On the night of Holy Saturday, thirty "chosen ones" of the Diocese of Getafe received the Sacraments of Christian Initiation at the Easter Vigil. For reasons of capacity, the celebrations took place in the Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene, presided over by the Bishop of Getafe, D. Ginés García Beltrán, and in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, in the Cerro de los Ángeles, by the Auxiliary Bishop D. José Rico Pavés.
Arriving from different countries - Spain (more than half), Peru, Colombia, Honduras, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Angola or Ghana - and of different ages - 5 years the youngest and 54 the oldest - the Lord has renewed their stories and has granted them the Grace of eternal life, welcoming them as Sons.
Rebirth to a new life
"In my youth I did many things that I deeply regret, but the Lord has allowed me to be reborn to a new life, it has been a wonderful gift": this is how Leidy Camacho tells, in tears, what she felt when she received the Sacraments of Christian Initiation last Saturday, April 3, at the Easter Vigil celebrated in the Basilica of El Cerro.
Camacho was born in Cali, a troubled Colombian territory, 30 years ago. Educated in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, this neophyte lived a convulsive adolescence that led her to leave home at 15 and to an unwanted pregnancy at 20.
"I left home, went to Ecuador with my boyfriend, then we separated and I traveled halfway around the world, until in 2017 I landed in Spain and arrived in Arroyomolinos." she recalls with some pain. "I wanted my daughter to make Communion and I signed her up at the Santa Ángela de la Cruz Parish, in Arroyomolinos, and it was there, in that place in the Diocese of Getafe, where the Lord met me, through a religious."
From that moment on, Leidy Camacho's life changed completely, she met her catechists, and began the process of faith formation that culminated with her Baptism next to the Sacred Heart. Leidy relates that "at the Easter Vigil many memories and feelings came together in her mind and heart; it was as if someone you love very much and have waited for a long time, came to you and hugged you tightly against his chest, that's how I felt".
"The Church is my family."
Felicia Fatima felt something similar at her Baptism at Cerro de los Angeles: "As if my soul was being cleansed. I felt something I had never experienced before".
Arriving from Angola three and a half years ago, this neophyte who lost her parents in infancy and remembers her past life with much suffering, met Christ through the Oblates of Ciempozuelos and the priests of St. Mary Magdalene Parish who helped her from the beginning: "They suggested a path of formation when I signed my daughter up for First Communion catechesis".
"Now I have hope. Although I am alone with my three daughters and I have no job, I know that God is with me, and the Church is my family and helps me," she stresses happily.
Mailín Serrano came to the Diocese of Getafe from Cuba ten years ago. She experienced first-hand the progressive deterioration of her country under the dictatorship of Fidel Castro, and in the midst of her life, she experienced how God was calling her to something different.
"When I was in my early twenties, I was walking down an avenue in Havana and something directed my steps towards a temple: the temple of St. Rita de Casia.That was the day and the place where I felt, through Saint Rita, the presence of God".
His journey of growth in faith and knowledge of the Lord was parallel to his social integration in Spain: "Almost ten years ago I left my country, my home, my mother, my family, my friends. One feels without land under one's feet. But God was there giving me a home, food, affection, dignity, strength and hope".
An intense training process
After an intense process of formation and accompanied by godparents and priests, she left behind the old man to rise with Christ to the new man and emphasizes that: "God has placed in my life people who are divine gifts. He brought me to Móstoles, to the Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, where I met the parish priest Pablo de Haro who always remembers my difficult name and looks me in the eyes. God in Móstoles has given me a great friend and his Christian family, who have strengthened my faith". This journey culminated in the Easter Vigil in the cathedral, where, accompanied by the Bishop of the Diocese of Getafe, D. Ginés García Beltrán, Mailín felt that she was beginning a new life with Christ.
"For the first time you are going to call God, Father. You have begun a love story that transforms and saves you. Now you belong to Christ. To be a Christian is to belong to Christ and to belong to Christ is a grace," the prelate told them before they were baptized.
Baptized together with their daughter
These words deeply moved Amanda Moreno and Cristian Astillero, a young engaged couple in their twenties united by love and by a daughter, Samara, five years old, who, together with them, also received the Sacrament of Baptism.
Amanda and Cristian have started together the journey of faith formation that will lead them to a forthcoming marriage in the Church. Amanda's parents did not baptize her because they wanted her to choose when she grew up what she wanted in her life, so the Lord came to meet her in the Parish of Our Lady of Butarque, in Leganés, through a courtship and a daughter.
"Although I was not baptized, I have always felt close to the Church and I wanted to get married in this parish. But for that we had to receive Baptism and be formed beforehand, so that the three of us could embark on this journey together", Amanda explains excitedly. Her future husband, Cristian, is also happy and grateful: "Thanks to God who put good teachers in my path, I was able to redirect my life, they have helped me a lot to regain peace. I am also very grateful for my partner and my beautiful daughter who have been baptized with me.
The help of friends and the parish
Although his parents did not baptize him, Jorge Ugaz received Christian formation at school. In a moment of emptiness when he was already a university student, he decided to enter a church; Mass was being celebrated, and when the lady next to him gave him the sign of peace, he perceived a true peace, not only human. He decided to continue attending every Sunday and continued to take steps towards faith.
Above all, he was helped by the support of his friends and the dedication of his catechist in the parish of St. Josemaría, in Alcorcón. At the Easter Vigil, he was especially moved to receive the Eucharist, and to feel that, as a child of God, the Church is now a family for him.
The Adult Catechumenate of the Diocese of Getafe, headed by the priest Óscar Martínez, and the catechists, priests and sponsors who accompany them in this process, as representatives of the whole Church, have played a fundamental role in the journey of all the neophytes.
Director of the Press Office of the Diocese of Getafe.
