The life of my dad highlights such a grace which brought about a complete change in his family and in his community. 

My dad, Joseph Gangolu, passed away on February 26, 2024, in India at the age of 88. My mom, Anna Mary, was by his side when he took his last breath. 

Two of the central themes in dad’s life were the direct result of the grace of God: education for all his children and instilling the Catholic faith in them. My dad was born into a farming family in India on January 8, 1937. At that time, agriculture was the main occupation for most people in the area. Learning to read and write was rare in their farming community. The local farmers never considered education an option for their children, believing that education was reserved only for the children of teachers and other educated individuals while their children were meant to work on the family farms.   

God blessed my mom and dad with seven children: five boys and two girls. As a farmer, my dad was expected to follow the existing local custom of utilizing his children to work on his farm. 

To the surprise and the displeasure of the local community, my mom and dad decided not to put their children to work on the farm, but instead decided to send us to school. This was an unthinkable decision at that time. His contemporaries saw my dad as an unintelligent person who was wasting the God-given help on the farm which his children were there to provide.

Dad ignored their critical remarks and never considered them as personal attacks, remaining determined to follow God’s will and pursue an education for his children. 

Although our neighbors initially thought it was odd that my parents did not follow the local custom of having the children work on the farm, they later acknowledged the value of education when they witnessed my ordination to the priesthood and began sending their own children to school.  

Since my ordination, my younger brother and five other young men from our village joined the seminaries and were ordained priests. My siblings and the children of our neighbors have completed their education and have pursued teaching and other professional careers, all due to my dad’s example. Dad’s grandchildren and now his great-grandchildren have also pursued their education. My dad was eventually recognized as a visionary and a pioneer of education in his local community. 

My dad also prioritized the practice of the Catholic faith in his life and in the life of his family. My dad’s unwavering faith in following God’s will for him and his family was a motivation for everything he did. Growing up in a country where approximately five percent of the entire population is Christian, my dad taught all seven of us the tenets of our faith and modeled these principles of the Catholic faith in his life.   

Because of the shortage of priests in the area who served several villages, we never had the option of being able to attend daily Mass as we have in this Diocese. Despite these challenges, my mom and dad taught us a love of the Mass and the Eucharist. Both my parents have a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, prayed the Rosary daily and taught us to pray.

The fact that my brother and I are priests, is a testament to their determination to live their faith and share their faith with their children in a situation where the faith community was limited and the sacraments not readily available. 

I hope that I can honor the gift of education and faith that my dad imparted to me and my siblings in my continued ministry and in spreading God’s Word to those I serve. My siblings and I, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren are indebted to our parents for the gift of education and the gift of faith that they imparted to us. I only hope that I can be the same example to the people whose lives I touch that my dad was to my family. 

Thank you, dad.   

God bless you.

Fr. Robert Gangolu Romaine