An End and a Beginning

As of yesterday, I am no longer a catechist, at least in the formal sense. Yesterday, Archbishop Etienne and Holy Rosary parish welcomed the Boylan-Nims family into Christ’s Church. And with them, our parish RCIA comes to an end, and by extension my role as its director.

This was our penultimate Mass as a parish, and it seems fitting that it would be the occasion to welcome such a lovely and faithful family into the Church.

The Mass was celebrated outdoors at Noon, so you can imagine there were some heat-related issues, not to mention the usual COVID-19 restrictions and precautions – including a restricted number of altar servers and six-foot painted squares for proper distancing between households. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful and reverent Mass.

The Archbishop preached on the importance of the Incarnation, not just of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity in time, but also of His eternal incarnation in the Holy Eucharist and in the hearts of the baptized.

Although this has been a tremendous amount of work over the years, I would not have traded it for anything. Catechesis is a joyful work, one of the many ways we can carry out the Lord’s great commission to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:16-20).

Over the years, the candidates and catechumens who have come to our program have strengthened my knowledge and built up my faith. They’ve also occasionally given me thank you gifts, including this morning’s coffee cup.

Thank you, all of you, for opening my eyes to the many ways God works in the world and in the hearts of His people, and for making me a better Christian.