Our Lady Of Good Counsel

I’m Fr. Santhosh Ouseph Thottankara from Cheranaloor, Kerala India. I completed Philosophy at Christ the King Seminary and Theology in Maryhill School of Theology in Manila, Philippines and Masters in Counseling at De La Salle University Taft, Philippines. I made my first profession as areligious of the Sacred Hearts (SS.CC) on 04/23/1997 and was ordained a priest on April 2, 2005.

I was a formator for more than 13 years in the Philippines and in India; coordinator for the Conference of Asia and Polynesia for 3 years; and was in the regional government of India for 6 years. I was also a chaplain at the Medical City Hospital in Pasay, Philippines. I am now the coordinator for ongoing formation in the United States province and vocation promoter for Hawaii. I was the associate pastor at St. Patrick Church in Kaimuki. My vocation is a calling from God with a miracle of second chance to life. As a young boy, I wanted to be a lawyer since I was good at arguing and was very naughty with more time to play and less time for family chores.

My mother used to always remind me that I should be a good boy since I was born on December 3rd, the feast day of St. Francis Xavier. One afternoon after playing cricket with my friends I got into a bus to pay the neighbors’ electric bills at the electric office in town. While trying to get off the bus which stopped very briefly for me, I fell from the bus when it suddenly took off without making a full stop. I fell from the bus and hit my head on the rocks used for road repair and
became unconscious. I didn’t remember anything after. Later I learned that people gathered in the streets rushed me to the nearby hospital and from there transferred me to a speciality hospital for head injuries. The doctors performed surgery on my brain to remove the blood clots without assurance I would make it. The church bell rang in my home parish announcing my death but after 5 days of coma I came out of it unexpectedly. When I came out of coma I remembered my mother’s words that I should be like St. Francis Xavier who was a good boy.

This made me realize that God saved me for His service. I then decided to join the seminary to become a priest. When I finished high school I joined the Sacred Hearts (SS.CC) formation. My favorite quote is “Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). ╬