One journey ends, another begins...

My wife and I have been "officially" in the process of becoming Roman Catholic since September of last year. We've been part of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, MN. This last weekend was the big night, the Easter Vigil, when we were Confirmed and received our first Eucharist. A few friends have asked, so I thought I'd give a little synopsis of recent events:

Holy Week was an amazing week for us. We went to daily mass M, T, and W. On Holy Thursday, we went to the evening mass that begins the Triduum (three days of Christ's passion, death, and resurrection), which ended with a short (1 hr) vigil with Christ in "the garden" and a service of night prayer (Compline).

Friday morning, we watched "The Passion of the Christ" together (my wife had not seen it before), which set the tone well. We went to Stations of the Cross as the appropriately cloudy skies started to give way to rain. We reached the 12th station, the deacon read out "Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,' and he breathed his last," and there was this tremendous peal of thunder. It was chilling. That afternoon, we returned with my parents for the solemn liturgy of Good Friday, complete with veneration of the cross. Tears were shed.

Saturday began with a service of morning prayer and a rehearsal for the evening. We returned home to find my wife's family from out-of-town had arrived, so we went out to lunch and spent the rest of the day in preparation for the evening and night.

The Easter Vigil on Saturday night...well, I could go on and on. Let's just say it was absolutely glorious. Personally, when we were called to come forward, my heart began pounding as I moved closer and closer to the Archbishop for Confirmation, but when my time came, a sort of excited calm descended. The Archbishop anointed me, and I was saturated with joy that still, quite frankly, hasn't worn off. Our first Eucharist was stimulating, bringing forth a feeling of unprecedented connection both to Jesus and to his Church. (As a sidelight, I forgot to say "Amen" to the words "Body of Christ" until I had the host in my mouth...d'oh! Actually, subsequent masses have provided further venues to reflect on the profound gift the Eucharist is.) After the Vigil, we went home with family, sponsors, our RCIA director and his wife, and another Catholic convert who's a neighbor, to enjoy some drinks and hors d'oeuvres.

One further thing: at the Easter Sunday service, my wife & I were asked to bring the bread & wine forward. It is amazing to do so in the mammoth Cathedral. The Archbishop was again presiding, and he greeted us with a smile and "Good to see you again," and, turning to my wife, "Short night, huh?"

After Easter mass, we went home with family to a huge Easter feast. However, with the bit of dessert wine we had with our fabulous homemade carrot cake (thank you, honey!), the lack of sleep (we got about 4 hours on Saturday night) started kicking in as the adrenaline high was wearing off. We might have even been in bed before 8 PM.

New reflections on the profundity of our reception into the Catholic Church come often, including being part of a Church with a 2,000 year history; of being united with the Pope, our Archbishop, as well as billions of Catholics around the world; of receiving body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus in the Eucharist; and also, admittedly, of looking at recent unhappy news items and thinking, "this is our Church."

Gratitude and joy, peace and excitement. That's what I feel. I imagine that this is but a honeymoon stage, but honeymoons are meant to celebrate what has happened and what is to come. I welcome it!