My Vocation Journey

Michael is one of the SCJ Novices who entered Novitiate on April 30th, 2004. He and 12 other novices are preparing to take their 1st Vows in the Congregation on May 1st, 2005.

Below is Michael's story:


I am Michael Augustine, hailing from K.K. Pudur, a tiny village in the state of Tamil Nadu. I have five elder sisters, of which four got married. I am the only son of my parents. From my very childhood onwards I had this innate and intrinsic desire to be a priest. The main reason for this would be that I was born and brought up in a good Catholic Christian family. I attended Mass every day, participated in bible classes, bible competitions, liturgical activities and so on. All these had a deep impact on my spiritual life. Besides this, my parents, family members, relatives, teachers, and priests all planted this seed in my heart to become a good priest in order to shoulder the responsibility of the church of Christ in this world.

Above all I personally had a special liking to be a good priest. Various priests of my parish provided the platform for my vocation. Nobody in my family objected to my wish to become a priest, even though I’m the only son of my parents. So I had no big obstacles to my vocation from my loved ones. But still I had many other obstacles, temptations, stumbling blocks, challenges etc., which I’ve been trying to overcome gradually by the help of the Almighty.

My long cherished desire has had a partial fulfillment when I entered this Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart, after the completion of my studies in June, 2000. In Kerala, I completed my one year initiation program, three years of philosophy, and a B.A. in English. I have had many enriching experiences in these four years and have learned a great deal about our congregation, our future mission, and our spirituality, though not fully. I have made considerable progress in my spiritual life as well during these four years of formation.

The most important thing in my life is to be Christ-like. This is what I wish and what I’m aspiring to be. For our loving Lord says, “be holy as your Heavenly Father is holy.” I can be holy like my heavenly Father only in imitating the life style of his Beloved Son, Jesus, the Christ. To be Christ-like is not an easy thing to achieve. It takes time. It will not happen all of a sudden, since it’s a gradual process. I need patience and perseverance to achieve my goal. Above all I need the assistance of the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Mother who walk along with me in my spiritual journey.

By becoming a priest, especially a religious priest, I hope I can come closer to Christ and be like him in all things. My hobbies are reading book articles, listening to music, playing, and singing.

I give my entire self to the one who has lived and died for me and in whom my life gets meaning.