U.S. Military Catholics Participate in Rite of Election to Catholic Church

WASHINGTON, DC — When Ms. Mikeila Noelani Sain married her college sweetheart five years ago she knew it was a marriage made in heaven. Except for one thing: she was protestant and her husband Alex Sain—now an officer in the United States Army—was Catholic. Following the birth of their son Johnathan, and the family’s assignment to Fort Gregg-Adams in Virginia, Ms. Sain decided once and for all to join the Catholic Church. In the main chapel of Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), on Sunday, March 9, the first Sunday of Lent, Ms. Sain was among 17 U.S. Military-affiliated catechumens to participate in the Rite of Election, the penultimate milestone in a months-long process known as the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA). In the OCIA, candidates study the faith, participate in prayers and service, discern their calling to Catholicism, and upon completing the process, come into communion with the Church through the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist at Easter.

“I was fortunate enough to meet my husband in college prior to him commissioning as an officer in the Army, and he has been born and raised Catholic,” Ms. Sain said, following the 3:00 p.m. celebration at the Edwin Cardinal O'Brien Pastoral Center, AMS global headquarters. “After we got married I realized that for the sake of my family I knew I needed to do the right thing and follow the right path. I felt called, after years. Many people have said becoming Catholic is like coming back home, and I feel I've returned home, and now my family and my son--he's five years old--can walk this path along with us.”

During the mid-afternoon celebration, Ms. Sain and fellow catechumens from Forts Gregg-Adams and Belvoir, Marine Corps Base Quantico, the U.S. Naval Academy, and Joint Bases Andrews and Anacostia-Bolling, recorded their names in the Book of the Elect. Accompanied by their godparents, they signed one by one, pledging fidelity to their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Before the signings, following the readings given for the First Sunday of Lent, His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, preached the homily, reflecting on the Lenten Gospel reading of Luke 4:1-13, wherein Christ rejects Satan’s temptations at the end of his 40 days in the desert following his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist. His Excellency said in part:

"It reminds us all, but especially the catechumens, that this time of prayer, sacrifice, charity, and additional drawing near to the Lord Jesus serves to draw us closer to Almighty God. However, it is also a time of combat against the enemy who never sleeps and never tires to trying to lead us astray. Saint Luke implies that even for the Lord it is not over. The devil departed from Him 'for a time.'

“So, as an archdiocesan Church, we gather with those aspiring to baptism here and around the world, and we commit ourselves to them, and pray for their perseverance up to their bath in the waters of rebirth during Easter Vigil. It is Jesus Christ who calls you to faith in Him. We cannot change that He is Lord. But it is our choice to recognize him as our Savior.”

How does becoming Catholic express that choice? Each military-affiliated catechumen has a unique perspective. “First of all, I did my studies, and I came to find Catholic(ism) on my own,” said Airman First Class Christian Neil Knoblock, USAF, of Joint Base Andrews. “None of my family members are Catholic, more of them are protestant, so I just decided to go on a journey of truth and see what I could find, and I ended up with the Catholic Church. I came to fall in love with it, the art and the studies of it, you know, with Saint Peter being the first pope, and all the way to who we have now, Pope Francis, and the history—I just fell in love with it, and the Church. Coming to find Jesus Christ in this Church was my true goal, and I did.” Ms. Sain remarked, “It's such an honor. I feel like it's such a momentous occasion formally writing my name in the Book of the Lord, if you will. It helps to really solidify my journey. It also represents for me that this is the real deal. This is the lifelong commitment, and I feel such an honor to be able to do this with everyone else.”

The catechumens will spend the remaining six weeks of Lent preparing to close this opening phase of their new life journey in faith, applying the disciplines of the penitential season to hone their spiritual formation. Like other Catholic dioceses, the AMS holds the Rite of Election every year, and the 17 celebrating the observance at the Edwin Cardinal O’Brien Pastoral Center on Sunday are not the only U.S. Military personnel entering the Church in 2025. Since it is practically impossible for all catechumens spread throughout the AMS—a global archdiocese—to gather at one time in Washington, those serving outside the National Capital Region will participate in the Rite of Election sponsored in the local dioceses where they happen to be located at present.