Hundreds prepare for Easter entry

By Brian Welter

"The life you are choosing goes against the tide. Like Christ, you are being asked to be signs of contradiction in the world," Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, told candidates and catechumens at Holy Rosary Cathedral March 1 for the annual Rite of Election.

"You are being called to relive the desert experience of Jesus" by celebrating the rite and entering the Lenten time of prayer and penance, the archbishop noted. "Lent will accompany you as you prepare to receive the sacraments at the Easter Vigil," he added, including "the healing waters of baptism."

Archbishop Miller said in his homily that the candidates and catechumens had responded "to a call from the Holy Spirit," and that they wouldn't be alone. "This commitment you are not carrying out in isolation. Go forward with friends." He added, "You are sharing in the great company of the saints. This community has shown you great love."

The greatest support, Archbishop Miller reminded them, comes from God: "He chose you long ago, long before you even realized He was doing this for you."

"The decision [to become a catechumen or candidate] was not the result of your own pondering, reflections, but is a response to God's grace," he added.

The archbishop noted the countercultural direction these candidates and catechumens were taking. "You will be marked as different from what the world honours and respects.... Take up your cross daily in imitation of Christ. This is what baptism is about.... It's about losing your life to regain it in Christ Jesus."

Archbishop Miller also noted, "You are signing up to be a friend of Christ, to do His work and His will on earth."

The Rite of Election is also countercultural, the archbishop said, because with baptism "you will lose something, the security of depending on yourself, and deciding for yourself what is good and evil."

"Your own self will die ... so you can be raised in eternal life," he added.

Archbishop Michael Miller told those preparing to enter the Catholic Church that they're making a "countercultural" decision. For many of them, it was a countercultural figure who inspired their journey.

Catechumen Jeremy Kim, a member of St. Paul Chong Mission of St. Andrew Kim Korean Parish at Holy Name Parish, said he had been drawn to the "different way of life" offered by Catholicism, especially the "charity works" held up as an ideal within the Church. He said his Catholic hero was St. Vincent de Paul, who devoted his life to charity.

Kim added that an additional draw to the Catholic faith had been the emphasis on community and responsibility for one another. He said that it is important for Christians not to isolate themselves.

Catechumen Adam Dennis from St. Francis of Assisi Parish said: "I was actually married at St. Francis of Assisi. I've always felt drawn to the Catholic Church." Religious feelings were sparked by Dennis's father, who taught his children the Bible and Christian beliefs but never took them to a church.

"It was only when I met my wife-to-be that I started going to church. It was just something I felt really good about."