{"id":9026,"date":"2026-03-12T08:46:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T12:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saparish.com\/church\/?p=9026"},"modified":"2026-03-12T20:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T00:08:11","slug":"welcoming-11-people-into-the-church-this-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saparish.com\/church\/news\/welcoming-11-people-into-the-church-this-easter\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcoming 11 people into the Church this Easter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At this year’s Easter Vigil, our parish expects to welcome 5 candidates and 6 catechumens into full communion with the Church! They are among 3,700 Michiganders<\/a> and 541 of the Diocese of Grand Rapids<\/a> expected to enter the Church this Easter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Candidates have already received a valid baptism and wish to be fully received into the Church and receive the sacraments of Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist. Catechumens are unbaptized and wish to receive all three sacraments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past several months, these men and women have been walking a path of prayer, learning, and discernment through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults<\/a> (OCIA). Along the way, they have encountered the beauty of the Catholic faith, built relationships within our parish family, and grown closer to Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please continue to pray for these 11 individuals, as well as their sponsors and godparents, as they prepare to receive the sacraments and join the Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you know someone looking into the Catholic faith?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Converting to Catholicism can seem overwhelming. We have an excellent team of catechists to assist with the spiritual formation and preparation process through OCIA<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no commitment to join OCIA \u2013 we encourage you to learn as much as you can about the faith and take as much time as you need to make this decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At this year’s Easter Vigil, our parish expects to welcome 5 candidates and 6 catechumens into full communion with the Church! They are among 3,700 Michiganders and 541 of the Diocese of Grand Rapids expected to enter the Church this Easter. Candidates have already received a valid baptism and wish to be fully received into…Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":9034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWelcoming 11 people into the Church this Easter - St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/saparish.com\/church\/news\/welcoming-11-people-into-the-church-this-easter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Welcoming 11 people into the Church this Easter - St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At this year’s Easter Vigil, our parish expects to welcome 5 candidates and 6 catechumens into full communion with the Church! 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