by Father Timothy Skoch
During my college sophomore year at KU, I began regular conversation with then-diocesan vocation director Father Scott Wallisch.
I wanted to address some things I had on my mind, among them my purpose in life and what motivated me. Through those exchanges, God spoke directly into my life circumstances. Filled with excitement and a desire for the priesthood, I asked to start the seminary application process.
Despite my youthful liveliness and certitude, the psychological evaluation provided insight that, while difficult to receive, increased self-awareness. I was not ready for seminary.
I deferred the application. It was the right thing to do. Father Scott remained supportive, and I was grateful. Committed to returning to the application process upon graduating from KU, I was determined to be more open to discernment, though my approach still lacked discipline. With the church’s help, I am confident in God’s grace: Glory stories can be written with curvy lines. Throughout seminary formation — and here I give thanks to the seminary community and the formation team — I lived my journey in the context of God’s mercy. This is one of the key aspects of formation: It gives a young man the necessary space and resources to discover what Jesus Christ is doing in one’s life. I began to prioritize my desire for Jesus. I wanted to be open to offering my entire life to him.
My sense of personal freedom deepened. There is growth in freedom and discernment in understanding that God is less about what choice one makes than he is about one making a choice for love. Resolving to choose both for love of God and love of neighbor is sufficient. With this new foundation, I began to see and appreciate how Jesus has repeatedly chosen to love me. “Please give me an opportunity to return a sacrifice of praise” became a recurring prayer.
Life is not random but is part of a greater plan. Reared in Nebraska, I grew up a Jayhawk fan, largely because my old man convinced me this was the way to go. I learned in elementary school how special Allen Fieldhouse can be. Both of my parents were raised in Nemaha County, Kansas, a reality that had little relevance in my youth. My dad played the pipe organ at St. Mary’s Church in St. Benedict, Kansas, from age 10 through his high school graduation.
The significance of this? It is the same parish where I was blessed to serve a summer assignment during my seminary experience, and the same church where I prayed my first Mass as a newly-ordained priest.
During my summer experience in St. Benedict, I discovered that next door to the church rectory, my paternal great-great grandparents and great-grandparents are buried in the cemetery. My paternal grandparents are laid to rest just to the west of St. Benedict, in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Baileyville, Kansas. I have since traveled to the Czech Republic to offer holy Mass in the country church where my great-great grandparents were married shortly before immigrating to the United States.
I knew that I was born into a family of generations of northeast Kansas farmers. What I didn’t know — and what I had yet to appreciate — was how God’s hand had been at work in the Skoch family, quietly planting, watering and cultivating a vocation to the priesthood.
Now, as vocation director for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, it becomes my privilege to help others discover God’s will for their lives and know more intimately God’s infinite mercy.
