The same feeling of welcome that Roque experienced when she first sought information from St. Philip Benizi was echoed in the archbishop’s words at the Rite of Election.
“On the first Sunday of Lent, the church in North Georgia gathers to welcome catechumens and candidates for the Easter sacraments. We all want you to realize how joyfully we receive you,” Archbishop Gregory said. “We choose you and promise to journey with you during these few weeks before the great celebration of Easter. Christ himself has sanctified these days through his own glorious example of fidelity to the truth. We are called to do nothing less.”
'Does God Hear Me If I’m Praying?’
Through the classes at St. Philip Benizi, Roque has learned things about the Catholic faith that she never knew and now understands other aspects of the religion that she wasn’t sure about. The divine and human natures of Jesus and the place of Mary have been topics of special interest to Roque.
As her knowledge of the Catholic faith continues to grow, her prayer life has strengthened as well. Roque said she used to be unsure of how to pray or if she should even pray at all because she was not practicing any particular religion. Now when she prays, she can feel God’s presence with her.
“When I would try to sit and pray, I felt like there was a guilt. ‘Why am I praying? Does God hear me if I’m praying and I’m not going to church or trying to learn more about him?’” she would ask herself. “And now when I pray, I feel a peace like I know he is there, that he is listening to what I’m saying.”
At the Rite of Election, more than 60 parishes with candidates and catechumens preparing to join the Catholic Church were represented. The total of 1,912 new Catholics in North Georgia is slightly fewer than 2010’s historic number of 2,062, which was the largest the archdiocese has received at one time.
“The Rite of Election is the celebration of the impending growth of the Church and of the unity of all those who belong to Christ and are thus safe from the tricks of the one who works best alone, whether in garden or desert,” the archbishop said, referring to the day’s readings, which included the tempting of Eve in the Garden of Eden and the temptation of Jesus in the desert.
“Let us take great comfort in being sisters and brothers in Christ, who has victoriously banished the tempter from all those he calls his own,” Archbishop Gregory said.
Printed with permission from The Georgia Bulletin, newspaper for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Ga.