By Currents News
More than 1,200 people are preparing to fully join the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil Masses across Brooklyn and Queens this year, according to the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Secretariat for Evangelization and Catechesis.
Of those, 605 will receive the sacraments of confirmation and the Eucharist during the Vigil.
An additional 683 will be baptized, confirmed and receive the Eucharist, completing their initiation into the faith.
To put a face to the numbers, Currents News spoke with Damari Machado, a parishioner at Holy Child Jesus Church in Richmond Hill who is preparing to enter the Catholic Church this Easter.
Machado shared that although her parents converted from Catholicism to Pentecostalism after immigrating to the United States from El Salvador, she felt drawn to Catholicism through her own experiences and questions of faith. Part of that journey began by watching the deep devotion her friends had to Our Lady of Guadalupe — a devotion that gradually became personal for her as well.
She recalled praying to Our Lady of Guadalupe before a difficult statistics exam, asking for strength and calm, and said that moment became a turning point in her faith life. From there, her Catholic journey continued to deepen.
Machado also spoke about how her parents have responded to her decision, her engagement and her fiancé’s support as she prepares to receive the sacraments, and how entering the Church has already begun to change her life.
She will receive her sacraments at the Easter Vigil, and Currents News looks forward to following up with her after that joyful moment.