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Welcome to our Catholic faith
Catechumens, candidates declare their intent to join the Church at Easter
by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published February 26, 2010
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Catechumen Eric Zamora, 9, of Holy Family Parish, Novi, shakes hands with Archbishop Allen Vigneron after a Rite of Election ceremony last Saturday at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. |
DETROIT — The Archdiocese of Detroit welcomed more than 1,200 prospective new members to the Catholic faith last weekend at five Rite of Election ceremonies at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Some are catechumens, officially joining a Christian faith community for the first time, while others are candidates – people from other faith communities seeking reception into the Catholic Church or Catholic candidates who were baptized, but for one reason or another never completed their sacraments.
Altogether, 541 catechumens and 418 candidates for full Communion, plus 266 Catholic candidates took part in Rite of Election ceremonies at the cathedral last weekend. Perhaps as many as 200 others went through similar ceremonies at their home parishes, although those numbers are not yet known. All will enter into full participation as members of the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil Masses later this year.
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Archbishop Vigneron holds a symbolic "Book of Life" as he talks to catechumens. |
"By placing your names in the Book of Life you are saying that you seek to have the meaning of the life of Jesus to be your meaning – that the life of Christ is the best life, the fullest life," Archbishop Allen Vigneron told the congregation of catechumens, candidates and their sponsors late last Saturday afternoon during one of the Rite of Election ceremonies.
That they will become sons and daughters of God is not just an image, the archbishop maintained. "What God sees and loves in Jesus, He sees and loves in us," he said.
"This offering of your names for inscription is a coming before God freely, but in your poverty. I cannot make myself God's son; you cannot make yourself God's daughter – that happens by His free gift of baptism," Archbishop Vigneron continued.
Then, as sons and daughters of God, it is "by baptism, by confirmation, by the Eucharist that God shapes us," he said.
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Candidates and their sponsors stand amid the congregation during one of the Rite of Election ceremonies last Saturday. |
To accept the Christian life is to accept a "lifetime of conversion," the archbishop told the congregation. "Having the life of Jesus shape the plot of my life is about conversion from sin," he said.
For 9-year-old Eric Zamora, son of Mauricio and Leticia Zamora of Holy Family Parish in Novi, standing before Archbishop Vigneron up in the sanctuary with the other catechumens and their sponsors was "scary," but also "good."
The reason, Eric explained, is "Because I'm getting baptized – I am going to obey what Jesus wants."
FYI
Those entering or coming into full community with the Catholic Church at Easter include:
Catechumens: People who are joining a Christian Church for the first time, and who will be baptized, confirmed and take their first Communion at the Easter Vigil.
Candidates: People who have already been baptized in another Christian faith community, but wish to join the Catholic Church.
Catholics: People who were at least baptized in the Catholic Church, but for some reason never went all the way to full membership in the Church. For example, their parents might have fallen away from the practice of the faith before they were confirmed or took their first Communion. |
Jeff Rice, 27, was among the more numerous group of candidates at the Rite of Election ceremony. Although he had been baptized as an infant at St. Pius Church in Flint, he had attended a Presbyterian church from about the age of 2 through high school, he explained.
"But my father, Gary Rice, is Catholic, and I felt drawn to that, so I started attending Mass. Then I met Julie (Sliva), my fiancée, who is Catholic, and we started going to Mass together at St. James in Ferndale," Rice continued.
"The people at St. James made us feel very welcome, and I decided to complete my faith formation and seal it with confirmation," he said.
Rice said he had been "extremely happy" with the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) program at St. James, and that "Fr. Steve (Wertanen) has been very helpful with any questions."
His sister, Amy Blevins, and Sliva served as his co-sponsors.
Noting that he and his fiancée had started attending St. James at about the same time Fr. Wertanen became pastor last year, Rice added, "So, it's almost like it was meant to be."
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