‘Never thought of priesthood, writing in my younger days’

Says Goan priest in Vancouver, who released first book

ASHNEY REBELLO | SEPTEMBER 16, 2022, 08:09 PM IST
‘Never thought of priesthood, writing in my younger days’

Fr Cannio Cardozo along with his book ‘All I have is I’ which was recently released in Vancouver.

VANCOUVER

A Goan priest based at a parish in Vancouver-Canada has recently released his first book ‘All I have is I’, which features day-to-day life examples, parables, stories and poems.

Fr Cannio Cardozo admitted that he had never considered priesthood and writing, while he was growing up in his native village of Camurlim-Salcete.

“My dwelling nestles between the hills of Camurlim-Salcete. I hiked the hillocks and swam in the ponds in my younger days. In my teenage years, the soccer ball and cricket bat never let me focus on my future.”

“Till then I thought, to become a priest, and a writer was not my cup of tea. It was the privilege of the smart cookies. But when I kept my first step in the Carmelite seminary, there was an inner renewal in me,” says Fr Cardozo.

“The inexplicable transformation from an extremely shy kid to a confident priest is what confirms my vocation as God’s gift of love to me.”

Fr Cardozo admits that as he journeyed toward the Lord’s altar, he gradually became more aware of the Lord’s mysterious hand in his successes and failures.

“The priestly formation has its share of crisis: but those moments let me spend more time in personal prayer, which made me realise that unless I fall in love with God, I could never truly be His priest.”

Fr Cardozo said the Psalm 18:1, “I love you, Lord; my strength”, became the theme of his priestly ordination in 2014 and the motto of his life.

In the initial years, he assisted the young minds as a ‘Vocation Promoter’ and ‘Youth Director before a sudden transformation in his ministry.

“It all happened because I was transferred from the ocean to a pond, from a large Parish with a strength of 25,000 faithful at St Joseph in Mira Road-Mumbai to a Parish comprising 800 parishioners at St Edmund in North Vancouver, Canada.”

“I considered it a blessing in disguise as it provided me with ample of time. I believe that an idle mind is the workshop of the devil. Sometimes, we do not know what to do when we have plenty of time. I took it as an opportunity to improve my language skills.”

Fr Cardozo admitted that he initially had no intention of writing a book.

“Other than small articles here and there, I had never written extensively. To make the best use of my time, I penned down my thoughts and, to my surprise, that turned into my debut in the writer’s world.”

“‘All I have is I” is my first book. It is the introspection of one’s life, garlanded with numerous striking day-to-day life examples, parables, stories and poems after every chapter summarising the chapter.”

Explaining the nature of his book, Fr Cardozo said it has two aspects, one is the positive side of ‘I’ and the other is negative.

“The positive aspect addresses ‘I’ in relationship with worldly attachments and addictions. The negative aspect is ‘I’ becoming obsessed with oneself (ego), and in the bargain, loses friends due to their arrogant nature.”

“All said and done, the divine intervention plays a great role in the individual’s transformation. At the moment, I am working on my second book, “All I have is you”. God willing, I will publish it next year,” adds Fr Cardozo.

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