St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish welcomes new Catholics to the Church during Easter Vigil
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“Today is a special day … to bring people into the Church and to evangelize and go out and tell the world the great news that we have a God that will do this for us,” Father Robert Owczarczak, pastor of The Lord’s Vineyard family of parishes said at the conclusion of his homily during the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Dunkirk.
The church, in the small city in Chautauqua County, boasted the largest number of those joining the Catholic Church this year in the diocese.
Father Robert Owczarczak blesses those joining the Catholic Church during a Saturday night Easter Vigil Mass at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Dunkirk. (Photo by Nicole Dzimira) 
Father Robert Owczarczak baptizes one of his new parishioners during the Easter Vigil Mass on April 19. (Photo by Nicole Dzimira) 
Father Robert Owczarczak conducts a full immersion baptism during the Easter Vigil. (Photo by Nicole Dzimira) 
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Dunkirk. (Photo by Nicole Dzimira) 
The Paschal fire is used to light candles for the Easter Vigil Mass. (Photo by Nicole Dzimira) 
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Dunkirk had the largest number of people joining the Catholic Church this year. (Photo by Nicole Dzimira)
Kevin Domes and his wife of 40 years, Colleen, have been in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) program since October and reflected on what the vigil Mass meant to him.
“It’s hard to put into words, coming to this point later in life. It is kind of a renewal,” Domes explained. “The whole OCIA process has been wonderful. This all leads up to today and today was surreal, and to go through it with my wife with this whole process was special.”
Their son Justin served as their sponsor. Domes was raised in the Methodist Church but said he never really found a community or church that resonated with him.
“My grandmother was Catholic and she always inspired me, and for some time I think this is where I would end up. It took me 68 years to get here, but I am here now,” he explained.
In referencing the readings from Genesis, from the creation story and to then the testing of Abraham who thought he had to sacrifice his son Isaac, Father Owczarczak reflected.
“What today is all about … is that we are celebrating new life … that life in Christ, and in the beginning, God separated the light from the darkness and remember what Jesus said … ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’, and also the light,” he explained.
“And when you know Jesus as the light of the world, He guides you on your path. When you are in darkness, you may stumble, you may fall, you may get there, so God says I am going to get you there.”
“The world is in a dark place, but Christ is our light in the darkness.”
