PORT ST. LUCIE | During a recent Sunday Mass at Holy Family Parish in Port St. Lucie, 20 people were publicly introduced to the parish community, asking the faithful to pray for them on their spiritual journey of discernment toward the Catholic Church.
Father Tri Pham, pastor of Holy Family, presided at the liturgy and welcomed the catechumens (those never baptized into any faith) and candidates for full communion with the church (baptized but seeking the sacraments of holy Eucharist and confirmation) in the Rite of Acceptance ceremony. Parishes throughout the Diocese of Palm Beach offer structured adult faith formation programs for people to explore the Catholic faith and become members.
“Walk in the light of Christ and learn to trust in his wisdom,” he said. “Permit yourself daily to his care so that you may come to believe in him with all your heart.”
With a public affirmation by the catechumens and candidates with their sponsors, the candidates signed their names to take this next step toward full membership in the church at the Easter Vigil next April. Bonnie Lay, an Order of Christian Initiation for Adults teacher at the parish, said there are seven unbaptized catechumens and 12 baptized candidates who had been baptized either in the Catholic Church or in other Christian churches.
The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is a key factor moving people to convert to Catholicism, especially since Blessed Carlo Acutis, a teen computer whiz who died at 15, documented the many Eucharistic miracles in the global church’s history.
Jack Sweatt, who is attending OCIA classes at Holy Family, said, “I was baptized Catholic, but I was raised on and off in nondenominational churches. I went to a Catholic Mass one day and I absolutely loved it and started doing research on Eucharistic miracles.”
He explained what happened to him spiritually. “When I went to Mass one day and heard Father Tri talk about Blessed Carlo Acutis, that was it for me, and so I guess it was the Holy Spirit.”
A mother and son, Betty and Tony, also attend Thursday evening OCIA classes at the parish. Betty was never baptized, but deep down she felt a yearning to learn more about the Catholic Church.
“I was never baptized, but I have always been brought up around Catholics,” she said. “We had a lot of deaths in the family, and they were Catholics.”
Then, after attending a funeral Mass at Holy Family and hearing the homily, Betty knew she had to learn more about the church. “It made me want to get connected with the Catholic Church,” she said.
Her son said, “After the death of my father not too long ago, we had the funeral service here and I wanted to have a stronger connection with God, learning what it means to be Catholic.”
Dora Manchon, who was received into the Catholic Church in April 2023, spoke to the OCIA class Oct. 17. Eucharistic adoration and the Mass are very important to her, and she leads a rosary group on TikTok. Manchon explained why she and her husband became Catholic.
“The very testimony of your faith is the way that you live. Everybody should know you are a Catholic,” she said. “Deacon Martin (Sandigo) gave me a quote from St. Augustine: ‘The truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself.’ Everybody knows that my husband and I are Catholic, and people watch the way that you live your faith.”
Manchon added, “Being close to Jesus in the Eucharist in the chapel or at Mass, even if you are not able to partake in the sacraments, having proximity to Jesus can change your life. The one thing I tell people when they say, ‘I’m struggling with this,’ is when I am sitting in the same room with the exposed Blessed Sacrament with close proximity to Jesus or when I go to Mass, how much better it is to sit with Jesus, and as Jesus said, ‘Can you not sit with me for one hour?’”
For direction on your faith journey, visit www.diocesepb.org/ministriesoffices/ministries/marriage-family-life-faith-formation-youth-ministry/faith-formation/. To learn more about OCIA classes at Holy Family in Port St. Lucie, call 772-335-2385. Classes meet Thursday nights at 7 in the parish hall community room.
