What brought you to Christ in the City?
I first heard about Christ in the City (CiC) in my third year of college seminary at St. John
Vianney in St. Paul, MN. At that time, the new Program for Priestly Formation (PPF) was
implemented, and our rector arranged second year seminarians to participate in CiC for one
week each January. Since I was already in my third year and preparing to enter into my final
year of minor seminary, my classmates and I never got to experience this wonderful
missionary opportunity. Now, however, I have been given this tremendous opportunity to
serve as a missionary with CiC for a full pastoral year before entering Theology in 2026. I
have heard incredible stories from my fellow seminarians about their experience with CiC
for a week, and now I am profoundly grateful for the chance to immerse myself in this
mission for an entire year!
What are you looking forward to?
I truly believe that the good Lord wants me to be here, to learn and to grow in my humanity.
Oftentimes the temptation of the overly pious is to neglect the gift of humanity that God
gave to each one of us and to have an unhealthy focus on the spiritual pillar of formation.
However, the Church teaches that all four pillars are necessary- Human, Spiritual, Pastoral
and Intellectual- so as to become an alter Christus. I take this year to encounter my fellow
brethren in the streets and to make them feel valued, but more so to love them as Christ
himself loved us. To share the love of Christ with them everyday of the week is what I am
looking forward to this year, and I cherish the comfort in knowing that I am not alone, that I
have a wonderful team of missionaries to work with me and to strengthen each other, both
in faith and deed.
A little bit about me…
I was born in Kerala, India, but raised in the United States since two. My family and I lived in
Houston, TX for the first twelve years of my life, and we moved to a small suburban town in
northern California. I joined St. John Vianney College Seminary in 2021 while studying at the
University of St. Thomas in St. Paul MN. I graduated in May 2025 and under His mercy and
grace, I am continuing in the formation of diocesan priesthood for the Syro Malabar Eparchy
of Chicago. I am grateful and proud to live and give witness to the world as an Eastern
Catholic of the Syro Malabar Church, dating back to St. Thomas the Apostle who came to
India in 52 A.D. and preached and evangelized along the Malabar coast. Pope St. John Paul II
exhorts us all in saying that “the Church must breathe with her two lungs.” That is to say,
both the East and the West! I am so grateful for the Catholic Church and in many ways Christ
has blessed me with! I enjoy reading books, evening walks, playing chess, and spending time
with community!
Where is your hometown?
Elk Grove, CA