Perth Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton welcomed 83 people to the threshold of the Catholic Church last Thursday night and invited them to enter fully through the Sacraments at the Easter Vigil on Saturday March 22.
The ceremony, known as the Rite of Election, was held at Greenwood
Parish church for people who have been preparing themselves for many
months through the RCIA program (the Rite of Christian Initiation of
Adults).
There were 44 Catechumens who will be baptised and confirmed and will
receive their first Communion, and 39 Candidates who have already been
baptised in other Christian groups and will be received fully into the
Catholic Church through the ceremony of reception and the Sacraments of
Confirmation and the Eucharist.
All were accompanied by godparents or sponsors and in many cases family and friends as well as catechists and RCIA team members.
They came from 17 parishes and from the Chinese and Indonesian Catholic Communities.
After being recommended by their godparents and sponsors and accepted
by the Church, each of the catechumens and candidates was introduced to
Bishop Sproxton and had the opportunity for a private chat with him.
They will be received into the Church fully in their own parishes during the Easter Vigil ceremonies.
In his homily, Bishop Sproxton told the 83 catechumens and candidates that they had been chosen by God.
“God has chosen you personally, possibly in preference to your brother or your sister, your mother or your son,” he said.
“He wants you to understand that he has chosen you to be a witness of
your faith so that other people may be drawn to Jesus by the changes
they see in you.
“It may be they see that you have asked for forgiveness, that you know you are not perfect, but you have faith and hope.
“The reason you have been given the gift of faith is so that others may be drawn towards it.”
The parishes involved in last Thursday’s ceremony were Applecross,
Bateman, Clarkson, Fremantle, Girrawheen, Glendalough, Greenmount,
Greenwood, Kwinana, Lesmurdie, Lockridge, Lynwood/Langford, Morley,
Ocean Reef, Port Kennedy, Willeton and Whitford, together with the
Perth Chinese Catholic Community and the WA Indonesian Catholic
Community.