A chance encounter - and a request for prayer - led to a special chapter in Father Michael van der Peet's life as a Catholic priest.Interesting! Requiescat in pace.
In 1975, he saw Mother Teresa while waiting for a bus in Rome. His first reaction was to respect her privacy.
"Then the thought struck me, 'I am a sinner. She is a saint. It might be good for a sinner to ask a saint for a prayer,' " he said, telling the story.
"She said, 'Father, I would be happy to do that. You must pray for me, too, because I need your prayers.' "
It was the first conversation in what became a longstanding spiritual relationship and friendship. Early on, Mother Teresa asked him to conduct retreats for her Missionaries of Charity members.
Van der Peet died Wednesday of complications after a stroke in February. He was 85.
Read the rest at JSOnline
No comments:
Post a Comment