The Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion is a reminder that faith is not a “solitary endeavor,” but, rather, a “communal journey,” Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre told the congregation gathered for the ceremony March 9 at St. Bernadette Church in Prospect, Ky.
Among the congregation were 252 catechumens — unbaptized individuals preparing to receive baptism, confirmation and Eucharist — and 225 candidates — baptized individuals preparing to receive confirmation and Eucharist.
The rite is “not merely a formality,” he told them. It’s a sacred moment when catechumens and candidates, preparing to enter the Catholic Church, are recognized by the church as they publicly acknowledge their desire and commitment to follow Christ, he said.
He reminded the congregation that while the rite focuses on the catechumens and candidates, the whole church community plays a role in the rite.
“This is a time for us to come together as a community,” he told them. “Faith is deeply personal,” but requires community. “We, the church, embrace these catechumens and candidates, desiring to welcome them into a community of faith that will nurture, guide and journey with them.”
“The support and encouragement of the faithful of the church are essential,” he added.
Archbishop Fabre asked the congregation to actively support the catechumens and candidates with prayer — and invited them to grow deeper in faith alongside them.
“Let us not forget the courage and the determination of our catechumens and candidates. … Their commitment to enter the church is a testament to their faith, and it is a source of inspiration for all of us,” he said.
Two candidates from St. Peter the Apostle Church — a mother and daughter — journeyed together to the Catholic Church through the help of the internet, they said in an interview after the ceremony on March 9.
Mary Gray learned about Catholicism through YouTube, she said.
While searching for videos on “spiritual warfare” as a Protestant two years ago, she stumbled upon a video produced by Father Chris Alar — a Marian priest who posts videos on a YouTube channel titled, “Divine Mercy.”
“It made so much sense,” and it gave her peace, she said. “God just kept sending different videos. It seemed like when I was ready to learn a different thing, there would be another video with a different priest.”
“I started watching more videos on the early church. . . The thing that struck me is that the further back you go in Christianity, the more Catholic it gets.“
— Mary Gray, candidate from St. Peter the Apostle Church
She told her mom, Barbara Gray, about the videos, and she began watching them, too, she said.
Barbara Gray said she wasn’t sure about Catholicism at first. But, “God just drew us,” she said. “The more I watched, the more I thought, ‘This is the truth,’ ” she said.
Mary Gray said she knew that if she found the truth, she needed to “dig into it further.”
“So we did,” she said. “I started watching more videos on the early church. … The thing that struck me is that the further back you go in Christianity, the more Catholic it gets,” Mary Gray said.
She’s excited to learn more, especially about the Eucharist, she said.
“Growing up in a church where it was just a cracker and some juice, it’s hard to even comprehend,” she said.
The Grays aren’t the only candidates whose path to the Catholic Church was paved with the help of the internet.
Karen Grunch, a candidate from St. James Church in Elizabethtown, Ky., said her interest in Catholicism began on Facebook.
Grunch was Protestant her whole life, she said. “I was never open to the Catholic faith at all.”
But a friend — who is Catholic — would frequently share Catholic posts on Facebook, and she would read them, she said.
At a spiritual low point, her friend posted about the St. Andrew Novena, a novena prayed from Nov. 30 until Christmas Eve, she said. Grunch decided to pray it.
At the end of the novena, she reached out to the friend and asked to go to Mass.
Attending Mass for the first time, she said, “I just felt like everything was right — like it was correct.”
Since beginning her preparation to enter the church in August of 2024, she’s found answers to her “Protestant objections,” she said. “Everything is just so right. I get things that I didn’t get before. I believe everything.
“For me, it’s been such a long journey. I mean, it’s at least a year and a half since I went to my first Mass,” she said. “I’m looking forward to taking the Eucharist for the first time.”
