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Friends in the faith

Katie Collins | Catholic Herald

Catholic convert Brooke Dorner (far left) and RCIA students (from left) Sami Cessna and Karen Flores Garcia join convert Vinicio Granados and Fr. Jason Weber, parochial vicar of the Cathedral of St. Thomas More, in a prayer for conversion at a Lenten dinner hosted by Friends of RCIA March 31.

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Yleem Poblete, who helps lead the new ministry Friends of RCIA, gives a prayer card to RCIA student Jeffrey Church during a Lenten dinner at the cathedral.

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There’s a new group in the Arlington Diocese whose prayers
pack a punch. Friends of RCIA is a ministry of converts and
cradle Catholics at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in
Arlington who are bursting with love for God and the Catholic
faith. And they channel that love into prayers for Rite of
Christian Initiation of Adults students and help would-be
Catholics feel connected to the parish community.

Although there has been an informal prayer group for RCIA the
past few years, Friends of RCIA officially started last fall.
Father Jason Weber, parochial vicar of the cathedral, teaches
RCIA and said the group gives parishioners “a responsibility
in the local evangelization work of the church.” As
Catholics, it is important to take up a mission, he said,
“something we know is Christ’s work.”

Each year in the United States, about 100,000 to 150,000
individuals are received into the church, according to the
Official Catholic Directory. In the Arlington Diocese, about
900 people will enter into full communion with the church at
Easter. This number includes catechumens, who will receive
baptism, confirmation and first Eucharist, and candidates,
who will complete their initiation into the church by
receiving confirmation and first Eucharist.

Yet those who work in evangelization, including Father Weber,
note that many of these new Catholics gradually will fall
away from the church.

While there have been no recent studies conducted to confirm
the extent of the drop-off, “anecdotally, many local parishes
report that retaining the catechumens and candidates (after
reception into the church) can be a challenge,” said Jeannine
Marino, assistant director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat
of Evangelization and Catechesis, who also has led RCIA.

“However there are dioceses and parishes out there that are
striving to improve that experience,” Marino said. Success
stories emerge when RCIA programs “really are using the
process itself leading up to Easter to highlight the life of
the larger parish” and help new Catholics feel part of the
faith community, she said.

Friends of RCIA is a program that does just that.

“It is building community right from the onset,” said Yleem
Poblete, who with her husband, Jason, leads the new group.

The couple and a number of other Friends of RCIA hosted a
dinner for RCIA students March 31 in the cathedral’s Burke
Hall. Throughout Lent, different cathedral ministries have
hosted weekly meals to welcome and get to know candidates and
catechumens in an informal setting.

Along with sharing the Lenten meal, group members pray for a
specific student during their conversion journey and give
them a small gift, such as a rosary or prayer card, following
their entrance into the church at the Easter Vigil. The name
of the person praying for each student is kept private until
Easter.

Group members also pray for the whole RCIA class and hold
monthly social gatherings for the students.

Ongoing faith formation is an important component of the
group as well. There has been a talk on Marian devotions and
a rosary-making class, and group members attended the
diocesan pilgrimage together in October.

Sharing spiritual zeal

At last week’s dinner, it was evident that Friends of RCIA
and the students mutually enrich each other’s faith lives.

The RCIA students come to Catholicism with questions and
concerns, but they also come with an enthusiasm and
appreciation that is contagious, said Jason Poblete.

“I think one of the neat things about RCIA, especially for us
cradle Catholics, is there’s this energy that you have from
recent RCIA members that I think every Catholic should see,”
he said. “Their sharing with us gives us strength.”

When converts first come into the church, “they have a kind
of zeal that we admire,” added lifelong Catholic Evelyn Luis.

“We renew it every Easter; we renew it when we take the holy
water and bless ourselves,” Luis said. “We have to keep in
mind that’s what we want to remain with us – that zeal – and
to touch others with it.”

Lance Gardner, 70, recently went through RCIA at the
cathedral. Entering the Catholic Church “has been one of the
best experiences of my life – as a child, as a young adult,
as a senior,” he said. But he knows firsthand it can be a
challenging process and that the RCIA students often need a
spiritual boost.

“I’ve found supporting others who are pursuing their faith –
whether candidates or catechumens – is especially important,”
said Gardner. “It’s a huge leap that they have made, and they
still have the opportunity to opt out. So if we have any
opportunity to support them, it’s important to.”

Friends of RCIA member Esther Williams, who was drawn to the
meditative beauty and saints in Catholicism, is a
self-proclaimed “Catholic newbie.”

“I felt very strongly about encouraging other newbies and to
befriend them and let them know they’re not alone,” she said.
“A lot of times when new people join they feel like
outsiders, and I think it’s very important for them to know
that they have supporters behind them.

“It is said that we all have guardian angels,” she added.
“But we can also be those guardian angels – visible ones –
someone in the background that’s kind of hovering over them
in prayer, lifting them up.”

The knowledge that there are people like Williams praying for
her, “is very touching and humbling,” said RCIA student Helen
King. Raised Methodist, King was drawn to the faith when she
married her Catholic husband eight years ago. The conversion
process is not easy, so “it’s just comforting knowing there
are people praying for you,” she said. “It makes you feel
welcome.”

Stephen Condon grew up Lutheran but started to gravitate
intellectually toward the Catholic Church in college. For
him, the ministry helps push him to keep studying and
learning about his soon-to-be faith.

“Just like any other class, sometimes you need a little extra
motivation,” Condon said. “And just sort of stopping and
thinking about the people who are praying for my success –
that’s really motivation.”

Friends of RCIA wants to keep converts motivated and excited
about the Catholic faith long after the Easter Vigil.

“These new members of the church are filled with the Holy
Spirit, but you want to keep that fire burning,” said Yleem
Poblete.

“You’ve just made a big decision, you’ve decided to join a
new religion,” added Jason Poblete. “But that’s really just
the first step.”

To live as a Catholic, you of course need the sacraments, he
said. To continue to live the faith fully, however, “you need
to see community.”

Father Weber hopes Friends of RCIA continues to cultivate
that sense of community and spiritually benefit both lifelong
and new Catholics.

“We are all part of the body of Christ,” he said. “So the
prayers and the sacrifices that one person offers are not
only beneficial for the person being interceded for but for
the person who is interceding and for the whole church.”

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