LAPORTE – Deacon Alexander Kouris recently traveled to the Diocese of Madison in Wisconsin to witness one of his college seminary classmates get ordained to the priesthood and celebrate his first Mass. He said it was beautiful to see his friend go through the sacrament of Holy Orders.
“I've been working and walking with him, and now suddenly, here he is at the culmination of what we've been studying for, what we've been preparing for, and it's just such a joy,” he said.
Deacon Kouris will soon make his own priestly vows upon entering the priesthood on June 7 at 10:30 a.m. during Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Angels in Gary.
Deacon Kouris is the youngest of five siblings to his parents, George and Rosanne Kouris. His mother works in the Office of Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization for the Diocese of Gary. He has three brothers and one sister (Annie, Mick, Jimmy and Gregory).
“We were a normal Catholic family,” he said of his childhood. “Raised in the faith, and we went to Mass every Sunday. I was homeschooled as well, in which I got to experience just being at home and got a lot closer to my mother. She was the one who primarily taught me the faith, but also all the academics and then just also being close with my brothers.”
Being homeschooled allowed Kouris the opportunity to attend Mass every day. Faith was a huge part of his life growing up, which included getting up at 7 a.m. Mass at St. Edward in Lowell. The family would then come back to the house and he would start school.
Getting to know Father Peter Muha, who served as pastor there at the time, would begin to deepen Kouris’ love for the Church.
“He was a great pastor in terms of just being able to be very friendly with me, and he allowed me to serve every day with him,” he said. “So, there was always this closeness with the priests while serving at the altar, but recognizing the priest as someone who’s different from the people.”
As Kouris got older, his family would become involved with an orphanage in Africa called Savior of the World Family and they adopted five kids into the family.
“I'm from a family of five, but we're now a family of ten,” he said. “I know the siblings – three girls, and two boys – so I've been, I guess, upgraded now to a middle child. If that's an upgrade, I'm not really too sure,” he joked.
Deacon Kouris said having Tommy, Mary, Mabinty, Yandi and Abdul join the family has been a great thing. Being with them has been a blessing, he explained, because it helped him experience a new culture. He has been able to learn more about African culture and see how they've come to interact with American culture.
Kouris said from the age of six, there was always a desire to want to be a priest “who does these incredible things every day. He gives us Jesus every day. He preaches from the words of the Gospel.”
“I kind of saw the priest as like a modern superhero because I remember distinctly my mother once told me that priests helped save souls, which is very true, and that kind of brought out this excitement in me,” he said.
During his high school years, Kouris did start to consider other interests and possible career paths, but as the time came closer to discern what he wanted to do with his life, he reflected back on conversations he had with his mother.
“She’s been a huge bulwark of my faith,” he said. “She's the cornerstone of just reminding me that God's presence is there, and you need to ask God, what is your story and what is the journey that you're going to be going on with him?”
Kouris began praying and asking a very simple question, “God, where do you want me to go?” He knew God existed and believed He would provide an answer. He began the process of looking into the priesthood, talking to the vocations director and going to discernment events.
Kouris went on to attend Marian University in Indianapolis from 2014-18, earning a bachelor's degree in psychology. He then took a year off to work, still discerning either religious life or the diocesan priesthood. Once he decided to pursue diocesan priesthood, he studied two years for his bachelor's in philosophy at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona, Minn. Then from 2021 to 2025, he attended major seminary at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Mich.
“I think one of the biggest lessons I've learned from seminary is you need to be honest with yourself,” he said. “You need to know where you're coming from and where you are. You can't live a double life in seminary.”
What Deacon Kouris loves about the Catholic faith is the authenticity of the religion.
“I think, what is so beautiful about our faith tradition, is that there is so much of a treasure within the faith that there feels like there's always something more when you dive into it, whether it's the scriptures, whether it's a tradition, whether it's the saints, the mystics, whether it's just the daily life of the Church, you're always learning,” he said. “You're always at the feet of Jesus, learning something new each and every day.”
Deacon Kouris said the Diocese of Gary offers a mix of suburban life with a little bit of city life and small country life mixed in, and he’s loved being able to preach and to teach within the diocese.
“I love teaching people about the faith and to bring them to a greater knowledge of who God is,” he said.
The very first time Deacon Kouris did a baptism as a deacon, he was serving the parish of St. James the Less in Highland with Father Greg Bim-Merle, and still recalls that initial excitement. He also remembers that excitement was met with a little fear over wanting to recite the words correctly.
“I remember very vividly that not only was I shaking as I was pouring the water, but then I kept looking back at the book, thinking to myself, ‘I'm saying the right words, right?’ After that moment, after the whole baptism was over, I took time to sit down and just think about, ‘Did I with Christ’s help just really do that? Did I really just help bring this soul with Christ’s help into the Kingdom of God?’”
“It's still one of the things I preach regularly when I do baptisms that this is not just a normal everyday moment,” he said, “this is something extraordinary.”
As the moment of his ordination comes closer, Deacon Kouris shared he’s been able to slowly remove the “helmet” of school, the pressure of final exams and writing papers, and put on the new “helmet” of a priest, feeling joy for the new life to come.
“There’s a lot of excitement, but also I need to take this time right now just to pray, just to really get my heart ready, to not only make my promises to God, to the bishop and to the Church, but then also be ready to lay down my life because the priesthood is that gift of sacrifice,” he said.
Deacon Kouris is looking forward to two elements of the ordination Mass. The first is when the bishop will lay his hands on the ordinandi, and then all the brother priests in the diocese come forward to do the same.
“We have all taken part of the priesthood of not only Jesus Christ, but also our bishop,” he said. “There is also this unity factor with all the priests saying ‘welcome to the presbyterate.’”
Deacon Kouris is also anticipating the moment when his hands will be consecrated by the bishop with the sacred Chrism, “and knowing that there's even more of a change going on than just what I can see and sense, but also these hands will be something completely different and how beautiful that is.”
Deacon Kouris will be assigned to Holy Family Parish in LaPorte with Father Nate Edquist, pastor, and Father Bill O’Tool, hospital chaplain for Michigan City.
“Once the news came out and I came home for the break, all the parishioners that were at the daily Mass were coming up to me so excited to see that I'm going to be their future associate pastor,” he said.
Deacon Kouris said the Church, in its great wisdom and great gift of the sacraments, has shown him great mercy in his life, and feels Christ himself has shown him the greatest of mercies. For that reason, he loves the suffering of confession. He explained it’s the sacrament that brought him back to the church when he fell away from the faith momentarily in college.
“He still says, ‘I forgive you. I want you back in my house,’” Deacon Kouris said. “To feel that great mercy makes me want to be an agent of mercy to those who are far away from the faith, are far away from God's love, and do not believe that they themselves can have a second chance.”
He added, “If God has done that with me, in the many times that I've fallen to my human frailty, how much more do I want to do the same by giving that same mercy and love to those who think they don't deserve it.”
Deacon Kouris said it's important for every young man and woman to take time to discern their vocation. He feels the Diocese of Gary does a wonderful job in providing opportunities for individuals to meet with priests, seminaries and women religious.
“There comes a point when one needs to make a choice,” he said. “I think a lot of times, young people today and I myself have this issue too, that we could always be wondering, ‘Is this it?’ At some point, we need to make a choice and just to put one foot forward and let God lead us the rest of the way. If you are considering, let's say, a vocation to the seminary, to the priesthood, you're not locked in as soon as you step foot in the seminary.”
Deacon Kouris has plenty of favorite Bible verses but there is one that has been more recently on his mind that will be featured on his holy card at ordination and at his first Mass – John 15:16. “It is not you who chose me, but I, who chose you to go and bear fruit so that your fruits may last.”
“That's summing up a lot of my vocation story, and just how I've discerned the call of priesthood, because again I've been so blessed by God's mercy,” he said, “that I've always doubted if I am really worthy to obtain this gift. That's the thing, it's a gift. It's what the Lord gives, and it's nothing that we can ever grab or obtain.”
