Returning to the faith

From flames to faith

Tom Hunyor was a young firefighter when a near-death experience changed the trajectory of his life. Not only did he return to his Catholic faith but he became a seminarian in the Diocese of Toledo. Find out how he changed his life, returned to the faith and discerned his vocation.

BY ANNIE LUST

I didn’t think we would make it out alive,” Tom Hunyor Jr. said. Years before the fire that came close to taking his life, Hunyor was raised by devout Catholic parents in Maumee. His parents had raised him and his five younger siblings to attend Mass weekly and pray. They were homeschooled until 8th grade at which point he attended a public high school. “During high school, I started to distance myself from my faith,” Hunyor explained. He was actively involved in sports and his friends were not Catholic. “I began embracing what society told me would make me happy,” he said. Hunyor went to college and then became a firefighter, the same profession as his father. Faith was still not a priority in his life. That is, until a particular house fire. Hunyor was in the basement when he realized that he and a fellow firefighter were trapped. “Eventually, thanks be to God, we made it out,” Hunyor recalled. It was a turning point in his life. He reflected on the fire that night and was frightened by his realization. “My Catholic faith was still ingrained in me. I knew it even though I hadn’t been practicing it,” Hunyor explained, “I knew without question that the way I was living my life - very selfishly and very sinfully - I would have gone to hell.”

Photo courtesy of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary Tom Hunyor with fellow seminarians during a break from a seminary work project.

PHOTO COURTESY MOUNT ST. MARY'S SEMINARY

Coming frighteningly close to death, Hunyor decided to make a change in his life. It was not all at once. “There were a lot of habits to break,” Hunyor said. “It took some time, but once I put forth a little effort, the Lord overwhelmed me with love, grace and the desire to know him.” On his search to know God, Hunyor began attending daily Mass and Eucharistic Adoration and doing spiritual reading and prayer. Eventually, Hunyor’s thoughts turned to seminary. “There was this tug at my heart,” Hunyor recalled. One word came to him: priesthood.

Currently, Hunyor is in Theology II at Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati. Hunyor has three more years of school and one pastoral year. God willing, he looks forward to his ordination to the priesthood in 2022.