Diocese celebrates Rite of Election
Friday, Feb. 26, 2016
Intermountain Catholic
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Msgr. Colin F. Bircumshaw, diocesan administrator, receives the names of the newly enrolled catechumens into the Book of the Elect from deacons, religious education directors and RCIA leaders from throughout the diocese. IC photos/Christine Young
SALT LAKE CITY — The Catechumens were enrolled into the Book of the Elect in the Diocese of Salt Lake City during the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion of Baptized Candidates ceremonies held at the Cathedral of the Madeleine Feb. 13 and Feb. 20.
Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, Administrator of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, presided over each ceremony, with the deanery spiritual moderators also celebrating.
The rite for the Northern, Eastern and Southwest deaneries was celebrated Feb. 13; the Salt Lake Deanery and Wasatch Deanery rites were celebrated on Feb. 20.
Ruth Dillon, Office of Liturgy director for the Diocese of Salt Lake City, presented each parish to Msgr. Bircumshaw.
The 282 Elect and 160 Candidates each stood with their sponsors and godparents, who confirmed to Msgr. Bircumshaw that the Elect and Candidates were ready to receive the sacraments at the Easter Vigil and affirmed that the faithful community was ready to support the Elect and Candidates in their conversion and continued preparation.
In his remarks, Msgr. Bircumshaw welcomed those men, women and children from all over the diocese preparing for baptism into a new relationship with the Church, and those already baptized to a greater conversion during this Lenten season.
“God has been at work in each one of your lives since you were born, and every one of your stories is different, yet every story in a sense is the same,” he told the Elect and Candidates. “Your sponsors and godparents now know your stories and they need to be shared because they are gifts.”
Lent is a preparation time for the Candidates and Elect to recognize how God has chosen and continues to call them, and a reminder for those who are already members of the Church that God calls them to a deeper commitment; Msgr. Bircumshaw reminded them of their responsibility to that call.
Enrollment in the Book of the Elect means a desire to be holy and a friend of God – “a saint,” Msgr. Bircumshaw said. Friendship means turning to the Lord, “through whom we are baptized,” and turning away from sin, he said.
The process doesn’t end with baptism; Catholics believe conversion is a lifelong task. Through the Sacraments “we are made like him so we can live like him,” he said.
The Elect and the Candidates had various reactions to the celebration.
As the Rite of Election began, Rick Price from Saint Olaf Parish in Bountiful felt anxious, but “after I was enrolled, I felt calm,” he said, while Joseph Kalipetsis from Saint Joseph the Worker Parish in West Jordan felt peaceful, following the rite, he said.
“This is a great blessing,” said Amanda Christianson from Saint Francis of Assisi Parish in Orem when the ceremony was over.
Desiree and Mark Hausam and their eight children are Candidates; they were all baptized in a Protestant faith except the baby, who is under a year old. The family, St. Francis of Assisi parishioners, moved to Utah from Pennsylvania in 2000.
The rite “was a wonderful service; very moving,” said Desiree Hausam.
“Very interesting,” added Anna Hausam, a seventh grader.
Brittany and Tim Christiansen and their two daughters were also enrolled in St. Francis of Assisi Parish’s Book of the Elect.
“I am happy and excited,” said McKenzie Christiansen, a fifth grader.
“I feel good” about being one step closer to baptism, added her sister McKylie, a third grader.
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