me to be a priest.” He shared his thoughts with a vocation director who advised him to “wait a bit and pray.” So, he pursued his degree and got involved with the Newman Center. “I started being an altar server again, and we dedicated a brand-new chapel that summer,” he remembers. Maybe his desire was written all over his face. After mass, a priest who saw him swaying the thurible asked him, “You are discerning, aren’t you?”

When he was attending a vocational retreat, everything fell into place. “I talked with a priest in the sacristy for almost an hour. I had one more year until finishing my degree in computer science, but he told me that the seminary is a good place for intense discernment.” They agreed that he would take two weeks to think and pray about it, but after a few days, he felt his heart burning, and he knew: he would join the seminary immediately.

While he was born in San Antonio and raised in the Austin diocese, he wanted to be ordained in Corpus Christi: “It just feels like home. I feel I’m in the right place whenever I cross the border.” And he is grateful to the Newman Center at Kingsville, where both newly ordained priests lived important moments of their faith journey.

His parents wanted him to finish his degree, but “when they saw how excited I was, they were supportive.” One great-aunt was unsurprised, “she remembered that I mentioned something about becoming a priest when I was 12 years old.”

After entering seminary, he remembers two decisive moments. “During a retreat in my first year, I wanted to leave,” he said. “I didn’t like studying, and I didn’t like this and that, but then I recognized that these were distractions of the Evil one.” His happiness returned.

Another year, he didn’t receive the stellar evaluation that he was expecting. “I got too comfortable, I was content with the prayer times, but I didn’t put much effort into it.” That was a wake-up call: “I have to focus on my goals, and prayer is essential for my life as a priest.”

While nervous about delivering homilies, he looks forward to working in a parish, especially teaching and preparing children for First Communion. What would he say to young people who are discerning a vocation? “Talk to the Lord; spend time with Jesus.” And after that, being ready to take a step into the unknown,

“which is also necessary for a married life.”

Fr. Swierc thanks everybody in the diocese for their prayers: “I’m grateful for your love and support.”