“You have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.” – Colossians 3: 9b-10
GARY – Everyone makes calls on their phone, but when the “call” comes from God, no technology is needed to deliver the message.
That’s the good news Bishop Robert J. McClory communicated to 63 candidates at the Rite of Call to Continuing Conversion on Nov. 26 at the Cathedral of the Holy Angels. All previously baptized as Christians, candidates have yet to receive subsequent Catholic sacraments including Reconciliation, Holy Eucharist and Confirmation. In the midst of studying for full sacramental life in the Catholic faith, they were accompanied to the afternoon service by their sponsors and family members, and formally presented to the bishop by Father Martin Dobrzynski, director of worship for the Diocese of Gary.
“Today we celebrate your call to continuing conversion,” said Bishop McClory. “As it is Thanksgiving weekend as well as the Solemnity of Christ the King, we give thanks that you have responded to the call … You are already committing yourself to what is necessary to accept the calling, (and today) you publicly say, ‘Yes, this is where I belong.’”
Recalling his own phone call from the Papal Nuncio to the U.S. – four years ago to the day – announcing that Pope Francis had chosen him as the new bishop for the Diocese of Gary, Bishop McClory said the first place he wanted to visit after a press conference and a stop at Aquinas Catholic Community School in Merrillville was the Cathedral of the Holy Angels, “the primary home of the diocese” and the place that holds the cathedra, or bishop’s chair, “where the teaching of the Church comes from.
“Your call (to the Church) is a vocation … there is a calling in all of our lives,” he noted. “Be thankful and let the word of God dwell in your hearts richly, and soak it in.”
“We don’t do this alone, we sing hymns, we pray … we give thanks through (God). With your sponsors, we come here to say, ‘I support you.’
“I give thanks to God for all of you candidates, sponsors and all others who are helping you, who answer the call of God to prepare you and lead these (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) programs,” said Bishop McClory.
The bishop also noted that each candidate “has a unique story,” whether they were encouraged by a husband or wife to fully join the Church or “decided on your own after realizing there’s more to life.”
For Darlene Price, of LaPorte, it is a longtime yearning to embrace the Catholic faith that has her “so excited to be in the family of God.” Baptized in another Christian church in 2016, Price said she “twice started taking classes to become Catholic before that, but something got in the way each time. I’ve always had an admiration for the Catholic faith. God never said no, he just said ‘Not now,’ I guess. But now is the time!”
Price’s sponsor, Marie Kempel, served the same role for her own husband 26 years ago. “It is good to see someone so happy about the Catholic faith,” she said of Price, who will attend Sacred Heart church in Holy Family Parish in LaPorte with Kempel. “I’ve been remembering my own First Holy Communion as a child,” she noted. “I will try to keep that excitement alive in Darlene.”
Price, who said her lessons taught her much about the meaning of the Rite of Call and the sacrament of confirmation, said she plans to be active in her church. “I would like to crochet prayer shawls because I know I can do that, and anything else I can do.”
Sam Maule, from St. Joseph church in Holy Family Parish, said he is “a student of history and religions” who has been exploring different faiths since growing up Lutheran. “For the last two decades I’ve been going to Catholic churches, and in the last two years, I’ve felt a strong urge to join. This is where my home is and I need to establish my foundation.”
Married 18 months ago to a Catholic, Maule said his RCIA classes “have helped to clarify the structural pieces of the Church” and taught him the significance of the Eucharist. “The Church, Christ and the Bible are a foundation, and without them – on your own – there is nothing to stand upon.”
Maule’s sponsor, Juan Temores, of Sacred Heart, is a cradle Catholic who was asked to share a candidate’s journey for the first time by his parish’s RCIA team. He said he had recently “asked the Holy Spirit to guide me to learn more about my faith,” and felt the call to serve as a sponsor was the sign he was asking for from God.
“I think I’ll become stronger in my faith,” he said. “Everything we have is thanks to God giving his life for our sin.”
His upcoming marriage drew teenager Jonathan Mora, of Hammond, to the Catholic faith and St. Margaret Mary parish in Hammond. “I was baptized a Catholic as a baby, but never received the other sacraments, and now that I am engaged to a Catholic, I want to be confirmed and married in the Catholic Church,” Mora said. “I believe it will help me get closer to God.”
Her pending marriage a year from now, on Nov. 9, 2024, also drew Amanda Gemeinhart to the Catholic Church and specifically St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Student Center in Valparaiso, where she lives.
Raised a Lutheran, she decided when she started dating a Catholic a year ago that she wanted to convert. “When we have children, I think it will be important to have the same faith, and I wanted to do it sooner,” said Gemeinhart, who is planning her wedding for Sacred Heart in Wanatah. “The Lutheran faith is similar, but the words of scripture are a bit different, and I have learned a lot about the Blessed Mother.
“I think my classes will keep me close to God and give me continued guidance,” added the kindergarten teacher who is interested in becoming a catechist in the future.
Senior Deacon Dennis Guernsey, who assisted the bishop at the Rite of Call, is thankful for seven candidates from his parish, Nativity of Our Savior in Portage. “Bringing in new parishioners, even if they are already baptized, helps the parish community. Older people who have been Catholic all their lives may take their faith for granted,” he said, “but then they see these candidates who want this, want to get what they have, and it gives them inspiration.”
Caption: Among Christian candidates gathered at the Rite of Call, Jeremiah Martin (front, left), stands near his sponsor and fiancé Leah Taylor (front, right), both of Nativity of Our Savior in Portage, on Nov. 26 at the Cathedral of the Holy Angels in Gary. The candidates, presented at the liturgy to Bishop Robert J. McClory, will continue in their conversion with the assistance of sponsors, as they anticipate full communion with the Catholic Church. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)