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DODGE CITY -- On Feb. 25, Bishop Ronald Gilmore
officially recognized more than 200 men, women and children along their
faith journey during the Rite of Election at the Cathedral of Our Lady
of Guadalupe.
With their families, godparents, and sponsors in tow, the catechumens
and candidates filtered into the cathedral on an unseasonably warm
February day, and were ushered into sections reserved for their
parishes.
Candidates are baptized members of another Christian denomination -- or
baptized Catholics -- who are seeking confirmation and Eucharist.
Catechumens are individuals who have not been baptized and who are
seeking baptism, confirmation and Eucharist.
Before the “presentation” of the catechumens and the candidates, Bishop
Gilmore – speaking in English and then Spanish -- spoke to all those
gathered about sin and about the season of Lent.
Referring to the morning’s readings from the books of Genesis, Romans,
and Matthew (which told of original sin and of Christ’s 40 days in the
desert), Bishop Gilmore spoke of a painting of the Last Supper in his
home that depicts “one man with his head turned away from God.” In this
man’s hand, the bishop said, is a bag of gold coins.
“This is a picture of what sin is. Judas could have looked at Jesus, but
he chose to look away. I can’t think of any more graphic depiction of
sin than that.”
Bishop Gilmore told those gathered that, “Sin causes us to wilt inside,
to look away from Jesus. We know what we should do, but then when we
should do it, we blink it away. We choose not to do it.
“We do this when we are tempted to cheat in school; we do this when we
are tempted to lie to the IRS; we do this when we are tempted to
adulterate; we do this when we are tempted to kill the unborn. ...
“Evil,” he said, “wants a world with no God; evil wants to do away with
God; evil wants to kill God.”
The fragmentation in our families, the violence in the world -- it all
starts with that blink, the bishop said.
He invited those gathered to take the words of the readings to heart
“because they are sacred words … . They have been inspired by God. … Let
the words go through you like a warming breath. …”
Lent, he said, is a time for “learning how not to blink.”
Following the bishop’s homily, the catechumens were invited with their
godparents to stand. Together, the godparents answered three questions
to determine if the catechumens were “sufficiently prepared to be
enrolled among the elect for the coming celebration of Easter.” Each
catechumen was then invited forward to sign the Book of the Elect.
Then the candidates were asked to stand with their sponsors, and the
sponsors answered questions testifying to the candidate’s readiness to
share fully in the Church’s sacraments.
“Have they come to a deeper appreciation of their baptism in which they
were joined to Christ and his Church?” the bishop asked, to which the
sponsors responded, “They have.”
With a tall banner waving long strips of colored cloth before them, each
parishes’ candidates were then led to the baptismal font where they
blessed themselves with holy water and returned to their seats. At the
Easter Vigil, candidates will receive the other two sacraments of
Christian initiation, while catechumens receive the sacrament of baptism
as well.
Following the Rite of Election, all those gathered were invited to a
dinner served in the social hall.
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The Elect: Immaculate Conception,
Claflin; and St. Joseph, Ellinwood:
Catechumen: Jason Dody, Elizabeth Benke
Candidates: April Cates, Yvonne Sauber
Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
Dodge City:
Catechumens: Abbi Suess, Kim Suess, Tess Snodgrass, Steven Wells,
Candido López, Adriana Soto, Trey Weber, Christopher Weber
Candidates: Vanessa Acosta, Luz María Arredondo, Norma Bañuelos, Selina
Coria, Myrna Guzmán, Georgina Hernández, Nandi I. Miramontes, Ramón
Paredes, Susana Pérez, María Ramos, Laura Rivero, Sara Burke, Katie
Hapner, Rex Hapner, Laura Mead, Roy McGregor, Linda Ontiberos
St. Theresa Church, Dighton:
Catechumen: Corkey Hemel
St. John the Baptist Church, Meade; St. Anthony Church, Fowler; St.
Patrick Church, Plains:
Candidates: Terri Eaton, Austin Nash, Marisela Dominguez
St. Dominic Church, Garden City:
Catechumens: Amanda D. Janda, Elizabeth Farmer Newman, Skyla
Millershaski, Samantha Gibbons Sandbothee, Kurtland Guy Smith
Candidates: Richard Hill, Michelle Woolley Nally, Estia Warren
St. Stanislaus Church, Ingalls:
Candidate: Randall Cummins
St. Mary Catholic Church, Garden City:
Catechumens: Joe Amos, George Kelly, Johnthan Lara, Noe Lara, Juan
Carlos Montelongo, Vilma Orrantía, Estrella Orrantía, Ricardo Osorio,
Serenia Rios, Shania Sperry, Marissa Maria Zapata, Oscar Zapata
Candidates: Nicole Marie Chairez, Javier De la Rosa, Anthony Eugene
Dingus, Losaro Enriquez, Roberta Enriquez, Karen Fields, Alfonsa Garcia,
Adriana Hernández, Jose María Hernández, Emilio López, Erika Karina
Montelongo, Leopoldo Orrantía, Jessica Parton, K. Dominic Quinonez,
Chelsea Perez, Jesús Reyes, Miguel Román, Elisa Romero, Enriquez
Rodriguez, Lorenzo Sandoval, Javier Serrano
Prince of Peace Parish in Great Bend:
Catechumens: Samantha Corbett, Amanda Heape, Cody Helms, Lenin
Hernandez, Jason Ingram, James Love, Giselle Martinez, Janine Ramirez,
Skyler Zamarippa
Candidates: Eric Alcala, José Batrez, Luis Delgadillo, Logan Evers, Rosa
Fuentes, Ana Valeria Garcia, Vanesa Garcia, Daniel Gonzales, Jorge
Guerra, Elgica Hernandez, Erika Hernandez, Nereyda Hernandez, Adan
Hernandez, Jose Hernandez, Armando Herrera, Gabriela Hidalgo, Gissel
Limones, Jessica Loera, Alicia Martinez, Karina Mata, Luis Mata, Marilyn
Miller, Jonathan Montelango, Maria Pasos, Ivan Perales, Luis Angel
Reyes, Misael Rodriguez, Alberto Salas, Blanca Salas, Mayra Sanchez,
Tanya Sanchez, Juan Serna, Chris Thomas, Abelia Urias, Alexander Urias,
Christian Urias, Zenaida Vasquez, Aaron Villalobos, Enedelia Villalobos,
Alejo Villegas, Anita Villegas, Shannon Zerr
St. Anthony Church, Hanston; St. John the Baptist Church, Spearville;
St. Andrew Church, Wright:
Catechumens: Melissa Barnett, Destiny Barnett, Travis Barnett.
Candidates: Mark Davis, Juaniece Hamilton, Jenette Schuette, Michelle
Walters.
Sacred Heart Church, Larned:
Candidates: Kayla Preisner, Brenda K. Johnson
St. Anthony Church, Liberal:
Catechumens: Domingo Quintana, Ruben Bello, Angelica Collins, Alan De
Leon, Emmely De Leon, Magdalena Gabriel, Arlene Gonzalez, Maritza
Ortega, Kimberly Zamora.
Candidates: Adrian Martinez, Jorge Mata, Tanya Trejo, Maria Magdalena
Nieto, Adela Marquez, Salvador Nieves, Sergio Ortega, Amparo Chavira,
Lilia Lomas, Veronica Ruiz, Lauren Jimenez, Gerardo Reyes, Kali Lopez,
Tyler Martinez, Edward Rios, Joseph Soto, Jaqueline Villa, Cesar Moreno,
Luis Vega
Sacred Heart Church, Pratt:
Catechumens: John (Mike) Michael Twigg, Tammy Lynn Peterson
Candidates: Brent Daniel “Dan” Gillig, Steven Holmes, Jessica Lanning,
Todd Merz
St. Alphonsus Church, Satanta:
Catechumens: Leroy Mast, Anthony Rios, Venessa Nayeli Hernandez,
Alejandro Hernandez
Candidates: Patricia García, Maria Isabel Ordóñez, Synthia Ardery
St. Raphael Church, Syracuse:
Candidate: Jennifer King
Mary, Queen of Peace Church, Ulysses:
Catechumen: Jerrod Handy
Candidates: Socorro Franco, Claudia Franco, Jaime Montes, Pedro Pichardo,
Graciela Medina, Susana Hernández, Javier Vera, Jonathan Orona, Heather
Reimer
St. Joseph Church, Liebenthal:
Candidate: Joann Micheli
St. Anthony Church, Lakin:
Catechumens: Lynn Main, Tiffany Timm, Shirea Woodrow, Tyson Dixon
Candidates: Robert Woodrow, Kasarah Woodrow, Brandy Woodrow
Ministers, event support:
First Reading: Martin Dominguez, St. Mary
Church, Garden City
Second Reading: Charlotte Theis, Sacred Heart, Pratt
Gospel: Father Tony Judge, CSSR
Asking Bishop to accept the catechumens: Rita Hitt, Pratt; Sister
Angeles Benavides, CFP, Dodge City
Asking Bishop to accept the candidates: Sister Catherine Therese Paulie,
CSJ, Garden City; Luciano Retana, Dodge City.
Those who read the names aloud: Frank Sumaya, Estella Valverde
Event Coordinators: Father Bob Schremmer, Coleen Stein, Becky Hessman
Greeters/Program Distributers/Ushers: Maria Musick, Virginia Sumaya,
Norma Alvarez, Robert Askew, Emily Denton, Leah Stein, Greg and Janis
Denton, Sister Rose Mary Stein, Kathryn Werner, John and Sherry Askew,
Clemente and Lupe Delatorre, Rita Schnittker, Michael and Liliana
Zuniga, Greg and Cindy Schaffer, Pam Polley, Veronica Enciso, Carol
McQuiggen
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