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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2008 /  New life for 1,407 at Easter

by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published March 28, 2008

Shawn D. Ellis | The Michigan Catholic Five-year-old Erica McGraw, who was baptized at St. Ambrose Parish in Grosse Pointe Park with her siblings Corey and Carrigan, holds a candle at the Easter Vigil. Her mother, Bobi Morey, and older sister, McKenna McGraw, were confirmed at the Mass. They were among 1,100 people entering the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil last Saturday.

Metro Area — Last Saturday night, the parish community at St. Ambrose Church in Grosse Pointe Park witnessed what for Bobi Morey, her four children and her husband, Steven McGraw, was a life-changing moment.

At the Easter Vigil, pastor Fr. Timothy Pelc traced the sign of the cross on her forehead, and she received the gift of the Holy Spirit, for which she'd longed for years. Her friend and next-door neighbor was at her side sponsoring her. Her daughter McKenna, 8, also was confirmed and received the Eucharist with her mother.

At the same liturgy, Morey watched as the waters of baptism flowed over the heads of her other three young children, each of whom had been adopted from China.

"It was amazing," said Morey of the experience. "I could not have written a better story to our life. It was just an amazing, amazing journey."

The journey made by Morey and her family was just one of several journeys the parish family at St. Ambrose witnessed this year. And it was one of many, many more that happened across the Archdiocese of Detroit.

This Easter Sunday, more than 1,100 people entered the Catholic Church through parishes in the archdiocese. Another 300 Catholics received the gift of the Holy Spirit through the sacrament of confirmation.

And not only has each one of them received the all-important gift of inclusion into God's holy family on Earth, but each one gave a new gift of life to the Church that welcomed them.

"Each person is a wonderful story coming into the Church," said Chuck Dropiewski, pastoral minister at St. Ambrose Parish. "It's wonderful for all parishioners to see all the new faces in the worshiping assembly. People are finding new life there, and it's because they're bringing it in."

Shawn D. Ellis | The Michigan Catholic Jim McGowan, after 20 years of attending Catholic Masses with his wife and three children, was welcomed into the Church and received Confirmation and the Eucharist at the Easter Vigil at St. Timothy Parish.

Family journey

For Bobi Morey and her family, their relationship with Christ brought them to the Church subtly, but definitely.

Two years ago their family seemed at a stage of completion, Bobi said. She was caring for the three young children at home, and Steven was working as an emergency physician at Providence Hospitals in Southfield.

It was on a vacation in Hawaii alongside a pool when it struck her. The sun was shining. Her beautiful children, McKenna, Corey and Erica — now 8, 6 and 5 — were playing in the water.

"I thought, 'Is this it?'" she said, recalling how her seemly perfect situation all of a sudden seemed lacking. "I knew I was missing something — something inside of me was paining."

On returning from the vacation, she spoke with her neighbor, friend and confidant Cynthia Whitten — a cradle Catholic who was raised in a devout family.

Cynthia, also an adoptive mother, and who had become known to the family as "someone who knocks on the door at the right time," invited her to St. Ambrose Church for a liturgy.

Though Bobi and Steven had been Christians searching for a church home for years, they knew little about the Catholic Church.

While in a pew at St. Ambrose, Bobi noticed the stained glass windows of the church casting their bright, red shadows on the crucifix above the altar.

"I can't describe the emotion I had when I got inside the church," Bobi said. "But I felt, 'This is it.'"

Since, the family — which since adopted their youngest, Carrigan, in January 2007 — has felt signs from all directions that the Catholic Church should be their home.

Steven noticed the heartfelt dedication to the needy exhibited by the administration of Providence Hospital, which is run by the Daughters of Charity and Sisters of St. Joseph. (Because of his work schedule, Steven was unable to go through the RCIA process this year, but he will be joining the Church next year.)

Bobi, Steven and the children all felt welcomed and secure at St. Paul School in Grosse Pointe.

And they were welcomed warmly by Dropiewski and Fr. Pelc, as well as the greater parish community at St. Ambrose.

Whitten, who sponsored Bobi and McKenna and is godmother to the three younger children, said she was honored that the Lord used her to welcome the family into the faith.

"It was like the Lord cast a net and started slowly pulling at the edges and pulling her in," she said of Bobi. "I'm just honored and proud of them."

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Calvin Geeston, a longtime churchman without a church, came home to the Catholic Church this Easter. Geeston was confirmed Easter Monday at St. Timothy Parish in Trenton by pastor Fr. Robert Shafer.

From all walks

At St. Ambrose alone, the stories of those entering the Church vary greatly.

Also at the vigil were Shirley Jo Wyatt and her adult daughter, Tracey Wyatt, who rediscovered the riches of the Church together and this year decided to deepen that faith with the sacrament of confirmation.

Rick Truza also was confirmed. He was married at St. Ambrose in 2005, and after two years with his wife, Kim, wanted to share in the Catholic faith with her and their family.

And every parish with candidates and catechumens had its own unique stories of faith to share at the beginning of the Easter season.

At St. Timothy in Trenton, for example, Calvin Geeston was one of two men who were welcomed into the Church through the sacrament of confirmation. He was confirmed Easter Sunday.

Geeston, 52, was living on parish grounds in a home for those with special needs. He'd long been looking for a place to worship.

"I needed something to get into," he said. "This is always something that I wanted to do. I'm a church person. I just didn't have a church to go to."

He would see people each Sunday coming to the church building, and curiosity brought him through the doors a year ago.

A tall man, Geeston stood out.

"We're not used to people who are 6-foot-8 coming through the door," said pastor Fr. Robert Shafer, recalling the first time Geeston came to the church.

Geeston has since grown close to the community that attends daily Mass, and is also part of a group of people with special needs that meet each Monday.

Fr. Shafer said welcoming Geeston into the Church reminds parishioners of their own relationship with God, which is important for the 500-family parish.

"Because we are a very small parish, we are a family," Fr. Shafer said. "A very important part of our ministry is to be open to everyone who comes here."

Geeston's isn't the only faith journey that parishioners at St. Timothy witnessed, either.

After 20 years of attending Mass with his wife, Becky, and his children, Jim McGowan was anointed with the oils of confirmation last Saturday.

"To me, it's a chance to renew my relationship with God," said McGowan, 47. "It's something I needed to do for my family.… I want them to be fully involved in their faith, and I thought this would help."

FYI Those entering or coming into full community with the Catholic Church at Easter include: 597 Catechumens: People who are joining a Christian Church for the first time, and who will be baptized, confirmed and take their first Communion at the Easter Vigil. 510 Candidates: People who have already been baptized in another Christian faith community, but wish to join the Catholic Church. 300 Catholics: People who were at least baptized in the Catholic Church, but for some reason never went all the way to full membership in the Church. For example, their parents might have fallen away from the practice of the faith before they were confirmed or took their first Communion.

'A new level of joy'

As Confirmations, baptisms and first Communions took place in churches throughout the archdiocese, Cardinal Adam Maida — celebrating the vigil at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit — said the journey through Lent and to Easter made the entire Church a "new creation" in Christ.

"Throughout our journey of Lent, we have shared His suffering, death and burial, confident that our hope for Resurrection will be fulfilled," Cardinal Maida said. "Our journey has brought us closer to Him and one another."

The vigil gives us a reminder, he said, of our freedom from sin through the waters of baptism, and of our union with Christ through the mystery of the Resurrection.

"Because of Christ and His Resurrection, we have not just returned from exile, but we have arrived at our heavenly homeland," Cardinal Maida said. "We are now in communion with the Lord and one another."

The new life that the Church welcomes with its newest members, he said, comes with a call for all Catholics to consider their own walks with Christ.

"Our communion now reaches a new level of joy as we welcome new members into the Church and renew our own baptismal commitment of faith," he said.

From the cathedral down through the parishes of the Church of Detroit, that communion was felt as many made important steps in their walks with Christ by entering the Church — and as the rest of the faithful were there to greet them.

"I've been blessed, believe me," said Geeston at St. Timothy Parish.

Fr. Shafer, echoing the sentiment of the Church, responded.

"And he blesses us."