Catechumen learns about the faith, prayer and community in RCIA

Gail and Brett Pheffer exchange looks of joy while Brett puts on a baptismal garment on April 3 during the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis. Just minutes earlier, Brett had been baptized. Gail, his wife of 25 years, was his sponsor. (Submitted photo by Walt Kuhn)

By Sean Gallagher

Brett and Gail Pheffer have worked hard through the years to give their children a firm foundation in the Catholic faith—taking them to Mass regularly, and sending them to Catholic grade schools and high schools.

Yet Brett hadn’t taken the time to focus on his own life of faith until last summer—a beginning that led him to his baptism, confirmation and first Communion during an Easter Vigil Mass on April 3 at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis.

“I was walking out of church this past summer before RCIA started, and it just hit me,” Brett said. “It felt right, and I’m thinking, ‘This is the time to commit myself.’ ”

So he entered the parish’s RCIA process with Gail as his sponsor. By doing so, Brett, who was not raised in any faith tradition, tapped into a spiritual hunger to learn more and more about the Catholic faith.

“His stack of books is growing by the day,” Gail said.

One of the most important books for Brett is a Bible that he prayerfully reads on a daily basis.

“I get up every morning in solitude and read that—before I do anything, before I drink a sip of water, before I check my phone, before I turn the TV on,” he said. “I see that being a part of my life forever now. It’s just the way to calibrate my day and to pray.”

Brett also learned the value of becoming part of a community of believers. During Lent, he attended a series of Wednesday evening soup suppers at St. Luke Parish during which Father Noah Casey, the parish’s pastor, gave presentations on the faith.

During those events, Brett became friends with two older St. Luke parishioners, Donald Hagadorn and George Haerle.

“We formed kind of a bond with Brett,” said Hagadorn, 91. “I think it helps somebody coming into a parish as big as St. Luke.”

“They’ve lost wives, kids, war buddies—but yet they walk in with just a freshness,” Brett said. “To me, that’s a void that I know I’ve had in my life that I’ve missed. And it’s faith that gets you through that.”

On the night of the Easter Vigil, Hagadorn and Haerle surprised Brett by coming to the liturgy to help welcome him into the Church.

“When I’m walking back to be baptized, the two of them are in the back pew,” Brett said. “I looked over at Don, and he just winked.”

Gail was pleased, too, to see her husband of 25 years embrace the faith that has been a part of her life since her childhood.

“It’s a wonderful thing, and I’m thrilled for him, mostly because I think everybody needs [faith] in their life,” she said. “It’s been a great experience.” †

 

(Related: Welcome, new Catholics)