By Thea Jarvis

At the Easter vigil Mass on Holy Saturday evening, Bill and Sally Navolis and their three children will be welcomed into our Lady of the Assumption Church in Atlanta.

It has been a genuine journey of faith.

"We had been going this way for several years," Sally Navolis explained the week before her reception into the Catholic Church became official. It finally "all clicked together," bringing Sally and Bill to OLA's catechumenate class last fall.

"In less that a week from the time we called Assumption, we were enrolled (in the class). We started going to Mass that weekend," she said, noting the genuine spirit of friendship they experienced.

For Bill and Sally, who have been affiliated with a number of Christian churches over the years, the catechumenate program involved two hours of group discussion at Assumption each week, plus individual prayer and study at home.

"A lot of thinking goes with it -- it's not something you can take lightly," observed Sally, who has found that "just about everything" in her life is better since she and her family decided to seek membership in the Catholic community.

"Our marriage is better, we're all closer to each other in the family, and we have made a bigger commitment to spend extra time in prayer," she said with conviction.

The Navolises grew up with many Catholic friends and were not unfamiliar with the traditions of the Catholic Church.

"It was not a big transition -- not a problem for us," said Sally, whose brother is a Presbyterian minister. "It seemed like the right thing to do."

The "rightness" of the Navolis' decision has been reinforced by what they have found at OLA -- a sincere welcome, strong stands on contemporary moral issues, openness to questions about the faith, and deep support for the family unit, which is very much the focal point of their lives.

Eight-year-old Dee Navolis "notices the changes" in her family, according to her mother, and is looking for ward to receiving the Eucharist for the first time later this month with the rest of her religious education class.

Her brother Arthur is four years old and has just begun attending Mass with his parents and older sister. Little Sarah Navolis is only 15 months old and spends her time winning friends in the church nursery.

The whole family is anxiously awaiting the birth of another child in a few short weeks and Sally admits to a fit of laughter each time she realizes the baby will be a "cradle Catholic," a term she had never heard before entering the catechumenate.

Assumption parishioners Beth and Tom McLean will be godparents for the newest Navolis. They, along with their daughters Lisa, 11, and Amy, 8, have also acted as sponsors for Bill and Sally and their family during the eight months of their catechumenate.

"We have really enjoyed getting to know them," said Beth McLean, who, with her husband -- a convert -- is a member of the core group that originally structured the catechumenate program at OLA a year ago.

"It's a way of experiencing growth through someone else's conversion," she continued, adding that both her children understood and accepted the special relationship between the two families.

"Dee and Amy were friends right off -- walking around holding hands," she laughed.

All the McLeans will join Bill and Sally Navolis and their children at Our Lady of the Assumption Church this Holy Saturday evening. With other catechumens and their sponsors, they will stand before the altar as Bill and Sally receive the Eucharist and are confirmed. Together with the whole congregation, the Navolises will make their profession of faith. And we, as a community of believers, will accept them into our Church.

To Bill and Sally and all those who join us in faith this Easter -- welcome!