Now that i look at Fr. Searby in the photos for Fiat, well....it looks to me as if this is a Cassock-wearing priest!
For now...the article from the National Catholic Register.
Father James Searby went from the circus to the priesthood. He’s glad he did — and so are his parishioners. By Joseph Pronechen.
BY JOSEPH PRONECHEN
November 12-18, 2006 Issue
Posted 11/8/06 at 8:00 AM
“Ask Our Lady for an adventure and she’ll never let you down,” says Father James Searby, an associate pastor at Holy Spirit Church in Annandale, Va.
He speaks from experience. While in seminary, he implored the Blessed Mother for help arranging a pilgrimage to Rome. He’d been yearning to see St. Peter’s Basilica and, in particular, Pope John Paul II up close and personal. At the time, such a trip was financially out of reach.
Three days later, a friend called to offer some frequent-flyer miles.
Walking into St. Peter’s wearing his seminarian’s cassock, he was directed to an aisle seat just behind Cardinals Joseph Ratzinger and Francis Arinze, two of John Paul’s closest brother bishops. Moments later, the Holy Father’s moving platform stopped right next to him.
Father Searby remembers every detail. “He did the classic John Paul wave,” he says. “Our eyes met and it was as though he clearly said, ‘Be a saint.’ The glimpse lasted maybe three seconds, but to me it felt like three hours.”
“I kept thinking what he said when he was newly elected,” adds Father Searby. “‘Be not afraid.’”
At that moment, Father Searby was a long way from where he’d been just after graduating college. In search of another kind of adventure, he went to work for the circus. Literally. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey hired him as a promoter.
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