Comments on: Why catechumens shouldn’t ask for faith http://teamrcia.com/2007/09/05/stop-asking-for-faith/ Start and sustain the catechumenate Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:40:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Nick http://teamrcia.com/2007/09/05/stop-asking-for-faith/comment-page-1/#comment-5209 Nick Wed, 07 Sep 2011 03:39:32 +0000 http://teamrcia.com/2007/09/05/stop-asking-for-faith/#comment-5209 Wow, Lisa, what a terrific response. I love the last line: "I know some will be better at this than others, but that is the same issue for those of us already in the Church, if someone just wants to say Faith, they can." Thanks for all the great work you are doing with this ministry. Wow, Lisa, what a terrific response. I love the last line: “I know some will be better at this than others, but that is the same issue for those of us already in the Church, if someone just wants to say Faith, they can.”

Thanks for all the great work you are doing with this ministry.

]]> By: Lisa http://teamrcia.com/2007/09/05/stop-asking-for-faith/comment-page-1/#comment-5206 Lisa Wed, 07 Sep 2011 03:03:54 +0000 http://teamrcia.com/2007/09/05/stop-asking-for-faith/#comment-5206 I think your response pinpoints something that a Catholic spouse of a candidate asked: Why don't we talk about our faith? I wonder, is this a way to start out a person- or more sarcastically- to make them really Catholic we should give them the easy answer. Consider this, What we those nervous candidates do if the presider replied? " and what do you mean by faith? I had already come up with something i want the candidates/cat to do at the first gathering. I was going to ask them to write why they are here, what they plan to get out of this process (and maybe one or two others). I"m then going to seal them in an envelope and open them up before Advent for them to consider how they are doing, or if their goals have changed. I am going mow also going to take this advice and at the first gathering tell the candidates this is coming up, and also ask them to consider the answer to this question. I know some will be better at this than others, but that is the same issue for those of us already in the Church, if someone just wants to say Faith, they can. I think your response pinpoints something that a Catholic spouse of a candidate asked: Why don’t we talk about our faith?
I wonder, is this a way to start out a person- or more sarcastically- to make them really Catholic we should give them the easy answer.

Consider this, What we those nervous candidates do if the presider replied? ” and what do you mean by faith?

I had already come up with something i want the candidates/cat to do at the first gathering. I was going to ask them to write why they are here, what they plan to get out of this process (and maybe one or two others). I”m then going to seal them in an envelope and open them up before Advent for them to consider how they are doing, or if their goals have changed.

I am going mow also going to take this advice and at the first gathering tell the candidates this is coming up, and also ask them to consider the answer to this question.

I know some will be better at this than others, but that is the same issue for those of us already in the Church, if someone just wants to say Faith, they can.

]]> By: Marc Cardaronella http://teamrcia.com/2007/09/05/stop-asking-for-faith/comment-page-1/#comment-64 Marc Cardaronella Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:28:58 +0000 http://teamrcia.com/2007/09/05/stop-asking-for-faith/#comment-64 The biggest problem I've found with doing this at the Rite of Acceptance is that most people are kind of squeamish about saying anything in front of large audiences...much less something personal. To get up in front of 400 people that they don't really know and talk into a microphone about the heartfelt reasons why they want to join the Catholic Church is terrifying! Most people have never even spoken into a microphone! When doing this, I have never found anyone that didn't become a nervous wreck. Even a university professor that was used to speaking to large groups was shaking and her voice was cracking. I agree that, in theory, this is a better thing to do. It gives more "soul" to the rite as opposed to the rote response, and it potentially gives more meaning to the participant, however, it's just so painful for them that I'm not sure the benefits outweigh the costs. I will agree that it's interesting to hear their different responses. They are sometimes very telling. Do you have any suggestions? Are there ways to do this that won't scare the pants off the participants? The biggest problem I’ve found with doing this at the Rite of Acceptance is that most people are kind of squeamish about saying anything in front of large audiences…much less something personal. To get up in front of 400 people that they don’t really know and talk into a microphone about the heartfelt reasons why they want to join the Catholic Church is terrifying! Most people have never even spoken into a microphone! When doing this, I have never found anyone that didn’t become a nervous wreck. Even a university professor that was used to speaking to large groups was shaking and her voice was cracking.

I agree that, in theory, this is a better thing to do. It gives more “soul” to the rite as opposed to the rote response, and it potentially gives more meaning to the participant, however, it’s just so painful for them that I’m not sure the benefits outweigh the costs. I will agree that it’s interesting to hear their different responses. They are sometimes very telling.

Do you have any suggestions? Are there ways to do this that won’t scare the pants off the participants?

]]> By: Will http://teamrcia.com/2007/09/05/stop-asking-for-faith/comment-page-1/#comment-62 Will Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:57:32 +0000 http://teamrcia.com/2007/09/05/stop-asking-for-faith/#comment-62 don't you think that God might recognize and answer a person's request for faith, be it ever so childlike, regardless of whether that person is in a state of total awareness (which we never are) about what he or she seeks? don’t you think that God might recognize and answer a person’s request for faith, be it ever so childlike, regardless of whether that person is in a state of total awareness (which we never are) about what he or she seeks?

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