Forty years after he was ordained a Lutheran minister, Joseph Jacobson is looking forward to becoming a Catholic priest.
Jacobson, the former bishop of the Alberta Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, was to be ordained a deacon for the Grouard-McLennan Archdiocese at St. Albert Church Sept. 21.
The 66-year-old father of two and grandfather of five expects to be ordained a priest before Christmas and to be appointed chancellor of the Grouard-McLennan Archdiocese and interim pastor of St. John Baptist Cathedral in McLennan immediately after his ordination.
…"There was a long process leading up to it and a long process that followed after it. But the key moment was in Ireland in 1997 when I realized that the teaching authority of the Church is something Jesus gave to Peter and the bishops and no other Church really can duplicate what Jesus gave," he explained in a recent interview in Camrose.
"You can’t substitute for it. You can’t find something better. You can’t do without it. The Church needs a rock and the rock is the one Jesus gave us and it’s the holy father with the bishops and without that there is no rock.
"Any Church that tries to live without that is subject to the shifting sands. Most churches function by a majority vote of members and that means they are very vulnerable to the popular culture. In fact they are exposed to all kinds of extremes with the result that there is no safeguards that we are going to stay on the rock, stay on the foundation of Christ."
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Interesting post/link
“Once the causes of the Reformation were reckoned with, many Lutherans believed that union with Rome would be the way the Church would go. But it became apparent about 1990 to many of us that this was not about to happen within any Protestant Church at this point in history.”
It is as if lifeboats/Protestant denominations were rowing toward the rock of peter, then the winds and waves of libearlism swept them way off course. It is good to see that some of the best and brightest on those boats jumped, swam, and made it to the rock!
I’d like to give a big “Welcome home!” to the Rev. Mr. Jacobson.
I grew up Lutheran, and most of my family is still Lutheran. I have the greatest respect for Protestant clergy who leave their lives as they knew them to “come home to Rome”. It takes dedication and real humility.
The Coming Home Network is a great resource for anyone, especially Protestant clergy, interested in becoming Catholic, and for their supporters.
a big welcome joseph jacobson. after 40 year. you finally came back home… praise the lord.
god bless you. i wish more will follow your foot step…