The Beauty of Conversion to the Catholic Church

These two 19-year old students from St Thomas More College in New Hampshire converted to the Catholic faith on March 28th.   During this Mass at the Pontifical Parish of St. Anne inside the Vatican walls, they received the sacraments of communion and confirmation.   The presiding cardinal, an American himself, spoke of how they brought themselves to Christ in the footsteps of Mary.   Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, Prefect, Vatican’s Apostolic Segnatura Tribunal: “Even as she was the chosen vessel by which the savior came into the world, even so she continues to be the chosen vessel by which Christians are led to him and his grace is poured forth into their hearts.   Today we are privileged to witness in a most beautiful manifestation the work of God’s grace flowing from the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus through the mediation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.   Our brother and sister, Jonathan Blake Wasserman and Kristina Landry, responding to the grace of eternal salvation received in baptism, will be their profession of faith enter in the full communion of the Catholic Church, the mystical body of Christ in which Christ is ever alive for us in the world, in which Christ is ever at work for the salvation of all men, for the salvation of the world. Following Christ they have sought the truth and so have been led by Christ to seek full communion in his Church. — Dear Jonathan and Christina, at your baptism Our lord Jesus poured out the first gift of the Holy Spirit upon you as he did to the apostles and first disciples at his Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Now he will pour out the second gift of the Holy Spirit into yours souls as he did for the apostles and, through the apostles, for all the disciples on Pentecost Sunday so that you may be his witnesses to the very ends of the earth. In an unbroken line from the apostles at Pentecost you will receive from the hands of a successor of the apostles a second outpouring of the Holy Spirit to complete you baptism and to give you the grace to be a fearless heralds and steadfast witnesses to Christ in the world today.”   And, in the presence of their fellow students and professors, they accepted that vocation as they professed their faith, and thus became a part of the Universal Church.   There they took part in the Eucharistic feast for the first time.   The ceremony marked the final days in the college’s semester long study abroad in Rome, but a new beginning for the rest of their lives.   Kristina Landry, St. Thomas More College Rome Program: “It was beautiful. Words can’t describe how I feel, just uplifted and cleansed and excited. “   Jonathan Wasserman, St. Thomas More College Rome Program: “I’m speechless. Everything was just so surreal. I just felt renewed right when I got out of it. It was great.”     Jonathan Wasserman, St. Thomas More College Rome Program: “To be Catholic is to have the truth wit you so it’s amazing to have.”   Kristina Landry: St. Thomas More College Rome Program: “Like he said, it’s the one true faith and that’s how we’re meant to praise god and it really emcompasses everything that is true.”