'Here comes everybody'

MIAMI � Judith Quintana, 46, was baptized in Cuba in 1966; however, she had not received the sacraments of Communion and Confirmation.

�Life in Cuba was difficult and religion was frowned on,� she said after a Rite of Reception Mass at St. Mary Cathedral for candidates coming into full communion with the Catholic Church.

Although she has lived in Miami for 21 years, Quintana did not take the next steps into the Catholic faith until recent difficulties in her life made her want to get closer to God. So she entered the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults program at her parish.

Quintana was one of a class of 29 students to complete the program at St. John Bosco Church in Little Havana. They are now in full communion with the Church.

�Thank God!� she said, raising her arms upward.

On Sunday, 169 candidates from 24 parishes received the sacrament during a filled-to-capacity Mass. The ceremony April 29 was the last of three Rite of Reception Masses to be celebrated this year at the cathedral. Two other Masses took place April 15, for a total of 545 candidates coming into full communion, said Cheryl Whapham, director of the Office of Lay Ministry and Adult Faith Formation.

During the Easter Vigil at most archdiocesan churches, catechumens � people who have never been baptized in a Christian faith � receive the sacraments of Baptism, Communion and Confirmation. Candidates have already been baptized, either as Catholics or in another Christian denomination, Whapham explained, and the Church recognizes that baptism as valid.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski began the Mass by describing the universality of the Catholic Church: �As an Irish novelist said, Catholic means, �Here comes everybody�.�

In his homily, the archbishop quoted an English writer who said he converted to Catholicism so that his sins would be forgiven.

�If we were to put out a �want ad� to seek more converts the headline might read, �Sinners wanted� or �Only sinners need apply�,� the archbishop said. �Do not be scandalized that the Church which Christ founded to save sinners is, well, full of sinners. On this side of Judgment Day we call ourselves practicing Catholics.�

That is why �we must seek the consolations of the confessional frequently,� he added. �As they say, practice makes perfect. Today, you candidates are confirmed into the Catholic faith. Today, you enter into full communion with the one holy, Catholic and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ on the rock of Peter. Welcome home!�