New Catholics Live Out the Mysteries of the Catholic Faith

As the Church prepares to conclude the 2024 Easter Season at Pentecost, perhaps the people who are most caught up in the awe and wonder of Christ’s resurrection are the newly initiated Catholics, or neophytes, who were welcomed into the church at the Easter Vigil Mass.

As they begin integrating into church parish life, they have the potential of re-energizing other Catholics. 

According to the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, the neophytes (which means “new plant”) continue their formation and education during a period of the post-baptismal catechesis, called Mystagogy. This period continues at least until Pentecost. During this time the newly baptized members reflect on their experiences at the Easter Vigil and continue to learn more about the Scriptures, the sacraments, and the teachings of the Catholic Church. Additionally, they reflect on how they will serve Christ and help in the Church's mission and outreach activities.

Top right photo: Hannah Gosserand and Robert Bel stand before the congregation at St. Joseph Church in Paulina during their entry into the Catholic Church. Photos provided by Hannah Gosserand

For Robert Bel, of Paulina, the Easter Vigil Mass was the culmination of a faith journey in which he discovered that the things he set out to prove were wrong with the church’s teachings are true.

Bel grew in the Southern Baptist Church, but his wife, Megan, is a cradle Catholic, so they decided to baptize their children, Jaxon, 5, and Lexiie, 2 months, in the Catholic Church. 

After Jaxson was born, Bel studied Scripture so he could have a better understanding of it when explaining it to him. He also came across some Protestant pastors’ sermon recordings and started listening to them. Later he discovered they were taking one-liner jabs at the Catholic faith.

When he entered RCIA, Bel was armed with Scripture verses to refute the Catholic teachings.

“I had a wealth of Scripture. I was reading every day and night,” said Bel. “I got to the point where I could recite chapter and verse. So, I think I’ve got enough and I’m building my case.”

One of the major objections for Bel was the church’s teachings about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

He had learned that it is important to pick the right verses to debunk, so he studied John:6, which contains Jesus’ Bread of Life Discourse (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/6).

Bel began studying the chapter from the beginning, which recounts Jesus’ multiplication of loaves to feed 5,000 people, then Jesus leaving because he knows they are going to force him to become a king, only to have the crowd follow him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus rebukes the people by them by telling them they followed him because they ate the loaves and were filled and that they should be working for good that never perishes. The chapter ends with the Bread of Life Discourse.

Bel found the chapter a nice build up to Jesus’ declaration to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.”

Bel noted that toward the end of the passage, many of Jesus’ disciples left him, and Christ turned to the twelve apostles and said, “Do you also want to leave?” And Peter declared, Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

At that point the Bel found the verses were no longer a way to build up his defenses but something to delve further into. As he studied the Scriptures, such as Jesus’ breaking bread with the disciples who were on the road to Emmaus and others, Bel understood the church’s teachings of Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist.

“Now I’m here by the grace of God,” said Bel, who entered the church at the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Joseph Church in Paulina.

For Hannah Gosserand, who entered the Church at St. Joseph Church, the Catholic Church will be the place that she marries and raises her family.

Gosserand grew up in a non-denominational church, but her fiancé, Logan, grew up Catholic. They had discussed their beliefs, marrying, and raising their children in the Catholic faith. After doing some research, Gosserand entered RCIA.

She had a lot of questions, about issues concerning Catholics’ reverence for the Blessed Mother and the structure and meaning behind Mass responses, but her sponsor Lisa Alleman patiently answered them.

“Toward the end of RCIA I knew I was doing the right thing. I knew I was going in with the right intention and everything was clicking for me, everything made sense,” said Gosserand.

She added, “The Easter Vigil was a very emotional time, and when I received Communion for the first time, I was teary-eyed. I was overwhelmed, but it was a good, overwhelmed feeling that I’m welcome here, I have a home here.”

She added, “It was a happy moment in my life; it was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulder of not knowing where I belong or who I was in God’s eyes.”

Gosserand and Luke are engaged to be married in in November 2025 and are looking forward to sharing their life together as husband and wife in the Catholic Church.

Likewise, Bel said the Vigil Mass felt like that of a wedding celebration, as he was surrounded with family, friends, and church members praying the prayers that Catholics have prayed for thousands of years.  

Bel said as he prepared for the Vigil Mass, “I had this nervous kind of energy, like I had when I got married.”

During the Vigil, in fact, Bel’s eyes were fixed on Father Vincent Dufresne, pastor of St. Joseph, as he prayed the words of consecration during the liturgy of the Eucharist.

“I was so focused on what was happening up at the altar, and the desire I had since the day I realized what John: 6 is really about, that nothing else mattered,” said Bel.


Hannah Gosserand, left, and her sponsor, Lisa Alleman, in preparation for the lighting of the Paschal candle.