Happy Easter! It’s
such a glorious time of the year, one that points to our eternal future in
heaven. At my parish, we received twenty-eight
heavenly bound souls between the RCIA program for children and adults – just in
the Spanish community! After the three-hour
vigil my team and I went out to Denny’s to break our Lenten Fast (our
annual tradition) and there we always go over the ritual with much laughter. We laugh at the mistakes we made and vow to
improve on them next year, rejoice at the joy of our new Catholic brothers and
sisters and encourage each other looking back at the conversion of our students
from the first day of the RCIA program to now.
This year, God was really kind and gave us a batch that was quite easy
to work with. Sometimes we get people
that complain a great deal about the way we run our RCIA program (thinking it’s
too demanding) and this year we had a group that was always up for encountering
God through the various activities we create.
On Easter Vigil the joy in the faces of the adults we worked
with for the past year is the greatest encouragement. For me every Easter Vigil is like going for
the first time because each one is so especially unique. Each year, I get to work with people who come
to receive their Sacraments not knowing the great adventure of encounter and
conversion that God has for them. This
year two sisters brought her reluctant siblings and both of them couldn’t
believe the great work God began. In one, God built her up from arriving in pieces to our program and to the other He
gave her a new heart open to God’s transformative change. Another student came having the cremated
remains of her daughter at home, unable to let her go and through the Via Crucis
at the beach she realized that her daughter needed a proper burial. This woman learned she needed to give her
daughter to God, He also reminded her that she still has two other children
that need her. Another student made the
three-hour drive from Camarillo every weekend to make it to our Sunday class, a
commitment that really inspired us.
Each year God brings in a new batch for us to work with and
each year on Easter Vigil, He proves to us that our work doesn’t compare to His work in the lives of our students.
Each year, I say it’s my last as a catechist because I sacrifice a lot
to be present every Sunday morning- but each year on Easter He reminds me that
my small penance is little compared to the fruits of our labor (smile).
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