Of your charity, please pray for the 633 men, women, and children who are due to become Catholic this Easter across the Diocese of Lansing. That's the highest number of Easter converts in over a decade.
“God is good! Last year saw a 30% spike in the number of converts. This year the number is higher still. It’s quite incredible and a beautiful reminder that, by the grace of God, wonderful things are happening across the Diocese of Lansing in this present moment,” says Craig Pohl, Director of the Office of New Evangelization for the Diocese of Lansing, March 14.
“Let us continue to pray and work, especially during this penitential Lenten season, that our kindly words and vitreous lives will draw evermore people across our diocese to Jesus Christ and His Holy Church whereupon they will surely find their greatest peace, meaning, and joy in this life and in the next.”
Last weekend saw Bishop Earl Boyea tour the diocese for three Rite of Election ceremonies. They were hosted at Christ the King parish in Ann Arbor, Holy Family parish in Grand Blanc, and Saint Mary Cathedral parish in Lansing, involving some 251 Catechumens and 382 Candidates each of whom will be received into the Church, or complete their Sacraments of Initiation, in 63 parishes across the Diocese of Lansing during this year’s Easter Vigil on Saturday, April 19.
A Catechumen is an unbaptized person preparing to receive all three Sacraments of Initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist – while a Candidate is a baptized Christian seeking full communion with the Catholic Church.
The Rite of Election is the liturgical ceremony, celebrated during the season of Lent, when Catechumens transition from being mere "inquirers" to being officially chosen by the Church as the "elect". That is, deemed by the Church as ready to receive the Sacraments of Initiation. To signify this, their names are also enrolled in a Book of the Elect.
Please keep all 633 men, women and children in your prayers between now and Easter. Our Lady, Mother of the Church, pray for them.
