Is there a better way to receive candidates than this?
Click here to check out a description of the process used in a small, rural parish to welcome two baptized candidates into full communion. It looks pretty good to me. I loved this line:
We reflected long and hard on the appropriate moment for reception, and decided against using any form of combined rite at the Easter Vigil – “Ëœanything that would equate candidates for reception with those who are catechumens is to be absolutely avoided’. (RCIA 391 UK) – choosing rather to go with the very simple ceremony of the Rite of Reception within Mass.
What do you think? Any suggestions for improvement? Anything you would have done differently in your parish?
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I think if your RCIA program is big enough, that sounds like a great approach. Our parish is pretty small – if we have 4-5 people to initiate a year, that’s a lot. Our RCIA team is pretty small, too. So we prefer to do both candidates and catechumens at the Easter Vigil. The baptism ritual itself clearly singles out those who are catechumens. We are branching out this year and initiating a few candidates on the feast of Christ the King, because they should be ready then. This is a first for us.