A Journey of Faith and Vocation

Last Sunday, I mentioned I grew up on a small farm. Some of you asked me what kind of crops we had. I was born and brought up in the southwest of India, a state named Kerala, which means land of coconut. We had coconut, cashews, ginger, turmeric, rubber trees, black pepper, tapioca, and the list goes on. My dad and mom worked full-time on the farm.

I am the oldest of four. I have two brothers and one sister; they all got married, and I have five nephews and two nieces. One of my nephews is in the seminary, studying second-year philosophy. His name is Francis Pazhukkathara. When you pray for seminarians, please include him in your prayers.

When we were young, my siblings and I were assigned to do our daily chores. We had a few cows, sheep, goats, and chickens for milk, eggs, and manure.  During the summer vacation, some of the fields will be barren after harvest, so four of us take our calves. We are supposed to watch them while they feed themselves, but sometimes when we get into playing games, we forget to watch them, and then they take off. I remember those things with a smile, and then it was a moment of frustration and guilt. It taught us responsibility and to take care of things in daily life.

Christianity in Kerala traces its origin to Apostle St. Thomas in the first century. The Catholic Church in India consists of three rites: the Syro-Malabar Church, the Syro-Malankara Church, and the Latin Church. I was born and brought up in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. I was born and brought up in the Syro-Malabar Rite and had the privilege of worshiping and learning about the Latin and Syro-Malankara Rites.

My parents were the first teachers of the faith. Every night the family prayed together. Devotion to our Mother Mary was a great part of our faith. Every night before dinner, we recited the rosary, read the Bible, and, at the end of the prayer, my siblings and I recited all the prayers we learned in Sunday school. It is the way we memorized all the prayers.

My parents, grandparents, parish priest, and nuns played a great role in my vocation to the priesthood. As a young man, I was very much involved in my parish. I was a server/sacristan, involved in the youth ministry. I was part of the youth ministry program called Cherupushpa Mission League (Little Flower Mission League), a lay organization for children who wish to undertake the missionary work of Jesus Christ. The heavenly patron for the Mission League is St. Therese of Lisieux. She had a great love for the Church's missionary work and missionaries. The motto of the Cherupushpa Mission League is Love: God’s love is unconditional. Love for fellow beings is expressed through service.

While I was in the seminary, after philosophy, I finished a diploma in special education and worked with children with disabilities and youth. Then I got privileged to go to Rome and finish my theology studies and was ordained as a priest on July 29, 2002. From there, I was blessed to come to the USA. I first came to the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, worked at the United and Children’s Hospitals, coordinated an outreach program for people with disabilities, served as a prison chaplain, and started a master’s in special education at the University of St. Thomas.

In 2008, I came to the Diocese of Superior and started at the Somerset, Winter, and Ladysmith clusters; for the last 14 years, I have been in the Park Falls, Butternut, and Fifield clusters. In 2012, I was incardinated into the Diocese of Superior; in 2015, I finished my studies at St. Thomas, and in 2017, I became a U.S citizen. Now I am privileged to get to know the St. Patrick Catholic Community and to serve. Please keep me in your prayers; I do the same.

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