The interview is edifying, not just for the story itself, but how Mr. LaBeouf converted. According to LaBeouf, it was experiencing the Old Mass itself that played an instrumental role. Bishop Barron was also on fine form, to give further edification. The Bishop has had a poor record in that arena, so credit where it is due.
The interview has already been shared widely and reported by such outlets as Fox News. It has even gone to the point where people have "meme-fied" the interview, putting up pictures such as this:
It was this picture that led to this post.
Friends, it is very good that Mr. LaBeouf has converted. Praise be to God and All That He Is for the great grace we are witnessing. Our Lord spent a lot of time looking for this lost sheep.
However, I think we need to give Mr. LaBeouf absolute privacy when it comes to his conversion and the subsequent growth and maturation in the Faith. I say this as a form of caution. I dislike saying this. Mr. LaBeouf is a Hollywood actor and is in the limelight as a consequence. When people are in the limelight as constantly as he is, there is a danger that we (as Catholics) will make them out as greater than he is, or that he will turn around and disappoint us to some degree, perhaps even doing away with the Catholic faith altogether.
There are strong signs this conversion is genuine. However, Catholic Hollywood actors such as Mark Whalberg have disappointed us in the past, simply because we put them on a pedestal and they turned out not so great. (See, for example, the Ted movies and the recent Father Stu.) Mr. LaBeouf is no exception - though I hope he is.
I think it is imperative we leave him alone from here on out, and let his personal friends in the Capuchins (not to mention Bishop Barron) help him.
That being said...
Welcome home, Mr. LaBeouf. Make yourself at home. We hope you stay for the long haul, and discover the richness of the Faith in the same way I and so many others have - and stayed.
God bless you and keep you in the way Only He can.
