Father Simon Manjooran, the new Catholic priest at Blessed Sacrament Church in Allegan and St. Margaret’s Church and school in Otsego, will be reflecting on his experiences with Mother Teresa of Calcutta during a special presentation at Blessed Sacrament’s annual parish festival on Sunday, June 3.
The public is invited and encouraged to attend.
While Blessed Sacrament receives its name from the Eucharist shared at each Mass, “The Feast of Corpus Christi,” celebrates the real presence of the body and blood of Jesus. It will start with Mass at 10 a.m., followed by an outdoor procession. Then all are invited to festival activities and food from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the hall at Blessed Sacrament, 110 N. Cedar St., Allegan.
Father Simon started serving both parishes in July 2017, after serving two years at the St. Joseph Catholic Church and school of Battle Creek.
He is from Chakkarakadavu, Kerala, the southernmost state in India where three seas join at its tip. There, he had three uncles who were holy priests and his extended family produced up to 30 more as well as 50 sisters.
At the age of 18, Father Simon took his religious vows of celibacy, obedience and poverty as a member of the Salesian Congregation. In 1990, he was ordained a priest serving in India, Italy and Hungary for 25 years prior to coming to the United States. He speaks English very well, along with five other languages.
In India, he worked with the poorest of the poor, especially youth, which included “street urchins”—children abandoned on roadsides, runaways and orphans.
A visit by Mother Teresa
His first encounter with Mother Teresa was on Holy Thursday, a day in the Catholic church when the feet of 12 disciples are to be washed by the priest.
“They didn’t tell me who the disciples were,” he said. “I finished my sermon and found 12 lepers waiting for their feet to be washed—I wasn’t mentally prepared for that.”
Father Simon washed and kissed their feet then ran to sister superior and asked why she had not informed him to spare him the shock.
“She slowly stepped aside and behind her was a short, elderly nun who said she wanted to know what kind of priest I was,” he said. “I passed the test.”
Mother Teresa was the founder of the Missionaries of Charity and Nobel Peace Prize recipient for her humanitarian work giving hope to the aged, the destitute, the unemployed, the diseased, the terminally ill, and those abandoned by their families.
She died in 1997, and was canonized as a saint in 2017. But the patron saint’s faith had also been tested.
“While studying in Rome, she addressed about 2,500 priests,” Father Simon said. “She spoke of her own struggles with the Christian faith and that lasted about 50 years.
“She doubted the existence of God and whether Jesus loved her,” he said. “I believe it was connected to being among intense human suffering which creates agony, questions and doubt.”
The lesson he learned from Mother Teresa is that some people don’t have to speak; yet they influence, inspire and touch people in a profound way.
“She was feeble, short, soft spoken but you could see grace, power, compassion and humility, flowing from her,” he said.
Father Simon’s missions abroad brought him many unique experiences, including personally meeting and being inspired by Pope John Paul II and the opportunity to minister to the gypsy community in Hungary, where he became the Superior of the Salesians of St. Don Bosco.
Ministering gypsy mission
After 50 years of communist rule, he worked for six years in a huge gypsy mission that served 500 families. Helping to rebuild the church had several challenges.
“Hungarian was the most difficult language in Europe; for close to 50 years they had no religion; there was extreme poverty; there were extreme weather conditions; and I was practically alone—a foreigner,” he said. “After six years, we built a school that taught 10 professions for boys and 10 professions for girls and had 800 students, a big church, a hostel and a youth center.”
Father Simon said working 5 a.m. non-stop until midnight gave him a solid foundation and work ethic.
Following his Hungary mission, he went to Italy where he worked with young refugees fleeing from African countries due to civil wars and religious persecution. Most of them reached Europe by crossing the sea in small boats and Father Simon helped many begin a new life.
For priests working among civil unrest, it is often dangerous.
Father Simon’s companion and friend, Father Tom Uzhunnalil, whom he studied with for nine years is also a Salesian priest from Kerala. Father Tom accompanied five sisters to Yemen. In March 2016, apparent Islamic extremists killed four of the nuns and kidnapped father Tom.
“Missing for a year, the rumor was that on Good Friday, he would be crucified alive,” Simon said. “That didn’t happen and they ended up letting him go.”
Father Tom made news again when he forgave his captors.
Coming to America
Now in his third year in the United States, Father Simon hopes his experiences and presence continue to instill hope and help others deal with any pain or suffering. He told of two inspiring events that have shown he continues on the right path.
An 11-year-old student from his former Battle Creek Catholic school congregation asked to see him one more time.
“She is rapidly losing her eyesight and medications aren’t helping,” he said. “I was one of the last things she wanted to see before losing her sight.”
At his new rectory in Allegan, a stranger knocked on his door at nearly midnight. A young man standing in the cold said he was just released from jail. Careful of the situation, Father Simon found the man did not want money, a place to stay or food; and without those urgencies did not want to come back in the morning either.
“So we sat down and I listened and learned he was thinking of ending his life,” he said. “We prayed together and with great difficulty he forgave those who put him in jail.
“He is now doing quite well and moved on with his life and I wonder what would have happened had I not opened the door.
“My past helped me deal with the situation.
And one of Mother Teresa’s quotes continues to inspire him. “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
For more information about the festival, call the church office at (269) 673-4455.
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