DIOCESAN NEWS
03/16/07
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Sponsors renewed by RCIA journey to Easter

 By Fabvienen Taylor
      SOUTHAVEN — Kata Gysendorfer warns people before agreeing to journey with them on their way to becoming a Catholic.
      “I tell people who want me to be their sponsor they have picked the worst person they could,” said Gysendorfer, a Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) sponsor at Holly Springs Holy Family Parish.
      “I tell them I will never let go of them until they are dead and that even when I am dead, I will be there tapping them on the shoulder saying, ‘Are you still going to church?’”
      On Sunday, March 4, Gysendorfer accompanied Ora Nolen, RCIA candidate, to Christ the King Church for the Rite of Election ceremony in the northern part of the Diocese of Jackson. Eighty-nine candidates and catechumens participated in the rite.
      The Rite of Election is the third stage of the RCIA, the process by which adult converts are received into full communion with the Catholic Church.
      It is preceded by the pre-catechumenate (inquiry) and catechumenate (spiritual instruction and formation) phases. The election phase signifies the adults (catechumens and candidates) are ready for the sacraments of initiation at Easter.
      Kysendorfer, who served many years as RCIA coordinator before becoming a sponsor several years ago, said going through the process deepens her own spirituality.
      “Sponsoring a candidate or catechumen is a renewal of my own faith,” she said. “I have to ask myself how deep is my commitment, am I a good witness for this person I’m sponsoring.”
      Why does Kysendorfer — a longtime RCIA leader and sponsor – still ask such questions of herself? “It deepens my own spirituality,” she said. “I find myself spending a lot of time in prayer for the person coming in and really seeking to know what I can do to make their journey a journey that will last, that will make them stay, and really feel they belong to the church.”
      For Mary Woodward, director of the department of evangelization, Kysendorfer is an example of a person involved in the ongoing process of evangelization.
      Woodward said there are three levels or goals of evangelization, which means sharing the good news of your faith. The three goals are: know your faith, share your faith, live your faith.
      “The first level is to evangelize yourself. You need to know your faith, grow in your faith, be confident in it,” she said.
      And being a sponsor, Woodward said, is a great way to do that. “From there you can move to the second step – reaching out and sharing it with others — and then the third — taking gospel values out into your workplace.”
      Each year evangelization is one of the areas receiving funding from the annual Catholic Service Appeal (CSA), scheduled the weekend of May 5-6.
      The theme of this year’s appeal is “Share Your Blessings.”
      A blessing for Nolen is having old friend Kata Gysendorfer shepherd her into the church.
      “It is great having Kata for a sponsor,” said Nolen, whose two daughters attended Cadet       Elementary School in Holly Springs and became Catholics under Kysendorfer’s nurturing.
      “She knows everything. That’s why I wanted her. And I felt if I slacked off, or wanted to know the answer to something, she would keep me on the right track,” said Nolen.
      Becoming the sponsor/godparent for her husband, Jerry, “just happened,” said Frances Blessike, also of Holy Family Parish.
      “He wanted to attend the RCIA classes and I just went along with him,” said Blessike, herself a lifelong Catholic. “It is wonderful and has brought us a lot closer together spiritually as a family, with our two children, grandchild and another grandchild on the way.”
      Jerry Blessike said having his wife as his sponsor is fun. “It’s like I have my own person right there if, after class, I have a question. I can bounce things off of her. I don’t have to call her up.”
      But, said his wife, Jerry doesn’t always ask a direct question. “A lot of times he makes comments and we begin a conversation about things and in a roundabout way he finds out what he wants to know.”
      Since starting classes the Blessikes pray the rosary each day, together if possible. “I’m a police officer and our hours are different,” he said.
      A crucifix hangs from the treadmill where he works out, said Blessike, who attended Mass for about 25 years before taking steps to become Catholic.
      “I’ll pray the rosary while I’m working out and I’ll do an extra mile or two until I get into the meditation phase,” he said. “But we pray it together on my days off, or before bedtime. I feel we are building our faith together, bonding more.”
      While it’s fine for married/engaged couples to act as each other’s sponsor, RCIA coordinators, especially those in large parishes, may cast a wider net in pairing RCIA participants.
      “I try to get people out in the community who are actively involved, who come to Mass on Sundays,” said Karin Ingram, RCIA team coordinator at Christ the King Parish.
      And each year she tries to get different people. “That way we really have a community begetting a community. That way everyone is involved and it’s not just something that happens in RCIA but something that happens in the whole community.”
      Ingram thinks everyone can be a sponsor/godparent. “Everyone doesn’t have the time but I think they can do it.”
      When Jim Freeland returned to the church three years ago, he told Ingram if she needed a sponsor, he was available.
      She called three weeks later when Jesse Morris, a catechumen, needed a sponsor. Freeland and Jesse Morris did not know each other.
      “When I started out on this journey to becoming a Catholic, it was like climbing a mountain. And I’m going to go on until I reach the top,” said Morris, who worked as an over-the-road truck hauler of cattle and pigs.
      “I’ve really gotten acquainted with the people here around me, Jim, and everyone,” he said.
      Freeland, who is a first-time sponsor, said the experience has made a difference in his life.       “It’s been a real privilege getting to know Jesse and his sweet wife. What the candidates and catechumens are going through, what it takes to become a member of the Catholic Church, you have to be really dedicated.”
      Freeland said the experience has reaffirmed his faith. “Jesse and his sweet wife have been more of a blessing to me than I have to them.”

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