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Happening ... in the Local Church
 From
left are Father Leroy Kinnaman, Virginia and Larry Noble, and Charlene
Tragesser. (Photos by Caroline B. Mooney) |
 Bishop
William L. Higi speaks to those gathered at the cathedral before the
annual Rite of the Call to Continuing Conversion on Feb. 17. Candidates
will receive the sacraments of reconciliation, confirmation and the
Eucharist at Easter. |
 From
St. Paul Parish, Marion, are sponsor Nancy Fries, candidate Ozetta
Mathias and RCIA director Ann Saluke. |
 Dustin
and Wendy Carpenter, with their children Ashleigh, Rosey and Gabriel. |
 Bishop
William L. Higi greets Tina Huey, a candidate from Holy Family Parish,
Gas City, at the Rite of the Call to Continuing Conversion on Feb. 17. |
By Caroline B.
Mooney
The Catholic
Moment
LAFAYETTE — Virginia Noble, 65, was among more than 290 candidates who celebrated the Rite of the Call to Continuing Conversion with Bishop William L. Higi at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception on Feb. 17.
“I think that becoming Catholic will help me to be a better person and live a more satisfied life,” said Noble, who attends St. John the Baptist Church, Tipton. She and the other candidates will receive the sacraments of reconciliation, confirmation and the Eucharist at Easter.
Raised in the Methodist Church, Noble was married 46 years ago in St. Joseph Church, Elwood, to a lifelong Catholic. She attended Mass with her husband off and on over the years.
“Our children received their first Communion in the Catholic Church,” she said. “My husband was always faithful about attending Mass, but he never wanted to push me into joining — he wanted it to be my decision. I guess I became involved in life and wasn’t as good a Christian as I should have been. I just started going to Mass every week with him over the last five years.
“I had thought of becoming Catholic before, but wasn’t sure I wanted to commit,” Noble said.
“I feel energized”
While seeing a new doctor in October, a nurse asked her what church she attended.
“I told her that I went to St. John the Baptist with my husband,” Noble said, “and the nurse said she had seen me there. She said, ‘Why aren’t you Catholic?’ No one had ever asked me that before. I think going to that doctor’s office was meant to be.”
The nurse asked if she could have someone from St. John the Baptist phone Noble. RCIA director Charlene Tragesser made the call and the next week Noble went to her first RCIA meeting. She is joining the Church with Tragesser as her sponsor.
“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve thought about death and dying,” Noble said, “and I told Father Kinnaman (pastor of St. John the Baptist) that when I die I want to go to heaven.
“I really like all the people in my RCIA classes,” she said, “and I have learned a lot. It has been exciting to learn more about the Church, its customs and meanings. I have been delving into my bookwork and the Bible. I come home and talk to my husband about a lot of things — it’s fun and enjoyable. I feel energized.”
Bishop Higi said in his homily that, by prayer, fasting and almsgiving, “Lent urges us to break out of our narrow world of self and focus on Jesus Christ who died for our sins. When we begin to search for the Lord in the events of our daily life, our priorities change. Slowly we overcome our preoccupation with our own gratification, our hesitation to put trust in anyone other than ourselves and our preoccupation with material goods.
“… The conversion process shifts us away from selfishness toward selflessness,” he said. “… The directives of the Church help us achieve the holiness that God desires for us. This holiness is the road that we begin to travel when we hear the voice of God calling us to ongoing conversion.”
After the homily, Bishop Higi called upon the sponsors to stand and affirm the preparation and intentions of their candidates. Candidates were then each called by name to exchange a sign of peace with the bishop. They came from 30 parishes in the diocese.
“I always wanted to be Catholic,” said 84-year-old Ozetta Mathias, a candidate from St. Paul Church, Marion. But she had been a member of the Baptist Church and after being married at 16, others told her she couldn’t join the Catholic Church.
“I had had some bad experiences with the church I went to and quit going there,” Mathias said. “I drifted around from one church to another. A good friend, who has passed away, always begged me to join the Catholic Church.
“I worked at the St. Martin de Porres Thrift Store for about 12 years and I had been watching EWTN,” she said. “When my husband was in the hospital, I called Ann (Saluke, RCIA director of St. Paul). She told me I could become Catholic. When I was watching the funeral of Pope John Paul II, I felt something lift me up. I want to die Catholic and have a Catholic funeral. I love it!”
“This is a big experience”
“We had been going to different churches for a long time at difference places,” said Dustin Carpenter, a candidate from St. Francis of Assisi Church, Muncie. “My wife became Catholic, so we followed.” He is joining the Catholic Church along with his children, Ashleigh, 15; Rosey, 12; and Gabriel, 10, who is a catechumen.
“We had come from an evangelical Baptist background, so this is really different. My wife and I have been married for 16 years — we were married at 19,” Carpenter said. “It’s been nice because our oldest daughter was able to be in the same RCIA classes with me. The kids are really more excited than I’d expect them to be. We talked about this and told each of them it was their choice.”
“I’m very excited,” said Ashleigh Carpenter. “This is a big experience.”
The Local Church of Northcentral Indiana welcomes ...
ST. MARY, ALEXANDRIA
Shannon Adams
Edward Clark
Jennifer Finan
ST. AMBROSE, ANDERSON
Elizabeth Carr
Maxine Cook
Kenneth Luttrell
Rita Robinson
Katie Symonds
Holly Wheeler
ST. MARY, ANDERSON
Christina McCaul
Maxine Smith
Mark Stinson
OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL, CARMEL
Nick Adams
Chad Antcliff
Andréa Beck
Mary Beth Bloomfield
Andrew Caine
Heather Caine
Kathy Celis
Allixandra Daniels
Ashton Daniels-Tidwell
Mike Davis
Werner Gehler
Justin Gilmore
Rebecca Groth
Brooke Harrell
Craig Harrell
Chris Harrison
Christina Haviland
Dominic Lombardi
John Neal
Henry Nguyen
Tim O’Brien
Tanner Plotkowski
David Rivera
Kevin Rivera
Olivia Roberson
Curtis Robertson
Lisa Rork
Julie Steinmetz
Matt Steinmetz
Mick Venturini
Kevin Weaver
ST. ELIZABETH ANN SETON, CARMEL
Ken Barthuly
Leland Booher
Sue Brady
Carolyn Cooler
Stephanie Cooler
Ron Downy
Steve Elsten
Steve Farmer
Devin Horton
Ryan James
Ryan Karpinski
Laura Kerschke
Madylin Moore
Jace Plat
Marc Poirer
Doug Prince
John Schassberger
Ryan Shreve
Zachary Sprunger
Ben Thomas
Kim Walter
ST. BERNARD, CRAWFORDSVILLE
Bobbi Grino
John Huber
Jack Larson
Rachael Wolff
ST. JOSEPH, ELWOOD
Brenda Maish
HOLY SPIRIT, FISHERS
Lindsey Anderson
Chad Back
Melinda Bowman
Frederick Bruderly
Lucille Bruderly
Rich Edwards
Bill Goolsby
Erin Goolsby
Thomas Haskell
Marcie Keller
Chris Lane
Lisa Lause-Hickman
John Mallers
Brett Montembeault
Marc Schrenker
Robert Seymour
Kim Springer
Shamay Theobald
Cathy Weaver
Lindsey Whitcomb
ST. JOHN VIANNEY, FISHERS
Susan Bober
Silvia Seijo
Steve Shemelynec
ST. LOUIS DE MONT FORT, FISHERS
Emily Bassett
Scott Bernhardt
Amy Blume
David Blume
Ben Brooks
Michael Dodson
Jennifer Fettig
Andrew Oullette
Jed Richman
Mark Stevenson
ST. MARY, FRANKFORT
Michael Emens
Travis Hofmann
HOLY FAMILY, GAS CITY
Brian Baker
Tina Huey
Stephen Williams
ST. JOAN OF ARC, KOKOMO
Brian Baumfalk
Sam Blatt
Jacob Dietrich, Jr.
Warren Donley
Cameron Kuntz
Corbin Kuntz
Barbara Millard
Jeffery Storer
Ronald Weigt
ST. PATRICK, KOKOMO
Kara France
Brian Hasting
Winnie Honer
Don Laruderbaugh
Peggy Martelli
Kelly Moore
Miles Ollis
Sarah Shearer
Christie Tate
Mary Troy
CATHEDRAL OF ST. MARY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, LAFAYETTE
Brian Besong
ST. BONIFACE, LAFAYETTE
Jeanne Alfonso
Erika Altaras
Hector Balderas
Amanda Dickerson
Mireya Garcia
Karen Kurfiss
Kyle Kurfiss
Gerardo Vasquez
Cynthia Zdanczyk
ST. LAWRENCE, LAFAYETTE
Doug Akridge
Jon Antoniuk
Michelle Carter
Gilbert Chew, Jr.
Robert Clendenen
Joan Gick
Lori Jeorling
Dale Marcos
Lisa Tharp
ST. JOSEPH, LEBANON
Matthew Burress
Michael Hobson
Sandra Hobson
Susan Lamar
Judith Rutter
ALL SAINTS, LOGANSPORT
Jeffrey Baker
David Foreman
Jennifer Graves
Krista Lawler
Travis Lawler
ST. PAUL, MARION
Marc Clouser
Lydia Fath
Ozetta Mathias
Michael Pickering
Joseph Turner
OUR LADY OF THE LAKES, MONTICELLO
Richard Cronch
Sharon Miller
Jaime Page
Emily Venters
ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, MUNCIE
Ashleigh Carpenter
Dustin Carpenter
Rosey Carpenter
Daniel Carter
Joni Gahr
Emily Kiefer
Ian McIver
Kim Muncey
ST. LAWRENCE, MUNCIE
Beth Barnes
Ken Barnes
Lea Carpenter
ST. MARY, MUNCIE
Jason Carter
Joan Harty
Tamara Miller
Mathew Monroe
Mark Peterson
Ruth Peterson
OUR LADY OF GRACE, NOBLESVILLE
Jamal Ahmed
Nazarinne Ahmed
Linda Callaway
Gian Castellanos
Lucciano Castellanos
Luigi Castellanos
Katrina Edwards
Bryan Huff
Lisa Irving
Michael Milcoff
Christopher Moore
Jacob Safford
Emily Salmins
Colin Spirrison
Kelby Sullivan
Abraham Tavor
Randy Worden
Michelle Zimmerman
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, TIPTON
Bryan Carter
Kelly Jordan-Hall
Virginia Noble
CHURCH OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, WEST LAFAYETTE
Cristian Carreon
Lauren DeCamp
Lexi DeCamp
Katelyn Jones
Monica Pinal
Molly Shriner
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, WEST LAFAYETTE
Christopher Birkbeck
Nathan Horn
Shajuan Jackson
Trey Klatt, III
Diana McAninch
Dustin Melvin
Nick Missos
Rebecca Noble
Caylin Riley
Melody Stewart
ST. MARIA GORETTI, WESTFIELD
David Allen
Matt Caffrey
Katie Gray
Tony Guisinger
Robert Hurst
Ginny Kramer
Julia Krefta
Dominic Musto
Elizabeth Musto
Joe Musto
Julia Musto
Matt Robertson
Brad Sponhauer
Margie Todd
Erin Wallace
ST. ALPHONSUS, ZIONSVILLE
Charlie Edwards
Bret Hargrave
Melissa Pollauf