The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says the homily should be “an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or from the Proper of the Mass and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners” (65, emphasis added).

The same can be said of your extended catechesis. You can base your process on a liturgical text other than the readings, taking the needs of the catechumens into account. If you intend to base your catechesis on this prayer, be sure to alert the presider to use it on Sunday.

Alternate opening prayer

Let us pray
[that through us others may find the way to life in Christ]

Father,
we come, reborn in the Spirit,
to celebrate our sonship in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Touch our hearts,
help them grow toward the life you have promised.
Touch our lives,
make them signs of your love for all men.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

The way of faith

• Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ. It is granted us through Baptism. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who justifies us. It has for its goal the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life. It is the most excellent work of God’s mercy. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2020)
• We acknowledge one Lord, confess one faith, are born of one Baptism, form only one Body, are given life by the one Spirit, for the sake of one hope, at whose fulfillment all divisions will be overcome. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 866)
• The title “Son of God” signifies the unique and eternal relationship of Jesus Christ to God his Father: he is the only Son of the Father; he is God himself. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 454)

To see how you might use one of these three points in your catechesis, see “How to lead a 90-minute catechetical session.”

• Teaching secrets from the ancient church
• The Four Essential Doctrines the Liturgy Teaches

I commented in an earlier post that if you are having difficulty moving from an abbreviated RCIA program to a complete catechumenate process, one roadblock may be the lack of volunteer catechists needed for 52-weeks of catechetical sessions. I then suggested you take the number of sessions you currently have scheduled and spread them out throughout the liturgical year. So you are doing the same amount of catechesis, but it is now taking place about once a month instead of once a week.

In this post, I’m going to show you how to significantly increase the level of catechesis the parish provides, without adding any more volunteers to your process and barely any more work to your to do list.
Read the rest of this entry »

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says the homily should be “an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or from the Proper of the Mass and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners” (65, emphasis added).

The same can be said of your extended catechesis. You can base your process on a liturgical text other than the readings, taking the needs of the catechumens into account. If you intend to base your catechesis on this prayer, be sure to alert the presider to use it on Sunday.

First opening prayer

Let us pray
[for the gift of God's forgiveness and love]

Father of everlasting goodness,
our origin and guide,
be close to us
and hear the prayers of all who praise you.
Forgive our sins and restore us to life.
Keep us safe in your love.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The way of faith

• In the creation of the world, God gave the first and universal witness to God’s almighty love and wisdom…, which finds its goal in the new creation in Christ. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 315)
• Like conversion, justification has two aspects. Moved by grace, we turn toward God and away from sin, and so accept forgiveness and righteousness from on high. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2018)
• Faith in God leads us to turn to him alone as our first origin and our ultimate goal, and neither to prefer anything to him nor to substitute anything for him. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 229)

To see how you might use one of these three points in your catechesis, see “How to lead a 90-minute catechetical session.”

• Teaching secrets from the ancient church
• The Four Essential Doctrines the Liturgy Teaches

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says the homily should be “an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or from the Proper of the Mass and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners” (65, emphasis added).

The same can be said of your extended catechesis. You can base your process on a liturgical text other than the readings, taking the needs of the catechumens into account. If you intend to base your catechesis on this prayer, be sure to alert the presider to use it on Sunday.

Alternative opening prayer

God our Father,
open our eyes to see your hand at work
in the splendor of creation,
in the beauty of human life.
Touched by your hand our world is holy.
Help us to cherish the gifts that surround us,
to share your blessings with our and sisters,
and to experience the joy of life your presence.

The way of faith

• In the liturgy of the church, God the Father is blessed and adored as the source of all the blessings of creation and salvation… (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1110)
• The goods of creation are destined for the entire human race. The right to private property does not abolish the universal destination of goods. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2452)
• “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound. . . to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord’s Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2193)

To see how you might use one of these three points in your catechesis, see “How to lead a 90-minute catechetical session.”

• Teaching secrets from the ancient church
• The Four Essential Doctrines the Liturgy Teaches

One of the disadvantages of running this Web site becomes apparent when I have a question. If I submit it to the “Ask a question” link, it will just come back to me to answer. So I’m submitting it to you.

When do you introduce the catechumens to the stewardship efforts of the parish? More specifically, when do you speak to them about supporting the mission of the parish financially? I’ve never liked waiting until after initiation: “Here’s your baptism and your envelopes.” In parishes that are doing a complete catechumenate, the catechumens will no doubt hear at least a couple of “stewardship homilies.” Is that time to talk with them about contributing time, talent, and treasure to the mission? What are your thoughts?

?

As we draw closer to the presidential elections, our RCIA teams will have plenty of opportunities to catechize about Catholic social teaching. The U.S. bishops, as they do every election season, have provided lots of resources for parishes to help us be responsible citizens and faithful Catholics. As catechists, we might not think to look at the Homily Suggestions page, but the suggestions there apply to catechesis as much as to preaching.

1. Highlight Catholic tradition

Don’t save up your “big talk” about the elections for the week before voting day. Weave the teaching of the church throughout the Sundays between now and November. As citizens and as Catholics, we are called not only to provide for the needy but to actively support policies that will make the world a more just place. Do the catechumens understand the moral connection between social policy and the Gospel?

2. Promote participation in public life

As Catholics, we have a responsibility to bring our faith into dialogue with the issues raised by the political parties and candidates. How will we encourage the catechumens to scrutinize political candidates and issues through the lens of faith?

3. Ask questions rather than providing answers

The best way to help catechumens make the connection between faith and political choices is to ask thought-provoking questions.

4. Avoid partisanship

The bishops do not support one political party over another, and neither should our RCIA teams. We cannot hand out political material or take a position that implies a Catholic or parish endorsement of or opposition to a party or a candidate. As the U.S. bishops say in their document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, it often seems that “no party and too few candidates fully share the church’s comprehensive commitment to the life and dignity of every human being from conception to natural death” (No. 16).

5. Tell people to vote, not how to vote

Encourage faith-based questions that arise from the Sunday liturgy, but do not give answers that imply how catechumens should vote. Teach them how to use their faith to shape their politics.

6. Promote prayer for all politicians

Catholics are obligated to pray for all civil authorities, even if we don’t agree with their political positions. The catechumens share in that obligation.

I was just asked to review a book proposal that is meant to be a teaching resource for the catechumenate. The syllabus covers ecclesiology, Christology, the Trinity, each of the sacraments, and a bit of eschatology. I think those are all good things to know, but is that what the RCIA asks us to provide? Read the rest of this entry »

Team member Rita Ferrone recently won a 2008 Catholic Press Association Book Award for Liturgy: Sacrosanctum Concilium (Rediscovering Vatican II) (Paulist Press). The judges called the book:

An interesting and highly accessible guide to the central document in liturgical reform, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Liturgy explores the development, key principles and implementation of the CSL, and raises questions related to those principles needing further reflection in today’s church. This book would be helpful for anyone interested in Catholic liturgy, and especially valuable for parish ministers.

To read my review of the book, click here.

Congratulations Rita!

Apparently, Pope Benedict XVI was looking for ways to celebrate Saint Paul’s 2,000th birthday. After the Vatican Fire Marshal nixed the idea of a giant cake with 2,000 candles (the pope may be infallible, but not inflammable), the pontiff decided to declare this “The Pauline Year.” The festivities begin on June 29, 2008 and run through June 29, 2009. What festivities, you ask? Well, the Vatican is just a little tight-lipped about that. Never fear. TeamRCIA is stepping into the breach with nine ways to celebrate. (All of these suggestions have been safety-rated for catechumens.)

• Focus on the Easter Vigil epistle for the year (Romans 6:3-11). Have the catechumens memorize it. Make it the reading for your lector training. Have the lectors memorize it too. Ask the school children and the kids in the catechetical program to write an essay or poem or song about it.
• Preach on the second reading (when it is from Paul) more often this year. Focus the breaking open of the word sessions on the second reading more often. Write a weekly reflection question for the parish bulletin based on the second reading.
• Sing the Pauline canticles more often. Ask choir members, cantors, and the worshiping assembly to memorize one or two of them.
• Do you have stained glass windows in your parish? Or does a nearby parish? Is one of the images of Saint Paul? Take a field trip with the catechumens (and anyone else who wants to join in), and do a “breaking open of the glass” with them. (Don’t forget “breaking” is a metaphor!)
• Make pilgrimages to the parishes in your diocese named after Paul. You might want to call ahead. What’s a pilgrimage without some coffee and cookies waiting for you?
• Since the Feast of the Conversion of Paul is not only a Sunday this year but is also the event around which the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is planned every year, make a greater effort at building ecumenical relationships this year.
• Paul was all about conversion-his own and others’. Find a place on your parish Web site, Facebook group, or during coffee and doughnuts to share how you got knocked off your horse. (Which, as every good catechist knows, didn’t actually happen to Saint Paul. But it is a good image of conversion.)
• Throw a Paul party. Everybody named Paul, Pauline, or Pablo gets to be the guests of honor. However, they all have to tell the story of how they got their name.
• Create a parish book where people can write out their favorite verse from one of Saint Paul’s letters. In fact, let’s do that here. Click on the comments link and tell us the line from Paul that inspires you. Or share your own ideas for celebrating The Pauline Year.

QI was wondering if you could give some guidance about sacramental preparation for older children (baptized Catholic, but formally uncatechized) 3rd grade and above, since there is little consistency among parishes within our diocese.

In most cases, these children (primarily 3rd-6th grade) have had no formal catechesis and have not celebrated first confession or first communion. Some of the parishes integrate them into a regular religious education program and use a two-year process, which would include sacramental preparation in the second year (for first confession and first communion only and confirmation later, usually in the 8th grade).

Many parishes place them in an RCIA program with some sacramental preparation for first confession and first communion in the second year, but they are not confirmed.

Then, there are some parishes that place them in an RCIA program, and they do receive all sacraments at the Easter Vigil; there is a distinction made at the Vigil between the neophytes and candidates.

Any thoughts or suggestions on what the best direction to go might be?

AOh my, what a tangle! Unless you are a diocesan employee, I think you have to focus on what is right for your parish. It might be better if all the parishes in your diocese had a uniform policy, but that may not be a problem you can solve. So what’s at stake here?

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