Many of us don’t give much thought to “becoming Catholic,” since the act of entering the Church was done for us by our parents and godparents at our infant baptism. But for others, the journey to full communion with the Catholic Church comes while in college, just prior to or in the midst of our marriage, and even stems from the birth of our children and their entrance into the religious education program at the parish level. The process by which one becomes Catholic later in life is called the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults or RCIA. It is a process by which one learns of the tenants of our faith and then makes the consciences decision to fully accept our belief in a loving and giving Triune God, thus becoming Catholic. It happens a great deal more often than you might think.

In fact, each year Holy Mother Church welcomes new members at the Great Easter Vigil—where each Catholic parish in the world welcomes new members through Baptism, First Holy Communion, Confirmation—and even Holy Matrimony. This year in our parish, five (5) individuals are journeying toward this new state in life, opening themselves to receive the Sacraments of the Church—which were instituted and given to us by Christ Him-self—and to allow the Word of God, the Sacraments, and the community of believers (you) to transform them and guide them into being Catholic.

I invite you to pray for them as the make this momentous decision, to offer your support and to show them by your compassion and lived-out faith just what it means to be Catholic. I ask this of you because while you may not realize it or not you are one of the reasons they have chosen to become Catholic. That’s right—you play a role in their formation process. Many of these future Catholics have been sitting in our pews each Sunday at-tending Mass with their Catholic spouse and children and have seen how this parish lives out its life of discipleship. They have seen your worship, they have watched you respond to the needs of neighbors and strangers alike—in the refurbishing of a home in Torrington, in the boxes and boxes of food packed-up and delivered each month to Simsbury families in need, to the money raised to fund the Malta Mobile House of Care for individuals and families in Hartford, to the jeans collected by teenagers for teenagers in homeless shelters, in the hundreds of prayer shawls knit-ted for those who are ill or suffering loss, in the cookies and pies baked and sold to raise money for the children of Sacred Heart in Hartford, in the tons of hours worked to host the annual parish picnic and golf outing so that the Men’s Club is able to fund its charities all year long, in the teens who work in the shelters in Boston and Hartford, and in so many more acts of mercy and kindness and selfless love which you have accomplished year-in and year-out, continuing the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ in our time and place—heeding the call of God and responding in selfless compassion, which is the hallmark of the Catholic faith tradition. So you see, you are one of the reasons for their decision to join, to answer God’s call, and to follow Christ in serving God by serving others. Thank you…and keep it up