Transcript

So, the night of Ivan's baptism, I was extremely nervous.

Um, I was nervous for many reasons.

I guess I was nervous of how he was feeling, um, 'cause this was the day.

Um, but when it did happen, um, the moment that it did happen, um, I felt very excited.

I felt, um, this overwhelmingly, like, um, joy.

And, uh, for me, uh, mainly, um, because he was doing something, um, that was going to help our relationship become stronger.

Um, it was a wonderful experience that I was able to share with my family.

Um, they all came to support, and, um, was there for Ivan that night.

Um, so it, it was just that feeling of knowing that I could now share, um, something very special in my life with someone that I was about to marry.

Um, so it, it made a difference, um, moving forward in our lives that I knew that I could share something with him, and that we could talk about it, and, um, we could have conversations, um, with our kids in the future about this experience.

Um, it is It is very admirable, um, of Ivan to make this decision as an adult.

Um, growing up, all I saw were babies getting baptized, um, not knowing how to really speak for themselves.

Um, but for Ivan to do it that night, it was very special.

You know, the baptism itself, it's, it makes me feel, uh, feel like m- almost like a, a reborn and, you know, c- c- completely clean.

And, and something that I'm very excited about because, uh, you know, before, before becoming a Catholic, um, you know, there are things that, there are rules that, you know, um, a Catholic, uh, always impose, but I, I don't live the same life.

And afterwards, you just feel like you're, you're newborn again, and you're, you know, white sheet of paper when they give you, you know, the candle, and, uh, give you, you know, the white coat to put on.

Uh, it just feels like you're, you're now all A sheet of white paper, and everything is gonna be starting from the beginning.

And it And everyone, everyone in the church is welcoming you, um, clapping their hands, you know, standing up.

You just feel like your sense of community now.

Uh, you know, now you can, you know, really participate in the faith, uh, on, on a weekly basis, on a daily basis.

Um, and that's just something that I was real excited about.

Um, and, you know, on top of it, it's, it's just It definitely help our relationship, you know?

There's There are many, many, uh, uh, goals that we have together now.

Uh, you know, having kids, you know, raising kids that are going to be Catholic.

Uh, it's just all of these kinda line up for us, just make our relationship a lot stronger, um, than what would happen if I didn't convert.

I was baptized, um, I was baptized just before my first holy communion and my confirmation.

Um, even though I grew up Christian, I was, um, was not baptized.

And the moment of my baptism was the, the most profound experience of my life.

Um, and I've had 12 children.

And the moment of baptism was the most profound experience of my life.

I, um, I realized the gates of heaven were open to me, and salvation was now mine for the taking with God's help and God's grace.

I have a unique perspective on baptism, in that I was not baptized as an infant, as most Catholics are.

Growing up, um, Southern Baptist, our faith taught that you weren't baptized as an infant.

You were baptized later as a, as a adolescent or a young adult, when you chose to be baptized.

I never was baptized as an adolescent or young adult.

So when I became Catholic when I was 25 or 26 years old, I was baptized, um, at the Easter vigil.

And I have a unique perspective, in that I knew before I was baptized, I knew what baptism was.

I remember learning about the importance of baptism, and literally yearning to be baptized, because for me, I knew that baptism was, um, almost I guess the sacrament that would allow me to experience the other sacraments.

I wanted to go to my first confession.

I wanted to receive the Eucharist.

I wanted my, my young marriage to be sacramental and to be able to enjoy all the graces that come from those sacraments.

But baptism was the first step to be able to do that.

And to this day, I celebrate my baptism anniversary, my children's baptism anniversary.

I even give my godchildren gifts on their baptism anniversary, as opposed to their birthdays, because I really truly believe that, um, baptism is the sacrament that, that lets you into this life of faith that we are so fortunate to be able to experience.

When you're a Pentecostal, the day of Pentecost in the scripture in the Book of Acts is a very important day.

It's a very important passage to look at.

The time when the Holy Spirit fell on the church and gave them power to become witnesses, power to live the Christian life, the life of Jesus as it was intended.

That was so important to us.

And so you can imagine how powerful it was to me when I came to understand through the teaching of the Catholic Church that the sacrament of confirmation is our personal Pentecost.

It's our personal day of Pentecost.

That through this marvelous sacrament, all the graces that come to us in baptism and in the Eucharist and others are, are brought to a whole new level.

That the Holy Spirit comes, descends on us.

The oil is a symbol of that.

And that he confirms us.

He makes us strong in those graces.

The, the sacraments of initiation, as they're called, are, are completed .

and we're brought, not just into a new level of power and strength, but we're made soldiers in the army of God.

I love how the church fathers talked about confirmation that way.

And they said that just as in the, the ancient Roman army, that you would have a tattoo put on your body that was a symbol of your officer in the Roman army, saying you belong to that officer.

He was your commander.

Then in confirmation, the oil cross put on you, on your forehead, was a sign you belong to your commander Jesus.

In the old days, the bishop would even give a slight slap to your face as a way of saying, Man up.

This is your time now to be strong in the power of God.

And so I love confirmation.

I love the strength of it.

I love, as an RCA director, to see now adults coming into confirmation, receiving that power and having their lives transformed.

Um, as a mother, going, seeing each of my children be baptized is, it's the greatest joy, um, knowing that, that the gates of heaven are open to them and that, um, I can now thank God for them.

Um, seeing my children confirmed is also an amazing experience.

My two oldest children, um, have gone have received the sacrament of confirmation, and watching them grow and develop as young Catholics, and now go through confirmation knowing that they have put on the armor of Christ, that they're ready to go out and do battle in his name, to fight this world gone mad, um, and to stand up in an otherwise crazy world, um, is very affirming, uh, to see the next generation come up and, and take up the sword and, and go into battle.