Having recently been confirmed into the Catholic Church, we asked Nick Lancaster to share with us some of his experience from Easter Vigil and deciding to go through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, (RCIA).
Nick Getting a Hug from Father Patrick, with His Sponsor Alex Kosiak
After about 8 months, I was able to become Catholic… officially that is. Easter Vigil was an exciting night, that’s for sure! For one, my parents actually came, that was a tad bit of a shock because the previous weekend they said that they weren’t coming. Before everything started that evening, someone on the RCIA team, (I don’t know who he was, I had never seen him before), started yelling my name. Then he came to me and said, “Father Patrick would like to do your anointing.” I found this to be pretty awesome. Father Patrick has helped me get through a few things and I consider him a really good friend. I was super happy that he wanted to do my anointing.
When the time came to go up for confirmation, I walked up to Fr. Patrick with my sponsor Alex by my side. With a huge smile on his face we were greeted by Fr. Patrick’s saying, “Its about time.” I was overwhelmed with happiness and so excited, that I didn’t know what to say. All I really could do was smile. Then it came time for communion, to be perfectly honest, at the time the best part of that was not having to sit in the pew while everyone else went up, or just go up for a blessing. I felt connected with everyone in the church in a special way being able to take the Eucharist as a member of the Catholic Church.
As these past couple of days have gone by, I have noticed something has changed in me. I’ve noticed that I am happier, deal with stress much better, and I can actually pay attention in classes again. As I was writing, I came to the realization that all of the previously mentioned are because of the Eucharist. Just having the physical reminder that Jesus is always with us can make all the difference in the world. I am truly happy that I decided to enter the church and even though RCIA was a long process, it has led me here with no regrets.
-Nick, Brother in Christ
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