By Fr. Arun Santhosh M –
As we are in the month of March, let us observe the solemnity of St. Joseph the carpenter. He is considered the model of the pious believer who receives grace at the moment of death, and prays especially for families, fathers, expectant mothers (pregnant women), travelers, immigrants, craftsmen, engineers, and working people in general.
Susai Palya (Susai in Tamil means Joseph and palya is place), in Gerahalli village near Chikkaballapura district in the southern Karnataka state of India, offers a picturesque view of the nearby rocky hills. Chikkaballapura is 67 kms from state capital Bangalore.
Incidentally, every second house at Susai Palya has a carpenter.
Also Read:
A Carpenter’s Church in Susai Palya!
In 2014, I was blessed with an opportunity of going to Chikkaballapura for my four-month diaconate ministry from January to April. The Parish Priest Rev Fr Gnanamani Roys of St. Francis Xavier’s Church asked me to stay at St. Joseph’s Church at Susaipalya, which is situated about 4 kms from Chikkkaballapura town.
I had earlier been to St. Joseph’s Church – Susaipalya for an Anubandha (get together for major seminarians). Being there was an amazing experience. The sunrise meditation we had on the top of the hill Shilube Betta (Cross on Hill) is still fresh in my mind. But my second visit to the place left me with disappointment at the sight of the hill behind the church. The hill had lost all its charm and beauty as it had no cross on the top of it. It looked like a king without the crown. Eventually, the villagers came up with the suggestion of erecting a cross on the hill before Palm Sunday when they celebrate the Shilube Betta Habba well attended by people from many places.
I was reminded of what Jesus said in John 12:32: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” People from far off places were drawn to the Shilube Betta for the Way of the Cross, meditation and prayer. Managing to gather funds and to complete the construction before Palm Sunday was a huge challenge before me.
I took this suggestion to the Parish Priest Fr Roys who gave me a positive response, thereby permitting me to take care of the construction, after planning for funds. He also readily agreed to give iron bars for construction, if need be. I had nothing in my hand. I presented the situation before God in prayer. There was a positive response from God to go ahead with the plan. Along with two parishioners Stany and Dasa, and a Hindu boy Bhavani, I climbed the hill and started digging the rock in the place where an earlier cross was stationed. To our surprise it was the third 
cross that was broken. Traces of two more crosses erected earlier were buried beneath the rock. Instead of placing a six-foot iron rod as a cross, we decided to construct a concrete structure and have it as a permanent cross on the hill.
We proposed this idea to the contractor Mr. Louis who was renovating the church in Susai Palya. He quoted Rs. 7.5 lakhs for the project of building a 24-foot cross. The amount was beyond our capacity. At the same time we did not want to drop the plan. So I called the local masons from the village, explained our plans to them, and sought their suggestions.
As we started the construction, John 12:32 was fulfilled in a different way. Many people from Susai Palya’s nearby Hindu village Hanumanthapura volunteered to sponsor cement, sand and crushed stones. Many people came forward to lend their manpower as workers. While some of them worked free of cost, a few of them worked for lesser amount as wages. People from different parishes of Bengaluru (Bhyrathi) who came there to visit the hill as part of their Lenten pilgrimage rendered financial help.
There was another great difficulty of shifting the construction material to the top of the hill as there was no path for any kind of vehicle to reach there. Everything had to be shifted manually. Every day I would wait for the children to return from school. And when it is close to sunset and the weather was not very hot, I used to make an announcement from the church; go through the streets of the village to call at least two persons from each house to come and help in shifting the things and water. Girls and women carried water. The men folk carried sand, stones and cement. There were days when I slept on the top of the hill along with three persons mentioned earlier to guard the material.
Finally, after two months of struggle we had the concrete cross inaugurated by the Parish Priest. The project that was quoted for 7.5 lakhs was completed within 75,000 including purchase of a few things and payment to a few of the workers. This is a miracle that I experienced there even before my ordination. It was only after the construction of the cross, as I happened to hear people narrating stories of various healings that people have experienced after visiting and praying on the top of the hill, I knew that it was a miraculous place indeed!
“Thank you Jesus for all the blessing you have bestowed up on my family. Suisai Palya’s Station of Cross was indeed a blessing. In the name of Jesus, I was healed of my persistent throat infection, which I have been suffering for the past 10 years.,” said M T Jobi who was a part of the group that visited Sausai Palya.
Nowadays, many people from all walks of life and from nearby places come and venerate the cross and take part in the Stations of the Cross atop the hill.
Fr. Arun Santhosh M. is an Assistant Secretary, ABE, Family Commission, Director of Family & Child Counselling.