Split across three different sites in Brooklyn and Queens, more than 600 people shook hands with Brooklyn bishops Feb. 25 as a sign of welcome to the Catholic Church. Stretching from the Flatlands to Douglaston, the candidates seeking to update their union with the Church attended the Rite of Calling the Candidates to Continuing Conversion.
Never baptized in any Christian tradition, these catechumens – as they are called – are enrolled in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), and will enter the Church at the Easter Vigil, March 31, in their home parishes.
On the day before the Fourth Sunday of Easter, traditionally called Good Shepherd Sunday, the adults who entered into full communion with the Catholic Church at Easter, reunited for a day of prayer, fellowship and continuing faith formation.
The Easter Vigil service at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica, Sunset Park, will take a little longer than usual this year. In addition to the dramatic symbols of light and special readings that are used, 52 people will be baptized and an additional 25 will be receiving other first sacraments.
Amid fears about the future of immigration policy in this country, a festive atmosphere still filled the streets of Sunset Park in honor of Lunar New Year last weekend. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio presided over a Chinese Mass in honor of the Year of the Rooster at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.
Over 200 participants from all parts of the diocese, despite the pouring rain, arrived at the first Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) Conference of 2016, at the Immaculate Conception Pastoral Center, Douglaston, Oct. 22.
Prior to his first – and thus far only – mission into space in September 2013, astronaut Mike Hopkins completed the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults classes and became Catholic.
After the birth of her son and the loss of a close friend, Claudia O’Brien experienced a renewal of faith that has led her back to the Catholic Church.
The Rite of Election, on the First Sunday of Lent, is a highlight of the Liturgical Year. On that day, those who are to be baptized at Easter, those who are to make a Profession of Faith in the Catholic Church, and those who are to complete the sacraments of initiation of communion and confirmation come together in ceremony. Here they are inscribed in the Book of Election, signifying that they have been chosen worthy to be admitted to the sacraments at the Easter Vigil.
The Easter Vigil service is the most dramatic liturgy of the Chuch calendar. It begins with the church in complete darkness. And then a single flame atop the Paschal Candle pierces the darkness, a symbol of the Light of Jesus Christ Risen from the dead. Light overcomes the dark. Good prevails over evil. Sight where there was blindness.
