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Br.
Ray's Vocation Prayer
I am Br. Ray Kozuch, SCJ.
Originally I come from northern Indiana where I attended the
Catholic Elementary Schools of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St.
Mary’s in Hammond, Indiana. It
was at St. Mary’s, a Polish-American School, where I was involved in a
vocation day project where I became very aware that Priests and Brothers
Communities offered a certain call to my deeper energies and awakened
the beginning of a journey of discovery.
I was very lured by the Religious Communities that served our
Parish, and their Polish traditions were inviting.
As I began to share this interest with my parents, their response
was so encouraging that I felt they were trying to get rid of me.
So, even
though some of my friends were going to seminary after the eighth grade,
I stayed attached to family and entered Hammond Technical Vocational
High School and enjoyed a wonderful education and social life. After high school the inclination to apply to religious life
was there, but the journey on to Purdue University with the possibility
of becoming a Technical-Vocational teacher was my journey.
It was at graduation from college that I read an advertisement in
the “Our Sunday Visitor”, the Diocesan paper speaking of the
Brotherhood vocation lived by the brother members of the Priests of the
Sacred Heart. The mystery
of that ad and its invitation led me to apply, to join and to be
professed for now 33 years. The
Spirit expressed by that first invitation has not lost its charm and
mystery. Though the journey
has not been always easy, it has given my blessings and opportunities
beyond imagining.
Community life is a very essential part of a brother’s vocation.
It is an arena of grace, support, and continued learning about  our
loving God and His continued call to friendship and grace.
Community life, for me, is not family life.
It is something beyond family, a journey that involves stretching
beyond relationships of blood, to mature relationships of human care,
spiritual growth, radical dependence on God and constant discernment of
“What is God’s Will for me…for us”.
Community places God and service to others in a priority place.
Community challenges me to be healthy, constantly maturing and
finding the support to do that. The
Priests of the Sacred Heart have been that arena for me.
I also believe I have been that for them.
 I am currently working in the area of Northern Mississippi where the
Priests of the Sacred Heart work in the nine northern counties.
The Diocese in which we serve is Jackson Mississippi, and it is
still recognized as a Mission Diocese in the United States.
Only about 2% of the people in this area of the country are Roman
Catholic. We have been
ministering here since 1943 and now serve both in the parishes and in
the various ministries of education, social services, housing, health
care and pastoral services.
My current
responsibility is known by the title of Mission Executive.
Having served for many years in responsibilities of education and
counseling, senior care, seminary work, and many years as an
administrator and religious superior, I was called to this mission.
I am engaged in a project of studying the entire mission in
Mississippi. The purpose is
to help a rather large operation of deeply committed missioners to be
better prepared to face the coming years, when we will work with fewer
personnel and more stringent budgets to meet the needs of the faithful
and needy of northern Mississippi.
The blessings I have received as I walk with the missioners are
unbelievable. The poor cry
out for much more help than we can give at times.
The mystery of Jesus’ love is so very present in every priest,
brother, sister and lay missioner and employee.
So much work and ministry needs to be done, so much the need for
more religious vocations and other mission workers.
Every Religious Community in the Church has been approved to serve the
people of God because of certain gifts or particular works.
As I understand our Charism or gifts from which we serve, it is
to be men of love. We are
to reach out to those most in need and to bring to them the love of our
God. In return, they and
us, give love back to our God and to others.
We work and pray for that to be a reality. As I live and work in Mississippi, I realize daily God’s
special presence in His poor, His Ministers and those He gathers around
them.
If
you have a desire to discern priesthood, brotherhood and religious life,
please contact our vocation office. 1-800-609-5559.
You can lead a life of fulfillment and have the opportunity to do a
variety of ministries with the Priests of the Sacred Heart.
WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU DISCERN YOUR
CALL.
Want
More Direction Contact Us?
Vocation Office
P.O. Box 206
Hales Corners, WI 53130
1-800-609-5559
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