Click on a date below to open one of the Pastor's Letters. (They are all in Microsoft Word format.)
December 11, 2011 (Fr. Abe) |
December 4, 2011 (Fr. Abe) |
Return to the top of the pageWelcome Father Abe AntonyDear Friends,
I am sure you will agree with me that the first step toward any meaningful relationship is to get to know each other. I just can’t wait to get to know you all. Let me begin by doing my part. I am as old as Vatican II! I was born in the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula – a small state called Kerala – as the fourth of six siblings. My father passed away when I was six and mother breathed her last two years after my ordination to priesthood. I have a brother, four sisters and eleven nieces and nephews oldest of who are here in San Jose. The desire to become a priest was there in me from very early on in my elementary school days, the Holy Eucharist being the attractive force. While in high school the desire became a resolve to be a missionary priest, this time God’s compassion and social justice being the additional deciding factors. That, finally, brought me to the poorest area of India in the east, near Calcutta. The, place, language, culture, food habits – everything was different from what I was used to. I survived. After degrees in English, Philosophy and Theology at Morning Star College, Calcutta - a college and seminary then run by the Jesuits, I was ordained a priest in 1995 for the Diocese of Berhampur, Orissa. For one year after my ordination I worked in a large parish with additional responsibility of looking after 160 boys in the parish boarding home (an equal number of girls were being looked after by the nuns). In the following year I was moved to the diocesan minor seminary as vice rector. I wasn’t allowed to settle down there either. In 1997 I was appointed secretary to our bishop, a ministry I carried on for nine years last three years of which I was also the chancellor of the diocese. After that my then bishop allowed me to pursue higher studies. By then I was familiar with the Diocese of San Jose through my friend, Fr. Saju Joseph who is a priest of this diocese. I had been making mission appeals at different parishes of this diocese. At the request of my bishop, Bishop McGrath and the Diocese of San Jose was kind enough to assign me a parish and allow me to go to school at Santa Clara University. I am working on my Masters in Spirituality. So here I am after having served St. Simon parish for four years, ready and willing to be at your service. I have come willing to learn and to teach; prepared to give and to take. My guiding principle is the theology of presence. I am longing to “taste and see the goodness” of St. Martin parishioners and their pastor, something of which I have heard a lot of in recent weeks. United in prayer and ministry, |
I am your new parochial vicar, Fr. Abraham Antony. Call me Fr. Abe or just Abe. First of all I would like to thank the pastor, Fr. Chris for allowing me to use this space to introduce myself. Even before I came here he made me feel I was not new here.