Serra Club Vocations Essay

People of faith serving others helped build up America over its history

By Clare Kennedy (Special to The Criterion)

In the 1700’s, America was built up by a mix of people, including priests and religious following their vocation of making their community a better place.

Now, 250 years later, God is still leading his people to thrive and follow him, especially the youth today who are needed to continue leading others in the Lord’s will, to make a better place for everyone.

Around the time that America was founded, St. Junipero Serra was in what would later become California, following his vocation of religious life by founding missions in the region. He traveled a long way listening to God’s call and did many things to serve other people. He can be seen as an example of how we can serve others today.

Many years later, on the east side of Indianapolis in 1925, another community called Little Flower came together to listen to God’s word. They gave him praise by creating a parish dedicated to the newly canonized St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who described herself as just a “little flower” in the garden of the Lord in The Story of a Soul, her spiritual autobiography.

The parish was founded during a hard time, with anti-Catholic activity across the U.S., including in Indianapolis. But the community persisted. In 1926, a school was built to teach children about how God loved them. The first people to teach the children there were Franciscan sisters.

A century later, Little Flower continues to teach children like me about God. The story of our past can teach me and other young people to always thank God for both great achievements and little things. It shows us that people dedicated to God founded and built America, and our country needs people dedicated to God to carry it on.

Someone’s calling might not always be what they expect, but God has a plan for everyone. We must be ready to answer God’s call when it comes, and we all need to continue this Church of love and prayer. Jesus will be with us the whole time.

I am open to whatever vocation God is calling me to follow, and God has been leading me to make my own contributions by giving me opportunities to love and serve my neighbor.

Through my parish (Little Flower), in my community, and even in the classroom, God has been guiding me to do his will. For example, I help at various activities in my parish, like fish fries, Christmas giving trees, vacation Bible school, being an altar server and helping to set up and work at our yearly festival.

Through these activities, Little Flower has taught me to use my time, talent and treasure for good and other people. This service has helped me to conclude that whatever vocation I end up fulfilling, I always want to help others.

Overall, as today’s youth, my peers and I must be prepared to serve others, to carry on the Church of God and listen to his call. We all need to appreciate and remember the examples of the past in order to improve the future.
 

(Clare and her parents, Steve and Mary Kennedy, are members of St. Therese of the Infant Jesus [Little Flower] Parish in Indianapolis. She recently completed the 7th grade at Little Flower School in Indianapolis and is the 7th-grade division winner in the Indianapolis Serra Club’s 2026 John D. Kelley Vocations Essay Contest.) †