CV NEWS FEED // In preparation for entering the Church this Easter, 17 U.S. military-affiliated catechumens pledged their fidelity to Jesus Christ March 9 by writing their names in the Book of the Elect at the Washington, D.C.-based main chapel of the Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS).
“Many people have said becoming Catholic is like coming back home,” Army wife and catechumen Mikeila Noelani Sain said, according to a March 11 AMS press release, “and I feel I’ve returned home, and now my family and my son — he’s five years old — can walk this path along with us.”
Wife to U.S. Army officer Alex Sain, Mikeila said it was after the birth of their son that she decided to convert to Catholicism. She said signing her name in the Book of the Elect was a special moment.
“It’s such an honor. I feel like it’s such a momentous occasion formally writing my name in the Book of the Lord, if you will,” Mikeila said. “It helps to really solidify my journey. It also represents for me that this is the real deal. This is the lifelong commitment, and I feel such an honor to be able to do this with everyone else.”
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the AMS delivered the homily at the March 9 Mass, encouraging the catechumens to seek God’s presence in their journey of conversion, especially during Lent.
“[Lent] reminds us all, but especially the catechumens, that this time of prayer, sacrifice, charity, and additional drawing near to the Lord Jesus serves to draw us closer to Almighty God,” he said.
The archbishop also emphasized the importance of remaining vigilant in the fight against temptation, urging the faithful to pray for the catechumens this Lenten season.
“So, as an archdiocesan Church, we gather with those aspiring to baptism here and around the world, and we commit ourselves to them, and pray for their perseverance up to their bath in the waters of rebirth during Easter Vigil,” he said.
Also among the catechumens was Airman First Class Christian Neil Knoblock, United States Air Force, of Joint Base Andrews.
“None of my family members are Catholic,” Knoblock said, according to the release. “More of them are protestant, so I just decided to go on a journey of truth and see what I could find, and I ended up with the Catholic Church.”
“I came to fall in love with it,” he added.
He explained that he loves the history of it, and the papacy’s roots tracing back to Saint Peter, as the first pope.
“Coming to find Jesus Christ in this Church was my true goal, and I did,” he said.
The catechumens will spend the remainder of Lent preparing to receive the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist at Easter.
