“It is with great joy that I welcome all of you,” Archbishop John J. Myers told candidates in a Call to Continuing Conversion service at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark.

Two separate services, in the morning for Essex and Union counties and afternoon for Bergen and Hudson counties, were held Feb. 12. At both the 650 candidates and their sponsors were joined by clergy, family and friends. “We are all called to conversion,” the archbishop declared.

Calling it a “wonderful liturgy,” the archbishop in his homily cited the candidates for their commitment to “full communion into the Church.” Looking out at the congregation, he said, “We welcome you, we share your joy.”

Satan, Archbishop Myers noted, “keeps enticing us….We can be with God and Satan cannot.” He reminded the candidates that “the only way is the Father’s way. Jesus Christ is the message and the hope.”

After the names of candidates were read aloud, Archbishop Myers asked their sponsors four questions as to whether they had listened to the apostles’ instruction proclaimed by the Church, come to a deeper appreciation of their baptism, reflected sufficiently on Church tradition and advanced “in the life of love and service to others.” To each questions there was a resounding “yes.”

Following the act of recognition, in which Archbishop Myers said, in part, “The Church recognizes your desire to be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit and to have a place at Christ’s eucharistic table,” the Cathedral Basilica broke out in applause led by the archbishop.

Candidate Danielle Leno, from St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Cedar Grove, used one word to describe her reaction to the service: “honored.” Her sponsor, Barbara Trevisan, added, “I am certainly honored.”

Home ~ Classified Ads ~Advertise in the Advocate Archives Editorial: tobingre@rcan.org