Blog 6: My quest for spiritual covering
Coming Home in Rom
Spring 2010
In Spring 2010 very early in the morning, I was woken up by a voice in my room:
“Téo, Téo”…
I opened my eyes, looked around who was calling me. Then the Voice continued:
“Téo, I want you to become a Priest.”
By now I was fully awake, I recognized this Voice at once. It was the third time in my life that I heard him.
The first time was during my sad run in the November storm when I, age eighteen, I didn’t get permission to be allowed to partake in the upcoming communion service. The second time was in Suriname in 1960, when I experienced this intense outpouring of the Holy Spirit, giving my ministry a much greater depth. Now this third time that I heard this for me familiar Voice, my thoughts flashed around.
“Me, becoming a priest”?
I had never even considered or desired this. I was I had a wooden image of Maria in my bedroom, a friend in Austria had given that. I had never said a word to Maria in the seventy three years in my life. For Protestants, this was really ‘a bridge too far.’ I knew she was in heaven. So I dared to say:
“Mary, I know you are in heaven, can you talk to Jesus about this?”
The next moment I fell at once into a profound, dreamless sleep. About two hours later I woke up refreshed. I decided on the spot that I would not talk about this to anyone, assuredly not to my wife either. I knew that she had a robust anti-catholic attitude and didn’t like me sharing anything of my experiences in the Catholic Church in Austria. We slept in separate bedrooms, as she complained that my snoring made it hard for her to sleep. Now I was happy about this arrangement. I said to the Lord:
“Lord IF this was you, then you will have to confirm this in one way or another, so that I know for sure this is really your will”.
Life went on. I had decided to postpone thinking about this experience. I felt I had other things to do. Naturally, the thoughts flashed sometimes through my mind. I just turned at once to the Lord and prayed:
“Lord, you need to confirm this”.
I left for ministry in Switzerland and after this I would continue to travel to Austria. One morning I had an email from Wil in which she wrote that it had cost her a lot of struggle, but that the Lord made it clear to her that I should go to a monastery. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I didn’t know that she had wrestled with that idea at all. I traveled on Austria and talked to Bishop Küng about my desire to become Roman Catholic. We discussed what would be needed. Before leaving I added that I also wanted to become a priest and told him what the Lord had said. He replied with a smile:
“you become better Roman Catholic first…”
I returned home. Bishop Küng had taken my request rather serious and was able to get agreement in the Bishops Conference for me to go to Leopoldinum Priest Seminary. Wil and I discussed our future and the end result was that at the age of seventy-three, I went as one of the oldest students ever to start my training for the priesthood in the Monastery of Heiligenkreuz.
