Angelus News | April 19-26, 2019 | Vol. 4 No. 15

Archbishop José H. Gomez presides over the Rite of Election ceremony with more than 1,500 local
catechumens at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels March 10.
it for myself.’ ”
In September she started RCIA classes
at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary Church in Pasadena, which she
said has been an exciting journey that
has changed her.
“I feel closer to God than I have ever
been,” she said. “I pray more. I see
more signs that God is around. My
thinking has broadened. I feel more at
peace with myself.”
For Paquillo, baptism will be the start
of a new life.
“It’s a new beginning,” she said.
For Steve Lin, baptism is also a new
start, not just for himself — but for his
entire family.
Lin, 36, who was born in Taiwan
and came to the U.S. at the age of 3,
said that he wasn’t raised in a religious
household. He had only visited Protestant
churches growing up, he said, but
only to play basketball or attend other
social events with his friends.
But two years ago, Lin met his nowwife,
a devout Catholic. Soon after
they started dating, he said, he learned
some prayers and they started attending
Mass together.
“On our first date, I was thinking
since she’s so religious I should learn
a Catholic prayer,” Lin said. “I knew
it was such a big part of her life and
I know she does it in Korean, so I
taught it to her in English. Then
about a month in, I said, ‘Hey, how
come you’re never free on Sundays?’
She said, ‘I go to Mass.’ And I said,
‘Can I come along?’ ”
Lin, who works as an importer,
had never been to Mass before, but
soon, going to the St. Gabriel Korean
Catholic Center in Rowland Heights,
it became a staple of his weekends.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” he
said. “It kind of gave me a little bit
more time on Sundays to relax, to take
a timeout from the rest of reality, from
the rest of life. Mass is one hour on
Sunday; it gave me time for a little bit
more self-reflection. So I decided this
is good for me, it’s nothing bad, so I’m
going to keep going, and I got used to
going.”
After Lin and his wife got married
and she became pregnant, Lin
decided to officially become Catholic
so they could raise their son in the
Church together. Attending the RCIA
program at St. Gabriel Church for the
past nine months has been a learning
experience for both of them.
Lin said he would often come
home from class and tell her what he
learned, and would find that even as a
lifelong Catholic, the information was
new to her, too.
Lin’s 3-month-old son was baptized
a few weeks before he will be, and
he said that he’s looking forward to
building — and leading — a family
based on faith.
“I want to teach my son how to
pray, how to have a relationship with
Christ, and how to read the Bible,”
he said. “I hope we learn together as a
whole family.”
Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil is an
award-winning reporter and graduate
of Harvard Divinity School whose
work has appeared in the Los Angeles
Times, NBCNews.com, Religion News
Service, and other publications.
VICTOR ALEMÁN
18 • ANGELUS • April 19-26, 2019