A Sacramental Smorgasbord: One Family’s Six-Sacrament Entrance into the Catholic Church

The Hodd Family’s Journey to the Church Through Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation and Matrimony

(Photo provided)

By Maria O’Malley

In the Hodd household, April 26 will forever hold a special day of reverence. It is not only the date Brian Hodd received all three of his sacraments of initiation into the Catholic church, but also the day he and his wife, Angie, had their marriage convalidated (blessed and recognized) and the day their two young children were baptized.

But the road to that special day was neither smooth nor straight.

“Brian and I met later in life through a matchmaking service. I was thirty-five years old and he was forty,” Angie explained of the couple’s start.

After telling the matchmaker she sought someone who “is loving, joyful and positive, deeply connected to God, lives with purpose and desires a family,” her first match was Brian.

“I remember the matchmaker described Brian as someone who loved water sports,” Angie told the Denver Catholic. “I remember thinking, ‘Who cares if he likes water sports? What’s he like as a person?’”

Yet, as Angie and Brian got to know each other, it was clear the matchmaker had made a match.

“We felt a deep connection, and after eighteen months of dating, we were engaged to be married. I was raised Catholic, but was not practicing and exploring other churches at the time,” Angie recalled.

As they prepared for marriage, the couple opted for a nondenominational service, especially since neither Angie nor Brian was concretely practicing a faith.

“We both believed that our marriage was for life and even attended a communication class as preparation for our life together. We were confident that we were strong enough to bear the trials of life,” Angie shared.

However, the challenges of starting a family and midlife took a toll on the couple.

“Over the next eight years, we suffered miscarriages, endured pregnancy through the pandemic, celebrated the births of two beautiful kids, struggled as two older, full-time working parents and persevered through job losses and even depression,” Angie said.

During this time, Angie and Brian would occasionally attend church across town, despite the difficulty of getting a toddler and a preschooler out of the house. Even still, Angie remembered, “while the service was very musical and nice, we felt unfulfilled.”

Things came to a head for the couple in 2024, when Brian was between jobs and Angie’s two grandmothers passed away a short time apart.

“The year 2024 was especially trying,” Angie remembered. “I felt hopeless.”

But it was at the funeral service for her paternal grandmother, Mary Ann Hall, that Angie felt a renewed interest in Catholicism.

“[She] was a devout Catholic and prayer giant who prayed for the well-being of everyone she met. Attending her Rosary and funeral with our large extended family, I found comfort in the Catholic traditions,” she said.

Angie would later decide to return to the Catholic Church. She expected to attend Mass alone, but Brian objected. If she went to Catholic Mass, then the whole family would go, too.

“I didn’t want the kids to wonder why Mom goes and we don’t,” Brian recalled. “Instead, [attending church] would be an event for us to participate in together. We decided to go to Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

As the family began attending church together, Brian and Angie’s daughter expressed curiosity about their newfound faith.

“Our five-year-old daughter started asking questions about Mass and the Eucharist. When I told her the first step to receiving the Eucharist was being baptized, she replied, ‘I want to be baptized,’ and Brian supported her,” Angie said.

Out of the mouths of babes, those questions about the faith led Brian to inquire about receiving the sacraments, too.

“Our daughter wanting to get baptized paved the way for me and all of us to get baptized and become part of the Catholic Church,” Brian shared.

As they prepared for their daughter’s baptism, they realized that the Church did not sacramentally recognize their nondenominational wedding ceremony.

“In infant baptism, parents make the commitment to raise their children in the Catholic faith, so we wanted to undergo the process to validate our marriage,” Angie said.

More than a simple blessing, the convalidation process would mean getting married again, this time by a Catholic priest. As part of the process, Father Ernest Bayer, Immaculate Heart of Mary’s pastor, asked Brian if he wanted to become Catholic — to which he responded affirmatively.

Knowing that entering the Church would bring his family closer, Brian worked hard to catch up with the OCIA program, which had already begun. Even with the challenges of making regular nightly classes work between full-time jobs and young children at home, Brian found himself enjoying the classes and going deeper in faith.

“[The classes] were a great learning experience,” Brian shared, noting that he was especially impacted by “the teachings and how old the Church was and how far back the teachings went.”

In addition to Brian’s sacramental preparation, the couple also had to attend preparation classes for the sacrament of Matrimony. Since they had already been married for years, Angie found herself unsure if the classes would be meaningful to them. Having gone through the classes, she reported that the experience was unexpectedly light-filled.

“At the marriage class, I was surprised to learn that there were many other couples with whom we could relate,” Angie recalled. “Some couples attending the marriage class already had kids together, like we did. There were couples who previously suffered the loss of a spouse or who had undergone an annulment and were now preparing for marriage. The speakers were engaging and provided practical advice.”

After months of preparation, when April 26 came around, Brian and Angie’s extended family made their way to Immaculate Heart of Mary for the joy-filled sacramental smorgasbord. Angie wore the same wedding dress that she had worn at their non-denominational ceremony eight years before, and the kids wore white for their baptism and swimsuits for the baptism by full immersion.

“When Father Ernest called Brian to be baptized first, our daughter joyously yelled, ‘Go Dad!’ Our kids were entranced through the entire one-and-a-half-hour ceremony,” Angie recalled. “Brian received his First Communion and Confirmation. When Brian and I stepped up to the altar to exchange our vows, our kids stood between us.

“When Father announced us as husband and wife, we stood at the altar as a family, all four of us. It was the ultimate Easter celebration and proof of Jesus’ power to change our lives,” Angie shared, grateful for their being welcomed into the faith.

Now full-fledged Catholics, Brian and Angie feel that entering the Catholic faith has strengthened their marriage bond.

“The biggest realization throughout this process is that we cannot do it alone. Our marriage was a marriage of two, but now we bring God into our marriage,” Angie said. “We still have disagreements and get cross with each other. Although now, we stop trying to rationalize or explain our perspective. We pause, hold hands and pray.

“Brian and I have changed through this experience of receiving the sacraments,” Angie continued. “We continue to [attend] Mass at IHM. We pray more as a family and started praying as a couple.”

Not surprisingly, Brian chose St. Joseph as his confirmation saint. A strong sense of responsibility as a father to his family underscored his entry into the Catholic faith.

“Being a father is the most important thing for me,” he said.

“I am blessed by Brian’s presence. He truly is the loving, joyful, devout father I dreamed of when I met with the matchmaker,” Angie concurred.