DIOCESAN NEWS
05/04/07
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RCIA helped steer catechumen’s drive to faith
By Fabvienen Taylor
MADISON — Tommy Acy, 29, was baptized, confirmed and received First Eucharist during the Easter Vigil, April 7, at St. Francis of Assisi Church.
“It was a great experience,” Acy said recently. “It is something I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Acy was among over 300 people who entered the church this year in the Diocese of Jackson.
But, last fall, had Acy stopped attending Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) classes, had not completed the process of becoming Catholic, many people would have understood.
That’s because on Wednesday, Nov. 1, All Saints Day, his girlfriend’s back was broken in a car accident. Following surgery the prognosis was grim: Drea Michelle Edwards, 24, would probably never walk again.
At class the following Monday night, Acy told the members of his RCIA group about the accident. They knew Edwards because she attended classes with Acy and had planned to be his sponsor.
Mary Flessner, RCIA director for St. Francis of Assisi Parish, assured Acy that Edwards, recovering in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at St. Dominic Hospital, was in everyone’s prayers.
“Tommy and Drea had been faithful to the process from the very beginning,” said Flessner, who was very concerned about Edward’s recovery. And she understood that Acy, after Edward’s accident, could have easily opted to discontinue the classes.
“When they came into the process it was clear Drea was hoping to share her Catholic faith with Tommy,” said Flessner. “But Tommy really had no religious upbringing, no framework,” Flessner said. “It was really hard for him conceptually.”
Originally from Greenwood, Acey had sporadically attended the Baptist church but had never been baptized.
Edwards, 24, was a cradle Catholic who grew up in Gulfport St. James Parish and had graduated from St. John High School.
They had met in Jackson and started dating. Back then she was a personal trainer at The Club. He works for Capital City Beverage.
“I wasn’t religious and didn’t go to church often,” Acy said. “But I went to Mass with Drea several times and I liked it. I just liked how the Catholics did everything.”
After a while, he wanted to learn more about the Catholic faith. That led he and Edwards to RCIA.
“The RCIA group had welcomed me with open arms,” said Acy. “And after we would get out of class on Mondays, Drea would ask if I understood everything. When I didn’t, she would fill me in.”
And then the accident.
“Drea’s accident happened early in the process and she was unable to come,” said Flessner. “Things had been a little overwhelming for Tommy from the beginning and now, his link to the Catholic faith, Drea, wasn’t there anymore,” said Flessner.
After a week in ICU, Edwards, with a broken back and bruised spinal cord, was sent to the Methodist Rehab Center.
“After surgery, when the doctor first told me he didn’t think I would ever walk again, I didn’t believe him. I was still a little out of it,” she said. “Actually, I did not process what he said until much, much later.”
At the rehab center Edwards had therapy for six hours a day. “That place is awesome, they keep you moving. You forget you’re in therapy,” said Edwards.
After two weeks at Methodist, Edwards’ parents took her back to Gulfport where she continued rehab.
At St. Francis, Acy kept the group apprised of Edwards’ condition. He needed a new sponsor so Flessner matched Acy with Walter Cook, a seasoned sponsor.
After Christmas break, RCIA classes resumed in January. “We talked a lot,” said Cook. “He was very interested in becoming Catholic. He was enthusiastic to learn. Very driven. He wanted to learn the why’s of the Catholic Church. He was open to everything and eager to learn more.”
Acy described Cook as “pretty cool. He was a super nice guy and knew a lot about Catholicism. If I ever had a question, he knew the answers.”
They talked about sports a lot, even though Acy attended and was a Mississippi State University (MSU) fan and Cook rooted for the University of Southern Mississippi (USM).
“We liked a lot of the same things,” said Acy. “We had a lot in common.”
They could even talk about having been in accidents as adults, since Cook had been in one and Acy, on Feb. 18, suffered a compound fracture to his leg after running off the road in his car and hitting a tree.
“When Tommy was in his accident Walter went right away to see him in the hospital,” said Flessner.
“Even after that,” said Cook, “Tommy maintained his interest in RCIA. He was really driven.”
That drive, that determination to become Catholic, Flessner maintains, was with Acy from the start.
“From the beginning, Tommy was independently committed to it,” she said. “Even though Drea had introduced him to Catholicism, he wanted a spiritual home, so it was very important to him.”
“Secondly,” she said, “even though the accident happened early in the process Tommy already had established relationships with people in the group. People were asking about him, asking about Drea.”
Acy remembers. “In RCIA class people would just walk up to me and ask how they could help, what did I need them to do,” said Acy. “They were trying to do everything they could. All of them offered, even to just talk, to just listen. It really meant a lot to me.”
The RCIA group cared about Acy, said Flessner. “He knew that and it was a comfortable place for him to keep coming to.”
And third, Flessner said, Cook had a daughter within Acy’s age range.
“Walter could be somewhat of a father figure for Tommy,” said Flessner. “And Walter knew what the commitment was having been through the process several times with others. He made phone contacts with Tommy regularly. He was eager to do it,” said Flessner.
In Gulfport, Edwards continued her therapy. Having been a personal trainer, she was in good physical shape and accustomed to disciplined exercise.
Also, her spinal cord had not been severed but bruised when her backbone broke, which was unusual.
“It seems my backbone and spinal cord are a little farther apart than normal,” said Edwards.
Before long Edwards was using a walker.
“It was really weird having to learn how to walk again,” she said. “They had me walking up and down the halls. I could tell eventually I would gain my strength back and was going to be able to walk on my own. I knew what I had to do.”
During her recuperation, Acy and Edwards kept in contact, off and on. She said Tommy could have taken the easy way out, quit RCIA after everything that happened.
“He said it was harder to do without me but that he had every intention to keep on going. I knew he liked RCIA, it was his decision to go. He told me no matter what — he was going to become Catholic,” Edwards said.
As Easter Vigil neared, Acy told Edwards it would mean a lot to him for her to come. “I told her you are the one who got this whole process started, you’ve got to see it to the end,” said Acy.
She did, and in high heels.
“I know the reason I am alive, able to walk again is because of God,” said Edwards, who recently moved back to Jackson. She works at a desk now but knows she will be back to normal, in time. “I thank God every day.”
Acy said Edwards’ recovery is a miracle. “But she said, right after she came out of surgery, that she would walk again. She’s hard-headed,” he said.
Edwards officially became a member of St. Francis of Assisi Parish on Monday night, Flessner said, and Acy signed up to serve on the hospitality and special events committees at the parish.
With an eye trained on the RCIA process, Flessner said Acy’s journey to becoming Catholic is a good example of the way things should work when new people are initiated into the church.
“Tommy felt welcomed by the community, he had a sponsor who was a true mentor and really looked out for him, and he had the motivation, from the beginning. He knew it was a priority for him to get here,” Flessner said.
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