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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. 
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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