Parishioner Profile

Saturday, April 20th, 2019

Over many years and many miles—the Morfe family’s journey into the Catholic Church

The phrase “my daughter always wants to go to church” is not normally something you hear parents of a 15-year-old saying. More often than not it’s the other way around with parents of young teenagers keeping an eye on their children’s church attendance. But in the case of David Morfe, his daughter, Naomi’s, pestering was even more out of the ordinary given the fact that their family wasn’t particularly religious and didn’t even belong to a church.

All that changed when, due to Naomi’s persistence, the family began regularly attending Our Lady of Mount Carmel 18 months ago. Their experience of getting to know the OLMC community has had a big impact on the entire family as Naomi, her dad, her mother, Bacilia, and her brother Albert (11), are all entering the Catholic Church as a family at OLMC on Holy Saturday.

Other than Bacilia, who had been baptized as a baby, none of the Morfes have received any sacraments. When David was young and growing up in the Dominican Republic, he would tag along with his older sister to go sing in a Catholic Church choir but his memories of the experience was that it seemed strict and not particularly hospitable. “I used to go to church just because I wanted to be with my sister…I didn’t want to go to church though. Now, 40 years later, he laughs a little at how he now really wants to be in church.

“Friends told my wife ‘you’re going to love that church’,” David said recalling how they first discovered OLMC. Naomi’s interest may have inspired the family to give the parish a try, but their desire to stay and commit more deeply was based on their experience. “It just feels more welcoming than what I remember as a kid,” David said. “I like the priests here. How they talk and what they preach about. They’re actually helping people in Peru and that’s a good thing. I like that a lot.”

The process of an entire family becoming Catholic at once has led to some interesting family discussions. “My daughter has a lot of questions,” said David regarding Naomi who is currently a sophomore at Paramus Catholic. “She’s too smart. Believe me, I can’t keep up with her anymore.”

Fortunately, the Morfe family has had good teachers throughout their faith journey. “Sr. Regina and Deacon Anthony make everything so smooth and nice—it’s interesting,” said David. “It’s been a good experience. I’ve learned a lot. They make it so easy to understand.”

Between the parents and children, the Morfes’ entrance into the church will involve the reception of a number of sacraments, including Baptism, First Reconciliation, First Eucharist and even Confirmation. But David didn’t want to stop there, so after they’d been attending OLMC for a year—and 25 years after they’d first tied the knot at a courthouse in the Dominican Republic—he asked Bacilia to marry him, again. “I told her we had to get married in the Church,” he said “because I know that’s what she wanted, too.” A few moments later, as if realizing his story isn’t complete, David hastens to add, “And she said ‘yes’ again!”

And so, the Morfe family celebration that begins on Holy Saturday in Tenafly with their reception into the Catholic Church will now extend into a Saturday in late June in the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, where nearly all of Bacilia’s family still lives. On that day, 150 people will gather to witness the Sacrament of Marriage between David and Bacilia and then join them—along with Naomi and Albert—on the beach to celebrate. That is where this journey of 18 months and 1,500 miles—that started because of a 15-year-old’s persistence—will finally come to an end and a new chapter for David, Bacilia, Naomi and Albert will finally begin.

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