Fr. Susai Raj remained quite active till the end of his life. Though he had a heart problem, none of us thought that he would say goodbye to us so suddenly. So, his death on 9 September 2023 came as a great shock to all of us.
He was a pastor who could beautifully blend the pastoral and the social aspects for the good of his people. We saw this at Sasaram, Barbigha, Danapur and Kurji. As a parish priest, he would sit and listen to the problems of his parishioners after Sunday Mass until he had listened to the last person. In spite of his poor health, he carried on with his apostolic life with great vigour and intensity.
Fr. Susai was meticulous and highly organized in his ministry as Socius to the Provincial – a great help to the Provincial in the administration of the Province for nine years. God had blessed Fr. Susai with a sharp intellect and an analytical mind. He could summarize the disjointed ideas and thoughts expressed in groups and make sense out of them and present it back to the group, to the amazement of all, as a compact and intelligible report.
He was the preferred secretary in many of our province meetings. He placed this intellectual gift at the service of the Church in animating Province Chapters of many congregations, moderating several Diocesan pastoral council meetings, parish council meetings and as a resource person for recollections to priests and religious.
Fr. Susai lived a good and intense life. His simplicity, humility, integrity, his frugal life-style and his years of closeness to His Creator and Lord, will stand with us as an inspiration for years to come. We pray that God may give Fr. Susai Raj eternal rest.
– Jose Thayil, SJ
