Sixth graders Zac Eagleton, Ian Eagleton and Austen Ridosko have been in formation to become Catholic for the past year at Lumen Christi, Mequon. (Submitted photo)
For the past 10 months, Ian Eagleton, his twin brother Zac, and Austen Ridosko have been meeting up on a regular basis. All three are sixth graders from the North Shore area.
It began with the odd summer evening here and there. Once the school year started, they switched to weekends. Sometimes they talk about Ian’s pet snake. Sometimes they talk about Austen’s favorite Stephen King novels. Sometimes they talk about Rice Krispies.
And sometimes, they talk about kerygma.
Kerygma, from the Greek word for “proclamation,” is a theological concept that has to do with the purpose of a Christian life, of the perpetual need for repentance, for salvation, for a living-out of the Gospel.
It’s not something you would expect to hear 12-year-old boys be able to pronounce correctly, and yet all three — Ian, Zac and Austen — know what it means. And they knew 10 months ago, too, even if, at the time, they didn’t have the words to explain it.
Because this trio of preteens isn’t getting together to play Fortnite or Minecraft or to kick around a ball. They’re catechumens, and for almost a year now they have been undergoing formation together at Lumen Christi, Mequon.
On Holy Saturday, April 19, at the Easter Vigil, all three will become Catholic — and not one is doing so because he feels compelled by any force other than that still, quiet voice which speaks deep inside every person’s soul.
On the Fifth Sunday of Lent, the three boys met to discuss their faith journey over the past year. It all began last spring, when Lumen Christi Director of Catholic Formation Meaghan Turner was contacted separately by Colleen Eagleton and Ashley Ridosko. The conversations took place within mere weeks of one another. Both women told her that they had been approached by their sons about a desire to be baptized.
“I could see them getting more curious about faith and God. And they definitely had a lot of background with school,” said Colleen Eagleton, whose sons are in sixth grade at Lumen Christi.
“They kind of knew a little bit about my faith. They knew a little bit about Dad’s faith. They always knew about Jesus,” said Ashley Ridosko, who is Catholic while her husband is Lutheran. “But we let them choose.”
“Through the five years of schooling here (at Lumen Christi), I’ve been intrigued about the faith. Just going to a Catholic school, learning pretty much all things Catholic — a whole class dedicated to it — really, you kind of feel like, maybe I should do this, because I’m not Catholic yet,” explained Ian Eagleton.
Austen Ridosko attends public school in Brown Deer, but his younger brother London, age 7, is in second grade at Lumen Christi. London asked to be baptized last year and is now preparing for First Communion with the rest of his class. His decision inspired his older brother. “I thought I would join him,” Austen said.
Turner has been working in ministry for close to 20 years, but this is her first experience of the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA) — formerly called RCIA — with catechumens who are older children.
“I just feel like it was inspired by the Holy Spirit that they happened to come at the same time, to be community together and to not feel isolated,” she said. “To be together for a full year, experiencing the Church and the life of the Church and unpacking all of that together has been an adventure, for sure.”
Together, the boys have learned about the sacraments, the liturgical seasons, the Ten Commandments, lectio divina, and so much more. They’ve stood up in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist at the Rite of Election and shook hands with the archbishop. (“It was cool,” said Austen. “I’ve never seen an archbishop in my whole life before.”)
Now it is only a few days until their Baptism. Austen’s godfather will fly in from Washington, D.C., for the occasion; both families will gather for the late-evening Easter Vigil. Ian worries he won’t be able to sleep the night before. Austen frets that he will trip and “ruin the whole thing.” All three are somewhat nervous about the length of the Easter Vigil, which is usually two hours or more — even Sunday Mass, certainly, can seem a little long sometimes, especially at age 12. Baptism won’t change that.
But it will change them. They know that. Kerygma, after all. God has a plan for their lives. So how, exactly? How will Baptism change them?
When asked this question, Ian replied: “One word: faith.”
“But more faith,” he added. “More amounts of it. Just like, hey, you know what? I’m going to open the door for God. Like, completely. It’s kind of half-open right now, but I’m going to open it completely. I’m going to rip it off the hinges.”
“I feel like you’re more likely to take a chainsaw and cut off the entire wall,” quipped Austen with a smile. For his part, he said he thinks he will “look in the mirror in 20 years and think, man I was a hard worker.”
“I’ll actually be saying the phrase, ‘Let’s go to Mass,’” he said.
So, what advice would the boys have for other kids considering making faith a bigger priority in their life?
“As Nike would say,” said Zac. “Just do it.”
