RCIA builds faith in catechumen, sponsor By Fabvienen Taylor
JACKSON — The last time David “D. J.” Arrington Jr., 22, remembers wearing a suit he was five.
But this year he bought a new brown one for the Easter Vigil, March 22, at St. Richard Parish. “I wanted to wear a suit to look nice for Max because I knew becoming Catholic was such a big thing in his life,” said Arrington. “He dresses up when he comes to church and I didn’t want to be an embarrassment to him by not dressing up.”
Max is Maxwell Moran, 18, who was baptized, confirmed and received the Eucharist at Easter. Arrington sponsored him in the Rite of Election for Adults (RCIA) process at St. Richard Parish.
Arrington got to know Moran from occasionally seeing him at Mass and from the Wednesday night youth group meetings, which Arrington assisted with.
He found out Moran was not a member of any church and was searching for a spiritual home.
In fact, Moran had been visiting different churches in his quest to find one for himself. “I wanted to see what they were about,” Moran said.
He found information about St. Richard on the Internet and e-mailed Tom Lewis, RCIA director, about visiting the parish.
On his visits to St. Richard, Moran liked everything he learned about the Catholic faith.
“It is what I was looking for. I liked the doctrine and the Eucharist. I needed some history, some tradition, things I found lacking in other churches.”
Arrington, a cradle Catholic, knew Moran was drawn to St. Richard. “I saw something in him. I knew, I felt it was something he wanted, something he needed. If Max had asked me, I would have said yes to being his sponsor even before Tom asked me.”
Lewis asked, Arrington agreed. They knew each other from the time Lewis helped prepare Arrington for confirmation several years before.
“D. J. is such a solid young guy,” Lewis said. “He takes his faith seriously. It’s important to him.”
Arrington said it hasn’t always been that way. Before college, he went to church because he was told to by his parents. But he didn’t get involved in anything.
At Mississippi State University (MSU) he didn’t attend Mass at all, he said. He started going back to St. Richard only when he returned to live at home and attend college here. Asked by Ann Cook, then the high school youth ministry leader, to help out, he demurred, but finally tried it.
“At the first meeting I thought: What am I doing here? I don’t know what’s going on. Why am I doing this?”
Except, Arrington said, he just kept feeling a need to do it.
Helping out Arrington watched the 66 high school youth build up their faith, which helped build his.
He attended Search retreats. “It was an amazing experience. It showed me how strong my faith could be, but wasn’t. So it’s like, I’ve been on this mission to build up my faith.”
Being an RCIA sponsor for Moran furthered his growth, he said. He attended all the classes with Moran except a few.
“Growing up I had gone to religious education classes but in going to RCIA I learned a lot more. The classes broke down everything, the meanings behind why we do what we do and why it’s done the way it is. That was really cool.”
Moran, who will attend Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H., in the fall, challenged him as a sponsor.
“Max is so intellectual. He was such a go-getter. He wanted to become a Catholic so badly he would go and find stuff, bring it up in RCIA, or ask me a question. If I couldn’t answer it I would go and find the answers for him from Father Mike (O’Brien, pastor) or Father Ben (Martinez, associate pastor).”
Moran said D.J. was “the person to go to if I needed to talk about faith. He’s a good Catholic. In college he fell away but when he came back, he hit the ground running. He realized what he had missed.”
Lewis said Arrington and Moran were a “perfect match.”
Being a sponsor in RCIA, Lewis said, is not an academic exercise. “The most important thing is that they take their faith seriously, live a good life and show what being a good Catholic is all about.”
Moran was an outstanding catechumen, he said.
“And D.J. is a top-notch guy. But we have quite a few young people in the RCIA like the both of them. Wells Neeld, a senior at St. Joe sponsored another St. Joe student, Graham Coffelt. It really is gratifying.”
So gratifying, Arrington would definitely be an RCIA sponsor again.
“I saw Max’s need for faith within himself and I wanted him to get what he needed our of RCIA, that’s why I did it. Not to sound boastful, but it made me in turn want to know more, so it boosted me up too. I was renewed in my faith.”
Next time Arrington won’t have to go out and buy a new suit, having the brand new brown one from Easter.
“My suit? I think the pants are in the dirty clothes hamper in my room and I think the jacket is in the trunk of my car,” Arrington said.
“I wanted to wear a suit to look nice for Max because I knew becoming Catholic was such a big thing in his life,” said Arrington. “He dresses up when he comes to church and I didn’t want to be an embarrassment to him by not dressing up.”
Asked by Ann Cook, then the high school youth ministry leader, to help out, he demurred, but finally tried it.