Nick and Jessica Buckley are expecting a baby in late July. As they’ve prepared for baby’s arrival, Jessica Buckley also has been preparing over the last several months for another kind of new life — life in the Catholic Church.

She was one of 504 people preparing to enter the Catholic Church who took part in the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion ceremonies held at the Cathedral of the Assumption Feb. 21 and St. Patrick Church in Eastwood Feb. 20.

At the ceremonies last weekend, 66 parishes brought 303 candidates and 201 catechumens to be presented to Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz.

Catechumens are individuals who have never been baptized who will receive the sacraments of baptism, Eucharist and confirmation at the Easter Vigil or at other ceremonies. Candidates are those who have been baptized in another Christian religion. They will receive the sacraments of the Eucharist and confirmation.

Jessica Buckley, a candidate who grew up Christian in a non-denominational setting, married Nick Buckley three years ago at St. Joseph Church in Butchertown. Nick Buckley, a lifelong Catholic who is serving as her sponsor, has been a member of St. Joseph for nearly as long as he can remember and even attended the now-closed parish school before heading to Trinity High School.

When they decided to marry — after dating for 10 years — Jessica Buckley said she hadn’t given much thought to the idea of converting.

“They didn’t make me become Catholic to get married in the Catholic Church,” she said in an interview before the Feb. 20 ceremony began at the Cathedral. “And I liked that.”

Now, she said, with a family forming in their midst, it’s become more important for her and her husband to become more spiritually aligned.

“I like everything to be cohesive,” she said. “We both knew we were spiritual, but to go through this (formation) together, and making a point to wake up and go to church every Sunday and to go to (RCIA) class, it’s definitely changed a little piece of us for the better.”

People converting to the Catholic Church, such as Jessica Buckley, attend RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) classes for nearly a year leading up to the Easter Vigil in preparation for the sacraments.

That process “has been great” for the Buckleys, they noted. “It’s opened up communication between us. It’s definitely made a part of us stronger.”

“Father David (Sanchez, pastor of St. Joseph), has made it really easy for me to understand (the Catholic faith),” Jessica Buckley added. “He applies it to real life. I look forward to class. I don’t want it to end.”

Archbishop Kurtz, who presided at the ceremonies, said during his homily that the Rite of Election and the call to continuing conversion provide an opportunity for both the church and those seeking to join the church to make a statement.

“At this ceremony the Church says something,” he noted. “You who are catechumens or you who are coming into fuller communion with the Church are saying something.

“The word elected means ‘chosen,’ ” the archbishop said. “You are a people chosen by God. The Church speaks about how important you are in our life.

“The Gospel says Christ has such a love for you and me, he actually calls us friends,” he noted. “You can’t force a friendship — it has to be made a free decision.

“And so it is for you today in the presence of the Church,” he said. “It’s so important that you exercise your free will” to say “yes” to God.

The archbishop told the catechumens and candidates that after they receive the sacraments they may “expect great things to happen in your life and through your life to others.”

“At some time, you will be asked to be the person of Jesus,” for someone else, he added. “Your faith is not meant to be private. It is meant to be shared.”