I am catching up with the avalanche of news and e-mail by which I have been recently overwhelmed.
In the mix I found some stories and links to the blog of Anglican Fr. Jeffrey Steel, of Durham in the UK called De cura animarum.
Fr. Steel has said that he is "swimming the Tiber" and, with his wife and six children, with become Catholics soon.
I congratulate them on this decision, which must have been difficult and which certainly will bring both joy and a measure of anxiety.
In your charity, perhaps you would stop over at that blog, leave a note of welcome and encouragement, and also say a prayer for them.
And excerpt from his blog entry:
In my heart, I knew that I had grown to love and believe the Catholic faith as it was taught in the Catholic Catechism. On my final day in Rome on 17 April 2009 I went to the tomb of S. Peter and knelt and prayed for quite some time. I knew in my heart I was a Catholic and asked what it was that was keeping me from converting. All sorts of fears ran through my head and I felt very restless there and at times just knelt quietly asking S. Peter to pray for me because I didn’t know how or the way to go. At the end of this time I went over and knelt at JPII’s tomb and asked him to please pray for me as I was scared to make a journey like this with a wife and six children not knowing how God would provide for us.
After praying with JPII, I got up and went to S. Peter’s tomb again and there with conviction of heart signed the Roman Catholic Catechism stating ‘This is the Faith of the Church and this is my Faith’, and signed my name with the day’s date. Before leaving the Basilica I walked over to the statue of S. Peter with the key in his hand, rubbed his foot, and said, ‘I am going out to find the way, open the door and make this happen and pray for me as I make this journey.’
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I was on his blog earlier today-it is a nice read. My prayers for Fr. Steel and his family on their journey home.
Semper Fi!
What a great example for us all, priests and laity. I loved the last line. I have always wondered about these guys (and women) clergy who convert themselves out of a job. In his case, I hope his leap of faith is rewarded by some kind of exception, if the priesthood is truly his vocation. There are precedents. Practically speaking, it will be difficult for his family no matter what.
Such courage is inspiring. This brings me to tears. May others follow the footsteps of this courageous Fr. and his family. I’ll say 3 power Hail Marys now for them.
I wonder whatever happened to the fund started by Cardinal Vaughan to which so many people donated. It was set up to help priests such as this convert to help them financially. It might well be we should enquire about its disposition
Fr. Steel is inspirational for converts like me. He has had a bumpy ride too, Presby to CofE to RC. I hope he can take off his seat belt now and enjoy the view!
Holy Apostle Peter, pray to God for this courageous man!
God bless him and his family.
God bless him and his family!
A very moving story….
“Seek and ye shall find”. How true. Welcome home.
Fr Jeff Steel was very instrumental in my recent conversion to the Catholic faith. He was a Presbyterian pastor not too far from my home here in Louisiana some years back, and like him (I was also Presbyterian) I came to the Catholic Church by way of a brief stop in Anglicanism. He is a fine fellow and I hope all of you readers will keep the Steel family in your prayers.
What a magnificent story. Would that more cradle Catholics treated their Faith as the the pearl of great prices, as this good man does.
Welcome home.
Yikes. It’s “the pearl of great price.”
Fingers like sausages.