The Catholic press continues to be filled with new articles highlighting the surge in people coming to the Catholic Church by receiving baptism at the Easter Vigil. Along with those catechumens are others completing their Sacraments of Initiation as candidates by receiving confirmation at that Mass. As a reminder, in the Diocese of Rockford, last year the number of catechumens and candidates was up forty percent of the previous year, a remarkable increase.
One of the countries where such an increase was documented was in France. There, a record number of people were documented coming for ashes on Ash Wednesday. On Holy Saturday last year, nearly 18,000 people came to be baptized, including some 7,400 young people.
Afterwards, the question was raised: was this
turnout merely a “fad” or did it represent something deeper? To attempt to answer that important question, a study was undertaken by a French Catholic journalist. His interviews with new or newly-returned Catholics give us much to reflect upon, whether we are cradle Catholics or new to the faith, whether we are old or young.
The journalist, Antoine Pasquier, found that the newly baptized often described their coming to faith as a process of slow but growing searching, often triggered by dissatisfaction with the culture built on “unstable foundations” and rejecting any notion of abiding truth. They described this unease as leading them to a spiritual searching involving often doubt, questioning and even a sense of being alone at the beginning.
Many mentioned that this search led them to the reading of the Bible. YouTube videos also helped them to explore the faith further but were found to
be insufficient alone because they experienced a growing desire to be with other members of the faithful in person.
Young people also responded to the questions with two other insights. First, they indicated that the season of Lent had a great importance in their journey to faith. They found it to be a structured period of time that was both understandable and short enough to concentrate their spiritual focus. During this period, many attended Mass for the first time after being invited by a friend. They also found an attraction to the Lenten demands, mentioning fasting in particular.
A second observation was that many came from families that had ceased to practice the faith. But they were still influenced by the presence in their lives of their faithful Christian grandmother. She held to the faith and sought, where possible, to pass it on to them. That influence had its effect eventually.
As we conclude our Lenten practices this year, it is good to be reminded of their importance by those coming to or back to the faith. Their appreciation of this penitential time should strengthen our own. Their reflections on that faithful grandmother should remind us that our own witness to the faith is never in vain. Others, even many we may not know, see and reflect on the faith practices that we live out. God makes use of us in ways we may not know until the next life.
Please pray for all of those who will be baptized or confirmed at the Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday night. Pray especially for those new members of the Catholic Church who begin, at that time, their walk in faith with us and with all the faithful through the ages.
May God bless you and your family this Easter Season. Christ is truly risen. Alleluia!
