“With grace in still greater measure”

Going through all of this and transitioning to Catholicism has been wonderful. And’s going to be a lot more wonderful. And there’s going to be more insight into what it means to be a Catholic and a Christian.”

William Tschannan, a candidate for Sacraments of Initiation at Easter

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Coey Chrisman had been going to Mass with her dad and her grandma her whole life.

But she’d never been baptized.

“It’s a great honor to finally take that step and be welcomed into the Church and proclaim my faith and be forgiven,” said Ms. Chrisman, who’s preparing for Baptism and full communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil at Immaculate Conception Parish in Brookfield.

She was one of 130 catechumens and 136 candidates for full communion with the Church who gathered in the Cathedral of St. Joseph with their families, their parish initiation teams and Bishop W. Shawn McKnight on Mar. 9 for the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion.

“I’m really grateful for this opportunity and the grace of God,” said Ms. Chrisman, who’s also preparing to be married in July.

Traveling from Linn County to Jefferson City with her and Sister Mary Rost SSND, pastoral associate at the Brookfield parish, was William Tschannan, who is becoming a member of St. Bonaventure Parish in Marceline.

Baptized and raised in a Christian faith community, Mr. Tschannan didn’t know much about Catholicism until he and his wife, Megan, began dating and going to Mass together.

Over time, he wanted to know more.

“Going through all of this and transitioning to Catholicism has been wonderful,” he stated. “And’s going to be a lot more wonderful. And there’s going to be more insight into what it means to be a Catholic and a Christian.”

He said he never felt pressured to become Catholic.

“My wife let me come into this on my own when I was ready, and it’s been a blessing,” he stated.

Mrs. Tschannan said it was important as the wife of someone who was not Catholic to let her husband make his own decision about this.

“And then, once they make that decision, it’s important to encourage and support them throughout all of the steps and accompany them to the services and congratulate them when everything is said and done,” she advised.

The Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion, held in cathedrals throughout the world on the First Sunday of Lent, is a significant milestone for those preparing to become committed, active members of the Catholic Church.

“You have been sent by your parish community to this special celebration in which the bishop personally and formally accepts you as members of the Elect and Candidates for the Easter Sacraments,” Bishop McKnight told the assembly.

Catechumens, now known as the Elect, are seeking Baptism and Confirmation at the Easter Vigil. Candidates have already been baptized and are seeking full communion with the Church.

“We are our best selves when we become who God created us to be, and are able to give him thanks!” the bishop said. “During this special Jubilee Year of Pilgrims of Hope, may your immersion into the mystery of Christ renew the hope of the whole Church as we bring to fulfillment the good work Christ has begun in us all.”

As part of the rite, each catechumen and candidate was summoned by name into the sanctuary and greeted by Bishop McKnight.

Godparents stood beside the catechumens, and sponsors stood beside the candidates as they answered the bishop’s questions and received his blessing.

During the Rite of Election, Bishop McKnight accepted the catechumens’ names into the Book of the Elect and urged the catechumens and candidates to spend the rest of Lent pursuing repentance and deeper conversion with the support of the Church.

The Book of the Elect is now on display through Lent in the Baptistry of the Cathedral.

“We celebrate as the Local Church that you have encountered God in this world despite the evils that are present in it,” Bishop McKnight told the candidates and the catechumens — now known as the Elect.

He encouraged them all to continue praying and preparing. Everyone else present promised to continue praying for them.

“We celebrate that you will become another light of Christ in a world so desperately in need of Jesus’s love,” the bishop told the candidates and the Elect. “And we look forward to you experiencing the joy of receiving Holy Communion for the first time at this Easter Vigil.”

In good company

People came from all directions to take part in the ceremony.

Heather Martin traveled from Fulton with her fiancé and their sons.

“I enjoyed it,” said Scott, who’s 8 and preparing to be baptized during the Easter Vigil. “The neatest part was shaking the bishop’s hand.”

He and his classmates at St. Peter School are preparing to receive his First Holy Communion this spring.

Ms. Martin grew up going to a little country church on Sundays with her family.

She started going to Mass on Wednesdays and Fridays when her sons started going to St. Peter School.

“And I kind of fell in love with how the Mass is,” she recalled.

She’s also enjoyed learning about being Catholic by watching her fiancé and his mother, as well as the boys.

“And since Scotty is in second grade, he’s getting ready to receive his First Communion,” she said. “So, I wanted to officially become Catholic because I want to be able to help him on his journey.”

Being initiated into the Catholic Church is a big commitment, but Ms. Martin believes it’s worth it.

“The culture and the traditions are just beautiful, and the churches are beautiful and everybody I’ve met has been so nice and welcoming,” she said.

“I really enjoy it,” she said. “And I don’t feel judged.”

She enjoyed the bishop’s greeting.

“Getting to shake his hand was probably the coolest thing about today,” she said. “And the number of people here! I think it’s amazing that so many people want to become part of the Catholic Church.”

“God was missing”

Evan Lissick is a junior at the University of Missouri and a student coaching assistant for the MU Tigers football team.

The Eden Prairie, Minnesota, native was baptized in the Catholic Church but raised without religion.

“It’s been kind of a long journey,” he said. “The Lord has been working in my life, and it took me a while to respond to his call.”

The Tigers’ impressive 2023 football season was a turning point for him.

“I got to be part of something incredible,” he said. “We accomplished a lot, but it felt like a little. And I think it was because I noticed that God was missing. I never wanted to feel like that again.”

He had been praying since he was little to be able to play football with people from his hometown.

“I ended up in a football field in Minnesota this past summer,” he recalled. “I was there just trying to learn from some really talented guys.

“So, I went there just to film the workout and maybe learn from some of the coaches,” he said. “And they were short some people, and asked, ‘Do you want to come in and work out with us?’”

Mr. Lissick quickly answered: “Absolutely!”

“I regretted that about 15 minutes into it, when I threw up!” he said. “But I finished the workout, and that’s when I realized that it didn’t look like I thought it would, but that prayer had been answered.”

He was praising the Lord as he got in his car, “and I felt him really just command me as loud as I’ve ever heard him to go to the Catholic church, right now,” said Mr. Lissick.

“Never having had an experience like that, I listened!” he said.

When he got to church, a deacon was there to help him sort through some questions and suggest he visit the St. Thomas More Newman Center on the MU campus in in Columbia.

“I put God at the forefront of my life, and it’s been a joy ever since,” he said.

What stood out to Mr. Lissick the most about the Liturgy with the bishop was the Bible verse written in large letters around the perimeter of the Cathedral: “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers,” (Acts 2:42).

“Adhering to the prayers and responsibilities that we have,” said Mr. Lissick. “To me, it’s such a beautiful thing that we get to be a part of. And it’s definitely transformed my life and the lives of others. It was beautiful to see.”

Prayer and accompaniment

Luke Mach from Nebraska and Julia Hejkal from Des Moines, Iowa, are campus missionaries with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) at the University of Missouri.

They attended the Rite of Election as sponsors for people from the university who are entering the Church.

Mr. Mach said being a sponsor involves accompanying people on their walk.

“Really, what we’re called to within the Church is to be a light to, be an example for the candidates and catechumens, and then to guide and lead them toward the truth of the Church,” he said.

Ms. Hejkal said it boils down to being a role model for the person who’s coming into the Church, of what it means to live a Christian life.

“Honestly, the biggest part of being a sponsor is praying for the person Jesus has entrusted you with,” she said.

“And like the bishop said, working with Jesus and the graces that he’s bestowing on his children right now, and praying for those graces to come to fulfillment at Eastertime and for the rest of their life,” she said.

“It’s truly a gift that through that person, Jesus chose us to be a part of this journey with them,” she stated. “And loving them and supporting them in that way is the biggest thing you can do.”

“Toll on the soul”

“I spent a decade running from God, at pretty break-neck speeds at some point, but he finally caught up with me,” said Jacob Fitzgibbon, a student at the Missouri University of Science & Technology in Rolla.

He grew up in a Christian family, but he found the teachings and traditions of his congregation to be lacking.

He became friends with several Catholics and was inspired by their passion and intellect and how they justify what they believe.

He was also struck by their steadfast humility.

“I found their faith to be very genuine as I talked to them more about it,” he said. “It felt like less of a lifestyle choice and more of a really personal decision.”

The more Mr. Fitzgibbon learns about being Catholic, the more sense it makes to him.

“I’ve received the Sacrament of Baptism already, and I feel the Holy Spirit,” he said. “But now, I’m becoming more familiar with the idea of being in a state of grace, and how the Sacraments bring us closer to God and how mortal sins take us farther away from him.”

The clarity of the Church’s teachings on these matters appeals to him.

“The toll on the soul is there,” he said. “There’s no sin that doesn’t have a price.

“So, what I’m expecting to get as I get further into a state of grace is, along with a stronger sense of conviction, which I think will drive me to do better, I’m looking forward to the fruits of good labor manifesting itself in my life,” he stated.

“New things”

Auston Obsuth, a St. Augustine, Florida, native, came to Rolla to play men’s collegiate volleyball and study engineering management at Missouri S&T.

It had been his life’s dream.

“I played volleyball for a season and then I didn’t feel like I was getting the fulfillment out of it that I had imagined when I was in high school,” he said.

He began searching for more.

He left the volleyball team and “tried everything on campus and everything Rolla has to offer.”

He had been wrestling with being Catholic.

“I’d been baptized and received my First Communion, but my family has been only nominally Christian in recent years,” he said.

He found how difficult life without God and the Church can be.

Working at the Student Success Center on campus, he came into contact with Victoria Allen, who was a FOCUS missionary on campus.

“Every Friday, when we had our office hours together for about a year, I would talk to her about faith, about Catholicism and about God in general,” said Mr. Obsuth.

Those conversations helped him decide to sign up for the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) and learn more about Catholicism.

“And through learning a lot of things and having a lot of my questions answered — especially about the clergy, the pope, what a saint is — all the things I think people who come from a Reformed Christian view doubt or have questions about,” he said.

Those things have now been largely settled for him.

“I’ve realized that I’m not going to know everything,” said Mr. Obsuth, “so I made a decision to push those doubts aside and trust my intuition and trust what I do know, and make a commitment to something that’s greater than me.”

“Keep going”

Mr. Obsuth noted that many college students are searching for meaning and to do things that really matter.

“So, it’s good to get involved and push yourself to explore new things,” he said. “Embrace that spirit, go and try to learn and ask questions, and you’ll be surprised at what you can figure out.”

Ms. Martin said she intends to stay active in her parish and bring her family to parish events.

“When the church has activities or festivals or during Lent when we have fish frys or whatever, It helps remind us to keep coming back to church and not leave your faith behind,” she said.

“Keep going,” she advised. “If you miss Sunday, don’t be like, ‘Okay, I’m done.’ Don’t give up. Just keep in mind what you’re going for, and keep on going!”

Gary Micka, a member of the OCIA team at St. Patrick Parish in Rolla, is serving as a sponsor to several students through the initiation process.

“It is my greatest privilege and honor to continue on this path with you,” he told them. “If you have questions, keep asking. “Most topics are either broad and shallow, or narrow and deep. The Catholic faith is broad and very deep. The Church will never cease to be a source of interest, excitement and challenge.”