As all Catholics around the Diocese prepare for Holy Week, the most significant time in the Church calendar, one group is perhaps looking forward to it more than most.
For those catechumens who are preparing to be accepted into the Catholic Church, the past months have been a gradual process of growing, understanding and solidifying their faith as they completed the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) program through their local parish.
This program, which takes catechumens sometimes up to 12 months to complete, gives a comprehensive understanding of the Catholic faith and culminates in participants receiving the sacrament of Baptism at the Easter Vigil.
We spoke to three catechumens about their journey to becoming a Catholic this Easter.
Sue Johnson. Image: supplied
Sue Johnson
The catalyst for Sue Johnson to take the plunge and sign up for the RCIA program was watching her daughter complete the program and her grandchildren attend Catholic school and go through the sacraments.
She had grown up attending church regularly and Sunday school every week, through the influence of her mother, who was a Baptist.
But over the years she had drifted away from church and felt a yearning to return.
“I have always had a longing to go back to church, I felt it was something I was missing in my life,” she says.
“Watching my grandchildren and my own daughter take the journey made me realise it was something I would like for myself.
“Doing the course has reaffirmed my beliefs and I have no doubt at all that I am doing the right thing.”
Since moving down to Sydney a few years ago to be closer to family, she has joined St Michaels Baulkham Hills Parish and attends Sunday Mass there every week. She always looks forward to Mass and seeing other parishioners who have “become my extended family”.
She says becoming a Catholic “will be nice, but it won’t change the way I live my life or the core values I live by”.
One thing she is particularly looking forward to is being able to participate wholly in the masses and accept the Eucharist.
“I have enjoyed my journey to becoming a Catholic, and look forward to my future with the parish and giving back where I can,” Sue says.
“I feel like I am home and very much welcome and content. My soul is very much nourished.”
Konrad Haddadi. Image: supplied
Konrad Haddadi
Much like Sue Johnson’s experience, Konrad Haddadi, 25, was influenced by a close family member to become a catechumen.
His older brother undertook the RCIA program and was baptised last Easter. And what started out as Konrad wanting to support his brother, ended with him realising that he too had a calling.
“Seeing the process and wanting to support him on his journey to become baptised, I saw what the religion was focused on,” he says.
“The support that everyone had for those getting baptised and how everyone genuinely cared.”
So he started reading the Bible and exploring Catholicism on social media, until one day he read something that moved him to act.
He says it was a quote that described how God knew everything everyone has ever done before they are born – including all mistakes, hurtful actions and sin – and still he wants us to be in this world.
Konrad says when he read this he was filled with “such a genuine sense of love and care that I could only get from honest unconditional love.
“That feeling is how I describe entering the Church when I went to support my brother and now on my own journey.”
Like his brother, Konrad is a member of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Kellyville, where he attends Sunday Mass.
He is “so excited” about his coming baptism, but also “almost sad that I’ve missed out on this for my whole life.
“I always felt like I was doing good by people and trying my best to be a good person,” Konrad says. But he has realised that being Catholic isn’t just about doing good – it’s about your intentions too.
“My intentions now are to serve God in the best way I can and any opportunity I have to be of use is an opportunity I’m so excited to take on.
“Being able to call myself Catholic means more to me because I’ll have that duty, that accountability I didn’t before.”
Janine Jensen. Image: supplied
Janine Jensen
For Janine Jensen the decision to become Catholic was a matter of responding to the Lord’s calling.
“He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and I could no longer ignore His invitation to follow Him,” she says.
Janine, who is in her early 40s and has attended Mass at St Nicholas of Myra Parish, in Penrith, for about eight months, had had “small seeds of faith” planted when she was young – attending weekly scripture class in primary school and spending some time at a Catholic high school. It was only much later that she truly opened her heart and began to seek Christ.
With her heart set on becoming a Catholic she joined the RCIA program and has seen her understanding increase and her relationship with Christ deepen.
“The journey has been one of grace, guided by those whose kindness, wisdom and unwavering faith have enriched my own,” she says.
“It’s a continual unfolding, revealing the richness of the Church and its teachings.”
Now, with her baptism rapidly approaching Janine says she is looking forward to it with “joy and anticipation”, but above all a “profound peace knowing I am stepping fully into the life God has prepared for me.”
She is especially looking forward to receiving the Eucharist.
“That moment will be one deep grace and profound intimacy with Jesus, and it is something I long for with all my heart,” she says.
One passage from Matthew (11:28-29) has particularly resonated with her on her journey:
“Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls.”
This article was originally published in the 2025 Lent & Easter | Autumn edition of the Catholic Outlook Magazine. You can read the digital version here or pick up a copy in your local parish.
