Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion Celebrated

“God is always faithful to those he calls. Now it is your duty, as it is ours, both to be faithful to him in return and to strive courageously to reach the fullness of truth, which your election opens up before you.”
– The Act of Election

More than three hundred men, women, and children who will become full members of the Catholic Church at Easter celebrated the Rite of Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion during the first weekend of Lent.

“It’s another step closer. I’m getting really excited about the baptism,” says Rachel Doyle from St. Paul the Apostle Parish, Bangor.

“It’s a step closer to baptism, and it just represents a continuation of the journey that I started a long time ago, and it’s exciting,” says Meghan Birdsall, also of St. Paul the Apostle.

The celebrations, held at four churches around the diocese – Holy Rosary in Caribou, St. John in Bangor, the Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul in Lewiston, and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland -- are a time for the Church to formally recognize those who are preparing to receive the sacraments and be welcomed into the Catholic faith at Easter.

“This is an event that I, as your bishop, very much look forward to every year. It’s an especially important sign of God’s mercy active in our midst, drawing so many men, and women, and children close to himself,” Bishop Richard Malone said. "You have been invited into a new depth of intimate friendship with Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior, a friendship you will live as a member of the Catholic Church."

This year, there are 148 catechumens (those who have never been baptized) and 160 candidates (those who have been baptized in the Protestant or Orthodox Church but who have not received the sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist), the highest number in five years.

Brandie Harden, from St. Joseph in Bridgton, was baptized in the Methodist Church but says “I always felt more at home in the Catholic Church…I just felt more at home and secure.”

Meghan Birdsall, a catechumen from St. Paul the Apostle Parish, says it was her experiences in college that led her to the Catholic Church. Although she did not practice any faith growing up, the college she chose was Mount St. Mary in Maryland. There, she says, “I was deeply impressed by other students who were living their faith and were committed to God and the Church.”

While in college, Meghan went on a mission trip to Peru and worked in a Catholic orphanage. “I was deeply affected by their prayer life,” she says. “They seemed so, I guess, at peace in their lives, and I thought they must be doing something right.”

She says she spent several years searching before deciding to go through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. “I read a lot of Catholic books and did a lot of research and, over the years, realized that this was the truth and that I needed to know God and to seek to follow him.”

James Holmes, a catechumen from All Saints Parish, was attending a congregational church when a friend suggested he give St. Patrick in Newcastle a try.

“When I walked in the first time, I felt like it was home,” he says, “I’ve been there ever since.”

Edward Berry, of Holy Spirit Parish in Wells, says he attended Easter Vigil Mass with his wife last year and was “blown away.”

“I know the Spirit is with me. I know it’s inside of me. I know what I’m doing is right to do. I can feel that it’s right,” he says.

During the Rite of Election, parish presenters read the catechumens' names, which have been inscribed into the Book of the Elect, while the catechumens briefly stand in acknowledgement. The books are presented to Bishop Richard Malone for his review and signature. Parents, godparents, sponsors, and the Church community then affirm that the catechumens are ready to be enrolled among the Elect, and the catechumens themselves formally express their desire to receive the sacraments and enter fully into the life of the Church.

Following the “Act of Election,” candidates for full communion are then presented to the bishop and the Church community. As with the catechumens, the candidates are then affirmed by their parents, sponsors and the Church community, an acknowledgement that they are ready for full communion with the Catholic Church.

The catechumens and candidates will now spend the remainder of Lent in final preparation for reception of the sacraments and entry into the Church during Easter Vigil Mass.