Brought up as a devout member of the Church of England, John Keep was headed for a career in science when World War II broke out. As an English soldier, he was befriended by a young Catholic named Peter O’Reilly, with whom he entered into an ongoing discussion about religion. By the end of the war, not only was John a Catholic; he was determined to be a priest, so much so that he taught himself Latin in preparation for the seminary. Along the way, he persuaded his friend, Peter, to join him in his pursuit of Holy Orders. Both men were ordained to the Diocese of Westminster and remained life long friends.
As a priest Fr. Keep was assigned to the chancery for a while, then to positions at St. Edmund’s College in England and the Bede College in Rome before becoming chaplain to a group of Visitation Sisters in Waldron near Heathfield, East Sussex. There, besides ministering to the Sisters, he began giving monthly days of recollection to a group of lay folk and religious whom he named “Friends of the Cross.” He continued doing so until several years before his death on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 7, 2002. It is from the homilies and conferences he shared with his “Friends of the Cross” that the excerpts on this website are taken. |
