An estimated 150 people preparing to receive the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist at Easter Vigil Masses throughout the diocese participated in the Rite of Election on Sunday, Feb. 26 at Westerville St. Paul the Apostle Church.
The catechumens, a title that comes from the Greek word for “being instructed,” were joined at the ceremony by their sponsors and supporters. The Rite of Election takes place each year on the first Sunday of Lent with the local bishop or auxiliary bishop as the presider.
Catechumens are unbaptized adults who have received instruction at parishes for the past year to prepare for reception of the sacraments as members of the Catholic Church. The catechumens pre-signed the Book of the Elect.
The term “elect” refers to a discernment process with God inviting the catechumens into a fuller life of the sacraments.
Two parts of the rite include a sending and a receiving.
The sending refers to the catechumens being sent by their parishes to the Rite of Election to make a public pronouncement that they are ready to enter into a relationship with God through their participation in the life of the Church.
The receiving is done when the catechumens announced their names, and a local bishop or auxiliary bishop invites them to enter their name (done in advance this year) into the Book of the Elect.
After the catechumens were received, Bishop Earl Fernandes, for the first time as the bishop of the Diocese of Columbus, signed the Book of the Elect and the catechumens go forward as Members of the Elect.
The new bishop greeted the catechumens in his homily, making references to the Scripture readings and Gospel proclaimed at the ceremony.
He mentioned that the Gospel reading of Jesus’ temptation by the devil in the desert came immediately after the passage in St. Matthew referring to Jesus’ own baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.
“Jesus was declared at his baptism as the Son of God, and through baptism you become adopted sons and daughters of God,” Bishop Fernandes said.
The bishop made several references to the season of Lent and how Jesus resisted temptations of the devil through God’s word, and He brings man out of the slavery of sin through His suffering and death.
“You who will be baptized will be baptized into the life of the one true God Who alone is worthy of worship and adoration,” Bishop Fernandes said.
He later added, “Through sharing in His death and resurrection, you who will be baptized, sharing in His life, will have the possibility of eternal life. For the gift is not like the transgression (of Adam). It far surpasses it.”
And, he said, “through baptism we become children of a loving and merciful Father.”
“The whole church of the Diocese of Columbus now journeys with you toward the joy of Easter,” the bishop concluded in his homily. “Be assured of our love and our prayers as you journey toward becoming sons and daughters of God, equipped with the word of God, the virtues of faith, hope and charity and especially of humility, trusting in God’s merciful love for you.”
