As a civil engineer Steve Drum saw his job as building bridges between people, today as a Verbum Dei missionary and about to be ordained, he sees those same bridges connecting people with God, reports The Catholic Weekly.
Brother Steve will be ordained a deacon on July 19 at St Charles Borromeo Church at Ryde in Sydney and after a lifetime of questioning his future is finally sure he is doing what God wanted.
With two siblings, Rosie a Sister with the Missionary of God’s Love and Brother Daniel, also a Verbum Dei Missionary currently studying in Spain, he comes from a rich vocation pool.
However, had you have told him he would one day enter the priesthood he would have told you were “’dreaming”.
Steve Drum displays a photo of himself, at left, his sister Rosie and brother Daniel – currently studying for the priesthood in Spain – on a mobile phone. PHOTO: Catholic Weekly/Alphonsus Fok.
He admits he was lost, making poor choices and looking for something which he still can’t believe he found at an evangelisation camp.
“For somebody who was always more comfortable in a pub than a church (my vocation) shows God really does work in mysterious ways,” he said.
“I guess looking back I was lost, making bad decisions and had pretty much abandoned any relationship with Jesus.
“And then one day, after years of prompting by my very concerned mum, I agreed to go to a Summer School of Evangelisation just to get her off my back and, as they say, the rest is history.
“I did a complete U-turn and from that moment my life was never the same.” Reflecting on his vocational journey, Br Steve said he felt called to the priesthood on three separate occasions and while it originally fell on “deaf ears”, by the final approach he couldn’t say no.
He believes his vocation as a missionary is without doubt “exactly who God wants me to be”.
“My calling was to be a missionary and tell everyone about Jesus and my ordination to the priesthood is the best way I can do that,” he said.
His sibling, Sr Rosie, said she was overjoyed with her brother’s vocation and that it was quite simply “the work of the Holy Spirit”.
She said she was very “fortunate” to be raised in a family that was pretty open to promoting vocations and the Catholic faith.
“In fact, Mum often prayed for more priests, brothers and sisters adding ‘Please feel free Lord to take any of them’ … little did she know what she was going to get,” she laughed.
“I am excited, proud, brimming with happiness … words just can’t describe how happy I am that Steve has taken this path.
“I am so privileged to live a religious life and having Steve, and my other brother Dan, walk that life with me is very, very special.
“Our role is to live a life and breathe God’s love to the world. Ah the happiness of doing what I’m supposed to with my life.”
This article is an abridged version of an article by Debbie Cramsie which was published in The Catholic Weekly. Read the full story here.