Cardinal Wilton Gregory celebrated a special Mass of Rites of Initiation on May 24 at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Takoma Park, in which 18 students from neighboring Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School and a student from Elizabeth Seton High School in Bladensburg received sacraments to become full members of the Catholic Church. Students interviewed about the experience listed faith, family and a sense of belonging as inspirations on their spiritual journeys that led them to receive the sacraments.
Father Lenny Carlino, a Salesian of Don Bosco priest who serves as the theology department chairperson at Don Bosco Cristo Rey, led this unique Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program for the students.
During his homily, Cardinal Gregory spoke to those receiving sacraments about the day's significance, and also to the congregation of their fellow students from Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School, which is sponsored by the Salesians of Don Bosco and The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.
“We’re going to do something very important. The Church is going to grow today, the Church will grow,” Cardinal Gregory said, noting that the day was important, not only for those students receiving the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. He said people might think, “It's going to happen to them,” but he added, “No, it’s going to happen to us. The Church grows because of what these 19 young people are going to experience.”
The cardinal compared this to the United States gaining citizens or a sports team gaining a new player and how the act of gaining members improves the larger group in both instances.
“The whole team has the possibility of becoming winners, because some people with special talents and gifts join that team. That’s what we’re celebrating today. We have new winners that are going to join the team of the Church,” Cardinal Gregory said. “They’re going to become more perfectly members of the family of faith.”
According to the cardinal, the families of those joining the Church will also be impacted. He noted that one student from Elizabeth Seton High School was among the students receiving sacraments. Tabitha Emakpor from Seton was confirmed at the Mass.
“Seton is going to be moved because of this young lady, and the entire Church will grow. Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. They are the steps that the Church celebrates that allows us to see how God’s Holy Spirit continues to make all of us more perfectly one family,” Cardinal Gregory said.
After the homily, the elect who were about to be baptized came to the front of the church. They were asked to renounce Satan and sin and to profess their belief in Jesus’ resurrection and the Holy Spirit.
Then, one by one, they were baptized in front of the congregation with their godparents beside them.
“Keep the flame of faith alive in your hearts,” Cardinal Gregory said.
Then the candidates who were already baptized, and the newly baptized elect, now wearing white robes, received lit candles from their sponsors, and they received the sacrament of Confirmation from the cardinal.
“Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit,” Cardinal Gregory told each one as he anointed their foreheads with chrism and called them by their Confirmation saints’ names. “Christ’s peace to you,” he told each one.
The elect included Elvis Orellana, Ashley Pineda, Diego Ocampo, Mia Lopez, and Syncere Harris. The candidates were Jeycy Ochoa, Grianny Cruz, Yandel Fabian, Luis Miguel, Leon Musyimi, Erick Garcia, Ashley Guevara, Antwan Solorzano, Isis Fuentes, Roselyn Hernandez, Lucia Mejia, Adair Santos Garcia, and Axel Hernandez.
Later in the Mass, the students received the Eucharist for the first time.
Earlier this spring, the Catholic Standard had the opportunity to speak with some of the students about their journeys in school and faith.
Luis Miguel, a member of the class of 2024 at Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School, said the decision to continue in the faith was personal.
“Being sent to Don Bosco was nice. I understand, I see the community, the family; I see the faith, and it kind of persuaded me a little bit to try out the RCIA since I was already baptized,” Miguel said.
For Miguel, being Catholic means forgiving mistakes and opening one’s mindset to other points of view – something he has worked hard to change within himself.
“Choosing to actually hear people out and see their mistakes, and understand them, it changes you a bit. That’s where the faith comes in. I learned something. You can’t judge someone off,” Miguel said. “You’ve got to let them be, and you’ve got to know them.”
Fellow senior Grianny Cruz said he wanted to feel finally connected to the Church and build a stronger connection with God. His sponsor was Guadalupe Castillo, an English teacher at Don Bosco Cristo Rey.
“I see at this school that it’s the community. The Catholic community is very empowering and very friendly towards everyone and accepting and welcoming of everyone,” Cruz said. “I just wanted to finally feel like part of the community, and I just really enjoyed it.”
Community is a cornerstone of Catholicism, according to Cruz.
“I feel like just being Catholic means just being able to connect in the house of God, being able to pray together, being able to forgive each other, being able to just do things together as a community, and just building that strong relationship with God and being able to go to His kingdom,” Cruz said.
Freshman Ashley Pineda said growing up, her grandmother was very religious. She shared why this step was important to her.
“My public school wasn’t the best. It was like, we would do everything the opposite way that God would want you to,” Pineda said. “That’s the most exciting part, growing my faith.”
Fellow freshmen Diego Ocampo said he has been going to church with his mother since he was in kindergarten, and realized he wanted to be baptized when he turned 15. He shared the impact Father Lenny had on him throughout this process.
“I love him as a teacher and as a person, like he’s a person that I look up to every day and inspires me to go to school, and if it wasn’t for Father Lenny, I wouldn’t have been close to God,” Ocampo said. “I wasn’t that close to God at the beginning of the school year, but as time went on, I got really close to Him.”
Freshman Elvis Orellana said he knew about God and Jesus, but it was not until he began to attend Don Bosco Cristo Rey that he started learning more about the faith, which drew him in.
Orellana said he shares his faith with his younger siblings.
“I do always influence them to always keep God in their lives, keep praying, always keep him in their mindset at least. I don’t really want to peer pressure them, but I will influence them to go towards that direction because I believe that’s what is best for them,” Orellana said.
