Life of the Congregation (1)

This last November 30th, the formation house of Mangalore was decorated for a festival by all the young members of the community, with a lot of garlands of flowers and colourful balloons: our brothers Shamon and Reegan were thus welcomed definitively into the Congregation. They pronounced their perpetual vows at a solemn celebration presided over by Father Austin Hughes scj, who received them on behalf of the Superior General. A day of joy not only for the community but for the whole Congregation.

I am Reegan Vincent Raj, hailing from a small village in Tamil Nadu. I am the youngest of all four children to my parents. My parents are weavers by profession.
I completed my higher secondary school studies(+2) in the year 2006. I reaveled my desire to become a priest to my then Parish Priest. He brought our Betharram brothers Livin and Michael Bistis  (now both are priests) to my home. Those two brothers introduced our congregation and had a diologue with me and with my parents. They accepted me joyfully.
I made my first vows in our family on 14th May 2013 and made my final vows on 30th November 2017.
The most important experiences that confirmed me in my Religious Vocation in Betharram family are the following of Christ, the joyful community life of our fathers and brothers, the deep bond of family spirit of our fathers and brothers, and praying in community.
Betharram in India is not rich but all live joyfully, fully trusting in the Providence of the Lord.
My Experiences in the Mission have given the opportunity to experience both in the pastoral and in social field.My pastoral experiences in the past such as taking catechism class for children, animating Altar servers, distributing Holy communion, conducting choir, conducting retreat for children, etc taught me to be humble and depend on others.
My social - mission experiences such as teaching in the school, taking care of boarding boys, taking tutions, conducting summer camp, being home minister etc brought my experiences rich and taught me to expand my knowledge to face day-todays reality.
As for me our father St. Michael’s spirituality is so rich and takes me to meditate and pray more to seek the will of God and obey the will of God always.The challenge St. Michael our father offers me is to have the very programme of the heart of Jesus. It is not that easy. Therefore I say the spirituality is rich in meaning and needs hours and hours to meditate and pray to seek the will of God and imitate the heart of Jesus.

Shamon
I came to know about betharram  fathers through one of my distant cousin.
Thereafter  Fr. Biju Antony along with three brothers came to my parish and said more about the congregation of Sacred Heart Fathers.
The love of priesthood, the deep desire to live with the poor, the love of Christ to the humanity are at the core of my vocation. 
I was impressed by the childhood of St.Michael, his desire to see God that prompted him to climb the peaks.

After their diaconal ordination, during a celebration presided over by Mgr Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Bishop of Mangalore, our brothers are to be sent on a mission: Br. Reegan to Hojai (Assam) and Br. Shamon to Tiptur. We pray that they may be faithful servants, who run to embrace life’s call.