Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion celebrated in Presque Isle, Winslow, and Portland

“This is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

That is how 23-year-old Jonathan Gordon of Turner describes his journey to the Catholic faith.

“I can’t wait to be baptized. I can’t wait to be confirmed and to be really part of the Church,” he says.

Gordon is one of 160 men, women, and children who participated in the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion celebrated by Bishop Robert Deeley at three churches across the state on February 17 and 18, the first weekend of Lent.

During the Rite of Election, catechumens like Gordon (those who have not been baptized in any Christian faith tradition) publicly express their desire for baptism and to be initiated into a life in Christ, while their godparents attest to their readiness to do so. The bishop then declares them to be members of the Elect, chosen by God to join his Church. This year, 118 people are preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil, the highest number in the Diocese of Portland in 17 years.

“I’m very excited to set aside my old self and live a new life in Christ,” says Gordon.

During the celebration of the call to continuing conversion, the sponsors of those baptized in other Christian traditions testify to the candidates’ readiness to share fully in the Church’s sacraments. The bishop then recognizes the candidates’ desire to be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit through confirmation and to have a place at Christ’s eucharistic table.

“As we come today to witness the journey of those who will be baptized and received into the full communion of the Church at Easter, we are powerfully reminded of the great gift that is our faith,” Bishop Deeley said. “The choice of those whose journey to the Easter sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist continues with a new purpose after this celebration is a sign to us that, in the message we gather to hear and celebrate, these people have found a special meaning by which they, too, seek to guide their lives. In their desire to join the community of the Church, we see God’s loving presence, his guiding grace. That makes our gathering a wonderful moment of grace.”

The celebrations of the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion were held at Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Presque Isle, St. John the Baptist Church in Winslow, and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland, with catechumens and candidates traveling from all corners of the state to attend.

Jona Fitzpatrick and Lora Ryan, friends from the Penobscot County town of Patten, both say they considered joining the Church for years. Fitzpatrick was baptized Baptist and Ryan a Presbyterian, but both are married to men who are Catholic.

“I finally just decided that now is the time, and I needed to take the final step and become Catholic myself,” says Ryan. “I just felt led in my heart that now is the time to do it. I really want to have a closer relationship with Jesus.”

“I wish I would have done it a lot of years ago,” says Fitzpatrick. “I had done a lot of thinking about it over the years, and it just felt that this was the time. It was during COVID that I started to go to Mass regularly with my husband, and I thought, yeah, this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Fitzpatrick says she particularly felt drawn by Christ’s message of mercy.

“Divine mercy really speaks to me. I’m thinking of St. Faustina being my saint because I really appreciate that when you get up in the morning, you feel like, even though you’ve fallen the day before, you can come back to God because he is always merciful,” she says.

Drake Hacker from Augusta says he started exploring the Catholic faith after he began dating Anna Kiminski, to whom he is now engaged.

“I just kind of gave him the idea and said whatever you want to do with it,” she says.

“For a while, I thought I was an atheist, but when I started going to church, I realized that I didn’t really believe in nothing, and I was like, I want to act on that,” he says. “It’s hard to describe, but I kind of knew after a while that this was where I was supposed to be and that this fit my belief system and what I felt was out there. I feel like now, looking back, that was God speaking to me, telling me that this is where I was meant to be.”

Asia and Jacob Cole, young parents from Monmouth, are entering the faith together. Jacob says something felt missing in his life, which led him to explore the writings of theologians such as C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton.

“It was part of, I guess, an investigation into what makes us human. There seemed to be a missing part for myself personally. That call to worship and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ became evidence of the highest form of love, and I couldn’t turn back from that once that realization fell upon me,” says Jacob. “I couldn’t let it be just an intellectual pursuit any longer.”

“The preachings of love and Jesus Christ have felt like the best fit for us. It’s been a really beautiful journey, as we have gotten to know the parish and the people in the community,” says Asia.

For the past several months, the candidates and catechumens have been participating in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), a process through which they learn about the Catholic faith and become familiar with the parish they plan to join. Some of those preparing to enter the Church say they were concerned that it would be difficult, but they say that didn’t turn out to be the case.

“I wanted to take the next step, but it’s an overwhelming thing, especially coming from a very secular upbringing, but I remember the first time I talked to Sister Carol (Martin), it was like, ‘This is not going to be as intimidating as I thought it would be.’ It’s been wonderful. I’m really, really enjoying having the readings to do and just having a community of people who are, in many ways, very similar to me. It’s been awesome,” says Hacker, who is participating at St. Michael Parish in Augusta.

“It’s gone great. It’s really helped me grow in my faith. I love going,” says Elizabeth Rowley, age 17, from Winterport, who is participating in the program through St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Bangor. “It’s been nice being able to meet the parishioners and just getting to know them.”

“It’s been awesome. If I could do it again, I would do it over and over again. I was able to talk to people, and I was able to just feel like I was home. I was able to let God into my heart and overcome fears,” says Joey Jandreau, age 15, a catechumen from Fort Kent, who attends St. John Vianney Parish.

The catechumens and candidates will now spend Lent in final preparation to receive the initiation sacraments by strengthening their commitment to the life of Jesus Christ, something the bishop said we are all called to do.

“Lent asks us to slow down. It asks us to reflect on what is important in our lives,” the bishop said. “Lent challenges us all to look at our lives and see how we can make them more centered on what it is that God wishes for us. At the beginning of Lent, I invite you to come to the conviction that you need to grow closer to God.  That will start the balancing of your life.  And the way we do that is the way given to us in the Scripture and in Lent for centuries: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.”