Priests

Rev. Fr. MICHAEL SITARAM

Ordained on January 7 1990

The youngest of five children, Fr Michael completed his studies at St Joseph’s Institution, before going on to serve his National Service. For five years and a half after that, he held a post in the Port of Singapore Authority. In 1981, he entered the Minor Seminary in Penang, an experience he recalls with much joy. He returned to complete his formation in the newly established Major Seminary in Singapore.

Right after his ordination, he was posted to the Parish of Christ the King and after two years, he found himself in the Parish of St Francis of Assisi. In 1994, he proceeded to Chicago to extend his studies, obtaining a Master’s degree in areas such as the youth ministry, liturgy, homily deliveries and speech from the Catholic University of Loyola.

He was then appointed Youth Chaplain upon returning to Singapore and resided at the Youth Centre in the former St. Gabriel’s Juniorate. When this centre was abandoned, he had to seek out alternative accommodation for himself. He remains grateful to Rev. Fr. John Sim for helping him by offering him a place in the priests’ quarters of the parish of St Francis Xavier. He stayed there till he took up his appointment as the Parish Priest of St. Vincent de Paul on 15 January 2003.

His priority, he explains, will be catering to the pastoral needs of his flock. He aims to highlight the position of the ‘Neighbourhoods’ as he observes scope in these to strengthen the foundations of the parish. Following the success of the Parish Home Mission in 2008, with the support of the Neighbourhood groups, he has continued with the priests of the parish to continue to reach out to many in the parish with Parish Home Mission 2009. How he copes, one wonders, as he flits from one meeting to another, hoping to engage members and endorse his personal interest. His punctuality for different masses has been noticed. Many roll with laughter at the subtle and humorous manner in which he makes announcements, entices, persuades and cajoles Sunday worshippers. This could have, perhaps led to an increase in Sunday attendance and the alms collected become more meaningful too. There is evidence that he has got down to work in line with his mission. A number of spiritual programmes have been lined up. Of significance is the formal reflection on the Sunday readings and Gospel, which precede each service that he has introduced. They help to relate the readings to everyday life and the entire service becomes more poignant and meaningful.

Rev. Fr. PAUL GOH

Ordained on December 20 1969

Upon completion of a five year course in electrical engineering at H.M Dockyard, Father Paul resigned to join the seminary at age 22. For him, the exact details of his decision to join the priesthood are lost in the mists of time. But what he knows is that he has always enjoyed helping others, even when he was just a boy at school.

He was ordained a priest at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in 1969 and thence posted to serve at the Church of Immaculate Conception, Johor Bahru. He was then transferred to work in the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul.

He extended his studies and obtained a Diploma in Religious Education at the East Asian Institute in the Philippines in 1975. This proved to be a turning point in his life and vocation. With a renewed spirit to serve God, he returned to serve at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes where he introduced the Charismatic Renewal movement in 1976. After 10 years there, he went on to serve at the Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace followed by the Church of St Theresa and the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour before coming to serve at the Church of St Vincent de Paul on August 11 2007.

Father Paul’s almost four decades of ministry, is based on the individual and on reaching out and changing other people’s lives through God. But as he points out, what he does must always be attributed to the Lord of all creation. He readily admits that he enjoys working for God through the priesthood. “You can say that I have job satisfaction!”

Here, in SVDP, he actively contributes in areas like faith formation, ALPHA and the Marriage Encounter programmes. Though he admits that he does not find it easy to talk about himself, the humble man is ever ready to share his thoughts about his relationship with God and his ideas about the meaning of life. For Father Paul, the greatest challenge in his vocation is to transmit the faith in its entirety, to build up people to be strong Christians so that they can stand up on their feet and be witnesses to the world about Jesus Christ.