WASHINGTON, DC — Thirteen aspiring Catholics affiliated with the United States Military celebrated the Rite of Election in the Nation’s Capital on Feb. 18, 2024, the first Sunday of Lent. The 3:00 p.m. celebration, which took place in the main chapel of the Edwin Cardinal O’Brien Pastoral Center, global headquarters of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), is the penultimate milestone in a year-long process known as the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA). In the OCIA, candidates study the faith, prayerfully discern their calling to Catholicism, and upon completing the process, come into communion with the Church through the Easter sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and Holy Communion.
“This is the solemn beginning of the final stretch to the fullness of Christian initiation in the Easter sacraments,” His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, preached from the bishop’s chair, holding his crosier. “What helps us stay on course?,” he asked. “With eyes and hearts fixed on the destination, the analogy to Jesus’ 40 days in the desert, before beginning his public ministry, is clear: the whole of Lent invites us to reflect on the immense gift of baptism—you, the catachumens, your re-birth into eternal life, and your adoption by a loving Father who calls you to walk in the newness of life through a continued process of conversion.”
Why become Catholic? Each military member has a reason. “It’s been a long journey for me,” said Capt. Sean Harper (USMC). “I was never baptized and confirmed in the Church, and through my experiences, especially overseas, it was just kind of a journey of faith for me—some tough times, so ultimately I decided that this was right.” Midshipman Third Class Samantha Woodworth said her spiritual awakening began when she entered the U.S. Naval Academy. “I was having a rough time,” she said, “and somebody invited me to go to Mass on Sunday and I decided to go and I kind of got hooked on it and have gone since.”
The catachumens will spend the remaining six weeks of Lent preparing to close this opening phase of their new life journey in faith, applying the disciplines of the penitential season to hone their spiritual formation. Archbishop Broglio urged them to remain steadfast in a world full of distractions and other ways of thinking. “Certain elements of society deny objective truth. Others want to force certain ideologies, and still others want to reduce the fundamental freedom to practice our faith to the mere freedom of worship. That is never enough.” Ultimately, His Excellency preached, “only two routes are vital: the path created by God, made by the bloodstained footsteps of the Master, or the one presented by the devil…. There is no third way.”
Archbishop Broglio counseled the catachumens to arm themselves with the spiritual weapons of Lent. “Our prayer, self-denial, and works of charity make us more faithful to God’s word in imitation of what Jesus did in the desert,” he said. “No updating, modernization, or ridicule has been able to remove the key words of Christian spirituality for Lent: mortification, penance, charity, conversion, sacrifice, prayer, and silence. These words serve life.”
Formally elected by the Archbishop to receive the Easter sacraments in the DC area this year are members of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps based at four U.S. Military installations throughout greater Washington, including Fort Belvoir, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, the U.S. Naval Academy, and U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico. Like other Catholic archdioceses and dioceses, the AMS celebrates the Rite of Election every year, but the 13 completing the Rite in Washington on Sunday aren’t the only U.S. Military personnel entering the Church in 2024. Since it is practically impossible for all catechumens spread throughout this global Archdiocese to gather at one time in Washington, those serving outside the National Capital Region will complete the OICA with the bishops in the local dioceses where they happen to be located at present.
