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December 19, 2018In 2011, Army Chaplain Jerry Sherbourne was having lunch with a friend and fellow Anglican Chaplain, and a Catholic Chaplain in battle-weary Afghanistan. His friend challenged the Catholic Chaplain with the following, “Tell me about the Immaculate Conception.” The Catholic priest said, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s all very Biblical.” Chaplain Sherbourne was stunned!
He thought that all Catholics “knew” the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was just a “pious belief” made up in the Middle Ages. He didn’t think anyone really thought it was Biblical! Then, the Catholic priest continued, “What did the angel Gabriel say when he greeted Mary? ‘Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.’”
Chaplain Sherbourne began to understand, for the first time, that the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is indeed Biblical. This transformation was key to understanding the Scriptural consistency of the rest of the teachings of the Catholic Church with which he had disagreed in the past.
So, on Dec. 8, 2011, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, while he was thousands of miles away from home, Chaplain Sherbourne made the decision to enter the Catholic Church – and to offer himself for the priesthood.
Of course, there were some obstacles to overcome. As an Anglican priest, Father Jerry was married and had six children. Fortunately for Father Sherbourne, in 1980, Saint John Paul II had approved a pastoral provision by which Episcopal clergyman and individuals could enter the full communion of the Roman Catholic Church.
Pope Benedict XVI expanded on this provision in 2009 by issuing the Apostolic Constitution, “Anglicanorum coetibus,” providing for personal ordinariates (diocese-like structures) within the Catholic Church for groups of Anglicans (priests and deacons and laity together) to come into the full communion of the Church. On Jan. 1, 2012, the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter (OCSP) would be established in North America.
Father Sherbourne responded to Pope Benedict XVI’s invitation through the newly established ordinariate in the United States. While remaining on active duty as an Army chaplain, he was accepted for formation as a Catholic priest.
His wife and children were confirmed as Catholics during the Holy Triduum in 2012. Father Sherbourne continued priestly formation while serving on active duty, redeploying from Afghanistan to Fort Bragg, N.C., and then changing duty stations to Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
Finally, after completing his course of priestly formation, Father Sherbourne was ordained a Catholic priest for the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter on Dec. 8, 2013, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. by Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services.
Along with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Father Sherbourne has served in Fort Campbell, Tenn.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Jackson, S.C.; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Fort Bragg, N.C.; and Redstone Arsenal, Ala. He served at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., before coming to Fort Sill, where he expects to serve through summer 2020.
While serving as an Army chaplain, he helps personnel of all religious traditions – and those with none – providing religious support and spiritual leadership for his units as well as pastoral leadership for the Catholic chapel community.
He was recently asked by a fellow Anglican chaplain, “Well, how is it? Is the grass greener on the other side?”
He replied, “Do you really want to know?”
When his friend said, “Yes,” Father Sherbourne answered without hesitation, “It’s like going from splashing around in a kiddie pool to swimming in the awesome depths of the ocean. It’s more real, more deep, more full, more complete. It’s better than I ever thought it would be – in ways I could never have imagined.”
Charles Albert is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
