996 people planning to enter the Church in Metro Detroit this Easter

DETROIT — Baked potatoes verses mashed? Jet’s Pizza versus Little Caesars? Should the Detroit Tigers get rid of their manager?

Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron posed many questions to the congregation at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament on March 5 during the Rite of Election.

All are examples of the choices we make each day, Archbishop Vigneron noted, “But the one you make today is very significant, a big choice: The choice to follow the will of God.”

As 996 new Catholics prepared for the final stretch on their journey to full communion with the Catholic Church, Archbishop Vigneron said saying yes to God is similar to what Jesus did in while being tempted in the desert by the devil.

“Today, we need to think about the choices Jesus makes in the Gospel,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “Jesus decides not to bribe, wow or control the Jews. He could have turned the stones into bread; wouldn’t that be a great thing for a king to have? But that’s not the kind of king Jesus knows Himself to be.”

Jesus’ “yes” to God is what sets him apart from Adam, and by saying “yes,” Jesus sets the example for others to follow in trusting God’s promise, Archbishop Vigneron said.

Archbishop Vigneron likened the “yes” Jesus gave in the desert with the “yeses” hundreds of Catholics will give in affirming their desire to join the Church.

“Tonight, your decision is ratifying a desire to share in the decision of Jesus Christ,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “By coming here, you’re saying that you want to share in the life of Jesus Christ. You are saying, ‘My life means I know by self-sacrifice, by the cross, I will conquer.’”

As the catechumens preparing for baptism, confirmation and Communion put their names in the Book of Life, they came from varied backgrounds and told different stories of coming to faith. In total, 391 catechumens, 377 candidates (Christians baptized in another denomination) and 228 Catholic candidates (those baptized Catholic but not confirmed) will plan to enter the Church in Metro Detroit this Easter.

Ryan Borst of Ste. Anne de Detroit Parish stood with his sponsor, Annette Hauswirth, in affirming his desire to join the Church.

“My mom was raised Catholic, and (my fiancée) Mary and I were both raised Christian,” said Borst, who was baptized in the Christian Reformed Church. “I talked to my Catholic grandparents, had a good conversation with my grandfather. We talked about the most important things, being involved.”

Borst said the RCIA process has been vital in seeing the similarities — and differences — between the Roman Catholic and Christian Reformed traditions.

“It’s been really interesting learning about the similarities and about the differences, but I’m most interested in the similar basic principles. The most important thing is accepting Christ, saying that ‘yes’ to everything. I think it’s very exciting, building up to Easter and the Resurrection,” Borst said.

That desire to say “yes” to everything is what inspired George Defenthaler of St. Thomas a’Becket Parish in Canton to join the Catholic Church.

After going to Mass for a year, and RCIA classes for seven months, Defenthaler, sponsored by Lindsay Boucher, is set to be baptized, confirmed and receive the Eucharist this Easter Vigil.

“It seems like I’m still learning, just absorbing as much as I can,” Defenthaler said. “Knowing that Jesus said yes to everything, He’s showing us the same path. I’m really looking forward to being baptized. Growing up, I wasn’t much involved in the Church. But in the back of my mind, getting baptized has been something I wanted to do.”