the Philadelphia Catholic League\u2019s boys basketball MVP at Msgr. Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast High School, fulfilling the faith of his family<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhile their journeys into the Church are unique, so is the path that each school takes to lead their students to full communion in the Church.<\/p>\n
As is often the case in parish-based OCIA preparation programs (the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) the team leaders\u2019 passion for engaging their faith with the catechumens and candidates is a key feature.<\/p>\n
Cole\u2019s sense of initiative in missionary discipleship has catalyzed Conwell-Egan\u2019s ministry of sacramental development.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got to Conwell-Egan three years ago,\u201d she said. \u201cI was talking about Mary, and one of our resident international students wanted to understand more about Mary. The Holy Spirit had me ask her, \u2018Are you Catholic?\u2019 And she said, \u2018No, but I want to be, and no one will help me.\u2019<\/p>\n
Though surprised, she wanted to help the student but discovered there was no OCIA program in place. But since she promised to help, she realized she needed \u201cto make it happen. I really had to learn myself,\u201d Cole said.<\/p>\n
She took the assistance of her son Deacon Declan Cole, who is set to be ordained a priest for Philadelphia in May, and essentially created the Sacrament Club as an after-school activity, along with chicken nuggets, french fries and Spirit-led accompaniment in faith.<\/p>\n
Mary Cole often nudges her own theology students into the club if they haven\u2019t received their own sacraments. Students also use Conwell-Egan\u2019s theology classes as part of their OCIA preparation.<\/p>\n
Thirty-eight of those students have received sacraments through her OCIA leadership over the last three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t emphasize the importance of having the right person leading a mission or program,\u201d said Conwell-Egan President Matthew Fischer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout Mary Cole, I don\u2019t know where the OCIA program would be at CEC. That\u2019s not because other people aren\u2019t doing a great job and helping to evangelize students, but Mary has put all the pieces together to make this program work.\u201d<\/p>\n
One person cannot guide the faith journeys of more than a dozen students by themselves. Each of these Catholic high schools relies on much help, from campus ministers like Father Brenden Zehner at Conwell-Egan to fellow students who take on the role of confirmation sponsor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so uplifting to see students filling the role of sponsor and others attending the Easter Vigil in support of their friends and classmates,\u201d Fischer said. \u201cWhile Mary is certainly the driving force behind the OCIA program, peer support and mentorship can be so impactful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conwell-Egan sophomore Jackson Dean is another of the Conwell-Egan students receiving the sacrament of baptism this year, marking his entry into the Church.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t baptized or anything. I knew Ms. Cole was doing this thing, and she was telling me about it. I started going to the meetings after school and was learning about what it is to be baptized and confirmed. I thought it would be good for me to get that,\u201d Dean said.<\/p>\n
His parents wanted him to make his own choice of faith, and with the help of Cole and the faith community he has at Conwell-Egan, the Holy Spirit led him to choose the sacramental Catholic life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt so much happier afterwards, and I felt better,\u201d Dean said about his experience at the Easter Vigil. \u201cIt\u2019s like a big thing for me because I chose to do it on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Jay Sorgi \u2022 Posted April 17, 2026 The journey to the Catholic sacraments of initiation reflects the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[21628,76067,8364,50854,76068,69,71,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-168893","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-aops","9":"tag-conwell-egan-catholic-high-school","10":"tag-jay-sorgi","11":"tag-lent","12":"tag-ocia","13":"tag-philadelphia","14":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","15":"tag-philadelphia-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}