PORT ST. LUCIE | The Easter Vigil liturgy is considered throughout the Catholic Church to be one of the most beautiful liturgies.
“Today is the most sacred night throughout the church liturgical year,” said Father Tri Pham, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Port St. Lucie. “This night is the night that we remember that our Lord is risen.”
At the Easter Vigil April 19, 2025, after completing a period of formation in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, 25 catechumens and candidates (nine unbaptized, 16 baptized) entered into full communion with the Catholic Church at the parish.
“It’s probably about 25 years that I have been going through the process of finalizing becoming Catholic,” said Christina Cunningham, an OCIA candidate. “I was raised in a very strong evangelical Christian family, and probably one of the things that finalized it for me was the tabernacle and the idea of it being from the Old Testament to current.”
Another candidate, Jack Sweatt, said, “After a lot of research and discernment and after attending a Catholic Mass, I sort of had a ‘come to Jesus moment’ around when I was like 23, a year ago, when I really made that step to become a Catholic.”
Catechumen Robert Brewster didn’t feel he was “worthy enough” to become a Catholic. “But after listening to the Mass and reading on my own and hearing other people’s stories,” Brewster said he realized, “I am worthy enough.”
According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, every year during the Easter Vigil, “thousands are baptized into the Catholic Church in the United States. Although celebrated on Holy Saturday, it is the dramatic Easter Vigil that marks the beginning of Easter.”
Bonnie Lay, Holy Family’s OCIAfacilitator, said, “I was truly blessed with a great group of catechumens and candidates.” In this Year of Hope, she said, “I feel hope as this group has the excitement that the church needs and, with consistent leadership development, I think they will help fulfill the church’s mission.”
Father Pham’s homily encouraged the catechumens and candidates to become active in the church and always have faith, because Jesus is real and truly present in the Eucharist.
“One of the lessons tonight that we learned from our Lord is faith, because that tomb was empty and that increased the faith of the disciples,” he said. “None of them were at the cross with the Lord except for John. But when the tomb was empty, that gave them the power, that gave them the strength to believe that this is the true Son of God. That’s faith.”
Father Pham expounded on the strong faith he found on a recent mission to Bangladesh among Hindus and some Muslim converts. Many of the persecuted Catholic converts there “are willing to die because of a strong faith that they believe that Christ is risen,” he said. They believe that the “true presence of Christ is not symbolic, it’s not a joke, but it is the true presence.”
Speaking directly to the candidates and catechumens, Father Pham said, “When you receive the Eucharist tonight for the first time, you are not receiving just the host, but you are truly receiving his body, the body that on Holy Thursday, he instituted the Eucharist, ‘This is my body.’ This is the bread from heaven; this is what you receive from me today.”
He encouraged the new Catholics to continue their spiritual growth and actively participate in the faith. “This is not a graduation. The church needs you.”
After the Easter Vigil, some of the new Catholics spoke to the Florida Catholic. Three of them are planning to get married soon in the Catholic Church. Tim Shelly and fiancée Rebeca were married in a civil ceremony and are getting married in the Catholic Church. Tim, a former Jehovah’s Witness, said, “I had no interest in learning more about God, but because of her (Rebeca), things changed.”
Tyler Burnett said, “I was married a year ago to my wife Mary, and now we are going to get married in the church after this.”
For more information about faith formation programs in the Diocese of Palm Beach, visit www.diocesepb.org/ministriesoffices/ministries/marriage-family-life-faith-formation-youth-ministry/faith-formation/. For the OCIA program at Holy Family Parish, call 772-335-2385.
