Thursday, February 25, 2021
Rite of Election 2021
Southern Cross, Page 5
Larry Lambert (right) was accompanied by his godparent Mary Elaine
Thompson as he signs the Book of the Elect during the Rite of Election
at St. Joseph’s Church, Macon, Feb. 20, 2021.
Photograph by Donnell Suggs.
Larry Lambert
By Donnell Suggs
Larry Lambert, a catechumen
at Christ the King Church, Pine
Mountain, attended Mass at the
Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis,
New Orleans earlier this month
and heard something said by the
celebrant that he has yet to for
get. “The words listen and silent
are made up of the same letters.
They are the same word. You
can’t have one without the other.”
Lambert enthusiastically told
this story while explaining to the
Southern Cross why he has decid
ed to become a Catholic. “I feel
our entire lives are spiritual jour
neys,” said Lambert who served
in Vietnam as a flight medic after
being drafted not long after his
18th birthday in 1971.
The Sarasota, Florida native
and father of two adult daughters,
jokes about how he had a “12-day
summer” that year and that he’s
“lived about five lifetimes.” He
plans to five the remainder of his
life as a Catholic, which means
a lot to him as his daughters are
Catholics. Living and worship
ing in metro Atlanta and New
Orleans, respectively. “There are
-Catechumen
a lot of reasons why I decided
to become Catholic. One is the
history of the church and its rela
tionship with Jesus Christ,” said
Lambert, 67. “I also love the way
the church holds The Virgin Mary
in such high spiritual esteem.”
During those lifetimes as a vet
eran he served for more than
18 years in the Florida National
Guard, and more recently as a
Professor Emeritus for Tulane.
Becoming a Catholic was some
thing he has always been inter
ested in. Lambert’s late wife,
Pamela Rollins, played the organ
and helped with youth minis
tries while the family attended
First United Methodist of Pine
Mountain. Rollins passed away
following an accident in 1996. She
was just 42 years old. Her strong
faith remains an anchor for the
family. “I am learning a lot,” he
said of the Rite of Christian
Initiation of Adults (RCIA) class
es. Lambert took RCIA classes
with one of his daughters in New
Orleans but didn’t complete the
process. “I didn’t take the final
exam,” he joked.
Lambert has been attending
Mass at Christ the King Church
for “close to a year.” He attend
ed Mass at other parishes in
the past while in the military.
Lambert credits the help of his
sponsor Mary Elaine Thompson,
a long-time parishioner at Christ
the King Church, and parish
RCIA instructor Neal Gam, who
has been involved in faith forma
tion at the parish for the past 15
years. “I give Neal a lot of credit,”
said Lambert. Another reason
Lambert fisted why he is becom
ing a Catholic is simple, “I have
always liked how the Masses end
with the words ‘Go in peace,” he
said.
MiLinda Nguyen-Catechumen
By Donnell Suggs
Phillippians 4:6 reads in part, “Do not
be anxious about anything.” Sts. Peter
and Paul Church, Savannah parishioner
MiLinda Nguyen, a catechumen at the par
ish, is in the process of learning the Bible
and its many books and verses during Rite
of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)
classes, and that in itself can make any
one anxious. The fact that Nguyen, 30, a
Redlands, California native whose family
moved to Savannah when she was a little
girl, is learning to read and comprehend
the Bible in Vietnamese makes things a
bit more interesting. “I’m already famil
iar with the Bible because I grew up going
to Baptist churches,” said Nguyen, whose
parents are Vietnamese nationals and prac
ticing Buddhists. “I just wasn’t familiar
with the Catholic way.” And definitely not
in Vietnamese, despite being fluent in the
language and growing up with Vietnamese
being spoken at home. “It’s been like I am
learning a new language. I never read the
Bible in Vietnamese until now. Some of the
terms are just different.”
Sts. Peter and Paul is the sole Vietnamese
parish in the Diocese of Savannah. The par
ish has two catechumens making the transi
tion into Catholicism.
Nguyen is an only child, and her parents
wanted her to become a follower of God no
matter the church, the designation, no mat
ter the people she sat side by side with in
the pews. “I asked my mom about taking
the classes and going through the process,
and she said if it is good, then do it,” said
Nguyen. The decision to become Catholic
began with visits to Sts. Peter and Paul
Church and a relationship she started with
a fellow parishioner. “I had always been
interested but never took the steps to join
the church,” she admits. She attended Mass
at St. Frances Cabrini Church, Savannah,
and has always been comfortable celebrat
ing in a Catholic setting. The next logi
cal step was to begin the process and go
through the experience.
A nail tech and cosmetologist, Nguyen
had to find a way to balance work with her
RCIA studies, and thus far all is going well.
She is on her way to becoming a Catholic,
something she is looking forward to. “It’s
been tough, but I’m studious, so I am really
enjoying learning new things.” New things
like the Vietnamese pronunciation of the
Holy Trinity, Thien Chua Ba Ngoi. “I was
like, Oh, that’s how you pronounce it,” said
Nguyen with a laugh. “I didn’t know what it
was called in Vietnamese.”
She’s learning. Philippians 4:6 closes
with .... “but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be known by God.” Nguyen’s
request to become a Catholic is being
answered, now if only she can get those
Vietnamese pronunciations down pat. “I’m
learning,” said Nguyen.
