July 5

2023

Elmhurst, IL

St. Thomas Syro Malabar Cathedral, Bellwood, IL

St. Joseph College Seminary at Loyola University Chicago (B.A. in Philosophy from Loyola University Chicago)

English and Malayalam

Running and reading nonfiction, and occasionally fiction

I ran the Chicago marathon on Oct. 7, 2018

St. John Vianney. I am also inspired by St. John Paul II, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and Venerable Fulton Sheen

Lately I have been drawn to the devotion to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart of Mary

The idea of priesthood came to me when I was in 3rd grade. My parents brought up the idea, but they never forced me into it. Some of the priests at my parish encouraged the idea of priesthood and I thought priesthood was the best thing there was. While I was at a retreat at my parish during the summer before 8th grade, I had this beautiful encounter with the Eucharist and I remember the preacher echoing the words of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, “It is better to be a child of God than to be the king of the world.” It struck me in a personal way that I began to take my faith seriously. However, during high school I tried to run away from the idea of priesthood, because the life of a priest or a seminarian didn’t seem that appealing to me and I wanted to fit in, and be a normal person. Many of the parishioners at my parish kept mentioning the idea of priesthood and I would get annoyed at them thinking they are weird. In my junior year of high school, I was invited by few seminarians in our diocese, now priests, to come shadow them at St. Joseph Seminary at Loyola University, which was an eye opening experience, because I realized seminarians were normal people while trying to discern priesthood. After senior year of high school, with the encouragement of my pastor, my vocations director and my family, I decided to give the seminary a try and it has been a blessed experience growing in my relationship with the Lord, and the call seems to get stronger.

Celebrating the sacraments, reminding the people of the merciful love of the Father and their baptismal call as beloved sons and daughters of God

Offer a decade of the rosary for us to persevere