What are we doing at the Rite of Election?

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3 thoughts on “What are we doing at the Rite of Election?”

  1. Love RCIA. I have taught RCIA and Faith Formation for 11 years. One thing though that I have struggled with is choosing who is ready and who is not. We had a DRE who turned people away. Either kids with ADHD, kids who had anxiety and would not speak. She turned away a family who were prepared to the the Rite of Election, that very morning. They never came back. What I am getting is, it is not us who do. It is God. I am 64 years of age, went to Catholic schools for 13 years. At the age of 8, I was not ready for First Holy Communion, at the age of 12, I was not ready for Confirmation. My parents and the nuns, did not deny me the sacraments because I was not ready. They saw the bigger picture, down the road. This is not a 2 year journey, it is a life long journey. If I had not received the sacraments at those stages in my life, I most likely would not be teaching today. I look at the entire person. Not just that they do not seem ready. I have faith that they will do what God wants them to do. When? That is not my concern. My job is to bring them into contact with God. So when I hear, are they ready, it depresses me. At 64, I am still in inquiry, I am still a catechumen, I am still a neophyte. We complicate things too much. Too many rules, too many laws. Not understanding the circumstances of those coming in. I had a young man in my class a few years back. An Atheist, Dark. Disrupted the class. The other students asked to get rid of him. I said no. We have to have patience, pray. 3 weeks into class, as class was ended, I asked if he watched the boxing match the previous Saturday…………From that point on, it was like a new person. Still struggling, but opening up. Plus we had another thing in common, we both played drums. This is the essence of the life of Christ. Spending time with the students, Not making a personal agenda call and just saying they are not ready. I sat in a meeting with the DRE, am mom and her child. The DRE told the mother the child is not ready that the child is 12 but acts like 8. I tried to speak, I was shut down. The family left the church. completely. Went to another faith. The DRE said if they are so weak in faith, let them leave. That to me is an abomination.

  2. Wonderful! Thank you!

    So often, in this process we fail to see that God is acting and look simply to our “activity”.This helps to redirect our thinking.

    If you permit I would love to quote you in either the bullet and web or a separate handout.

  3. Thank you Ralph, I have been in RCIA for 4 years now. I was baptised in the Assembly of God church. There were many obstacles to overcome , prior marriage, second marriage to a fallen away Catholic , an annulment , the list goes on. I am in full communion with the church now. My cradle Catholic wife returned to her faith and brought me along with her. Was I fit for service and ready for the rigors of the missionary ? No, am I now? Barely , you are correct that this is a life long process and will take a life of the rigors of service just to train me for the basics of Discipleship or anyone for that matter. We have a very good RCIA program in our parish. At times though,the teaching becomes too complicated and the real meaning of what we are doing gets lost. Unfortunately I feel Jesus is still shaking his head at times as we just don’t get it. Too much information and too many words fit into an hour and a half once a week, doesn’t work. As a sponser now my mission is to try to understand the Rites and keep them simple in description. Often we are more focused on how the process works than why we are doing it. Thank you again for your comment it is righr on the mark. YBIC Fred.

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