ELKRIDGE – Across the faith spectrum, leaders worry about the faithful remaining home once the coronavirus pandemic ceases.
That is not a problem at St. Augustine, where 12 students in the parish school are in the process of entering the Catholic Church.
“In my time here, this is the largest group we’ve had making that step,” said Father John Williamson, pastor of the Catholic Community of Ascension and St. Augustine, a pastorate that straddles the Patapsco River, which serves as the Baltimore-Howard county line. “Usually, it’s one or two kids a year.”
That number exploded despite the disconnect of spring 2020, when churches and schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore were closed to in-person worship and learning.
“It was one of the hardest times of my life, and I’ve had Stage IV cancer,” Father Williamson said, of the disease he survived in the winter of 2013-14.
He points to coordination between the school and the churches it serves.
“There are a lot of factors, but the school and the atmosphere in the pastorate, it’s such a close bond,” Father Williamson said. “We have people who are missionary-disciple oriented, and it’s starting to reap benefits. We’re a growing pastorate, with a very active family ministry, women’s ministry.
“We really try to reach out and engage people. … We have a good gift to share.”
Next step
That was evident March 8, when Shannon Benedetto worked with three middle-schoolers before the start of the formal school day, and Paul Kongnyuy, a seminarian from Cameroon in his pastoral year, did the same with the Daniels twins, Cole and Laney, toward its end.
The twins are preparing for reconciliation and first Communion. The older children taught by Benedetto will receive assorted sacraments of initiation April 16.
It is typical of the adjustments made for COVID-19 in the archdiocese, where Archbishop William E. Lori delegated to pastors the faculty to celebrate the Rite of Election, in which catechumens (those who have not been baptized in another Trinitarian faith tradition) and candidates declare their intention to join the church. In more traditional times, new Catholics are initiated into the church at the Easter Vigil.
Benedetto’s pupils were sixth-grader Christopher Fowler and seventh-grader Isabella Duncan, preparing for first Communion and reconciliation; and Ayomide Odedina, preparing for baptism and first Communion.
Odedina’s mother, Victoria Itayemi, was raised Baptist, in Nigeria. Odedina will follow her sister, Aderinsola Aderoju, first into the Catholic faith, and then to Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson, where the latter is a junior.
“I wasn’t surprised when she (Odedina) said, ‘This is the next step.’ She was going to learn the faith somehow,” said Itayemi, who sent her daughters to St. Augustine School for its small size and has come to appreciate its practice of teaching them, “not just details, but critical thinking.”
Team approach
Benedetto left the U.S. Department of Agriculture to teach in public schools, for six years in Howard County and then six more in Baltimore County, before joining the staff of St. Augustine School. It sent her son, Lucas, to Archbishop Curley High School, and her daughter, Mia, to Mount de Sales Academy.
“One of their teachers, Kathleen Arvin, retired and said, ‘You need to apply for this job.’ We did catechesis together, with the ninth-grade confirmation classes,” said Benedetto, now in her second year as science department chairwoman. “I truly felt a pull to the Lord.”
On March 8, Benedetto told Fowler, Duncan and Odedina, “We have to learn to listen to God’s voice. The world can be a noisy place.”
A few days earlier, she explained why St. Augustine School lessens that challenge.
“The Holy Spirit is on the move in our building,” she said. “You can see it in the children’s faces.”
That school week ended March 12, when Father Williamson, with Kongnyuy assisting, celebrated 9 a.m. Mass for three grades, a Friday morning staple. The liturgy was coordinated by Marie Murphy, the religion department chairwoman, who does everything from select music to supply a footstool at the ambo for younger readers.
Murphy is a former director of religious education. Father Williamson pointed to her and his entire pastoral staff, which includes Cathy Carlin, director of engagement for families; Bob Sutliff, director of engagement for youths; and Michele Poligardo, coordinator of religious ed and special needs.
“They meet people where they are and accompany them on their faith journey,” the pastor said. “That’s demonstrated in these students (entering the church) and our year-round RCIA, where the pastoral staff works together to meet the unique needs of people.”
The March 12 Mass was livestreamed into classrooms, where students received Communion distributed by eucharistic ministers, among them Joe Miller, the principal of St. Augustine School. Remote learners were able to share in that Mass on Facebook.
“Joe has blown me away,” Father Williamson said. “Without having to be told, he interweaves faith into everything. Everyone is on the same page.”
Miller was raised at St. William of York in West Baltimore, but baptized at St. Augustine. Founded in 1857, it’s at capacity with 260 students. On a normal day, 225 choose to learn on campus. “It’s a testament to the people here, especially our students, that during unprecedented times, they are searching for more and feeling God’s presence in their lives,” Miller said. “We’re called to foster that light and kindle that spark. That’s shined extra bright this year.”
Email Paul McMullen at pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org
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