Candidates and catechumens were presented to Bishop Peter Jugis during the Rite of Election at Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville March 23. (Photos provided by Capuchin Franciscan Father Martin Schratz)FOREST CITY — Easter is a special time of year for Immaculate Conception parishioner Chad Burnett. Four years ago, he entered the Catholic Church after years of trying to run away from God.
In presentations he has shared to parish groups since his conversion to Catholicism, Burnett has encouraged others to embrace God’s love and mercy – just as he finally did.
After a traumatic childhood caused by dysfunctional parents, Burnett found himself homeless on his 15th birthday. He lived on the streets and his days were filled with violence, crime and addiction. Eventually, everyone on the streets he knew had died or gone to prison.
At 24, Burnett found himself alone, sitting in the car that he also slept in, contemplating suicide.
It was then that he heard a voice say, “Not you. Trust in me.”
Somehow, Burnett knew it was the voice of Jesus.
“That encounter with Jesus Christ literally saved my life,” he recalls.
Burnett put down the drugs and the alcohol, and he picked up the Bible. He also enlisted in the military to help find a new path in life. Still, there was something missing, he says.
He tried attending a number of Protestant worship services but they left him dissatisfied, and so he began to search for God and His Church on his own. One day, he stumbled across a used copy of the Diary of St. Faustina in a bookstore.
“That book was the beginning of my journey to the Holy Catholic Church and my devotion to the life-changing power of Divine Mercy,” Burnett says.
He learned how to pray the rosary and began praying it daily along with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
He eventually found the courage to contact Immaculate Conception Church in Forest City, and he asked for information on how to become Catholic. He attended RCIA classes at the parish and entered the Church four years ago. Now, he not only practices his newfound Catholic faith, he teaches it to seventh-graders in the parish’s faith formation program.
— Giuliana Polinari Riley, correspondent
Did you know?
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is the process developed by the Catholic Church for prospective converts to Catholicism.
Over the past few weeks, approximately 511 candidates and 248 catechumens have been learning about the Catholic faith and preparing to receive the sacraments of initiation – baptism, first Holy Communion and confirmation – at the Easter Vigil Mass or soon thereafter.
They recently gathered with Bishop Peter Jugis for the Rite of Election, also called the Enrollment of Names. Rites of Election were held at three locations across the Diocese of Charlotte: St. Pius X Church in Greensboro, St. Mark Church in Huntersville and Immaculate Conception Parish in Hendersonville.
