As the new Catholics and their sponsors joined the Easter Vigil recessional at St. Patrick, Lexington, most of them fell into step, side-by-side. The marching comes naturally; after all, they’re VMI cadets. Six members of the corps completed RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) this spring, the Monday night meetings led by parishioners Carey and Bill Wyatt.
“The cadets are so impressive… and their faith is no exception,” Carey said. “And it’s a huge honor and a privilege just to be able to watch them go from having some basic questions or not really understanding some basic things about Catholicism to just being on fire for the Lord.”
Those “courageously faithful” cadets, as Carey Wyatt calls them, are Benjamin Cheng, Faith Guy, Stafford Johnson, Lazzara Mazza-Hilway, John Lightfoot and Bryson Minear.
They have a variety of religious backgrounds and traditions. John Lightfoot, a third-year, or sophomore, from Chesapeake, was baptized a Catholic but never went much beyond that.
“The first year is incredibly difficult, and I remember praying to God to change me, make me better, just off a whim,” he said. “All of a sudden, I started going to Mass, and I really felt an inclination to look further and further into the Church and really take it seriously.”
Sophomore Faith Guy from Statesville, North Carolina, grew up a Lutheran before deciding to become Catholic.
“All the things you do, going to Mass, praying the rosary, I feel like that really means a lot to me. It’s not just going through the motions,” she said. “It’s a whole experience, honoring God with all of those traditions.”
Read more of this story in the May 2 issue of The Catholic Virginian.