Incarnation

RCIA IS ALIVE AND WELL AT INCARNTION PARISH

written by: John Goldstein

Published in The Tablet week of 4/18/09

A few days before the Easter Vigil, Gladys Garcia, the RCIA coordinator at Incarnation Parish in Queens Village, arrived early for the last gathering of the catechumens before their initiation into the Church, and as she has done for the last several years, arranged the tables and chairs and put before each place the materials that the group would use for their current session.

Gladys is a busy person, and the only way she is able to get everything done is through preparation, attention to essential details, and a focus on objectives.

These characteristics have served her well, not only for the RCIA, but also for all the other things she does. Over the last few years, while working a full time job, she has managed to receive a M.B.A. from Dowling College and a graduate certificate in theology from St. John's University. She also completed training in Pastoral Ministry at the Pastoral Institute, helps train others, especially the Spanish-speaking trainees, is a Eucharistic Minister in her parish, as well as its RCIA Coordinator, and until recently had been a member of the Advisory Board of Catholic Charities. Her full time job for a company that produces electronic equipment used domestically and abroad requires her to always keep a suitcase packed. She is often called upon at the last minute to trouble-shoot a contract that she helped negotiate. Sometimes she must leave for a few days to go to the West Coast, but other times she leaves for longer periods to travel to South America, Europe, or Asia. And somehow through all of this she manages to spend time with her grandchildren.

Given her busy schedule, the RCIA is additional work, but it is rewarding. Over the last five years, Gladys will have helped 55 catechumens become fully initiated in the Church. Many blend in well with regular church goers, but others stand out. A married couple, for example, who entered the Church together a few years ago from a non-Christian religion, almost immediately went on a trip to the Holy Land to see first hand where Jesus walked. They brought back water from the River Jordan where Jesus had been baptized, and they talked enthusiastically about the sites they had visited that were related to the life of Jesus.

Another former candidate, who had been brought up in another Christian tradition, has enthusiastically embraced Catholicism. She became a lector, serves on the parish council, and is currently studying at night for a master's degree in theology at St. John's University. Like Gladys, she too has a full time job that keeps her busy, as a high ranking official in City government.

"While each of the catechumens is different, and will participate or have participated differently in the life of the Church, I believe all have been led to the Church by the same Spirit." says Gladys, who points to the RCIA class of two years ago.

Savitri (Pam) Sahibdeen was born in Guyana of Indian parents and was raised a Hindu. She married a Guyanese man, a Catholic of Indian parentage. Pam and her husband moved to Queens where her children and grandchildren were born. All were raised Catholic, and for many years Pam would attend Mass at Incarnation Parish with her husband, children, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. She sang the Gloria with the congregation and recited the Creed, but when others went to Communion, she remained in the pew. "I wanted to be a Catholic," said Pam, "but I never took the step." Then one day Pam suddenly, to the surprise of her family, said, "It's time." She spoke with the pastor, Father Joseph A. Ceriello, and he arranged for her to join the RCIA group when it began that fall.

Pam's sudden decision resonates with Maharani Singh. Maharani lives in the neighborhood of Incarnation Parish with her mother and teenage daughter. She had often walked past the church, without giving it a thought. Then one day, without any previous thought on the matter, she impulsively went inside. It was Sunday and the 10:30 Mass was being celebrated. Maharani sat in the back and listened while the pastor gave a homily about God's call to each person. After Mass, while the congregation was filing out of the church, the pastor stood outside and exchanged greetings with them. Maharani approached him and said, "Father, I think God is calling me to be a Catholic." That was four years ago, and at the Easter Vigil two years ago Maharani was initiated into the Church with the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist.

"God calls each of us to know him and to love him, but he calls each of us in different ways, suited to the circumstances of our life and our personality," Gladys tells the catechumens. "Sometimes God calls in a sudden and unexpected way, but at other times the call has been present for a long time before we act. Sometimes God calls us directly and we experience it as an inner prompting, but at other times God calls us through people, as when we are influenced by someone who is Catholic."

Marvin Castro was born in Guatemala and was baptized as an infant but received no subsequent religious education or sacraments. He came to Queens when he was scarcely out of his teens. He found an apartment by chance, or so it seemed, in the same building where Kathy Gutierrez, a vivacious young woman, lived with her family. After several years of courtship, Kathy and Marvin decided to marry. Kathy was a practicing Catholic, who wanted to have a sacramental marriage. Marvin agreed and entered the RCIA program at Incarnation Parish. Although a baptized Catholic, Marvin needed to be fully initiated into the Church with the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist before he could receive the Sacrament of Marriage. Kathy, who needed the Sacrament of Confirmation prior to marriage, attended all of the sessions with Marvin. However, shortly after the Rite of Election on the First Sunday of Lent, when all the catechumens throughout the diocese go en masse to be welcomed by the bishop, a hitch developed in Kathy and Marvin's plans. No one in Guatemala could find Marvin's baptismal certificate. Because of the uncertainty of Marvin's baptism, he would have to be given conditional baptism, but that would have to take place in a private ceremony after Easter. Marvin participated in the liturgical preparation known as the Scrutinies that take place on the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent and which mark the final phase of the catechumen program. However, Marvin was resigned that he would not be able to participate in the initiation of the Easter Vigil. Then on Wednesday of Holy Week two years ago, Kathy and Marvin came to the last session before the Easter Vigil. Their smiles brightened the room. The mail of the previous day had brought with it Marvin's baptismal certificate.

Today, two years later, Kathy and Marvin are married, live in another parish, and are the parents of an eight month old girl. Pam Sahibdeen continues to attend Mass regularly with her family, but now joins them in receiving Communion. And Maharani Singh, the only member of her family who is Catholic, faithfully attends Sunday Mass and receives Communion.

"The journey of faith that the catechumens experience," say Gladys Garcia, "does not and should not end with their entry into the Church. The journey of faith for all of us is really a lifetime journey that day by day brings us closer to God."

That journey of faith will continue this year for seventeen catechumens who will be welcomed into the Church at the Easter Vigil by the pastor of Incarnation Parish, Father Joseph A. Ceriello.