Archive for February, 2009

Many have interpreted the signing of the Book of the Elect to be a sign of commitment and discipleship. This is certainly true, and when seen in this light, it would seem appropriate for both catechumens (the unbaptized) and candidates (the already-baptized) to sign the Book of the Elect. However, the commitment and discipleship that [...]

I’m off to help distribute ashes at Mass later today. I’ve done this a few times in my life, and it’s always a humbling experience. Yes, the ashes remind us of our mortality and dependence on God, but that’s not mostly why I feel humbled. It’s humbling for me because I get to see so [...]

In the Middle Ages, the Church had a practice of “burying the Alleluia” before Lent began in preparation for the Lenten fast from the “A” word. To this day, the Church still refrains from singing “Alleluia” during Lent and waits in anticipation of singing it again fully at Easter. The Church no longer buries the [...]

In the June 2009 issue of This Sunday’s Scripture, Paul Bernier, SSS, writes in his commentary for the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ that the body is the “what” and the blood is the “how”: It might be pointed out that the now common practice of offering the chalice to the faithful [...]

These are some of the workshops I’m interested in at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress this weekend. If you plan to be there, look me up. When I’m not in a workshop, I’ll be at the Bayard / Twenty-Third Publications booth. Forming Adults in the Faith—Bishop Gerald Kincanas The Emerging Church—Richard Rohr Celebrating the [...]

Seventeen years ago, I left the professional ministry field and started a career in publishing. Ever since then, I’ve been fascinated by the intersection between business values and spiritual values. There can be a tendency among ministry folks to stereotype business people as being completely focused on money. Recent stories about unscrupulous bankers and greedy [...]

Here is a list of previous posts having to do with RCIA and Lent. Also, be sure to click on the “Lent” link in the keywords box, below left. Choreographing the Scrutinies Don’t catechize in Lent What are the proper prayers for the scrutinies? 9 Ways to Treat the Elect Like Royalty Reckless Love: A [...]

The crack IT department here at TeamRCIA (pictured) appologizes if you’ve been trying to get on the site in the last 24 hours. There were some nasty coding and technical problems that we were up all night trying to solve. Okay, we were only up until midnight, and we were multitasking between fixing the site [...]

On Monday of this week (February 9, 2009) the New York Times published an article saying the Catholic Church is bringing back indulgences. The article has caused a storm of comments on the Internet, and most of the comments are of the dumbfounded, mouth-dropping type, wondering why the Catholic Church would return to the practice [...]

The Year of Saint Paul Reading II 1 Cor 10:31-11:1 Brothers and sisters, Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God…. The way of faith To proclaim the faith and to plant his reign, Christ sends his apostles and their successors. He gives them a share in [...]