Silence is awkward. Remember the last time you met someone new? After you exchanged names, your new friend asked, “What do you do?” You replied, “I’m a catechist.” Looooong silence. Awkward.

When we’re meeting with inquirers or catechumens, we try to avoid awkwardness. We don’t want to feel awkward ourselves, and we certainly don’t want the inquirers or catechumens feeling awkward. So we talk. We fill up the silence with chatter.

Sometimes that’s a good thing, especially during inquiry. The new folks usually don’t want to be responsible for the conversation. Often, they have come to listen to you tell them what they are supposed to do. Chatting can help put the inquirers at ease. There comes a moment, however, when we have to stop talking. For many of us, that’s difficult.

Do try this at home

I don’t have all the answers, but I have some suggestions. First, we have to be comfortable with silence when we are alone. How much time each day do you spend just being silent? No reading, no television, no Internet, no Facebook. Just you and silence. For me, it’s not much time at all. I suppose I could say my prayer time is silent, but usually I’m reading a psalm or going over the list of people I promised to pray for. I’m lining up my day in my head and asking God to help me with all my tasks and projects. If anyone else were in the room, they might say I was silent. But in my head, there is a lot of noise going on. True silence is difficult. Even so, if we are going to be comfortable with silence with the inquirers and catechumens, we have to practice being silent with ourselves.

Listen up

The next step is to listen. When I was in college, I learned about “active listening.” Most of us have had at least a little training in active listening. If you haven’t, see this article. I’m not claiming I’m very good at active listening, but in order to know when to stop talking, we have listen to what the other person is saying. If we are listening well, we will hear the needs, wants, and dreams of the person we are listening to. We will also hear a lot of what is not being said. Listening well will help you to ask insightful questions that will spur more conversation from your inquirer or catechumen.

Wait for the answer

Now this is really important. Once you ask a question—stop talking. This is where I get tripped up a lot. If I ask a question that is anywhere close to a vulnerable spot in the inquirer or catechumen, their response is going to be silence. They don’t yet trust me enough to share their vulnerability. So they have to think about it for a second. They have to decide if they want to answer and then carefully phrase how they are going to answer. All this usually takes about five seconds. But five seconds is often way too long for me to wait. I tend to jump in and fill the “awkward moment” with a clarification of what I meant or a change of subject. At that point, the other person is off the hook and feels no need to answer me. So here’s something to try. Next time you ask a question, wait 10 seconds. Then, after you get comfortable with 10 seconds of silence, bump it up to 20 seconds. I guarantee you that in your next conversation, if you can insert just three meaningful questions, each followed by at least 10-seconds silence, you will learn way more about your “quiet” inquirer than you ever thought you would.

Slow down

Another tip that works for me is to talk slower. When I get nervous, I tend to be thinking of the next point I want to make, even as I’m making my first point. To mitigate that, I try to think of my conversation in blocks of threes. For example, suppose you want to tell an inquirer something about your pastor. Think of three qualities of your pastor. Describe the first quality in as much detail as you need to. Then imagine yourself taking a sip of water. Or, actually take a sip of water. Then describe the second quality. Take another sip of water. Finally, describe the third quality. Don’t be surprised if, while you’re sipping, your inquirer begins talking!

Keep your recorder running

My final tip about silence I learned from a journalist. He would tape record all of his interviews while at the same time taking notes. When the interview was over, he stopped taking notes, but he left the tape-recorder running. He said that the most compelling part of the interview often happened after it was “over.” The subject would often relax and say something in a less guarded way because the reporter no longer seemed to be gathering information. You might think that sounds a little duplicitous, but you are not using a tape recorder and you are not looking for a scandalous scoop. You are just using your new skill of not talking to give your inquirers and catechumens a chance to say something meaningful. So, when your session is over, thank the inquirers or catechumens for coming, stand up, gather your things, but keep your mental tape-recorder running. And try not to say too much.

Mother Teresa said, “We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence…. We need silence to be able to touch souls.” Try some of these tips for being silent and see how deeply you will touch souls.

How do you do it?

And please offer your own tips. In what ways have you used listening skills and silence to lead people to a deeper experience of Jesus? Share your thoughts in the comments box, because your experience will help others in their conversations.

When you think about the children’s RCIA process in your parish, are you fairly satisfied with the way it works? Or, are there aspects of children’s RCIA that are weak and need improvement?

Do you wish parents were more involved?

Do you wish the liturgical component was stronger?

Whether you are satisfied with your children’s RCIA or whether you are looking for ways to strengthen the process, here are six simple sure-fire ways to improve children’s RCIA in your parish.

1. Make time to talk individually, in person, to each parent/guardian at the beginning of the process

This is the single most important thing you can do to improve children’s RCIA.

If you are “really” doing children’s RCIA, then you are doing a precatechumenate that is different in design and purpose from the period of the catechumenate. And, in order to design a precatechumenate that fits the needs of the child, you must understand the family history and formational needs of the child.

For example, if Annie is unbaptized, but has been going to Church with Grandma for ten years, she probably doesn’t need an extended precatechumenate. On the other hand, if Annie is unbaptized and has rarely been in Church, then the precatechumenate period will likely be extensive.

Furthermore, the family’s religious history and formational needs are not something that can be easily discussed on the telephone or in a group meeting. If you already do these initial, individual conversations with parents, then I suggest you concentrate on using this family information to refine and improve what you do doing precatechumenate.

2. Do the minor rites

The minor rites (RCIA, nos. 81-105) are simple rituals that, when done well, add tremendous depth and reverence to the period of the catechumenate. At the end of your catechetical session, use one of the “Blessings of Catechumens” or “Minor Exorcisms” to close your session (RCIA, nos. 90-97). Everything is spelled out for you in the ritual text and a catechist can preside (see nos. 91, 96).

Practice your presiding skills in advance in front of a mirror.

If possible, when you preside use the ritual edition (leather or cloth bound) of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults instead of your ratty, old paperback edition. Believe me; ending a session with a well-prepared minor rite improves your session tenfold!

3. Connect candidates to their peer companions

Including same age peer companions is a must in the children’s RCIA process (RCIA, nos. 252, 254). Here is a list of ways you can connect children in the RCIA with the baptized kids in the parish. Have the child candidates or catechumens participate in:

• Some of the appropriate First Communion or Confirmation preparation
• Service projects sponsored by religious education or youth group
• Junior high or high school retreats
• The Children’s Liturgy of the Word during Mass
• Occasional religious education sessions when it’s appropriate (National Statute, no. 19)

Also, invite companions to participate in your RCIA sessions. Companions might come on a regular basis as a type of “sponsor” for the children in the RCIA. Or, companions might come to RCIA on an occasional basis, depending on how your sessions are structured.

4. Include peer companions in the Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens

Another way to include companions is to be sure that at least some of the children’s companions are present at the rites. Companions are mentioned in the Rite of Acceptance (no. 269), although they do not have a specific role within the Rite.

I suggest you make a slight adaptation within the Rite and have the peer companions stand up with the candidates and their parents. During the “Receiving the Candidates/Children” (nos. 48, 262), have the companions come forward during the introduction of the children. Invite the companions to say why they believe Justin or Maddy or Anthony should be accepted as a catechumen.

Later in the ritual, after parents, sponsors, and/or catechists have signed the signed the senses of the candidates, have the companions do the same (nos. 55, 56, 267, 268).

Including companions in the Rite of Acceptance improves your children’s RCIA process in three ways.

1. Helps the catechumens themselves feel more supported by their peers
2. Gives the companions a specific and important role
3. Gets more members of your parish involved in RCIA

5. Involve parents in discerning readiness for the rites

Another way to improve your children’s RCIA is to improve the way you discern the children’s readiness for the Rite of Acceptance and the Rite of Election. The RCIA mentions the bishop, priests, deacons, catechists, sponsors, godparents and the entire community as those responsible for determining readiness for the rites (nos. 43, 121).

In the case of young catechumens, certainly parents ought to be intimately involved in discerning whether or not their children are experiencing conversion.

There are several ways you can engage parents in the discernment process.

• You can give the parents some reflection questions several weeks in advance of the rites. These questions should help them to discern the signs of conversion their child is experiencing. Some of the questions might be designed to stimulate discussion between the parent and child.
• You could schedule individual appointments to talk with parents about their child’s readiness.
• You can design a group process whereby parents can give testimony about their child’s readiness for the rites.

6. Invite kids and families to the Easter Vigil

Perhaps the simplest way to improve children’s RCIA is to personally invite parish children and their families to the Easter Vigil. The more children and families we have at the Easter Vigil, celebrating the Sacraments of Initiation with children in the RCIA, the richer and better our celebrations will be. More children and families at the Vigil is not only a testament of gladness and support to the RCIA families, it’s a way to deepen the faith of our Catholic families.

When more kids and parents are at the Vigil, they experience the power of the liturgy, the sacraments, and the RCIA. This not only heightens awareness of children in the RCIA, it makes more parish children and families want to be a part of it.

This past fall I had the pleasure of working with Fr. Ron Lewinski at a couple of Forum institutes. Fr. Lewinski is a pastor and former director of the Office of Divine Worship in the Chicago Archdiocese. He was one of the early leaders in the catechumenate during its initial implementation in the 1970s and ’80s. Something he said about the Scrutinies impressed me, and I’d like to pursue the thought here further. The idea he presented was that the Scrutinies are about seeing something. They are a means of seeing sin in its true aspect, and seeing who Christ is for us. He is our liberator, and reigns over all.

Often enough, when people sin, they are not attempting to do something wicked. They are trying to attain some end which seems good, but they don’t see the full picture. They don’t see how pursuing it may engender other, negative consequences. The example he gave was of a man who took on extra work in order to get a promotion. His goal was to secure a better home for his family. His desire was for something good. But the time that his work took away from his daily life ultimately resulted in the break up of his family. He got his promotion, but at what a cost!

How Evil Works

This is often how evil works into our lives. We can all think of similar examples. Our striving after something we think is good can become something quite different, unless we see it rightly. Or sometimes we feel trapped; we can’t seem to move forward. We think the sinful or negative aspects of our lives are impossible to change. We don’t see how things could be different. Or, focused on our own needs, we don’t see that the needs of our neighbor also have a claim on us. Not only that—we may miss entirely the promise that responding to the needs of others will actually make our own lives better, freer, and more holy. We don’t see it. Giving without calculation looks like foolishness, a bad investment, when it really is the best use of our gifts.

How we see is important. And a Scrutiny is about seeing. When we see sin in its right aspect, we become free to choose something different, to step away from sin and into the light of Christ. When we call upon Jesus Christ to help us, all kinds of good things begin to happen.

The Scrutinies are therefore an exercise of sight and of letting the light in. They make an opening to new and better living. They open the eyes of our hearts and souls, so we can see what is truly good. The elect need to see how sin works in their own lives, in order to turn away from it, and walk into the light of Christ at Baptism.

The Worth of Repetition

I’d like to suggest two reasons why it is good that the Scrutinies are repeated (they are celebrated three times, unless some truly extraordinary circumstances prevent it). There are more than two reasons why the Scrutinies are repeated, of course—reasons from tradition and so on—but these two arise from the very nature of the human subject.

First, the Scrutinies need to be repeated because they are like an exercise. Only by doing them repeatedly do we get the hang of it. Spiritual therapy of this sort makes us stronger, just as physical exercise makes us strong in body. Scrutinies are a kind of exercise of the spirit. Discerning sin, and turning to receive God’s grace make us firmer in resolve, and strengthens our will for doing good.

Second, we repeat the Scrutinies because we don’t know how deep our trouble is until we start looking. We see more clearly, each time, that we still have a way to go. Recall the story of a healing in the eighth chapter of Saint Mark’s gospel. The evangelist tells of a blind man at Bethsaida whom Jesus heals, but the healing of his sight proceeds only in stages. Jesus puts saliva on his eyes, and lays hands on him, and asks him if he can see now. The man replies I can see people, but they look like trees, walking. (Mark 8:24). So Jesus lays his hands on him again, and only then does the healing become complete. It took more than one try.

How remarkable this episode of gradual healing is, for Mark. In the other stories Mark tells, things usually happen at lightening speed. His gospel uses the word immediately more than any other sacred author—thirty-four times! There is no waiting around in Mark’s gospel. But here it takes a second touch to free the man’s sight. A parable for us, indeed.

The Scrutinies—three of them—are experiences of the freeing touch of grace, which restores our sight, letting us see good and evil, sin and grace, as they really are. The Scrutinies are repeated so that we will learn to see well. Haste can short-circuit the process. We need to repeat the Scrutinies so that the elect will see sin and grace not just as shadows, trees walking, but in the contours of sharply defined people, places, and events.

After Initiation

The ritual and catechetical events of the initiation process prepare for the sacraments. But they also teach people the skills they will need for living as faithful disciples long after initiation. The goal of initiation is forming disciples who live the Christian life. Initiatory events are not left behind once they are over. Their echoes remain. Their pattern is retained in us, as the template for future experiences. They become part of ourselves as valuable ideas, worthy habits, learned responses, and treasured relationships that will be used and tested again and again in our ongoing human experience.

That is yet another reason why the Scrutinies must be celebrated well. Passionately. And with a clear sense of their purpose. The assembly too, year after year, has the benefit of these rites. The faithful do not receive a laying on of hands year after year—that is for the elect—but  they too can pray for clearer sight. We all need it.

• How do you know if the catechumens are ready for the rite of election?

• Who decides?

• What is the process for discerning their readiness?

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I have a friend who, for 35 years, successfully resisted all attempts to promote her to a management position in her company. She loves her work, but she did not relish the idea of supervising other people. A couple of years ago, her boss finally convinced her to move up the ladder. And last week, for the first time in her life, she had to fire an employee—an employee she had hired.

Who should discern?

There are some lessons in my friend’s story for discerning the readiness of catechumens for the Rite of Election. The first lesson is, who is qualified to discern?

My friend did not want to be a manager because she did not think she had the gift for it. What is actually true is, she is a very gifted manager. She did not want the responsibility of management. She did not want to be the person who decided who gets hired, who gets a raise, who gets put on probation, and who gets fired. That dynamic happens in many catechumenate teams. We often avoid any formal discernment process with the catechumens because none of us wants to be the decision maker. It’s much easier to have a kind of default catechumenate. Everyone who shows up gets baptized (or received into full Communion) just by virtue of coming to a minimum number of catechetical sessions.

If that’s true with your team, it’s time to promote someone. Discernment is not the sole responsibility of a single person. When my friend had to fire her employee, she did not make the decision alone. But she did make the decision. And she delivered the bad news. Someone on your team needs to make the final decision and be the lead person in a formal discernment process with the catechumen.

Talents

What kind of person should you promote to this position? The reason my friend got promoted is, she’s a natural leader. Even before she was a manager, she was a voice that everyone in her company listened to. People listen to her because she is an expert at her job and knows more about it than most people who work there. She also has a deep passion for the success of others. She invests a lot of time and energy in helping colleagues and customers accomplish their goals. Is there someone like that on your team?

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My friend is not a lone ranger. Before she fired her employee, she consulted some of the employee’s coworkers about the quality of the work being done. She consulted with customers about their satisfaction. She examined the employee’s work records and reports. She went over everything with her own boss and asked for guidance. So even though my friend was the one who did the hiring and firing, it was a “team” effort. The person you select as a discernment minister must be very good at collaboration.

My friend is also a deeply spiritual person. Spiritual depth is not a requirement for her work, but her faith does make her a better manager. She prays about every important decision she has to make, and she has faith that, even when she has to fire someone, she is acting in that person’s best interest. A discernment leader on your team must be a person of prayer.

Firing your catechumens

Secular management and spiritual discernment are not the same thing, obviously. You’re never going to fire a catechumen. But you may have to delay a catechumen’s next step into becoming one of the elect. In some cases, that decision and the resulting conversation can be as stressful as firing an employee. Just as my friend resisted becoming a manager so she wouldn’t have to make the tough calls, we sometimes let catechumens slide by so we won’t have to make the tough call either. As my friend’s boss pointed out to her, however, the question is not what’s best for you. The question is what’s best for everyone.

• Are your catechumens ready for the Rite of Election?
• What is your RCIA discernment plan this week?
• Discernment: Looking backward to move forward
• Discernment: What does the Rite say?

With catechumens, there are two kinds of discernment. There is an ongoing discernment that begins the moment the seekers become catechumens. And there is at least one formal discernment to determine if the catechumen is ready to celebrate the Rite of Election.

Ongoing discernment

Honestly, I don’t use the word discernment all that much when I’m working with catechumens. It has a bit of a mystical tone to it. And, because it’s not a word most seekers use in their own conversation, it can sound special. As though you have to have special knowledge or special training to discern. With catechumens, I’m more likely to speak about “change” or “difference.” I ask them to pay attention to the changes in their lives as they learn to live the way of faith. Periodically, I ask them what’s different about their life now from before. The answers they give—to me, to their catechists, to their sponsors, and to themselves—are what make up the ongoing discernment process. By asking them to notice the changes, I’m attempting to make the catechumens responsible for their own discernment. If they can begin to choose (discern) actions that reflect the Christian way of living in the world, they will become active participants in their own formation process. Of course, if they are not making these choices, that is also discernment. They are discerning that they are not yet ready to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

The first formal discernment question

Years ago, when I lived in another place, I volunteered to help with a parish catechumenate team just after Advent had begun. All of the catechumens in that parish had been accepted into the catechumenate about ten days before I met them. And every single one of them already knew they were going to be baptized at the coming Easter Vigil. You could have picked me up off the floor. Of course, what was happening in that parish was not a discernment process. There was, instead, a very tight syllabus of classes. If the catechumens attended all—or even some—of the classes, they were guaranteed a baptism.

What the church requires is something much more profound. Instead of a syllabus, the church requires a systematic initiation into the worship of the Lord. That “system” is the liturgical year—which reveals to us the fullness of the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice.  So the very first question in a formal discernment process is, has the catechumen entered into the fullness of the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice? That is, has he celebrated the entire liturgical cycle with the worshiping community? All subsequent discernment questions flow from that first one.

If the catechumen is unaware of the full mystery of Christ’s sacrifice—the same sacrifice the catechumen will share in baptism—do any of the other discernment questions really matter?

• What is your RCIA discernment plan this week?
• Discernment: Looking backward to move forward
• Discernment: What does the Rite say?

Even though I don’t live in your parish, I know this is the week you need to do some discerning about your catechumens and candidates. How do I know that? Because discernment is an ongoing process. It never stops. Every week is discernment week.

What are you discerning?

There are two general kinds of discernment—annual and ongoing. Let’s look at ongoing discernment first. If your parish has a full catechumenate process, you are engaged in at least three levels of discernment all year long. Your discernment processes need to answer these questions:

Unbpatized

• Is this seeker ready to celebrate the Rite of Acceptance?
• Is this catechumen making steady progress at mastering the disciplines of word, community, worship, and apostolic service?

Baptized Catholics

• Is this returning Catholic ready to commit to a formal, regular formation process?
• Is this person making steady progress at mastering the disciplines of word, community, worship, and apostolic service?
• Is this person ready to celebrate the sacraments of initiation?

Baptized non-Catholics

• Is this seeker ready to commit to a formal, regular formation process?
• Is this person making steady progress at mastering the disciplines of word, community, worship, and apostolic service?
• Is this person ready to be received into full communion?

Discernment for election

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In addition to those ongoing discernment questions, there is an annual discernment question for the catechumens. Who among them is ready to celebrate the Rite of Election? If every week since their acceptance into the catechumenate you have been paying attention to their “steady progress at mastering the disciplines of word, community, worship, and apostolic service,” you will have a pretty good sense of their readiness by the time we start approaching the First Sunday of Lent. Even though you have a sense of each catechumen’s readiness, there is still a formal discernment process that needs to take place.

What happens in your parish?

I’m interested in learning more about that annual, formal process from you.

• When do you begin your formal discernment for catechumens who will move on to the Rite of Election?
• What is involved in your formal process?
• Who is involved?
• Have you ever had a catechumen who thought he or she was ready for Election and you didn’t?
• How did you handle that?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences.

• What makes catechumens ready?
• Discernment: Looking backward to move forward
• Discernment: What does the Rite say?

Donna Steffen, SC, a team member with the North American Forum on the Catechumenate, writes about the first time she was confronted with the idea that she would have to discern the readiness of candidates for initiation: “I was horrified. How can I judge another person?”

In the July 2009 issue of Catechumenate (“Discernment in the Catechumenate”), Donna shares some terrific thoughts on the entire process of discernment. She describes discernment as a messy process of “sifting through all that is operating in a person,” which, she notes, is more challenging than it might seem. For most of us, our emotions get in the way because we learn early on to keep them under control. If we hold everything out before God, including our bottled up emotions, what happens if God wants us to change? That’s the fear, and also the path to confidence that God loves us.

She goes on to ask what I think is the key question of the article and of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: “Why discern?” And the simple but profound answer is that we discern because it is the Christian way of life. We promised to live the gospel. And yet, unless we spend time discerning what that life looks like, how will we know if we are keeping our promise? It is clear then, that if regular discernment of God’s will is the Christian way, the catechumens have to experience discernment and learn how to discern before they can be truly initiated.

Roadblocks to discernment

So if discernment is so important, why aren’t we doing a better job with it? Donna suggests two possibilities. The first is, things seem to be going pretty well in our program just as it is. Every year, the “RCIA” starts meeting in September, the Rite of Acceptance is on the First Sunday of Advent, the catechumens are baptized at the Easter Vigil, and we take a couple of months off to rest and regroup. Donna writes:

Often what is required is an honest conversion among initiation ministers. It is easier to talk about discernment with catechumens and candidates than among the coordinators and catechists. Discernment within the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults calls everyone to honest relationship, with love and compassion. Conversion is also required of those ministering in the process. Ouch! Egos can be frail. Yet, what is at stake is living in the truth before God….

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Another roadblock to discernment is teams are discerning (but not really). The words and actions of a discernment process are used, but the outcome is already known. No catechumen remains in the catechumenate for another year; all are initiated at the Vigil.

At the end of her article, Donna lists five discernment practices for teams. I’ll list a couple of them here, and, as Donna does, I invite you to add your own:

1. Identify what went well in your process this year and what did not. Where is God calling you to change?
2. What two or three changes are you being invited to make in your process? How can discernment be incorporated more fully in your process?

This short summary doesn’t do justice to the entire article, so you’ll need to get a copy to read it for yourself. And Donna promises a Part II in the September issue of Catechumenate. Stay tuned!

• What makes catechumens ready?
• Discernment: Looking backward to move forward
• Discernment: What does the Rite say?

Imagine a catechumen named Penelope who is in the care of a dedicated group of RCIA team members at St. Peregrinus Parish in Pittston, PA. Penelope became a catechumen, along with two other inquirers, in October. It is now February, and the St. Peregrinus team is starting to think about the Rite of Election and what they need to do to get the catechumens ready.

At a planning meeting, one of the newer team members asks Pauline Piotrowski, the team coordinator, if she thinks Penelope is really ready for the Rite of Election. Pauline smiles gently and says, “We can’t keep her from the Rite of Election. Otherwise she couldn’t get baptized. And then she’d feel left out.”

Pauline has a kind heart, and that is one of her strengths as the RCIA team coordinator. However, in this instance, she is doing Penelope no favor. Someone who is not ready for the Rite of Election is not ready for baptism. And someone who is baptized before they are ready is not likely to fully live out their baptism after the Easter Vigil.

But it’s next to impossible to know if someone is ready, isn’t it? Well, no. It turns out, it’s pretty easy. Easy in this sense. The RCIA gives us a clear plan for a conversion process. All we have to do is implement the plan and look for signs of change—like looking for new shoots in the garden. The difficult part is being disciplined (being disciples) about implementing the plan and looking for the signs.

Conversion opportunities—all year long

If we are going to good discerners of conversion, the first step is to provide opportunities for conversion. If we are not regularly giving the catechumens opportunities to turn toward Christ and away from their former life, how can we possibly “know” if they are growing in faith? The most systematic and effective conversion process the church has is the celebration of the liturgical year. In the example above, poor Penelope has celebrated only about five months of Sundays—barely more than a third of the liturgical cycle. Unless she’s had some miraculous revelation the team is unaware of, it doesn’t seem likely that she’s had nearly enough time to give her heart and soul completely to Christ. And even if she has, the team has not had time to provide the full formation in the Christian life that the RCIA calls for.

So how much time does Penelope need? You can find the answer in the RCIA. Turn to paragraph 76:

The duration of the catechumenate will depend on the grace of God and on various circumstances. Nothing, therefore, can be settled a priori.

The time spent in the catechumenate should be long enough several years if necessary” for the conversion and faith of the catechumens to become strong.

Ack! Several years? Are they crazy?

Well it might seem that way at first. But let’s ask ourselves what’s at stake here. This is not a program of instruction in the facts of the faith. It is a radical change in lifestyle. The Christian way of life is very comfortable and familiar to you and me. But it is brand new to the catechumens. They will need practice, practice, and more practice until living the way of faith becomes natural to them as well.

An excellent guide for teaching the Christian way of life.
Apprenticed to Christ: Activities for Practicing the Catholic Way of Life Jerry Galipeau

A complete formation

The rite goes on to tell us what a conversion program looks like. If you are doing all of these things throughout the liturgical year, you will begin to see a change in the catechumens. Or if not, then they probably aren’t ready, and you’ll need to be honest with them about that. So here’s what you do (still reading paragraph 76):

1. By their formation in the entire Christian life
2. and a sufficiently prolonged probation
3. the catechumens are properly initiated into the mysteries of salvation
4. and the practice of an evangelical way of life.
5. By means of sacred rites celebrated at successive times
6. they are led into the life of faith,
7. worship,
8. and charity belonging to the people of God.

I added in the numbers to make it a little clearer that there are actual steps that the RCIA gives us. As you can see, there is nothing in those eight steps that is all that difficult. But to do all the steps on a consistent basis and to regularly assess how the catechumens are doing at mastering them—that take some discipline.

• Discernment: What does the Rite say?
• What do the catechumens have to know?
• Do you know the three Rs of RCIA discernment?

It might seem daunting to discern a person’s readiness for the next step in the RCIA process. But the Rite, itself, gives us some clear guidelines on who does the discerning and what they’re looking for in the daily actions and demeanor of a person seeking to deepen their relationship with God.

Note that the Rite never mentions the number of sessions or liturgies attended, dogmas understood, or service hours completed. That’s because what the Rite is asking us to look for in discernment of readiness is conversion of heart to Christ.

As you read through these parts of the Rite, remember to make this discernment process one of prayer, mystagogy, action, and thanksgiving. Entrust your discernment to the Holy Spirit, look for how God has been acting in the person’s life, discern ways to help the person deepen their relationship with Christ, and give thanks for the Father’s abiding love in the life of this person and in the community.

Discerning a person’s readiness for the Rite of Acceptance

What to look for in the person (RCIA, 42):

• “the beginnings of the spiritual life”
• “the fundamentals of Christian teaching have taken root”
• “evidence of first faith”
• “evidence of an initial conversion”
• “intention to change their lives”
• “evidence of the first stirrings of repentance”
• “the practice of calling upon God in prayer”
• “a sense of the Church”
• “some experience of the company and spirit of Christians through contact”

Who discerns (RCIA, 43):

• sponsors
• catechists
• deacons
• parish priests
• pastors

Discerning readiness of a person for the Rite of Election

What to look for in the person (RCIA, 120):

• “a conversion in mind and in action”
• “a sufficient acquaintance with Christian teaching”
• “a spirit of faith and charity”
• “the intention to receive the sacraments of the Church”
• “a resolve [to express their intention] publicly in the actual celebration of the rite [of Election]“

Who discerns (RCIA, 121, 122):

• bishop
• priests
• deacons
• catechists
• godparents
• the entire community
• the catechumens themselves