Hundreds from across archdiocese answer Call to Continuing Conversion

Candidates from more than 120 parishes around the Archdiocese of Newark gathered at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ, on Feb. 21 for the Rite of Calling Candidates to Continuing Conversion. Among the hundreds of candidates who attended two Saturday services, there were also students from Seton Hall University and cadets from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, NY. They came to publicly affirm their desire for full initiation in the Catholic faith.

At the two Saturday services, candidates were accompanied by their sponsors, who testified that the candidates had faithfully listened to God’s word, deepened their appreciation of their baptism, reflected upon the tradition of the Church, and grown in their lives of love and service to others.

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, presided at the sacred liturgies. He was joined by the auxiliary bishops who help shepherd the four counties of the archdiocese. Many diocesan priests also attended, along with representatives from parish Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) teams who have been preparing the candidates over the past months.

Concrete pathways leading to Christ

In his homily, Cardinal Tobin referred to the last Lenten message of Pope Francis:

“He said that the exodus from slavery to freedom isn’t an abstract journey, not something just in our heads, but something very concrete. And if our celebration of Lent is to be concrete, said Pope Francis, we have to open our eyes to reality.”

Reality speaks to people through various circumstances, calling them to a deeper relationship with Christ and the Church, the cardinal continued. “For some of you, you’re probably here because you simply fell in love with a Catholic, and that experience of falling in love became to catalyst to nudge you to where you began to think of the possibility of joining this community,” he said. “Through the love of your spouse or your future spouse you fell in love with God.”

Others are drawn because of “much harsher” circumstances like substance abuse. In their struggles, they come to the realization that “you can’t save yourself” and that “we need to rely on a power that’s higher than us,” leading to an encounter with God, he said.

“Or maybe the story of your life began with baptism decades ago, but for your own reasons you never really got around to being confirmed or joining the community in Holy Communion,” Cardinal Tobin said. “Like Jesus after his forty-day fast, you’re hungry with a desire for a closer relationship with God.”

An encounter that opens up new horizons

Still others had been brought to the cathedral because “life feels kind of blah,” the cardinal said. These seekers are asking questions like what life is all about and where it is taking them. “You wonder what makes you, in the depths of your being, feel like you’re alive. Slowly we discover that beneath the surface of our lives, the stuff everybody can see, we hunger for God. We come to realize as Pope Benedict XVI said: ‘Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.’ (Deus caritas est)”

After the rite concluded, groups of excited candidates and sponsors gathered to take photos in front of the high altar and other locations of the historic cathedral basilica.

The Feb. 22 liturgies for the Rite of Election, for those who have not been baptized or who were baptized in another Christian tradition, were cancelled due to inclement weather. Catechumens and their sponsors should contact their parish for further information about when and where the rite will be celebrated.

To view more images of the Rite of Calling the Candidates to Continuing Conversion, click HERE.

You can watch video highlights of the rite below:

Featured image: Candidates and sponsors celebrate after the Rite of Calling the Candidates to Continuing Conversion at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ on Feb. 21. (Photos by Julio Eduardo Herrera / Archdiocese of Newark)