There were times when reading that I laughed aloud at the complete and utter audacity of this priest/soldier/nurse. Though steadfast in faith, boldly outspoken, and extremely courageous, even this man was amazed by how prayer and intercession made the impossible possible when it came to a number of circumstances. His journey to the priesthood is not by any stretch of the imagination normal, nor are the ways he lives out his call to be a man of the cloth once he does finally get ordained.
Among my favorite examples of his unorthodox approach has to be when he held a bishop at gunpoint who failed to believe he was a priest and honestly wanted to be let into the church to obtain Communion, so he could bring it to his comrades on the battlefield. The minute the bishop concedes, the first thing Fr. Gereon Goldmann wants to do is have the bishop hear his Confession.
Not only did this man dodge bullets to save soldiers physically and/or spiritually, but he also reserved using his weapon in order to gain access to the sacraments. He is a remarkable role model of faith fine-tuned in some of the most horrible circumstances. His missionary work after the war proves God had miracles upon miracles to bring about through this man dedicated to doing God’s will at all costs. I hope Fr. Gereon Goldmann’s life and service to God will be studied and that he will be considered for sainthood.
You can purchase this book here. I wrote this review of The Shadow of His Wings for the Tiber River Blogger Review program. I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.
