Nearly 150 catechumens who will receive the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist at this year’s Easter Vigil were given both a cause for caution and a reason for hope at this year’s Rite of Election.
Addressing those who are preparing to join the Catholic Church, Bishop Timothy Senior cautioned them that their decision to follow Jesus will lead to temptations and distractions from the devil.
“Whenever we try to do something that is fundamentally good and oriented toward God, we must be ready to be tempted. It’s part of the struggle,” Bishop Senior said in his homily during the prayer service at St. Patrick Cathedral on March 9. “Any time we try to do something good and true, we need to be ready to be tempted.”
“But St. Paul gives us encouragement when he says, quite simply, ‘Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved,’” the bishop said, quoting the second reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. “We have our lifeline in Jesus Christ, who submitted Himself to those human struggles. We hold on to Him and keep our eyes fixed on Him, and the devil has no power over us.”
The Gospel reading underscored this message as well, recounting the temptation of Jesus by the devil during the Lord’s 40 days in the desert to prepare for His public ministry.
“Jesus submitted himself to the temptation of the devil to show us the way to allow grace to guide us and enable us to overcome whatever could distract us from the centrality of our relationship with God,” Bishop Senior said.
“There are so many things that can distract us, but how encouraged we are by the truth that, in the midst of that distraction, we have Jesus as an example,” he said.
Celebrated annually on the first Sunday of Lent, the Rite of Election recognizes the maturing conversion and growth of commitment in the men, women and young people who will enter the Catholic Church at Easter. The Rite of Election is a significant step in the process of Christian initiation as the elect demonstrate their preparedness to make a lifelong commitment to God.
During the Rite, the names of those who will enter the Church – known as the “elect” – are read aloud to the bishop by the coordinator of adult education from each parish. The elect rise and stand with their godparents, who attest to their preparedness to receive the Sacraments of Initiation, and they are entrusted to their spiritual care of their godparents. Parish coordinators then present the bishop with their Book of the Elect containing the names of those who will enter the Church.
“My heart, as your bishop, is filled with joy,” Bishop Senior told the congregation. “What bishop would not be filled with joy to see the presence of our catechumens – about 150 from across our Diocese. To see the growth of the Church gives us great hope. The Holy Spirit is moving in our local Church.”
This year, 140 individuals will join the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Harrisburg. They were joined at the Rite of Election by godparents, sponsors, catechists, pastors and family members during the prayer service.
For Korry Dunkle of St. Joseph Parish in Dallastown, the past year and a half of preparation through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) has been a necessary and fruitful period of understanding and discernment.
“A year ago, I was thinking this point would never come. At first, I didn’t understand why the process would take this amount of time to go through, but I realize now that you do need time to process things for yourself and realize your journey of faith,” he told The Witness as he arrived at the Cathedral with his wife and sponsor, Carolyn, and his pastor, Father Mark Weiss.
Dunkle said his grandparents were faithful members of the Methodist Church and his family believed in God, but his father never attended services. When Dunkle came upon some difficult times in his adult life, he sought out a place to shelter from the storms.
“I went through a lot of struggles with a bad marriage, and that’s when I came to terms that I needed to belong to a church,” he said.
He went to St. Joseph Church in Dallastown, selecting it for convenience as it was the closest church to his home. But things clicked quickly.
“When I found St. Joseph’s, it all came to me with the Mass and the regimen. I just knew it was where I needed to be,” he said.
Dunkle said it took him some time to enter the OCIA process because he struggled with worthiness.
“I kept wondering if I was worthy enough to join, and beating myself up about that,” he said. “There was a lot of coming to fruition between my divorce and feeling that I am in fact worthy and that I need God in my life. Without that, I don’t have much of anything.”
On the other side of the Cathedral, Leah Tynan of St. Patrick Parish in Carlisle reflected on her own journey, sharing with The Witness that she was inspired by the Catholic faith of her grandmother, Anne Tynan.
“She was rooted in the faith. When I’d go to her house, I’d see it all around me – statues, images, her Rosary. After she died, I wanted to feel more connected to her and I felt that joining the Church would be the best way to do it,” Tynan said.
“The OCIA classes have taken me deeper into the Church, and now I have a greater understanding of the bible, the sacraments and the Church as a whole,” she said. “While I’ve always felt some kind of drawing to faith, and saw it in my grandma, this process has opened a whole new world for me. I just can’t wait to receive the sacraments at the Easter Vigil!”
A livestream of the Rite of Election is available at this link.
(Photos by Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness. Photos from the altar courtesy of Father Michael Pray.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
