GRIFFITH – Justin Abascal was baptized Catholic as an infant, but the 36-year-old East Chicago firefighter never received the other sacraments – until this weekend, when he is slated to celebrate his First Holy Communion and confirmation at the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Mary.
While he has been attending Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) since last fall, it could also be said that Abascal is largely self-taught.
“My family did not stay with the faith, but I felt a strong pull to learn more last November, so I picked up a Bible and the verses about creation from the beginning of Genesis kept coming to mind,” he said. “I taught myself to pray the Rosary, all four sets of Mysteries, and as a Lenten commitment, I pray all four every day. It is like being reborn.”
After beginning his own journey to Jesus, Abascal reached out to Sylvia DeJesus, RCIA director at St. Mary in Griffith for about 10 years, and began formal instruction to receive the sacraments of reconciliation (which he did several weeks ago), Holy Communion and confirmation.
“Justin reached out to me in November and while he didn’t know much formally about the Catholic faith, he was growing stronger and closer to God just doing it on his own.
“He is very spiritual and I was very impressed with Justin and his willingness to do what was necessary to fully join the Catholic Church,” DeJesus said. “I knew right away he was ready to receive the sacraments.
“I believe God has given him a lot of grace, and the Holy Spirit is really working in him.”
A native of Griffith, Abascal’s mother passed away some years ago, but his father Alan and stepmother Char Abascal still reside in Griffith, as does he, while his sister Katie Abascal recently moved to Chicago.
“I graduated from Griffith High School and was really interested in computers, so I went into the IT field,” explained Abascal. “My father has 35 years in the fire service, however, and firefighting was always in the back of my mind.”
He has been with the East Chicago Fire Department for six years, serving as a chauffeur/engineer as well as an Emergency Medical Technician, working a 24-hour shift followed by 48 hours off. “The best thing about it is helping the community, and we do a lot of outreach,” he said. “First responders face some difficult calls, and there are different ways to deal with it, some of which are unhealthy. My journey toward Jesus has given me some type of peace.
“I like to study theology and I like to read. The RCIA classes have been very helpful, and I find it interesting how the Old Testament and New Testament work together,” added Abascal. “The RCIA program has been a really good journey; I’m a big question asker and the parish has been really good about adapting to my work schedule. We usually meet on Wednesdays and then again on Saturday or Sunday; we go to Mass together and then leave as a group and talk about the day’s Gospel and how the readings link together.
“The most important thing is to be open-minded, open to the faith. If you knew me six months ago, I’m not the same person now. Every day is going to be a learning experience, like it is being a firefighter.”
Abascal said many of his fellow firefighters have seen him praying the Rosary, and he doesn’t mind. “One of the guys asked me about it, and then he went out and got a Bible and a rosary and he’s even on the Hallow app now. It’s a good experience to share my faith. My dad recently joined the Knights of Columbus, and I’m going to do the same; I want to be more involved in charity work, like we are in my union.
“It feels like I’m ready to receive the Eucharist and confirmation. I’m pretty excited to have it coming up soon, and I feel I have a pretty good grasp of the faith,” he said. “I did some research and it took a while, but I finally chose St. Florian as my patron for confirmation. He was a Roman soldier in charge of a fire brigade, and he was a Christian when it was illegal. As I understand it, his commander wanted him to persecute Christians, but instead he protected them, so he was martyred. He is the patron of firefighters, which makes sense, because we put our lives on the line for others.”
Caption: Bishop Robert J. McClory talks with Justin Abascal, an East Chicago firefighter who will receive the sacraments of Holy Communion and confirmation at St. Mary in Griffith on Holy Saturday, April 19. Baptized Catholic as an infant, Abascal has been studying the faith in preparation to become a full member of the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil Mass. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
