5/28/22

How St. Francis of Assisi’s RCIA Program Changed Me

By Katherine Cullen, MFA, LMSW

If you had told me one or two years ago that I would convert to Catholicism, I would not have believed you. I was convinced I wasn’t “good enough” to set foot inside a church—let alone a Roman Catholic one. 

My parents had me baptized and raised in the Protestant faith. But when their marriage ended in 2001 and two airplanes tore through the Twin Towers 80 blocks south of my home in Manhattan, my faith faltered. I drifted away from the church, from prayer, and ultimately from the moral and spiritual structure these practices gave me. It took me two decades to find my way back to a relationship with God. And that reunion would not have been possible without the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program at St. Francis of Assisi Church.

I first came to St. Francis on November 27th, 2021 with the man who would later that year become my husband. He was a Catholic, and I had implored him to bring me to one of the Masses he spoke so fondly about and regularly attended. I was nervous as we ambled up the steps at the church’s entryway, fearful someone might tell me I wasn’t fit to be here. That I didn’t belong. Yet the sight of two smiling ushers assured me, and their greeting encapsulated how I instantly felt in this place of worship: Welcome. Further assurance arrived as my future husband pointed out that to the right of our pew was a statue of St. Andrew Kim—the saint whose feast day falls on my birthday.

I followed the lead of the parishioners around me, standing and sitting, kneeling, and praying as they did. As readers came and went from the lectern, as Father Barry delivered a homily on how the latest movie he’d seen applied to the Gospel, my concern that I would feel like an outsider given my ignorance of the Catholic liturgy melted away. Though I wasn’t familiar with every detail of the Mass, I was nevertheless so very moved by and inexplicably woven into it. As I watched a beautifully diverse line of people process towards the altar to receive the Eucharist, I wanted to know how I could become a part of this community.

Several days of Googling “how to become a Catholic” later, I reached out to Joe Nuzzi, Director of Evangelization at St. Francis of Assisi Church, to inquire about the parish’s RCIA program. He invited me to sit in on that evening’s class. The topics alone—salvation history, earthly versus mystical conceptions of time—were enough to sell me on officially enrolling. But what stuck out so profoundly to me was the warmth, wisdom, and down-to-earth-ness of the RCIA volunteer staff, other students, and most of all, of Joe himself.

Every Tuesday from that day until my confirmation on April 16, 2022 became a day I looked forward to all week, no matter how tired my day job left me. So too did each Sunday, when us catechumens (or RCIA students) were dismissed from the 5pm Mass to “Break Open The Word” and reflect on the context, meaning, and personal resonance of Jesus’s life and teachings.

The energy and enthusiasm sparked by our weekly sessions sustained me through even the hardest of days doing field based social work with severely mentally ill adults, coping with my father’s Alzheimer’s, and discerning what the next steps of my career were. Through them, I learned how to make more room for God in my heart. This might explain why I found myself becoming more loving, calmer, hopeful, and spiritually stronger as the RCIA program progressed.

I believe that the insight, sense of belonging, healing and growth I have experienced is a unique function of the community and staff at St. Francis of Assisi Church. I strongly encourage anyone curious to learn more about the Catholic faith to explore our parish’s RCIA program—and for already confirmed Catholics wishing to deepen their spirituality and sense of community, to sponsor a catechumen. If your experience is anything like mine it will be nothing short of life changing.

Each year the friars at the Church of St. Francis remember fathers and father figures, living and deceased, in a week of prayer starting on Father’s Day.  This year, Father’s Day cards were offered to remember the following:

(these are listed in the order in which they were received)

Anthony Cerchio, deceased

Gregory Paul Conyers

Tom Hopkins

Fr. Michel Francis Falce 

Fr. Peter Poonoly

Rt. Rev. Paul Moore,Jr

President Joseph Biden

Francesco Nuzzi

Padre Santiago Mallen Temme, CSSR

Thomas Aquinas Gilbride

Charles Francis Gilbride

Joseph Fagan 

Edward Cooper

John Sheridan

Joseph John Gilbride

Francisco Castro Astacio

Axel Molina

Gary Savage

Dave Conyers

Bruce M. Vigliotta

Kevin Romero

Enrique Tavarez, Adrian Hernandez

Anthony Hughes

Louis DiDio

Joseph Cialdella

Alvin  Rico, Carlo Divinagracia, Butch, Jeff, Brian and Erwin Valenciano, Alfredo Diaz, Silvio Toro

Alfredo Ranola, Clemente Ranola, Robert Ranola, Henry Ranola, Edward Cohen, Daniel Cohen, Mario A. Regalado

Edward Jefferson Francisco, Mykel Allan Regalado, Myro Angelo Regalado, Tyrone Bernales

Fermin Candia

Ernesto Policarpio, Jr., Armando Hugo, Jr., Ernest J. Liguori, Dimalanta Ranola

Christian Hogarth

Jim Clancy, Stephen Williams

Sean Clancy, James Bell

Vinny Clancy, James Cavanagh, Larry O’Conner, Dean Chris Wagner

Phil Guarrosi, Vick Emanuel Felix

Bob Cosgrove, Vito Arena, Bernard Clancy

Anthony Zangla, Joseph Arena, Sal Macchione, Ralph Santiago, Joseph Zangla, Mark Weiner, Nick Bibbo, Vinny Puleo, Tony, Jim Conza, Terry Guinness, Michael O’Connor, Tim O’Connor, Stephen Mahi, John Massotti

Sean Bel-Fitzgerald

Luis Torres, Lee Turner, Leocadio Molina, John Joe Gilleece

Teofil, Francis, Paul, John Zaremski, 

Joseph Rutkowski, Michael and James Rutkowski, Richard Burgess

Bobby Adlawan, Fernando A. Lacerona

Fermin Candia, Ernest J. Liguori, Dimalanta J. Liguori

Dieudonne Berthana, deceased 

The Friars and Staff would like to thank the hundreds of people who came to pray with us yesterday for the Feast of St. Anthony. What a joy it was to have the church full— mass after mass and your voices ringing from the rafters. Mark your calendars for next year, June 13, 2023- the feast will fall on the 13th Tuesday.

It will be a grand celebration.

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Flowers were donated to adorn the church and give thanks to God for St. Anthony on his special day by parishioners and visitors with prayers and intentions.  We add our prayers as we ask for St. Anthony to intercede for these and for all who are devoted to this beloved saint.

IN MEMORY OF:

Ginny Carrington
For the members of the Cipriani family
Galina Davidic
Nelida Dumeng
Beulah Estwick
Frances Fakouri
Catherine Gavia
Caesar & Jeanne Garcia
Anthony Giovino, Sr
For the members of the Giovino and Cino families
Teddy Gonzales
Adrinenne Gunther & Family
Mercedes Gunther
Thomas Gunther
Kennedy Gunther
Johnny Gunther
The Gunther Family
Diane & Butch Istre
Gaitri Khan
Todd Lippincott and Family
Lisa Martin
Bill Minor
Janice & Joyce Morrissey
Chrissy Nelson
Samantha Nicole Pablo
Samuela Perrotto
Sophia Angela Regalado
Father George P. Reilly, OFM
Janet Rhorer
John, Grace, Johnny Rible
Toni Romero
Jaime San Juan
Jussein San Juan
Cathy de los Santos
James & Joyce Schanck
Jessie Q. Sotto
Jose Uy
Gregoria Mendoza Uy
Deceased members of Vitti and Conetta Families
Josh Williams and Family
Vera James
Thomas & Theresa

FOR THE SPECIAL INTENTIONS OF:

In thanksgiving to St. Anthony and for peace in Ukraine

Agatha Afriyie
Jose Aquino
Clara Ayala
For the special intentions of the Cavanaugh Family
Theresa Concert
Natalie Danna
Deborah DiRago
Paula Fencini
Masda Figaro
Jonathan Fitzgerald
Anthony Giovino
Louis Giovino
Mary and Sam Giovino
Giovino Family
Antony Kozhipatt
Mrs. Gloria Pascual
Marie Pohl
Nicholas Scott
Ouida Scott
Renaldo Scott
Samuel Scott
Healing for Barbara & Henry Sonntag
In Thanksgiving for my daughter Tricia and for her special intentions. Thank you St. Anthony