by Susan Stevenot Sullivan

The journey of faith begins in childhood and winds through sorrowful deserts and joyful downpours to places where divine gifts of new vision are received.

This journey is especially visible for the catechumens and candidates for whom Lent is a formal process of preparation. Guided by their sponsors, these pilgrims will celebrate Easter with sacramental initiation into the new life they have found.

During Lent The Georgia Bulletin will highlight the faith journeys of several catechumens and candidates in their walk to full membership in our community at Easter. Their paths can refresh for all of us a view of where we have been and where we have yet to go in our journey to eternal life.

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At the University of Georgia, Athens, 19 candidates and catechumens, most of them students or spouses of students, have been preparing for sacraments of initiation since late summer.

“I was surprised how many people there are in our group,” said William Smith, 20, a journalism major in his junior year who was raised in Baptist, Methodist and Catholic traditions.

“It felt really good to know there were that many people, that I wasn’t alone in having the same questions and being led in the same direction.”

“At a point you have to figure out which religion matches with your world view,” said Beth Fuller, 26, who is doing research at UGA while deciding on graduate work. Ms. Fuller was confirmed in the Methodist Church, but attended a Catholic elementary school. “I had an affinity for Catholicism. I liked the rituals. After I thought about it, it felt like it fit.

“I’m not in school right now. This process takes time, so the timing is perfect. It’s worked out really well.”

This is the second such group Father Kevin Tortorelli, OFM, has helped through the Order of Christian Initiation (OCI). The associate director of the Catholic Center at UGA, Father Tortorelli is part of a six-person team guiding the process.

“They have a great demand to be authentic about everything, from start to finish,” Father Tortorelli said of the (OCI) group. “They want to know what belonging to the church does for people’s lives. Everything you teach you have to believe to be true. Everything you encourage them to do has to be of value to you.”

Miriam Baker, a sophomore and Germanic and Slavic languages major, grew up near Helen, Ga., experiencing several Baptist traditions. Her interest in the Catholic Church became clear when she began dating a Catholic man.

“After talking to Father Kevin about my questions, I got really interested,” Ms. Baker, 20, said. “I started feeling like I was being spiritually prompted. Everyone in our group is very open and honest.”

“In the group you’re going over things you’ve heard all your life,” Smith said, “but now you’re understanding them. Like ‘grace.’ It’s amazing to realize God’s grace is given.

The three candidates (who are not catechumens because they have already been baptized in other Christian churches) said they were surprised at the tolerance for questioning and the acceptance of disagreement they found in the Catholic Church. They said they appreciated the emphasis on ‘why,’ illuminated with explanations and background information.

Ms. Fuller said she has had difficulty with the concept of bread and wine becoming the Body and Blood of Jesus. As a child she wondered how big Jesus must be to be consumed by so many people. As a young adult with an awareness of world religions she questioned the concept’s seemingly barbaric ritualism. During her studies for Easter, she had a dream.

“In my dream there was a big meal -- it must have been a Seder -- the table was covered with plates and food and chalices.. It was beautiful. When I walked into the room everyone was already seated. There was one place left.

“Everyone stopped and looked at me. Somehow I knew which one was Jesus. He said, ‘We’re waiting for you. Please sit down.’ It was a great meal. A kind of loving, sharing, farewell meal. I found the image of that dream a lot easier to swallow. My perspective changed just a little bit,” Ms. Fuller said.

Each candidate and catechumen is assigned a sponsor at the beginning of the OCI process. The sponsor provides a mature faith perspective, personal support and information. The trio mentioned that academic self-consciousness creates a fear of asking “stupid” questions. Sponsors are a private source of answers and reassurance.

Emphasis on the altar rather than the pulpit, on the liturgy rather than the minister and on group participation rather than silence or fevered activity, were also cited as strengths of the Catholic Church by these young people.

“I like the emphasis on the altar,” Ms. Fuller said. “In the Methodist Church you find a tiny altar and a huge pulpit. If you don’t like who’s up there (in the pulpit) you’re out of luck. In the Catholic Church, if you don’t like the priest, the whole service isn’t shot.”

Yet, their new faith does not dismiss other approaches to God.

“Protestants aren’t going to hell,” Smith said. “My mother is one of the most Christian women I know. I think of God as a great communicator who says things in different ways so everyone can get the message.

“I had to pick a religion,” Smith continued. “I knew I was a Christian, that’s God expressing himself to me. Religion is the way I express myself to God.”

“One of the people in our group heard it explained this way: God is a big diamond. It’s the same diamond. The same light is reflecting in the same way. But, depending on where you’re standing, you get a different reflection.”

Smith said the idea of everyone in the community being touched by God in the same way and yet in a different way allows each individual to use his or her gifts.

“You keep your individuality,” he said, “which is important if I am to be the individual God intended me to be.”

The OCI team includes Jim Gaudin, deacon and professor; Catholic Center Director Father Steven Pavignano, OFM; grad student Molly Dugan, undergrad Cindy Walker and retired administrator Jack Burke. One of the many challenges the team faces is the university schedule. The candidates and catechumens will return from spring break just in time for Holy Week.

At the Easter Vigil they will be formally welcomed into a Catholic community, which, according to Father Pavignano, is made up of 290 university families, about 150 graduate and an estimated 3,100 undergraduate students. The mix of age groups and lifestyles presents another challenge to the staff.

“The different faith perspectives can be complementary,” Father Pavignano believes. “The residents bring a stability to the community and a longer history of involvement in the church...The students bring enthusiasm, hope and faith.”

The greatest challenge of all, according to Father Tortorelli, is finding sponsors willing to make a major commitment of time on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings over several months.

On Sunday the candidates and catechumens are dismissed following the Liturgy of the Word to gather in the Catholic Center for sharing on the Scriptures and homily until Mass ends. On Thursdays the group meets for a methodical review of the church’s faith, history and sacraments which involves a presentation and small group discussion.

“I am deeply moved by people who are willing to do that,” Father Tortorelli said. “Often we hear about the problems with young people. But what we see in OCI are young people who are an outstanding example to their parents, their parishes and their schools. They are a credit to the communities they come from and a credit to the church.

“Sometimes I go to bed on Thursday night and say ‘Thank you Jesus,’” Father Tortorelli said. “I think the OCI process is a great gift to the church in this day and age. It allows people to see God’s grace working.”