OCIA Class of 2024
Michael Sullivan
From left to right : Sharonda Carter, McKenzie Torres, Vincent Andrews, and Matthew Lemma
At the Easter Vigil, the Church of Saint Luke celebrated the initiation of four adult candidates into the Catholic faith. This event marks a special day in the lives of the newly initiated and of the entire Church. As a Church, our greatest joy stems from witnessing the expansion of Christ’s body on Earth and we commend not only our newest members but, also, the dedicated OCIA instructors who are so vital to the process of initiation. The Parish’s OCIA program is led by Deacon Phil, John Smith, and Consuelo and Hector Corrales. Their continued effort has been a blessing to both their students and to the Parish as a whole. We recognize the devotion of our OCIA instructors and the sacrifice of their time and energy to the service of the Church and to the great task of bringing Her new members.
We also recognize our newly initiated members who received their First Communion and/or the Sacrament of Confirmation at the Easter Vigil. Sharonda Hamilton, McKenzie Torres, Vincent Andrews, and Matthew Lemma have all sacrificed their Wednesday nights for many months to participate in the OCIA program. Their willingness to learn the message of Jesus and the teachings of the Catholic Church in order to become full members of His body should be an inspiration to us all in our own faith journey in pursuit of the promises of the Gospel.
There are many reasons for joining the Catholic Church and becoming fully initiated into Her body, but the most important is the personal salvation of our souls through communion with Christ’s Church on Earth. Confirmation imparts the blessing of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit onto the confirmand (the one who is confirmed). Like the Apostles in the Upper Room, we are strengthened by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But like the Apostles, the reception of the Holy Spirit is only the beginning. Now that the grace of God has been extended to our newly confirmed they will be able to carry that grace to their workplace, schools, family and friends and shine the light of God’s glory in their lives.
During the OCIA process, our Parish has been able to get to know our four candidates and we have seen them welcomed into our parish community through their involvement in the activities of the parish, such as at Mass, the St. Patrick’s Day parade, youth activities and parish wide events. One of our candidates, McKenzie Torres, gave this statement to the Catholic Light about the joy she felt in receiving the sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil:
“Receiving my sacraments at the Easter Vigil was a feeling and experience I never could have imagined. I felt the Holy Spirit so strongly that night and it was incredibly special to have my friends, family, and parish members there to witness it as they had been there from the beginning of my journey of OCIA. Now that I am a fully initiated member of the Church, I have such an immense gratitude for this experience and cannot wait to continue learning and growing in my relationship with God. There is nothing quite like it and I encourage everyone to do the same if they are considering it!”
We will celebrate the sacrament of Confirmation for our current youth Confirmation class on Saturday, May 18th at 4pm Mass, with Father Quinnan as the celebrant. The youth of our Parish have gone through what so many of us Catholics are familiar with. They have been brought up in the Catholic faith by their parents or guardians, and they have been taught the important precepts of the Church, either by attending Catholic school, or through faith formation classes. They are almost finally ready to stand before the Parish and accept the responsibility of becoming a fully initiated member of the Catholic faith.
We pray that our newly initiated adults, along with the parents and guardians of our Confirmation students, will be an example for our Confirmation class of 2024. We pray as a parish that the Holy Spirit will be accepted into the hearts of the next generation of Catholics and their lives in the Church will be the inspiration for future generations that will surely follow them. Everyone confirmed into the Catholic Church has a role to play in Her future, whether we were Confirmed 20 days ago or 20 years ago; we must strive to be the better followers of Christ. We ardently pray for the children of the Confirmation class of 2024, and we must remember that our witness to the Catholic Faith will be their example to carry them into their future. We must always strive to be better role models for the youth, and we can use as our encouragement, the joy and love that the OCIA class of 2024 has brought into our Church.