"The story of my vocation (and perhaps my brother's as well) is as old as my father, Joby. He too was an Indian seminarian and wanted to become a priest, but things turned out differently. After four years of formation, he understood that he was called to marriage, met my mother, Princy, and married her. They have had three children.
My father was a teacher at an elementary school in a village in the India and is now retired and my mother works in our parish church office. My older brother, Joel, is also a seminarian and, by God's grace, will be ordained in December 2023. My younger sister, Christin, works as an analyst."
"The priestly formation my father had always helped to maintain a good atmosphere of devotion in my whole family. We prayed the rosary every day, Holy Mass and other devotional activities. But it was my brother who attracted me to the spiritual life. He, an ascetic by nature, used to get up at 3:30 in the morning to pray.
My attachment to the altar began when I was selected for the church choir to play the organ. As a beginner and to avoid mistakes - I was really famous for making them frequently - I started going half an hour before Mass and leaving the church half an hour after to practice more. I also used to rehearse whenever I could. It was precisely during that time that I thought about becoming a priest. Music was already part of my life when I started taking violin lessons".
Eloi had to make a difficult decision: to leave his music band for the call to the priesthood. They were going to become a professional band. "Saying no to the dream of music was a big ignition inside me. Which does not mean that I have left music and violin forever, but I have started to enjoy this wait until I get confirmation of God's will on how to use this gift of music that he has given me," he says.
"When my brother told us that he wanted to enter the seminary, my father wanted him to take the necessary formation very seriously. I, for my part, decided, for the time being, not to talk about this call that I was also feeling.
After finishing my high school studies (in the same year that my brother completed his degree in Mathematics), my parents allowed me to enter the seminary as well. This meant continuing to live in my hometown, before pursuing a degree in Philosophy".
"Upon entering the Trichur archdiocesan seminary I learned that we also had to take a degree course before enrolling in the Philosophy course.
Then, after a year of minor seminary and another year of intense spiritual formation, again by the grace of God, I began to study Civil Engineering, a four-year degree. It was at that time that God has given me a lot of opportunities to learn and improve both internally and externally.
"Besides all these studies, I must not forget to thank God for the gift of music. In those days I was able to take and pass the eighth grade of violin at Trinity College, London.
The biggest challenge I faced at that time was to see a lot of personal opportunities, all possible colors of life in front of me, a lot of options and possibilities. But In the end I chose God. And not without difficulty..."
"I had formed a band that was becoming 'professional'. We had a producer and all the members decided to create an official social media page. When they were designing the cover for it, they asked me if I wanted to continue with them or not, because once things qualify as professional, it's hard to back out.
Things that I thought were an invitation to something good now turned out to taste like 'temptation'. I still wasn't sure how God was calling me and where, but the whole music as a career thing made the call stronger than to continue on the path I had already chosen. When I discussed this with my spiritual director he told me that wait until he hears God's will".
"God always chooses the strangest way to demonstrate his love. By chance, I read St. Augustine's commentary on the Gospel of John at the point where he interprets the appearance of Jesus in the closed room to the apostles. I do not remember the exact quote, but the meaning is this: He who entered his Mother's womb without losing his virginity, it is possible for him to enter the closed room without opening the door.
At first this struck me as a theological reflection of splendor. But then I began to ponder it for my life: the opportunities He wants me to seize can enter me, even if I close all doors to those opportunities!"
"I don't know how to explain it. Those days I was burning inside me the firm NO that I was going to give to my best friends and to the dream of music. I still remember that night when I walked out of our keyboard player's room alone with teary eyes, saying I was done playing in the band. And it was also painful to see the new band's lineup the following week without me.
I also gave up the study of the violin and many of my teachers and other friends did not understand that decision. But the farmer who has found the treasure is willing to lose everything to buy that land. A logic that is inexplicable to others. This does not mean that I have given up the violin for good, but I have begun to enjoy this waiting until confirm to me God's will on how to use this gift He has given me".
"From the very first day of our formation, friends and acquaintances would ask my brother and me the same question: what are your parents going to do if you two enter the seminary? We always answered that God will take care of them. But this doubt became a real question when my sister got admission to a master's degree in Computer Science at a university far from our home.
I was the one who accompanied her through the admission process to fill out the forms that had to be authorized by parents or guardians. When she was admitted to the campus I began to think about the loneliness my parents would have to face without the three of us.
The moments of darkness led me to think that if I am to take care of the many that God will entrust to me, then God will take care of the lives that have taken care of me, such as my parents. And now, with all my might, I can repeat the same old answer: I am sure that God will take care of them."
"After those four beautiful years of my life, I began my philosophy course at Marymatha Major Seminary in Trichur. Every day I felt more and more convinced of my decision. I even told myself that had it not been for my civil engineering studies, before I started my priestly formation, I might not have entered the seminary. God has never ceased to bless me.
Y here in Rome, I think that, in order to make me the best priest, as he wants me to be, this is the best way for me. And I pray and ask for your prayers to give me the courage to face the difficulties of my path".
Gerardo Ferrara
BA in History and Political Science, specializing in the Middle East.
Head of the student body at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
