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FATHER MATHEW C. GEORGE
MY LIFE AS A PRIEST

The work of the “Children for Unity” was something close to my heart, even when I was studying in the seminary. Since I have written several articles in the bulletin about this work in my previous articles, I will avoid a lengthy repetition.

As soon as I was appointed to this area my priest friends suggested the idea of starting a new house for the formation of the children from that area. We didn't have money to buy a house or the land needed for this work. We also faced with the challenge of getting enough personnel for our work. But with God's help we could overcome these obstacles.

We approached the superiors of the Daughters of Mary congregation with the intention of getting the help of two sisters to work with us. They were more than willing to be part of this mission work and promised to send two sisters soon. One of my parishioners was ready to rent out his house. We initially had ten middle school boys in the house. There were requests to take more, but because of the limitation of our facility, we couldn't accommodate more. Soon this house became the center of activity for Children for Unity of that area.

I used to drive from another location to this house. As it became more difficult for me to manage the house from another place, I moved to a house in the area, too, which helped me to get involved with the day to day affairs of the house. We also had a seminarian helping us with the formation of the children. These children came from families of different parishes with the recommendation of the parish priest. Either they were financially poor or because of the family situations, were unable to pursue their education. Our intention in having them in the unity house was not only to give them an education, but also to make them grow in the spirituality of unity. According to Fr. Thomas Kulangara, the founder of this movement: “The goal of this movement is to impart an ongoing formation to children selected from the poorest families who have embraced the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ in recent years.”

Once we had the formation house our attention was diverted to start new units in the neighboring parishes. I contacted the parish priests of the area and conveyed the movement's desire to open small unity groups in their parishes. If the parish priest showed interest in having a unit in his parish, then the members of the Children for Unity are selected from the age group of nine to fifteen. They are organized into a group of twelve children, each under the direction of two adult volunteers who serve as their animators. By the time I left in June 2000, we opened thirty three units in my region!

Read part 3 of Fr. Mathew's priest life
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