My Joy is Complete

On Saturday I made my life profession as a Lay Dominican, and that was a good day. But today, Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter, was a day of great joy.

Some background. I’ve been a member of our parish’s RCIA team this year, and for those who don’t know, RCIA (the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) is the name of the usual process by which adults become members of the Catholic Church. For the last six months, I’ve been meeting and talking with people who are curious about the Catholic Church, who are thinking about becoming Catholic, or who have indeed determined that they are going to be Catholic. Over the course of that time we talked about the doctrines of the Church, about what it means to be a disciple, about what you do in church on Sunday, and all manner of other questions.

And it all came to fruition this morning, when four of our RCIA candidates, all of whom had previously been baptized into other denominations, came into full communion with the Catholic Church. They made their professions of faith; they received the sacrament of confirmation; and they made their first communions.

The Second Sunday of Easter is the last day of the Octave of Easter; liturgically, it is still the day of the Resurrection. And that’s what it felt like this morning: the best Easter Sunday there ever was.

And as I sat there, beaming, I couldn’t help thinking: this is why I’m a Dominican. It isn’t about the promises I made yesterday; those were promises I’d already made in my heart long since. Rather, the promises I made yesterday were all about the four who came to know Christ in a new way in His sacraments today. The mission of the Dominicans is preaching for the salvation of souls; and this, I thought, this is what the salvation of souls looks like: grown men and women choosing, of their own free will, to follow Christ, to love Him, and allowing Him to love them in return.

On the surface, my profession yesterday was about me and my promises; but it was really about Christ and the people He is drawing to Himself, and the joy that rings out in heaven when a human heart turns to God.

Gloria in excelsis Deo!