You recently received several people into the Catholic Church at a Sunday mass. In the past, pastors have always done such only at the Easter Vigil. Why did you change the normal pattern?
I did not change the normal pattern. What you considered to be normal, under a prior pastor, was actually abnormal and not in conformity with the Catholic Church’s directives. The normal pattern IS for such previously baptized Christians to be received into the Church prior to the Easter Vigil, especially prior to the beginning of Lent. The following is from the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston’s Liturgical Guidelines regarding the sacraments of initiation:
And: According to the Forward in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults the combined rite is included “for use in those situations when pastoral circumstances warrant the integration” of the two rites. This combined rite is not seen as the norm. The Norm would be for such persons to be received into the Church prior to the beginning of Lent, so that they might fully participate with the local community our most holy of days.
There was no pastoral reason to delay the reception of these Christians into full communion with the Catholic Church until the Easter Vigil. I thus followed properly the directions of the universal Church and the Diocese.
Countenance of God 