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by Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer
ATLANTA—After leaving the Christian Science Church to become
an atheist, Lisa Kus recalled facing the progression of her muscular dystrophy
and other “monumental” difficulties in 1997. Having seen her sister
savor the fruits of conversion to Catholicism, Kus began church-shopping and
visited a Catholic parish in California where she was sold on its love and
acceptance.
“I went there to help myself cope with difficult times,”
she said. “When I prayed, (a worshipper) started holding my hand during
the Our Father. I felt loved and part of the community, and that started (me
on) a path that took approximately three years to get here.”
Moving to the Atlanta area in 1999, she visited St. Thomas Aquinas
Church, Alpharetta where, bound to a wheelchair, she was impressed by the ramp
leading to the sanctuary and the presence of Deacon John Strachan, who uses a
wheelchair during Mass.
“It’s been exceptionally welcoming with this parish. I
went to the church fully planning that I would have to visit other churches,
and the first day I went I saw that there was a ramp up to the altar ...
I’ve never seen that in any other church and that really spoke to me that
this church is really thinking about its parishioners, and that really made me
feel I was in the right place,” she said. She then enrolled in the
parish’s Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program.
Kus joined 1,707 others of the archdiocese’s OCIA and OCIC
programs, including 388 children and many from the Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean,
African-American and Hispanic cultures, for the Rite of Election and Call to
Continuing Conversion held March 11 at Symphony Hall in Atlanta. To accommodate
the large number of catechumens and candidates joining the Catholic faith,
Archbishop John F. Donoghue presided at two separate ceremonies: the morning
ceremony invited those from the north and west regions of the archdiocese and
the afternoon ceremony welcomed those of the south and east regions. The
Atlanta Forum on the Catechumenate headed by Ret Siefferman planned both
ceremonies. Those entering the Catholic Church included 1,155 candidates, those
who have been baptized and will receive the sacraments of confirmation and
Eucharist at Easter, and 545 catechumens, who will be baptized for the first
time and will also receive the sacraments of confirmation and the Eucharist.
Last year 863 candidates and 495 catechumens became new Catholics.
For both ceremonies Father Victor Reyes, pastor at St.
Matthew’s Mission, Winder, and Father Greg Goolsby, pastor of St.
Monica’s Church, Duluth, assisted Archbishop Donoghue.
After the congregation sang “Amazing Grace,” shimmering
red, yellow, blue and green banners, representing each region of the
archdiocese and the universal church, were carried toward the stage which was
graced by a large red Jerusalem cross. Parish representatives processed into
the church with the Books of the Elect, which, prior to the ceremonies,
catechumens and candidates had signed declaring their intention to continue
their faith journeys throughout the Easter season. Cantors were Sam Hagan and
Janis Griffin, who sang soul-stirring songs, “In This Very Room” and
“Jesus Christ, Yesterday, Today and Forever.”
Referring to St. John’s prophecy in the Gospel of Matthew
that Christ will baptize in the Holy Spirit, the archbishop in his homily spoke
of how the Spirit sets people free from the flames of sin and strengthens them
to enter the new ways of Christ.
“Because we are free, and the choice to turn back to the old
ways never leaves us entirely, we are presently confirmed, anointed with the
Holy Spirit, and with, as St. John names it, the ‘fire’ of his
power,” he said.
The archbishop said “the chaff burning with unquenchable
fire” refers to those souls who yearn for God’s love but are unable
(to accept it) “for in that soul burns the worst fire of all, the fire of
ultimate loneliness and self-centeredness, the fire of pride — and these
are the fires which can destroy the human soul.”
He said that those joining the church are like the wheat of
goodness gathered into the granary.
“God has put out that old, evil fire in us — and by the
miracle of faith’s call, we have in us the new fire of the love of God
which converts, which remakes, which renders our souls worthy to be made into
the Body of Christ which is the Church,” he said. “God takes what we
bring and uses our renewed, remade spirits to bring the word of his love, the
news of his salvation into the world. This Rite of Election and call to
Continuing Conversion is the gathering.”
As they celebrate their spiritual journeys the archbishop reminded
congregants that they must use their free will to always resist evil. He said
that Jesus went into the desert to be tempted to prove that Satan will always
be defeated when one drinks the living water of Christ and follows church
teachings. But they must always resist the murky waters of temptation.
He also spoke to candidates and catechumens of the sacramental
life.
“As long as we listen for Christ’s saving word, as long
as we explore the ramifications of his word for our lives, in the truths and
the rites of his church, and especially, as long as we come to him in the
sacraments, and receive the grace which he gives, our way can remain straight
and our will can remain strong, and he will love us for this and stay at our
sides.”
Next, parish OCIA directors read the names of their candidates who
stood up with their sponsors. Sue Ford, archdiocesan director of adult faith
formation and Christian initiation and a member of the Atlanta Forum on the
Catechumenate, presented them to the archbishop. The sponsors affirmed that the
candidates had faithfully listened to the apostles’ instruction, had come
to a deeper appreciation of their baptism, had reflected on church tradition
and had advanced in loving and serving others. Parish directors then called the
names of the catechumens who came to the stage with their parent or godparent.
Godparents affirmed that the catechumens have shown sincere desire for the
sacraments, heard God’s word, tried to live as Christians and taken part
in the community’s life of prayer and service. Catechumens were then named
the elect of God. Parish directors presented their Books of the Elect to the
archbishop who blessed them.
Following the morning ceremony, Kus spoke of her eagerness to
become Catholic. “I’m especially excited about making this step in my
spiritual growth (at) this time because I’m going to Rome in the fall. I
wanted to attend Mass there.”
She acknowledged that she has grappled with many church teachings
during her time of inquiry.
“I have struggled with some of the emphasis on sin and also
... organizational policies of the church—not ordaining women, some of the
birth control issues and the divorce issue—but at the catechumenate
(formation) the focus was (primarily) on Scripture. It was very uplifting. The
focus was less on sin and more on forgiveness. I especially liked the focus on
doing service. I’m looking forward to giving back to the community.
I’m planning on getting my dog certified as a therapy dog so we can visit
hospitalized parishioners,” she said. Her muscles remain weak but her
mental health has improved greatly, as “I have grown even more loving and
accepting through the church even with some of the difficulties I feel toward
the church. Scripture is teaching me to live in peace with the people even
though I may not agree with (everything). I feel more hope for myself and for
humanity. I feel more ready to give and receive love. I feel a lot better able
to see the work of God and Jesus in my life.”
Bosnian refugee Alma Juric, who grew up as a Communist atheist
before coming to the United States in 1995, felt honored to finally be joining
the church. Unable to be baptized after fleeing to Croatia to escape the
Bosnian civil war she has married a Catholic and attended Corpus Christi, Stone
Mountain. She spoke about how Bosnian Catholics were locked in the lower class
and of the bloody strife she escaped during which she embraced Catholicism.
“I saw violence in the streets, killing people in the
streets. An Albanian family, they killed all of them in the middle of a town.
Many members of my family got killed, my father’s brother, my two
cousins... they were raped,” she said. “At first I couldn’t
resist but hate those people and was looking for revenge ... Right now I’m
proud of myself not to hate them. If anything I can just put them in my prayers
and pray for them.”
A light shone at the end of the tunnel. “Something good came
out of it like my figuring out the right way and turning to God and I think
that that’s the best gift I could possibly get.”
The church has opened wide the doors of Juric’s soul to
Christ. “I started to believe that God is in every single thing around me
I see. I believe if you just think about it, if you just take a moment to think
about what happened to you today, you can see that he’s having a
conversation with you 24/7,” she said. “I find myself helping,
especially the elderly people from my country that don’t speak English
— taking people to different places, doctor’s appointments, (to get)
SSI (social security income). I believe if God gives me two hands and two arms
and a brain to think with, I might as well use them to help them.”
Her sponsor, Claudette Cuddy, is grateful to have guided Juric in
her formation. “I’m very proud, very honored,” she said.
“It’s just amazing to have walked with her, (to see) just how the
grace of God has been there and she’s responded in the midst of ethnic
cleansing and, really, our inhumanity towards one another. She’s watched
relatives killed right in front of her.”
Michele Kutsch, who was raised Methodist and is married to a
Catholic who attends St. George Church, Newnan, is eager to join the Catholic
family, as attending Protestant church for her was strictly a Sunday affair.
“It’s just a family, a wonderful family, to belong to
and share the common values and (in which) to be able to express those
values.”
She’s discovering the beauty of the faith in studying Mary,
the Eucharist, the structured rosary and other prayers and the Trinity. It
gives her family “a faith to live our lives with and to bring our children
up with a good foundation, and it goes beyond just going to church.
There’s so much that you can do at home — kind of like the family
that prays together stays together —the Catholic religion has brought out
just how important that is in our life. There’s so much to learn, really.
The history ... is amazing, the Eucharist, the devotion.”
The ceremony was truly a family affair for Arthur Thomas, who
attends St. Theresa’s Church, Douglasville, and will join the church along
with his wife and their 12- and 13-year-old children at Easter. A former
Baptist, he said something had been “lacking.” His conversion process
has brought him to life and to prayer.
“Prayer is the most important thing I’ve found through
this because you do need God’s help. I pray every morning and I pray when
I go to work and I pray when I come home. Me and my wife and my kids, we all
pray before we go to bed. We get together before we go to bed at night. I make
my kids pick one out. I pick one out and my wife picks one out,” he said.
The result of prayer is “a different experience that I’m having that
things just turn out so good.”
Ford said that in the past decade in Atlanta the number of new
Catholics “has increased every year significantly.” She expressed joy
in putting out the welcome mat for newcomers.
“I love working with the parishes and with the people. It
helps to build my own faith because of their enthusiasm, the questions that
they ask and the religious transformation they’re making in their lives.
It’s inspiring me to look at my faith in new ways.” |
