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Father Daniel Williamson, C.F.R., fell away from his faith as a young man, found his way back and decided that the joy he felt was too great to keep to himself. He spoke with a priest at his parish in Virginia who put him in touch with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.
He spent a year with them and found it was a good fit.
“I really connected with the friars,” he told CNY. “They were young, healthy, normal guys, very joyful, very fun, so I felt like this was something I could be a part of.”
Father Daniel is the son of Kathy and Ken Williamson of Annandale, Va. After graduating from high school, he entered the U.S. Air Force—inspired by his father, who served in the military—and became a jet mechanic working on an F-16. While in the military, he stopped practicing his faith, he said.
After leaving the service he worked as a truck driver. One day he pulled into a truck stop in Georgia; when he pulled out, he was a changed man.
“I sort of had an encounter with the Holy Spirit…I just experienced the presence of God, and the sense that I had to change my life,” he said. He added, “It was nothing mystical, just a moment of grace.” But it led him back to Mass and confession, and ultimately to his vocation.
“I knew many people who were lost, and searching for the meaning of life,” he said. “When I came back to the Church, to God, I wanted to share the joy that I found with others.”
He entered the Friars of the Renewal in the Bronx in 2001 and studied for priesthood at Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Conn. After his ordination at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on May 14, he expects to be assigned to the friars’ mission in Honduras, where he served as a seminarian.
“I’m grateful to God,” he said. “I’m very excited to be a priest, and very grateful to God for this opportunity, for everything.”
For the holy card honoring his ordination, he chose an image of the Prodigal Son and a quotation from Scripture: “His mercy endures forever.”
“I’ve known the love and mercy of God in my life and in my family,” he said, and I want to share that with others as a priest.”
Father Daniel will celebrate Mass at his home parish church, Blessed Sacrament in Alexandria, Va., on Sunday, May 29, at 11 a.m.
