As the team of priests has begun to find ministry rhythms and routines here in Carroll county, we have been asked by a number of people why we are rotating through all of the parishes on the weekends?  Why don’t we just stay at the sites where we reside?  In response, we remind parishioners that each one of us has been assigned to thirteen parishes in the county.  In these very early stages of the Ministry 2025 process, it is an important reminder that all of these church sites will be even more closely interconnected and unified in the future.  As the Pastor of these parishes, I especially feel that it is incumbent upon me to familiarize myself with each of the sites.  By rotating through the parishes, we will have a broader picture of who we are as the Catholic Church in Carroll County, and will be better prepared for the Ministry 2025 pastoral planning process that will unfold this fall.
  While we certainly understand the desire for each site/cluster to have “their own priest,” we have tried to strike a balance by having priests on the team live at the church sites throughout the county rather than living together at a central site.  In this way, priests are more readily available throughout the week for any particular needs or circumstances that may arise at the individual sites.
 
Peace.   Fr. Kevin
 
This week, we continue giving each priest on the team an opportunity to provide some background about himself: 
 
Fr. John Gerald bio: I am from India which is a sub-continent of Asia. I was born and raised in Tuticorin which is in the Southern State of India. I am the fourth out of five children to parents Xavier and Theresa. The majority of the people in India are Hindus and the Christians are only 3%.  I was privileged to be born and raised as a Catholic.  I belong to the diocese of Tuticorin where St. Francis Xavier of the Jesuit Order did missionary work already in Fifteenth Century. He is the Patron of the diocese.
I attended Holy Cross School in Tuticorin. After graduating from the High School I joined Little Flower minor Seminary in 1972.  I went to Chennai which is the capital of my State, Tamil Nadu in 1974, did Philosophy and Theology at Sacred Heart College affiliated to Pontificia Universitas Urbania, in Rome.
I was ordained to priesthood on April 14, 1982. I did my priestly ministry in India for twenty years and then moved to the United States in 2002. My first assignment was at St. Anthony Padua church in Boston.  I moved to Carroll in 2007.  I spent three and a half years at Holy Spirit, Carroll and St. Mary’s Willey, and three and a half years at St. Joseph in Sioux Rapids, Sacred Heart in Laurens and St. Louis in Royal and three years at Sacred Heart in Manning and Manilla. I moved to Coon Rapids on June 27 ^th. I am residing in Coon Rapids and ministering to the parishes of Annunciation in Coon Rapids, St. Joseph in Dedham and St. Elizabeth Seton in Glidden during the week and ministering to the Carroll county parishes on weekends. We are all going through a big change. May we all be guided by the Holy Spirit that we may together discern what is best for our Catholic communities in Carroll County. May we all work together to build up the Kingdom of God.