Arvind Bantu of Columbus St. Patrick Church signs the Book of the Elect. His sponsor stands closest to him at left; Sister Maxine Shonk, OP, stands at right. CT photo / Ken Snow

Rite of Election shows power of personal example  

By Tim Puet, Catholic Times Reporter

Every year, near the conclusion of the diocesan Rite of Election ceremony, Bishop Frederick Campbell  asks adults from the Diocese of Columbus who plan to join the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil what prompted them take this step.

First, he asks how many were principally influenced in their decision by something they had read, and a few people stand up. Second, he asks how many decided to become Catholic based on something they saw, such as a movie or television show, and a few others stand. This year, one man, when the bishop asked what influenced him, responded, “A bumper sticker.”

Finally, the bishop asks how many came to Catholicism because of the example set by a family member or friend, and a vast majority of the “candidates” (those already baptized in another Christian denomination) and “catechumens” (those who never have been baptized) stand.

“This should impress on you the crucial element of personal witness,” the bishop said at this year’s Rite of Election on Sunday, March 10 at Westerville St. Paul Church. “As St. John Neumann said, ‘The Gospel is merely a series of words on paper unless enhanced in the person of the believer.’”

The stories of five participants in this year’s Rite of Election – candidates Jim Davoli and Jodi Marmion of Columbus Our Lady of Peace Church and Jim and LeAnn Hendrickson of Hilliard St. Brendan Church, and catechumen Steven Fu of Grove City Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church – illustrate the impact of personal example upon evangelization. 

Deacon Jeffrey Fortkamp of Our Lady of Peace said his parish had four people taking part in the ceremony, with all four making the decision to become Catholic largely because of the influence of their children, who attend Our Lady of Peace School.

“Our son, Dominic, is in the third grade,” Davoli said. “My wife and I decided to send him to school at Our Lady of Peace because it fit what we were looking for in a school. We take him to Mass, he partakes of the Eucharist by himself, and that spurred me to decide that I wanted to join him.

Davoli, 46, said he grew up as a member of a Disciples of Christ church and joined his wife’s Methodist church after getting married. “We would go to church occasionally but got more engaged with that aspect of life when Dominic began going to school,” he said. “Once I started going to Mass, I found I was getting more out of it than I was from worship services of other denominations.

“I also found Catholics were less judgmental and more open than I somehow thought they would be. Some of the churches I’ve been to seemed to have the attitude of ‘we have the right way to do it and others are wrong.’ I didn’t find that in the Catholic Church. Catholics seemed to have more of a spirit of humility,” Davoli said.

“Once I began getting involved with RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) classes to learn more about the Catholic faith, I found it was no walk in the park, but it felt like the right thing to do. In becoming Catholic, I feel like I’m coming home.”

Davoli said his wife, Elizabeth Wiley, is not considering Catholicism but is happy with his decision. The couple also has a 3-year-old daughter, whom they plan to send to Catholic school when she is old enough. Davoli said that once he becomes a member at Our Lady of Peace, he plans to join the parish men’s faith-sharing group.

Marmion, 44, grew up as a Baptist and married her husband, Shea, who is Catholic, 10 years ago. He also is her sponsor. In that role, he serves as an example and provides support as the catechumen or candidate examines his or her relationship with God.

“Our daughter is in second grade at Our Lady of Peace School and is preparing for her first Communion. That was the catalyst for me to join the Catholic Church,” she said. The couple also has a son in kindergarten at the school. 

“My mom died last October, and that also was a big factor in my decision. Even without those two events having an impact, I probably would have become Catholic at some point because of the influence of my husband and his family. They’re the best examples of being Catholic that I’ve met, because of the way they give to the community,” she said.

Marmion said that once she made the decision to become Catholic, she took the Alpha course, which has been described as “Catholicism 101” and is a review of the basics of Christianity and Catholicism for both those who are Catholic and those who are interested in the faith. She followed that up by entering her parish’s current RCIA class (the formal process through which adults are instructed about Catholic teaching in the months leading to the Easter Vigil).

“As I learned about the Catholic Church, the feeling kept getting stronger that all this was happening for a reason,” Marmion said. “It got me thinking more and more about my relationship with God and realizing how important it was to join a church and be part of a community. Until now, I haven’t gone to church that much.

“I feel the Catholic Church provides the sense of community I’m looking for,” she said. “It’s been especially interesting to learn about the beginnings of Christianity and how Jesus affected people not just during his life, but after his death, and how that caused belief in him to spread. My involvement with more Catholics also has made me see the strength of the power of prayer more than I ever have.”

Fu is a junior majoring in math education at Ohio State University and has been in the United States since coming from China and enrolling at Columbus Bishop Ready High School as part of an exchange program. He was placed with Charles and Anne Durbin of Grove City and joined the choir at Our Lady of Perpetual Help while he was at Ready. Once he started singing with the group, “I realized how natural it was for me to be at Mass, and I had this feeling that I belonged there,” he said.

During his senior year at Ready, he went on a retreat with his classmates. “That was the real starting point of my journey to becoming Catholic,” he said. “I enjoyed the peacefulness, the teachings and, most importantly, the faith. In addition, the way the Durbin family practiced their faith left a strong impression on me.”

Another important influence was Charles Durbin’s response upon learning he had stage-four cancer.

“He was telling us that he was sorry for all that his disease would entail for us. I replay that moment over and over in my head. It spoke volumes of his character,” Fu said of the man he calls Dad. “What a selfless man! That is what a real Catholic should be. He was such a selfless role model. He gave the biggest smile to everyone he met. 

“After Dad passed away, I told myself, ‘I need to pass on his positive attitude, his deep faith, his courage and his unbreakable spirit.’ In short, I wanted to bring all that was good about him and spread the love of Chuck Durbin, one of the most Christlike men I ever knew, to everyone. 

“Easter cannot get here soon enough, as I am so excited to be baptized in the church,” Fu said. “I look forward to sharing my faith and my love for God with every person I meet.” He has chosen Anne Durbin to serve as his godparent, fulfilling the role a sponsor does for candidates.

The Hendricksons, who both came from a Southern Baptist background, found themselves looking for a deeper worship experience than they were finding in that denomination.
“We were very active in our church, but as it adopted more of a contemporary worship environment, we were finding it more difficult to attend,” said Jim Hendrickson, 57, who teaches logistics at OSU’s business school.  

“The services, the music, the preaching and the people were all nice, but we struggled to find Jesus. It seemed like we were going more to a concert than to a worship service.

“St. Brendan’s is in our neighborhood, and we have a number of Catholic friends, so we went to a Mass there and found it to be strikingly different than what we were used to,” Hendrickson said. “The presence of Jesus was very apparent. We had no difficulty with Catholic teaching on Jesus being present in the Eucharist, but we struggled with things like confession and the role of Mary and the saints.

“We sat down with Father Tom Gardner, who was parochial vicar at St. Brendan’s at the time, to tell him of our concerns, and he was very encouraging. He explained that in confession, it’s not the priest who is forgiving you, but that it’s God forgiving you through the authority Jesus gave to the Apostles and their successors.

“He also said that Catholics honor Mary and the saints, but we don’t worship them, for that would be idolatry – that statues to them are merely forms of honor in the same way we honor public figures,” Hendrickson said. “We have statues of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, but don’t worship them, and it’s the same with Mary and the saints.

“This was very eye-opening, and going through RCIA  has been amazing. One of the great things I didn’t realize about the Catholic Church is the vast resources it has available to laypersons. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains things so well that it confuses me why there are so many religions.” 

The Hendricksons’ daughter Emma, a junior at OSU, also will join the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. She is in the RCIA program at the Columbus St. Thomas More Newman Center, adjacent to the university campus. The couple also has two grown children.     
  
This was the 15th time Bishop Campbell has presided over the Rite of Election and the last time he will serve in that role. He officially has been apostolic administrator of the diocese since the Vatican accepted his letter of resignation as bishop in late January. Bishop Robert Brennan, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, will be installed as his successor on Friday, March 29.

In his homily at the Rite of Election ceremony, Bishop Campbell cited the example of St. Josephine Bakhita, who was born in Sudan around 1869, died in Italy in 1947 and was canonized in 2000.

“Early in her life, she was kidnapped and sold into slavery, a situation in which she was cruelly treated. But in the midst of her suffering, she always sensed the presence of a companion with her,” Bishop Campbell said. “She could not name the presence, but it gave her great hope and endurance and saved her from despair. 

“She was eventually freed from slavery and ended up in Italy in service to a family where, in the words of a commentator, ‘Josephine experienced kindness that she hardly knew existed.’ She encountered a group of religious sisters, whom she would later join, and among them met her longtime companion more vividly, and discovered that his name was Jesus Christ.

“Thankfully, very few of us will have to endure such suffering, although we can all have her experience of eventual kindness, peace and joy,” the bishop said. “Her lesson is that in all times and places, whether unknown for a while or experienced with clarity of mind and heart, Jesus Christ is a companion to us on our pilgrimage, through this life awakening a persisting hope that all things will be transformed for our good and happiness.

“Remember that your full reception into the body of Christ will call you to a mission, not only to make the truth and peace of Christ more and more the heart and soul of your own lives, but also to make the name of Jesus known and loved throughout the world,” Bishop Campbell told the candidates and catechumens. “Our earthly joy will wax and wane, our earthly challenges and sorrows will have an end, but Jesus Christ is now and forever.”

The diocesan Office for Divine Worship said 400 people – 227 candidates and 173 catechumens – within the diocese declared their intention at the Rite of Election to become Catholics. Since 2005, when Bishop Campbell became the spiritual shepherd of the Diocese of Columbus, there have been 8,501 participants in the ceremony – 3,447 catechumens and 5.054 candidates.   

The Rite of Election takes place each year on the First Sunday of Lent. Catechumens indicate their desire to join the church by signing the Book of the Elect, giving them the title “members of the elect.” Candidates participate in the Call to Continuing Conversion that is part of the ceremony and sign the book.

The word “election” in this case has nothing to do with politics; rather, it is a discernment that God is present in the life of the catechumens and candidates and is inviting them into a fuller life of the Sacraments.

The celebration of the rite has two parts: a sending and a receiving. First, catechumens are sent by the parish. This is a public pronouncement that they are ready to enter a covenant relationship through participation in the sacramental life of the church. This pronouncement is done through their presentation to the bishop. We are sent every Sunday from Mass to love and serve the Lord. This is the first of many sendings they will receive throughout their faith journey. 

Those who are sent can then be received. The bishop of a diocese attends the Rite of Election, accepts the parish community’s judgment, receives the catechumens and invites them to enter their names in the Book of the Elect. The announcement of the church’s decision to call candidates to receive the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist) at the Easter vigil falls to him.

Candidates are asked to present a record of their baptism to the bishop. Through the presentation of their prior experience of the first of the sacraments of initiation, they publicly embrace the Catholic Church and demonstrate their commitment to a process of growth in faith and solidarity with the Catholic community.    

In addition to those taking part in the Rite of Election services, there are baptized Catholics in the diocese who are taking part in RCIA classes this year because they have not received the sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist. They will take part in a service on Friday, March 22 at Columbus Christ the King Church at which they will receive those sacraments from Bishop Campbell.