Priest is sustained by father’s prayers, example
Catholic Spirit, June 2010, In Our World
By Alfredo E. Cardenas
Correspondent
Thirty years after his ordination as a priest, Father Edwin Kagoo still thinks about his father every time he celebrates Mass. It was his father who inspired him as a young boy in India to pursue the priesthood. His mother wanted Father Kagoo to be a doctor, but his father impressed upon him that a priest was a doctor of souls.
Tragically, or perhaps gloriously, Father Kagoo’s father died four months before his ordination; he died in church on the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism. He was the first family member in Father Kagoo’s immediate family to die; it was the first funeral he conducted as a deacon; but it would not be the last time his father would touch his heart.
Father Kagoo remembers his father telling him to always pray to his guardian angel and to pray the rosary daily. He misses his father’s physical presence, but Father Kagoo knows his father still watches over him and provides him heavenly direction on a daily basis. Father Kagoo credits his father with providing him a three-footed spiritual stool of prayer, inspiration and example that keeps him grounded as a priest.
Father Kagoo is the middle child in a family of seven. He was born in the southeastern part of India and at the age of six the family moved to Bangalore, India’s third largest city. It is popularly known as the Silicon Valley of India. The city is home to 16 major seminaries, nearly every religious order, both male and female, has a home there and it has a number of major Catholic universities. While India is predominantly Hindu, Christianity has had a presence in the country since the days of apostles, when St. Thomas was the earliest Christian missionary, gathering believers for Christ in the Indian countryside.
Father Kagoo hails from a traditional Catholic family. His father insisted the family pray together first thing in the morning and at the end of the day. Father Kagoo attended daily Mass at 5:30 a.m. and perpetual adoration before attending classes at a nearby Catholic school.
“I always loved the Eucharist,” Father Kagoo said. “A priest saw me at perpetual adoration every day and one day he came to my school and told me that Jesus needed my hands, that Jesus needed my voice. I was in the sixth grade.”
In addition to his father’s heavenly guiding hand, Father Kagoo feels the presence of the Blessed Mother of Christ in his life daily. He was born on the first Saturday of August 1954 and was baptized on the Feast of the Assumption. He celebrated his first Mass at Our Lady of Fatima and he reported to his first assignment as a priest at St. Mary’s Basilica in Bangalore on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Most of his early assignments were to parishes that bore the name of the Virgin Mary. Since coming to the U.S., he has served Mary’s earthly husband St. Joseph parishes in Killeen and Rockdale.
“I feel Our Lady’s hand guiding me all the way,” Father Kagoo said.
Father Kagoo said he has always been guided and supported by other strong religious women. His mother, who is now 82 and living in India, has sustained him throughout his life. His older sister is a religious sister and she too provides support. He also had the privilege and pleasure of meeting Mother Teresa of Calcutta on three different occasions.
“I could see holiness coming toward me,” Father Kagoo said about Blessed Teresa.
As a young boy, Father Kagoo wanted to become a Jesuit priest because of their reputation for scholarly pursuits. He dreamed of going to Rome to pursue his studies. His parish priest convinced him he should become a diocesan priest and serve the people in a parish. It is a piece of advice that has served Father Kagoo well for 30 years and he does not regret becoming a diocesan priest.
His father would tell him that a priest could not do his work without the prayer of the people. “My greatest joy is wasting time with my people,” Father Kagoo said, an expression that simply means he loves to be with his parishioners.
“The love, support and prayer of the people is what sustains us as priests … One of the joys of being a diocesan priest is that you never lose your old friends from your previous parishes. You always gain new friends at your new parish; your family is always expanding,” he said.
He decided to come to the U.S. because his brother and mother were living here. Bishop John McCarthy asked him to come to Austin and he readily accepted.
“It was love at first sight,” Father Kagoo said of his friendship with Bishop McCarthy.
His first assignment in the Diocese of Austin was as pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Killeen. Through the years Father Kagoo has served as a military, prison and convent chaplain but it is parish work that gives him the greatest joy. Today he is pastor of St. John Vianney Parish in Round Rock, which Father Kagoo proudly pointed out is named for the patron saint of priests. During this Year for Priests, his parish’s name sake has taken on special significance.
At St. John Vianney, Father Kagoo labors in the shadows of much larger churches, such as St. William in Round Rock, St. Helen in Georgetown and St. Elizabeth in Pflugerville. He said it is at times a challenge attracting parishioners to the “new church on the block” but Father Kagoo is up to the task. He has returned to his roots; his father’s love for the rosary and adoration are making their way to St. John Vianney and his parishioners are responding to his father’s words to pray for their priest.