Dear parishioners,
I am so glad to reach out to you all through this weekly bulletin. I am so grateful to the Lord for calling me to serve St. Jude Parish in Eugene. I express my sincere gratitude to you all for giving me a warm welcome and the kindhearted support to begin my ministry here.
I am so glad to reach out to you all through this weekly bulletin. I am so grateful to the Lord for calling me to serve St. Jude Parish in Eugene. I express my sincere gratitude to you all for giving me a warm welcome and the kindhearted support to begin my ministry here.
Today, I just want to write something about my early life, my vocation and my priestly journey etc. I was born in 1977 in the small town named Sindalacherry in the Archdiocese of Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu. This is one of the southern states of India, surrounded by other states like Kerala, Karnataka, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh.
My home parish church is Sacred of Heart of Jesus which is based in Sindalacherry. This is one of the traditional catholic parishes in the Archdiocese of Madurai. This parish has about 3000 catholic families. This parish is richly blessed with many vocations to priesthood and religious life. This particular parish has contributed about 90 priests and about 200 hundred religious brothers and nuns to the universal church. They are all serving the Lord all over the world. I am so blessed to receive my faith in this traditional Catholic parish.
I lost my beloved parents in the year 2007-08. I have two elder sisters and an elder brother. They are all married in the church and have their children raised in the Catholic faith. I have 5 nephews and 2 nieces. 4 of the nephews and a niece got married in the church and have their children. So, I have 4 grandnieces and 5 grandnephews.
I went to the Catholic school at my home parish and was taught by the nuns of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception. I joined the seminary in 1996, joined the Religious Order namely “Heralds of Good News” and was ordained in 2006. After my ordination, I studied my master’s degree in theology and taught in the seminary.
From 2007-09 Master’s Degree in Theology, from 2009-10 Vice Rector at Heralds Seminary, from 2010-2013 Formator and Professor at St.Joseph Seminary, from 2013-2021 Pastoral Ministry in the Archdiocese of Denver, CO, from 2021-2024 Vice Provincial of MQA Province of Heralds of Good News, 2024 – pastoral ministry at St. Jude in the Archdiocese of Portland.
This is a short introduction about my life, vocation and priestly journey. As I begin a new chapter here at St. Jude, I pray that the Lord gives me the strength to carry out this ministry of service to each one of you to the best of my ability. At the same time, I humbly request you all to keep me in your daily prayers for my spiritual journey and service to this beautiful parish in Eugene. May God bless you all!
Fr. Francis, HGN
Fr. Francis, HGN