God is Good, All the Time....All the Time, God is Good....
We say it, we know it, we believe it, some days more than others, but I have to tell you, the Spirit, she is doing amazing things here at St Francis de Sales, and I am in awe of her power!
This past Sunday, the Feast of Christ the King, we had the absolute joy to celebrate the Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens (** a catechumen is one who is being instructed in the ways of our faith**) for four (4) women who have been journeying with us since the start of our pandemic reality. Two young women first knocked on our actual door in February, and have continued to attend our RCIA sessions via our Monday night Zoom. The other two women figuratively knocked on the door in the midst of these confusing days when the world is upside down, when we see only one another's eye's shining over masked smiles, when we can't hug, can't come into a church building without concerns for time and breath and air flow...these two women, after a few months of inquiry sessions also on Zoom, have asked us to welcome them into our faith.
Four unique women, single, engaged, married, moms, lawyers, artists, business women, educators seeking to follow the call they have heard from our gracious and loving God. They ask to be one with us in faith, at a time when they can't really come to Sunday Mass and worship with us in a safe and healthy manner. How will they get to know who we are? How will they come to understand what it means to be a parish family when we are separated from each other? I wonder how we can best reach out to them?
As we gathered this past Sunday afternoon for the Rite of Acceptance, three women came to church, with their sponsors, one was watching via our new livestream technology from her new home in Georgia. Who would have imagined that we would be connecting with her from such a distance! While we prayed and offered blessings for our catechumens here on 96th St, our sister in Georgia was blessed by and praying with her fiance. She felt connected to us in every way, especially each time we called out her name and waved to her through the new camera mounted under the choirloft. Technology can be such a blessing these days!
When we wonder, when I wonder, what difference does this all make in the lives of these folks, is when the Spirit, well, She goes into overdrive to make me understand how She works.
As we took time to reflect on the experience shared by these four women, each took the time to look deeply at what this ritual meant to them. They spoke of feeling enveloped in the love of God, the gift of taking time to look at and appreciate this call God has offered them, the wonder of taking the time now at this point in their lives, to answer this invitation from their creator. They spoke of tears of joy. They mentioned gratitude for knowing that this journey, while shared with their loved ones, is a journey of faith that is theirs alone. There was such a sense of awe for the mystery of this faith they seek.
And can I tell you about their sponsors? Usually, in days when we're not fighting a global pandemic, we invite you, our parishioners, to step up and accompany these folks, in prayer and friendship. We ask you to be sponsors for them, a kind of church buddy, someone they can look to for help in getting to know how we live and pray and breath as Catholics. Sometimes it's as simple as sitting with them at Sunday Mass and helping them find their place in the missalette and showing them when to do our 'catholic calisthenics'...you know, when we sit, stand, and kneel...
Alas, we can't ask you this currently, because of safe social distancing. So, in lieu of your pastoral presence with them, we have asked some of their significant others, spouses, fiances, to step up and help them negotiate some of the ins and outs of our virtual worship. We did also invite two of our parishioners who have gone through this same process in the last few years, to step into the role of parish sponsor, albeit from a distance. All of these sponsors were so filled with the Spirit of God last Sunday, and so willing to help their 'person' experience all the love and blessings that God wanted to shower on them. I truly believe our new folks are in excellent hands.
So what is left for us to do as a parish community? Well, I would ask you to do what we do best...pray for these women, and for all our catechumens who are preparing for sacraments come springtime. Did I mention we also have 4 brand new inquirers, MORE people looking to answer God's invitation to come and follow in the way of discipleship?
A final thought, since we can't gather together on Sundays to welcome and greet our catechumens. Perhaps as a special Advent practice you might consider writing a note of welcome to our new friends? If you're old school like me, it could be as simple as sending a card here to the parish addressed to "RCIA folks" 135 E 96th St, NY NY 10128...and I'll make sure to share your good wishes with them on Monday evenings. If you are comfortable on the computer, drop me an email, same label, "RCIA folks", to jayneporcelli@sfdsnyc.org and I will be happy to share with them. Either way, reaching out with a short note would be a fabulous way of letting these folks know that the parish is aware that they are here, they are with us, they are walking their faith journey in particularly trying times, and we care for and support them with our prayers and good wishes.
So, please keep: Crystal, Cesar, Leslie, Luke, Wendell, Angelique, Mica, Evie, Kristie and Adrian, Kristina, Katrina, Leah and Lucy in your prayers now and in the days to come. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide them and to be with us all as we walk together in faith. As we are so often reminded these days, 'we don't know what the future holds, but we know WHO holds the future!" May the Spirit of God work through each one of us this Advent season to help the Kingdom come.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oftgdzric3c click here if you'd like to see what our Covid Style Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens looked like!!
