The primary aim of catechesis is huge—communion and intimacy with Christ. Fortunately, there are six doable actions that will guarantee folks in our RCIA groups achieve that intimacy.

For each of these actions, it is important to remember the three levels of catechesis (initial proclamation, initiatory catechesis, ongoing catechesis). We’re going to offer these six actions with everyone we catechize, but the level at which we do so will need to be adjusted according to the needs of each person.

1. Teach the plan of faith

God has a plan. We know that because Christ is the plan. Once we have met Christ, we have the first understanding that God has designed an entire process for our salvation, which is summarized in the Creed. Our job as catechists is to use the liturgical year to gradually unfold the whole truth of God’s plan for our salvation as professed in the Creed.

• Initial proclamation:  Because we believe, be an example of gratitude and joy in response to God’s plan of salvation
• Initiatory catechesis:  Using the Creed as a guide, focus on the fundamental elements of the faith as they arise in the Sunday celebrations throughout the liturgical year 
• Ongoing catechesis:  Use the liturgical year to explore more deeply the mysteries of Christ (e.g. Christmas/Incarnation, Easter/Paschal Mystery, Pentecost and Trinity Sunday/Three persons in one God)

2. Learn the liturgy

If we are going to get to grow in intimacy with Christ, the best place to do that is in the liturgy, particularly in the Sunday assembly. We find the full presence of Christ in the liturgy in a way that surpasses all our other experiences of Christ.

• Initial proclamation: Be present at liturgies you are likely to find seekers. For example, weddings, funerals, Christmas and Easter Masses. Be aware that seekers may be present at any Sunday Mass
• Initiatory catechesis: Root the catechumens in a regular practice of Sunday worship; provide weekly mystagogical reflection on the liturgy
• Ongoing catechesis: Delve more deeply into how Eucharist commits us to action and reconciliation with all people; provide resources for liturgical history and structure

3. Walk the talk

If we are going to say we know Jesus, we have to live as though knowing him makes a difference. To know him is to do what Jesus would do.

• Initial proclamation: Be present to people and places that are on the margins. Offer support, hope, and material comfort. Work for political and social change
• Initiatory catechesis: Help catechumens turn away from a former lifestyle—a life absent of Christ—and begin to live in a transformed way
• Ongoing catechesis: Encourage and demonstrate a continual recommitment to our new life in baptism. Jesus summed up what this new life looks like in the beatitudes, which, in turn, are an amplification of the Ten Commandments

4. Practice prayer

As the first disciples were coming to know Jesus, they asked him how they should pray. Jesus’ answer, of course, was to teach them the Lord’s Prayer, which is the model of all Christian prayer.

• Initial proclamation: Pray everyday that the Holy Spirit will lead you to offer “daily bread” to someone who has never heard the good news
• Initiatory catechesis: Each week, ask the catechumens to name how they have seen the Holy Spirit acting in their lives; teach them the traditional Catholic prayers; check in regularly to see how their prayer life is developing
• Ongoing catechesis: Explore deeper forms of prayer such as meditation, Liturgy of the Hours, and lectio divina; share your own struggles with prayer and how you’ve grown over the years in your prayer life

5. Catechize for community

In the United States, we put such great importance on our individual resourcefulness that seeing ourselves first of all as members of an interdependent community of love is a challenge. The General Directory for Catechesis acknowledges as much and says that the kind of radical community life Jesus calls us to doesn’t just happen automatically. It needs to be taught through a process of apprenticeship.

• Initial proclamation: Be aware that many people who need our help are not going to ask for it. We have to seek them out and not wait for them to come to us
• Initiatory catechesis: Shift most of your catechetical sessions from lectures or group discussions to hands-on practice in the community
• Ongoing catechesis: Discern with the participants where in the community God is calling them to live out their baptismal commitment. (Be aware it may be outside the parish.) Create an individualized learning plan to help them master the skills for that ministry 

6. Become good citizens

The ultimate goal of the initiation process and of the catechist is to apprentice folks to live in civil society in such a Christian way that others want to become Christians also. It is ultimately what our bap­tismal vocation is all about. We do this by doing all the things our fellow citizens do, but always in the name of Jesus.

• Initial proclamation: Everywhere you go—school, work, the grocery store, the baseball game—believe and act like you are the most joyful person on earth; this is the most appropriate response to God’s plan of salvation, and it will cause others to ask questions of you
• Initiatory catechesis: Teach the catechumens how to “count their blessings.” Draw out stories from them of the many ways God has blessed them; share your own stories as well
• Ongoing catechesis: Teach folks how to talk about their faith in everyday conversations; encourage them to invite friends, colleagues, and family members to church; teach by example

1. Is your RCIA team catechizing at all the levels the church expects?
2. Six “best practices” for every RCIA catechist
3. Can an art docent help RCIA teams learn to catechize better?
4. The RCIA challenge of developing intimacy with Jesus—and my billion best friends
5. Six RCIA actions that guarantee intimacy with Christ

In our RCIA groups, we often have people at very different levels of faith. The General Directory for Catechesis identifies three levels. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is really concerned only about the first two levels: initial proclamation and initiatory catechesis. However, we often have very many people in our RCIA groups who are require the third level—ongoing or postbaptismal catechesis.

No matter which level people are at, we all have a single purpose when it comes to catechesis:

The definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch, but also in communion and intimacy, with Jesus Christ. (Pope John Paul II, On Catechesis in Our Time, 5)

You may have heard that before. It is a frequently quoted statement. Like all things familiar, the impact can sometimes be dulled with repetition. So try and read the pope’s words again as though you are reading it for the first time. And as you are reading, try to think about everything the pope means in this context by “communion,” “intimacy,” and “Jesus Christ.”

Communion

When Catholics hear the word “communion,” we tend to think of Eucharist and sharing in communion at Mass. And the pope certainly means that in this context. But he also means “communion” in the broader sense. That is, when we are in communion with Jesus Christ, we are in a shared union, a common oneness. It is part of the mystery of Christ that we are able to live in him and that he lives in us.

But that “living in” is not just what’s going on in my life today. It is also everything that went on in Jesus’ life during his life, passion, and death. And not only that, but everything that the evangelist John means when he says the Word was present “in the beginning.” Every thing that the Logos—the Son of God—is and has lived, throughout all time and all of the cosmos, lives in us. This is already accomplished. It is a done deal. What remains is for us to grow more deeply aware of this reality and conform our lives to it more completely, day by day. That is what it means to be “in communion…with Jesus Christ.”

Intimacy

“Intimacy” is an important phrase here. When you think of your intimate relationships, who comes to mind? Your spouse for sure. Your children. Perhaps your parents. Some of us have a friend with whom we’re intimate. A few of us might even have two such friends. I think it’s less common to have three or more friends we would consider “intimates.” But you might be the exception. Perhaps you have several intimate friends. Even the most open and giving people among us, however, have a limited, small number of people in our lives with whom we would say we are truly intimate. The pope, of course, says that Jesus Christ should be on that small list. As disciples, we must be intimate with Christ.

Jesus Christ

As a child, I had a storybook, almost cartoon-like image of Jesus. In adolescence, I needed a more complete, multidimensional relationship with the Lord. I began to think of Jesus as a friend—even a best friend. That was a step in the right direction, but it was still a little one-sided. My BFF Jesus was always happy, always agreeable, and amazingly, always thought just like me.

The complete context of “Jesus Christ” that the pope is talking about has to also include the real, tangible way in which anyone who was born after 33 AD experiences the fullness of the Risen Christ. And that is in the sacramental worship of the church. This is the head-smacking, breathtaking insight about the “definitive aim of catechesis.”

We are called to communion and intimacy not only with our spouse and best friend. We are called to communion and intimacy with the entire, sacramental Body of Christ. That sacramental Body includes my childish image of Jesus and my adolescent image of Jesus. And it includes the consecrated bread and wine that become the Body and Blood of Christ. And it also includes everyone who shares in the communion of the that Body and Blood. It includes the church, which is the manifestation of Christ.

That’s a whole lot of communion and intimacy

The aim of catechesis then, is to train us in a lifestyle of intimacy with billions of our brothers and sisters in Christ. This striving for intimacy is not to expand our network of best friends. Rather it is to learn who Christ truly is in all the many dimensions of that reality. It is a challenging task and one that will likely remain unfinished at our deaths. It is, nevertheless, the guiding aim for catechesis and for our lives as disciples.

Multiple levels of catechesis

As you know, intimacy is not a destination. It is a process. So no matter what level of faith people are at, we can lead them to deeper intimacy with Christ. The intimacy-deepening process involves six steps, which we’ll look at in a future article. In the meantime, I’d be grateful if you took a moment to share your insights or wonderings about the idea of putting people into communion and intimacy with Christ.

1. Is your RCIA team catechizing at all the levels the church expects?
2. Six “best practices” for every RCIA catechist
3. Can an art docent help RCIA teams learn to catechize better?
4. The RCIA challenge of developing intimacy with Jesus—and my billion best friends
5. Six RCIA actions that guarantee intimacy with Christ

I recently saw a docent at the Art Institute in Chicago patiently explaining Georges Seurat’s masterpiece, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, to a grade school class. She obviously had a firm grasp of the facts about the painting—size, date painted, number of figures in the painting, number of years to complete—but the kids were bored.

I know nothing about Seurat, other than that he painted this painting. But if I could ask him why he painted it, I’m going to bet he would not say so that children could learn how long it took him to paint it. I’m going to bet his goal was to touch people’s hearts or make them see the world in a new way.

Become a better docent of the faith

Catechists are docents. Our challenge is to “explain” Jesus to people. We can do this like the museum docent, giving people all of the facts about Jesus. Or we can lead them deeper into the mystery of Jesus so he can touch their hearts and help them see the world in a new way.

Catechetical docents have an additional challenge. The art docent was only speaking to grade school kids. As catechists, however, we are often speaking to people with grade-school-level faith (or less), as well as true artists of the faith who creatively and passionately live the gospel every day.

What level is your RCIA group at?

How do we catechize a group that includes people at such different levels of faith?

Ideally, we would find ways to separate people into appropriate levels. However, that’s not always possible. For lots of reasons, we often have to make do with one group that includes people at very different places on their faith journey. When we have to do that, it helps to remember the three levels of catechesis.

1. initial proclamation
2. initiatory catechesis
3. ongoing catechesis

(See the links below for articles that describe the levels.)

As RCIA catechists, our first obligation is to those who require catechesis in the first two levels—initial proclamation and initiatory catechesis. These are the beginners in faith, and it is the mission of the initiation process to apprentice them in a Christian lifestyle.

Third-level catechesis

The reality is, however, that in many parishes, the majority of people in our processes require the third level of catechesis—ongoing or postbaptismal catechesis.

Think back to that art docent with the children. The children needed “initiatory catechesis” into the world of art. They were beginners. But look at the other people in the room. Some of them might be artists themselves. What would they need to go deeper into the “world” that Seurat was inviting them to? And how could the docent meet the needs of both levels at the same time?

What’s possible in our RCIA groups?

Or to shift to our context, how does a catechist lead a beginner in faith to a very basic encounter with the mystery of the Trinity while at the same time leading a lifelong Christian to a much deeper encounter with the mystery?

I think it is possible to help people at such different levels, in the same group, to have a meaningful encounter with the mystery of Christ. But it is not easy. It takes planning, focus, and discipline. We’ll look at some possible strategies in a future article.

Your thoughts?

In the meantime however, please share your ideas. What has worked for you in trying to catechize people at different levels of faith?

1. Is your RCIA team catechizing at all the levels the church expects?
2. Six “best practices” for every RCIA catechist
3. Can an art docent help RCIA teams learn to catechize better?
4. The RCIA challenge of developing intimacy with Jesus—and my billion best friends
5. Six RCIA actions that guarantee intimacy with Christ

When we engage in the art of catechesis, we can group people into three broad categories. First, there are those who know little or nothing about Jesus. Then there are those who recognize Jesus as the source of true peace and joy, but they do not know much more than that. Finally, there are those who have received a basic catechesis in the faith and have been initiated into Christian life. While these are not hard-and-fast distinctions, we can say that there are three levels of catechesis and that people move successively from one level to the next:

• initial proclamation
• initiatory catechesis
• ongoing catechesis

We looked at the first two levels in a previous article. In this article, I would like to look at the final level: ongoing catechesis.

Level 3: Ongoing catechesis

This “final” level of catechesis can be the most confusing. A newly baptized person who has only been a Christian for a matter of days is in this level. And so is Pope Benedict XVI. Ongoing catechesis is what the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults calls “postbaptismal catechesis.” The goal of postbaptismal catechesis is the same for both the neophyte and the pope and everyone in between—to fulfill the prayer of Jesus to the Father that we all become one in the life of the Trinity (see General Directory for Catechesis, 70).

The purpose of postbaptismal catechesis is the upbuilding the Christian community of faith.

The question we are faced with when we catechize, then, is not exactly what do I have to teach? Rather, we should ask, what do I have to teach this person to help him or her fulfill his or her unique role in the community of faith—his or her “vocation”? And at first, that can seem overwhelming. How can we possibly create a tailor-made catechetical process for every individual we encounter?

By ourselves, we cannot, of course. But catechesis is not exclusively the job of any one catechist. It is the job of the community of faith. The job of the catechist is not so much to teach the individual but to inspire the community of faith to become a learning community, focused on the praise and worship of the Father through Jesus Christ.

From that perspective, the General Directory for Catechesis lists six forms of ongoing catechesis that we would hope to find in every parish.

Scripture

The community of faith learns more about the word of God in every liturgy, which is a primary source for this form of catechesis. In addition, parishes might offer other opportunities for the study and exploration of Scripture.

Signs of the times

The community of faith is not isolated from the world. Following the model of the first apostles, we are always interpreting what is happening around us through the lens of the gospel. Note that this is not solely the work of the “social justice committee.” The entire community of faith is constantly working toward the restoration of God’s reign of peace and harmony.

Liturgy

The liturgy itself teaches. The prayers, gestures, songs, and the simple act of gathering itself all say something about who God is and how we are to act as God’s people. Pope John Paul II called the liturgy an “eminent kind of catechesis.”

Life experience

If someone is a living a Christian lifestyle, that life will be filled with moments of revelation. The work of God’s spirit will be evident in unlimited and illuminating ways. A very effective form of catechesis is simply to notice—as an individual or as a community—where God has passed recently.

Spiritual practices

To live a Christian lifestyle is not easy. It requires discipline and practice. When we engage in spiritual practices such as prayer, penance, and works of mercy, we learn more about ourselves as people of faith.

Theological instruction

The General Directory for Catechesis lists this form last, and we have to wonder why that is. For the new catechist, and even for a few of us veterans, it is the form we often think of first. However, the General Directory for Catechesis also calls this form “perfective catechesis.” It seems to me we have to be fully engaged in all the previous forms of catechesis before we can “perfect” our understanding of God as the source hope and joy. In a sense, we have to spend a lot of time learning who God is and who I am in relation to God before we can learn why and God is.

If our parish communities are actively practicing these six forms of catechesis, we will come very close to fulfilling Jesus’ prayer that we all become one in the life of the Trinity.

1. Is your RCIA team catechizing at all the levels the church expects?
2. Six “best practices” for every RCIA catechist
3. Can an art docent help RCIA teams learn to catechize better?
4. The RCIA challenge of developing intimacy with Jesus—and my billion best friends
5. Six RCIA actions that guarantee intimacy with Christ

Years ago, an RCIA team I was on encountered a woman who did not know that Jesus was the Son of God. And she had no understanding at all of the Holy Spirit. Not all that unusual, is it? That same year, however, a Methodist man asked us about becoming Catholic. He was a good and faithful Christian. He knew Scripture better than many of us Catholics, he could speak intelligently about the Trinity, he knew the cycle of the liturgical year, and he had been participating in Sunday Mass for the last 15 years—ever since he’d married his Catholic wife.

These two seekers both found themselves in a catechetical process that I and another catechist were leading that year. And we had a half-dozen other folks who fell somewhere between the “uncatechized” and “catechized” seekers. The challenge we faced was how to shape a catechetical process that would accommodate the needs of people who were at very different places on their faith journey.

What does the church expect of RCIA catechists?

The first question my fellow catechist and I asked ourselves was, what does the church expect? In an ideal world, what kind of catechesis would we be providing for these folks? A couple of years after we were asking that question, the Vatican published a document that would have been helpful in answering our question—the General Directory for Catechesis.

The General Directory for Catechesis offers a very helpful insight about the different levels of catechesis required for the initiation process. There are three. But, the directory itself says we cannot treat these three levels as “watertight” compartments. There is a blending among them, and no individual ever fits neatly and completely into a give level. Still, it is helpful to RCIA teams to understand the three levels of catechesis. We’ll look at the first two in this post.

Level 1: Primary proclamation

The directory says:

Primary proclamation is addressed to non-believers and those living in religious indifference. Its functions are to proclaim the Gospel and to call to conversion. (61)

While not putting her into a watertight box, we might say that the woman who did not know that Jesus was the Son of God needed primary proclamation. She wanted to be a believer; she just wasn’t clear about what she was believing in. Someone had already proclaimed the gospel to her, at least enough to get her to show up at our parish. But she still needed a little more evangelization to move her fully to the next level of catechesis.

Level 2: Initiatory catechesis

Regarding the second level, initiatory catechesis, the directory says:

The link uniting catechesis and Baptism is true profession of faith, which is at once an element inherent in this sacrament and the goal of catechesis. The aim of catechetical activity consists in precisely this: to encourage a living, explicit and fruitful profession of faith. (66)

The goal for our RCIA team had to be to provide our uncatechized seeker with a very basic understanding what it means to profess faith in the Risen Christ. We did not need to bring her to the level of our Methodist seeker in order for her to be initiated. We simply needed to provide for her a full understanding of what it meant to both believe in and live the gospel. One we were sure she knew what she would be saying yes to, we would be able to initiate her into the faith.

Initiatory catechesis is addressed to:

• those who have been converted to Jesus
• those who require a basic apprenticeship in living a Christian lifestyle
• those who have not yet grasped “the most fundamental certainties of the faith" (GDC 67)

So once the seeker has mastered the basics, what next? We’ll look at that in another post. In the meantime, please share your thoughts. Is your RCIA team accounting for the different levels of catechesis? What accommodations do you make among seekers who are at different levels? Please take two minutes to share your insights because it will help the rest of us become better catechists.

1. Is your RCIA team catechizing at all the levels the church expects?
2. Six “best practices” for every RCIA catechist
3. Can an art docent help RCIA teams learn to catechize better?
4. The RCIA challenge of developing intimacy with Jesus—and my billion best friends
5. Six RCIA actions that guarantee intimacy with Christ

If you are feeling overwhelmed—or even just “whelmed”—with your responsibilities on the RCIA team, you may not be asking enough of the RCIA sponsors. The sponsors have a significant, three-part role to play in the formation of the catechumens. Among their responsibilities is to assist the catechumens on their faith journey.

The RCIA is silent on how exactly sponsors are supposed to offer that assistance. However, we find the formation process for the catechumenate outlined in paragraph 75 of the rite. The first undertaking of the four-part process is to provide a “suitable catechesis.” There are four qualities that make the catechesis suitable. It must be:

• gradual
• complete
• accommodated to the liturgical year
• supported by celebrations of the word

The RCIA sponsors can play a significant role in this. They don’t have to be catechists in order to take some of the burden off of the catechist. If we ask the sponsors to be responsible for getting their catechumens to Mass every Sunday and spend some time reflecting with their catechumens on how they both experienced the presence of Christ in the liturgy, the sponsors will have significantly contributed to providing a suitable catechesis for the catechumens.

Change the “guest lecture” RCIA model

Let’s just imagine for a moment that you do not have enough catechists to adequately fulfill the mandate for a “suitable catechesis.” That happens in a lot of parishes. There are not enough volunteers, or not enough training, or not enough time. The result is that we do the best we can. We schedule as many catechetical sessions as we can. We ask a priest or a deacon or a former teacher to come in as a guest lecturer. These guests show up once or twice in the course of the catechumenate, but otherwise have no real relationship with the catechumens. The sponsors, if they’re available, sit in on these sessions. RCIA team leaders sometimes report the sponsors “learn as much as the catechumens” from these classes.

Let’s look at what might happen if we change that model. Instead of thinking of catechesis as a series of classes with a set curriculum that has to be covered, think of catechesis as an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ. How does that encounter happen? Where does it happen? How can a relationship with Christ be fostered and deepened?

Obviously, the liturgy is the primary place of encounter. It happens through the ritual proclamation of the word in the midst of the assembly of God’s people. We can foster and deepen that relationship by preparing for the encounter, having the encounter, and reflecting on the encounter.

A three-part plan for fostering a suitable encounter with Christ

So here is a simple plan for relying less on guest lectures and more on your sponsor to provide a suitable catechesis—that is, a suitable encounter with the person of Christ.

1. Ask the RCIA sponsors to prayerfully reflect on the Sunday readings before coming to Mass. Ask them to teach the catechumens how to do the same. And ask the sponsors to follow up to make sure the catechumens are actually doing the preparation.
2. Make the sponsors responsible for the presence of their catechumens at Mass each week. If a catechumen has to be out of town, it should be the sponsor’s responsibility to help the catechumen locate a parish to attend that weekend. Or if there is a scheduling conflict, the sponsor will be sure the catechumen gets to one of the other Masses in your parish or a neighboring parish.
3. Teach the RCIA sponsor how to ask three mystagogical questions about the readings:
   • What did you see in the readings?
   • What did you hear in the readings?
   • What do these readings mean for your life?

The sponsors should also be able to answer those questions from their own encounter with Christ for the catechumens. They should reflect together on the readings each week.

If your RCIA sponsors are committed to providing this level of support (for the celebrations of the word) every Sunday (gradual) for one full liturgical year (complete; accommodated to the liturgical year), you can schedule fewer, but more meaningful formal catechetical sessions throughout the year.

That’s a lot less work for you and a lot more suitable catechesis for the catechumens.

What do you think?

How do you incorporate you RCIA sponsors into the catechetical formation of the catechumens? How do you delegate responsibility to them?

1. Why RCIA sponsors are like poultry
2. Do your RCIA sponsors know the single reason for Jesus’ death and resurrection?
3. Five essential elements of an RCIA sponsor’s job description
4. A simple plan for involving RCIA sponsors in providing a suitable catechesis
5. Are you asking your RCIA sponsors to sacrifice enough? A three-part job description
6. Seven ways AA sponsors can inspire RCIA sponsors
7. Spouses as sponsors in the RCIA process
8. 9 tasks for RCIA sponsors on Sunday
9. Who sponsors child catechumens?
10. How do you train sponsors for the RCIA?

Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Confucius, Cicero, and Jesus all have two things in common. They were all great teachers. And they didn’t teach children. Even so, as ancient as society’s emphasis on adult education has been, there is surprising little research on how to effectively educate adults. The first academic studies began to emerge in the 1920s. The research tells us some interesting things about the way adults learn.

Life is an education

You may have heard the phrase, “Experience is the best teacher.” For adults, that turns out to be true. Adults learn through experience. Experience alone won’t always provide expertise, however. The key is to reflect on new experience in a disciplined way, perhaps with the guidance of a mentor, to develop mastery.

Teachers are secondary

This is a bit counter intuitive. When we think of the great teachers of history, we wonder how they could be secondary. But consider the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. When Jesus started to walk with them, they did not immediately turn to him and say, “Lord, teach us.” They first reflected on their recent experience. And even then, they kept on walking, sort of half-listening to what the “stranger” had to say. Even the Risen Christ had to shape his message to fit the experience of his listeners so they would learn effectively.

The secret to teaching adults in the RCIA (webinar)


with Diana Macalintal & Nick Wagner

Date: Thursday, March 8, 2012
Time: 2:00p to 3:00p Eastern Standard Time / 11:00a to 12:00p Pacific Standard Time

Click here to register

It’s all about me

When it comes to adults, they are selfish about their learning needs. They do not want to learn what you want them to learn. They certainly don’t want to learn what a textbook or an adult faith formation program wants them to learn. They want to learn what they want to learn. That means our “curriculum”—our topic list or our RCIA sessions—must be built around the needs of the catechumen or candidate.

Where to find resources

One of the most frequently asked questions we get at TeamRCIA is where to find RCIA resources for teaching adults. Researchers tell us the number-one resource for educating adults is their own experience. Our job as RCIA catechists is not, first of all, to teach doctrine. Our first job is to help catechumens and candidates recognize the Risen Christ that is walking along side of them. Once they are aware of having had a significant experience of Christ, we help them reflect on and evaluate that experience. This is where the doctrine comes in. Newbies are prone to misinterpreting their experience. Our task—our vocation—is to guide them to an understanding of their experience that is aligned with the gospel.

The 1970s called, and they want their teaching method back

Some people worry that this style of teaching is a regression to an “I’m okay, you’re okay” model of faith formation that was popular right after Vatican II. Let’s clear up a few things first. Some of our worries about such things are overblown.  The “lost generation,” if there is such a thing, is my generation—the baby boomers. Percentage-wise, there are more boomers in church than there are younger generations who were raised with “Catechism-conformed” resources.

And more significantly, all the conversation about the faults of our early catechetical efforts has to do with teaching Catholic children. We have very little experience with teaching unbaptized and uncatechized adults.

The Alpha and Omega teaching method

Finally, to say we are using adult experience as a starting point is not to say that is our ending point. If an adult has had a significant experience of the Risen Christ—as the disciples on the road to Emmaus did—his or her heart will be burning with questions about what that experience means. And when a catechumen or candidate has those questions, RCIA catechists can help them find the answers. An effective RCIA formation process both begins and ends with the Risen Christ.

• What research says about teaching adults in the RCIA
• The right way and the wrong way to do a “teaching Mass”—according to the pope
• How to provide a complete RCIA catechesis: use liturgical symbols
• What does the RCIA mean by “uncatechized”?
• Reimagining catechesis for RCIA
• A French chef’s guide to the RCIA
• A step-by-step guide to mystagogy
• Mystagogy My Mother Could Do

Every year I struggle with whether or not to ask child catechumens to come during their Christmas vacation for dismissal sessions on Sunday morning during Mass. By this time of year, the families usually need a break and my family often goes out of town over Christmas. It’s easier just to not meet during Christmas. It’s easier to not be committed during Christmas. It’s easier for everyone to just be on vacation.

Do we take a break from discipleship?

But, then I start thinking about what that teaches child catechumens. Does it teach them that Catholics don’t go to church when school is not in session? That disciples of Jesus are on vacation during Christmas? That it’s okay to skip Mass and the Scripture readings aren’t that important for us to discuss anyway?Of course, we don’t want to give child catechumens any of those messages.

What should we do on Christmas day?

Furthermore, this year (2011) is even more complicated because Christmas is on Sunday. Do we do a dismissal session (also known as breaking open the word) on Christmas? Even though I am urging you to do dismissal sessions during Christmas vacation, I have to admit that we don’t do dismissal on Christmas. Please, comment in the box below and let us know if you do dismissal on Christmas! We’d love to hear about your experience. Instead, here is what I recommend for the Christmas season with child catechumens.

• Give catechumenal families a reflection and discussion guide for the readings of Nativity. In this way, even though you don’t do dismissal on Christmas, the child catechumens can talk about the readings with their family.
• If Christmas is not on Sunday, I urge you do the dismissal on the Sunday after Christmas. This is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The readings are so great for kids! Don’t miss the opportunity to reflect upon these readings with your child catechumens. The characters and the messages are riveting – especially for kids.
  • The magi, Herod, and Joseph’s dream to take the family to Egypt (Year A).
  • Sarah gives birth to Isaac; Simeon, Anna and the presentation of the child Jesus in the temple (Year B).
  • Hannah and Samuel; boy Jesus found in the temple (Year C).
• Give a little Christmas gift. I like to give the child catechumens a little gift on the Sunday after Christmas. A tiny Nativity set is my favorite.
• Do dismissal on the first Sunday in January. It’ll be the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God or Epiphany. Again, these readings are especially engaging for young catechumens and carry significant messages for disciples-in-training.
• You don’t need to have a catechetical session after the dismissal session. Celebrate the Liturgy of the Word, do the dismissal session, end with a blessing of catechumens and go home.

Don’t be a slave to the school calendar

Overall, I simply want to encourage you to do dismissal during Christmas vacation. Don’t get caught in the school year calendar that says kids are on vacation during Christmas. Sure, it’s true they are on vacation. But, being a disciple of Jesus Christ is a 24-7 commitment. And, our Sunday worship is part of that commitment. By doing dismissal with catechumens during the Christmas season, we help to reinforce the Catholic Christian way of life.

Did you know Christmas carols are a rich source of catechesis for your RCIA groups? A good carol has the power to “teach” the theology of Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection—the paschal mystery.

A cosmic dance between Divine and human

For example, Charles Wesley’s 1739 text, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” has several verses paschal-preaching verses:

Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conquering seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Now display thy saving power,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to thine.

Here in this text, the meaning of the word becoming flesh is not simply a Hallmark-card image of a baby in a manger or a sweet-sounding lullaby.

• It is the great exchange—the cosmic dance—between the Divine and the human
• It is the primordial clash between light and dark
• It is the serpent in the garden and the empty tomb that shouts, “Death, where is your sting?”

RCIA Without Meetings: Forming Faith over the Holidays

One-hour webinar

Is your life too busy for RCIA this holiday season? Maybe your planning to take a break. Or maybe you plan to slog through, hoping the catechumens will show up for your sessions.

What if there were a third way? What if you could continue forming faith without having to hold formal sessions?

• Discover four ways to teach catechumens about the Blessed Virgin
• Connect Santa and last-minute shopping with Eucharist—in a good way
• Learn about two major ethnic traditions that are all about the journey of faith
• Uncover the catechetical riches of Christmas carols

Presenters: Nick Wagner and Diana Macalintal
Date: Thursday, December 1, 2011
Time: 2:00p to 3:00p Eastern Standard Time

Click here for more information

The divine exchange

God becomes one of us so that we may become more like God. In this lover’s exchange, God is clothed in human skin and takes on the mortality of earthly life so that we may be clothed with Christ and wear the garment of immortality.

This mystical union is the nuptial dance between God and creation, the weaving together of death and life, the push and pull of sadness and joy, and the counterpoint of our earthly song with the heavenly choir.

The definition of a carol is “an old round dance with singing.” It is the dance that comes first. Our carols teach us that Christian life is not about remaining at Bethlehem, frozen in winter snow, but about dancing together through the seasons of life to Jerusalem, to the cross and the empty tomb, dying and rising and thus birthing new life.

The dance of life and death

Another fine carol is “Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day.” William Sandys’ 1833 text conveys that Christmas is “merry” because God dances with us even through death.

Then was I born of a virgin pure,
Of her I took fleshly substance
Thus was I knit to man’s nature
To call my true love to my dance.

Then on the cross hanged I was,
Where a spear my heart did glance;
There issued forth both water and blood,
To call my true love to my dance.

The crèche and the cross

There are two little-known verses of “What Child is This?” that have disappeared from almost all of our hymnals. These lost stanzas by William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898) invite us to go deeper into the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, even in the middle of our celebration of Jesus’ birth. They remind us that the paschal mystery is the “theme” of every season. Next time you see an image of the baby Jesus or hear the angels’ “Gloria,” see, too, the wood of the cross and the lance at the side, and hear, also, the song of the Easter Exsultet, “Rejoice, O heavenly powers, sing choirs of angels!”

Why lies he in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear. For sinners here,
the silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear, shall pierce him through,
the cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh, the Babe, the Son of Mary!
So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh.
Come, peasant, king, to own him.
The King of kings salvation brings.
Let loving hearts enthrone him.
Raise, raise the song on high. The Virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy, for Christ is born, the Babe, the Son of Mary!

Three more catechetical carols for your RCIA group

Here are three more carols that have the power to teach Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection.

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

This is probably not listed in the Christmas section of your hymnal, but this 5th century text is an extraordinary image of the Word made Flesh.

Of the Father’s Love Begotten

This simple chant sings of the Incarnation as salvation history.

Good Christian Friends, Rejoice

This 14th century text answers why Christ was born: that we may no longer fear death.

What carols can you think of?

What carols have you used to catechize with? Or which ones might you use this Advent and Christmas to teach the paschal mystery?

1. Sing these 6 carols in RCIA for strong holiday catechesis
2. 5 ways to lead your RCIA participants from the North Pole to Jesus Christ this Christmas
3. Simbang Gabi: How to put stars in the eyes of your RCIA participants this Advent
4. Be a dreamer this Advent

Have you ever heard anyone tell you that you weren’t supposed to do these things in Advent? I have heard all of them. I’ve even said a few of them in the past:

• Don’t sing Christmas carols before Dec. 24
• Don’t get too busy; Advent is a time of reflection
• Don’t go to the mall (or Amazon.com) too often; don’t commercialize the season
• Don’t up a Christmas tree or Christmas lights before Dec. 24
• Don’t pay too much attention to Santa Claus; focus instead on the “real” St. Nicholas

RCIA Without Meetings: Forming Faith over the Holidays

One-hour webinar

Is your life too busy for RCIA this holiday season? Maybe your planning to take a break. Or maybe you plan to slog through, hoping the catechumens will show up for your sessions.

What if there were a third way? What if you could continue forming faith without having to hold formal sessions?

• Discover four ways to teach catechumens about the Blessed Virgin
• Connect Santa and last-minute shopping with Eucharist—in a good way
• Learn about two major ethnic traditions that are all about the journey of faith
• Uncover the catechetical riches of Christmas carols

Presenters: Nick Wagner and Diana Macalintal
Date: Thursday, December 1, 2011
Time: 2:00p to 3:00p Eastern Standard Time

Click here for more information

Here’s the thing, though. No matter how much we try to keep Advent pure, everyone around us will be celebrating “the Christmas season” beginning about the time the last trick-or-treater goes to bed. This is especially true of catechumens and uncatechized candidates who have no tradition of celebrating Advent and Christmas liturgically. For those who come to us with a strongly secular background, things like Christmas shopping, house decorating, and gift wrapping might be the most spiritual activities of the year. I remember a fallen-away-Buddhist neighbor I had once who had the best Christmas tree on the block. It went up every year on the day after Thanksgiving and came down on December 26. She couldn’t tell me much about Buddhism, but she had a story for every single ornament she placed on her tree.

So as I’ve gotten older, I’ve stopped trying to fight the secularization of the Advent-Christmas season. Now I try to find the kernel of spiritual truth in what people find meaningful about all the frenzied activity that goes on during the holidays.

Joy to the World

As a result, I’m okay with the catechumens singing a few Christmas carols before Christmas day. And I also expect them to know when Advent begins and ends and that it is a season of preparation.

Silent Night

I don’t even try to tell catechumens to slow down during Advent—especially if they have children. But I do ask them to plan some extra time for prayer during the season.

Jingle Bells

It strikes me as completely futile to tell catechumens not to commercialize the season. In fact, in the face of the worst economic slump since the Great Depression, it is almost patriotic to go shopping. So I don’t rail too much against all the ads and the time we spend in the mall. But I do ask the catechumens to spend some of their gift budget on the poor.

O Christmas Tree

If you come to my house in Advent, you’ll see a tree and Christmas lights. But you’ll also see an Advent wreath, and I encourage the catechumens to also have a wreath in their homes.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

Dealing with Santa Claus is harder for me. I bear the name of one of the greatest, most-loved saints in church history. Whenever I see the fun-house distortion of St. Nicholas that was cemented into our secular holiday traditions by Coca-Cola in the 1930s, I get a twinge in my stomach. But I can’t even get too upset about Santa. (Just please, please, please don’t bring him into the liturgy.) For those who have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ, Santa Claus may be the most stable image of hope and joy they have ever had. It’s not too difficult to draw a line from the North Pole back to St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra, and from there to Christ.

How about you? How do you and your RCIA team handle secular vs. sacred traditions when forming the catechumens?

1. Sing these 6 carols in RCIA for strong holiday catechesis
2. 5 ways to lead your RCIA participants from the North Pole to Jesus Christ this Christmas
3. Simbang Gabi: How to put stars in the eyes of your RCIA participants this Advent
4. Be a dreamer this Advent