Catechumen cites sponsor, parish community, as strength during a long faith journey

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Cailin-MacKenzie Adkins is one of over 40 candidates and catechumens of St. Timothy Parish, Union, welcomed as Elect during the Feb. 22 Rite of Election. She will be baptized alongside other catechumens during the upcoming Easter Vigil Mass.

This year is Ms. Adkins third year going through OCIA — overcoming challenges to reach the point of being able to receive the sacraments this Easter.

Growing up in Florence, Ky., Ms. Adkins’ interest in the faith began with her family. Despite having Catholic family, Ms. Adkins was never baptized herself but attended Church with her grandmother “whenever (she) could” at St. Henry Parish in Elsmere.

“Around my senior year of high school, I really just started becoming curious about the Catholic faith,” Ms. Adkins said. “I didn’t know why I didn’t get baptized. When I was little, I didn’t understand it, so I got really interested. I did a lot of research, and that’s what drove me.”

The first year in OCIA, Ms. Adkins was a student at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee. Due to the distance, Ms. Adkins remembered that she could not attend the OCIA meetings on Sundays. “I didn’t feel like I was putting in the effort, so I didn’t go through with it then,” she said.

The following year, Ms. Adkins attempted OCIA again — however, health issues put a speed bump in the process. Medical issues, including six surgeries in the course of the year, kept Ms. Adkins from completing the OCIA process — but in 2026, she tried once more.

“This year has actually been a really great year,” Ms. Adkins said. “I’ve been able to go to all my classes, and, why I think it’s been so successful is because of my sponsor. Debbi Cranley (the OCIA coordinator at St. Timothy Parish, Union) assigned me my sponsor and she’s amazing … She’s really gotten me into the spirit and helped me through this spiritual warfare.”

Citing her parish as another contributor to her spiritual growth, Ms. Adkins said that “I feel like St. Timothy’s is a very close-knit family community. Father Bolte and Father Hennigan stand outside Church every Sunday and shake every person’s hand that walks into the Church. It’s a really tight knit group, and I think that’s why my faith journey has gone so strong this year, because I’ve been fully committed to it, and everyone’s just very supportive.”

Now, after three years of trying and spiritual journeying, Ms. Adkins looks forward to finally completing the OCIA process — and especially the sacrament of Reconciliation.

“I think it’s so powerful,” she said, “and the priests at St. Timothy are really kind in helping you through these things, so I’m really looking forward to my first confession.”

Excited also for her baptism itself, Ms. Adkins said that she looked forward to “just being renewed, and one with God in that moment.”