The ideal sponsor is someone fully immersed in their Catholic faith, and it’s wonderful when you have sponsors like this. In my experience, however, sponsors are sometimes not much more catechized than the catechumens. When that is the case, the sponsor coordinator is really a sponsor to the sponsors.

If you find yourself working with under-catechized sponsors, consider these four points. Read the rest of this entry »

In your RCIA process, do your catechumens and baptized candidates know the difference between Eucharist and communion? Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Center recently released a pastoral letter in which he ended his diocese’s practice of celebrating communion services in place of weekday or Sunday Mass. His reason for doing so was, partly, because he thought the celebration of communion services caused people to misunderstand the difference between Eucharist and communion.

This is how he described the difference: Read the rest of this entry »

The Concord Pastor reminds us on this feast day about the implications of Pentecost. He cites Economic Justice for All, which bears reading for all of us who are trying to be faithful to RCIA 75:4:¹

After Jesus had appeared to them and when they received the gift of the Spirit (Acts 2:1-12), they became apostles of the good news to the ends of the earth. In the face of poverty and persecution they transformed human lives and formed communities which became signs of the power and presence of God. Sharing in this same resurrection faith, contemporary followers of Christ can face the struggles and challenges that await those who bring the gospel vision to bear on our complex economic and social world. (Economic Justice for All, no. 47, US Conference of Catholic Bishops)

This, I think, points out the clear distinction between a classroom model of faith formation in the RCIA and a mystagogical or apprenticeship model. Our task is not merely to teach the catechumens about the apostolic mission of the church. Our task is to form followers of Christ who will transform lives and create communities that challenge the structures of endemic poverty and persecution in the world.

Check out the Concord Pastor’s entire post by clicking here.

1. Since the church’s life is apostolic, catechumens should also learn how to work actively with others to spread the Gospel and build up the church by the witness of their lives and by professing their faith. RCIA 75.4 [↩]

If you have inquirers who are ready to become catechumens now, you need to celebrate the Rite of Acceptance with them before Pentecost in order for them to be eligible for initiation at the next Easter Vigil. Flip open your RCIA to the very back. Look for the section that is titled “Appendix III: National Statutes for the Catechumenate.” Then find paragraph 6, and underline the last sentence:

Ordinarily [the period of the catechumenate] should go from at least the Easter season of one year until the next; preferably it should begin before Lent in one year and extend until Easter of the following year.

I know, I know, you are completely worn out right now, and you can’t even think of starting up another group of catechumens. Well breathe easy for a second. I’m going to give you a few tips to make things simpler.

1. Note that what is required is that the inquirers become catechumens and participate in Sunday liturgy for one full liturgical year. While it would be ideal to begin weekly catechetical sessions with them immediately, it isn’t required. If you can only do the bare minimum right now, celebrate the Rite of Acceptance with them and make sure their sponsors are taking them to Mass.
2. If you can rely a little more on the sponsors, ask them to take the catechumens out for coffee after Mass for the next few weeks and discuss the liturgy. No teaching, just talking.
3. If you have neophytes this year, you are likely having some kind of meetings with them during the Easter season. Invite the new catechumens to participate in those and call on the neophytes to share what they’ve learned and experienced with the catechumens.
4. Is your parish holding parent sessions for first communion and confirmation preparation? With a little creativity and flexibility, adult catechumens could participate in those. Child catechumens could join with their peers and get a sense of what they will be getting ready for.
5. Ask some of the folks who were initiated last year or the year before to lead the catechumens in an extended breaking-open-of-the-Word each week until you can begin more formal catechetical sessions. They should be pretty good at it if you did a good job with them during their catechumenate.
6. Do you have a parish Bible study or faith-sharing group? (Or does a neighboring parish?) Ask if the new catechumens can sit in for a few weeks until you are ready to go.
7. Also remember the requirement for a year-long catechumenate is for catechumens. Baptized candidates, especially those who are somewhat catechized, don’t require a full liturgical year of catechesis.

If you are looking for a Sunday to celebrate the Rite of Acceptance, the Sixth Sunday of Easter (A) is a good choice. The assigned gospel, John 14:15-21, is part of Jesus’ farewell to the disciples in which he promises to send them the Holy Spirit. “Whoever loves me,” he tells them, “will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”

If your parish celebrates the Ascension on the Seventh Sunday of Easter, the gospel for the Seventh Sunday (A), John 17:1-11, can be read on the Sixth. It is also an appropriate text for the Rite of Acceptance: “I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me.”

If you don’t tell anybody I told you and you really want to stretch things, you could wait until the Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (June 8, 2008) for the Rite of Acceptance. It’s not ideal, but it is better than trying to cram in a six-month process staring in October. And the gospel, Matthew 9:9-13, is perfect: “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.”

If you do have a Rite of Acceptance scheduled before mid-June, hit the comment button below and tell us about it!

QWe have two people in the catechumenate process this year. One person is unbaptized. The other was baptized as a Catholic but has had no religious formation whatsoever. We have been dismissing both of them each week to break open the word. However, my pastor is telling me the second person should not dismissed because he is already baptized. I disagree with him. Who is right?

AThere is no uniform practice on this. Many parishes dismiss both the catechumens and the baptized candidates, just as you are. However, my preference is to only dismiss the unbaptized. I agree with your pastor that baptized people should remain in the assembly for the entire liturgy.

The reason I believe this is because there is more to Eucharist than communion. Even though the baptized candidates cannot receive communion, they can, and should, participate in the offering the sacrifice through their participation in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This is as catechetical as breaking open the word would be.

The reason we dismiss catechumens is not simply to give them more time for breaking open the word or for catechesis. It is because they are not yet members of the Order of the Faithful and therefore cannot yet offer the sacrifice of the Mass through their prayer.

In addition, by dismissing the unbaptized and keeping the baptized in the liturgy, we are also catechizing the rest of the assembly about the importance and dignity of baptism.

The actual texts of the RCIA would seem to support this. If you look at the combined rites that include both catechumens and baptized candidates, only the catechumens are dismissed. See, for example, paragraphs 527-529, 544-546, and 559-561.

Lent comes early in 2008—February 6. That means that you only have a few weeks to decide who among your catechumens will celebrate the rite of election.

Unless you have a year-round process, you’ve probably already made the decision. In most parishes, anyone who celebrated the Rite of Acceptance this past fall (or even this past Advent!) is expected to become one of the elect and to be baptized at the Easter Vigil. It is difficult, however, to know if those who have been catechumens for only a short time are really ready for the next step in the initiation process. In this year when Lent begins so early, it might be a good time to look more closely at the shortcomings of a nine-month process (which, this year, works out to something more like a three- or four-month process).

Let’s first agree on what we are looking for. The RCIA gives us a list of criteria.

Before the rite of election is celebrated, the catechumens are expected to have undergone a conversion in mind and in action and to have developed a sufficient acquaintance with Christian teaching as well as a spirit of faith and charity. (120)

There are three clear challenges listed there. First, what does a conversion in mind and action look like? Well, that’s hard to answer. I’d have to know your catechumens pretty well. I’d have to know what their lives were like before they started coming to your parish. I’d have to know what they said they were looking for when you asked them at the Rite of Acceptance what it is they asked of God and God’s people. I’d have to watch them in the parish and how they interacted with various parish groups. I’d have to listen to them talk about their faith. I’d have to have long talks with their sponsors.

The next challenge is to see in them a sufficient acquaintance with Christian teaching. The rite says at a minimum, that teaching takes a full liturgical year to unfold. It is not so much a list of precepts and dogmas they have to master. It is a deep understanding of what Jesus meant when he said follow me. Do they know in mind and heart, what it means to follow the cross? I’d have to listen to the catechumens discuss their beliefs. I’d have to observe how they brought their beliefs to bear in difficult times. I’d have to see how they responded to the gifts God has blessed them with. I’d have to see how faithful they were in celebrating the liturgy of the church.

The final challenge is to see in the catechumens a spirit of faith and charity. I’d have to hear them talk about and see them care for those who are less fortunate than they. I’d have to witness an attitude of generosity in them. I’d have to know in my heart that they believed the poor and the outcast are especially loved by God.

Honestly, I just don’t see how it is possible to get to know these things in a few months, especially if you have a large number of catechumens. If you’re feeling the same way, then what can be done at this point? It seems you have only a couple of options. If you have the stomach for it, you might pose these challenges to the catechumens themselves. If you really don’t know them well enough to discern these areas of growth in them (or you know for sure they have not grown in these areas), tell them that. Tell them you cannot in good conscience recommend them for the Rite of Election this year.

Your other option is, perhaps less pastoral, but less stressful on you. Come clean with them about your misgivings. But, offer the catechumens the option of celebrating the Rite of Election in spite of your hesitations. Encourage those who wish, to remain in the catechumenate for another year, but allow those who are determined, to move to the next stage. The reason I suggest this is less pastoral is that those who do go forward will almost certainly fall away after the Easter Vigil. They are the ones most interested in “finishing,” not beginning.

Finally, make a New Year’s resolution that any new inquirers you encounter in the coming year will not be promised a “date” for their initiation until after an in-depth discernment process based on the criteria the RCIA provides.

QCan you take RCIA classes online?

A“RCIA” is an acronym for “Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.” It is first of all a rite and therefore cannot be done online.

Sometimes we think of becoming a Christian as simply a matter of making an intellectual assent to a body of beliefs. This notion leads us to the understanding that we need to be instructed in a school-like structure about Christianity just as we might be instructed about mathematics. While there is an important intellectual component to Christianity, becoming a Christian is much more about practicing a counter-cultural lifestyle. The early Church called it “The Way.” One learns to live as a Christian by living with and imitating other Christians. That cannot be done online, just as learning to play baseball or learning to be a member of an orchestra cannot be done online. You have to be there.

QCan you lead me to some material I could use to create a retreat for the catechumens? We don’t want to do an overnight. Thanks.

AYour request for RCIA retreats is one I have heard often, and you are correct in saying that there is not much out there. Just for that reason I wrote a book entitled Enter The Rose. It has a number of retreats for all stages of the catechumenate process and includes handouts (on a CD so you can reproduce them) and an audio CD with some ideas, poetry and music. It is published by World Library Publications.

You will find a description and order information by clicking here. Catechumenate teams that have asked questions similar to yours have found this resource very helpful and “user friendly.” I hope you will, too!

If you have any questions about the resource and how to make it work for the situation you describe in your own local setting, please let me know, and I will do what I can to assist you.

Benedict XVI released his new letter, “Saved by Hope,” a couple of days ago to coincide with Advent, the church’s great season of hope. In John Allen’s summary of the letter, he makes the point that a major concern of this pope is reasserting Catholic identity in a world dominated by earthly values. The theme of Benedict’s first letter was love. This latest one, focused on hope, continues to outline what Pope Benedict would have us—and the catechumens—understand as the core of the Catholic life.

If you don’t have time to read the entire letter today, at least read paragraph 3. The pope asks what does hope consist of, and how does hope save us? He answers his own question:

The essence of the answer is given in the phrase from the Letter to the Ephesians quoted above: the Ephesians, before their encounter with Christ, were without hope because they were “without God in the world”. To come to know God—the true God—means to receive hope.

The pope then makes what I think is a critical point, a point that is somewhat the theme of his papacy:

We who have always lived with the Christian concept of God, and have grown accustomed to it, have almost ceased to notice that we possess the hope that ensues from a real encounter with this God.

I find this is less true with those of us who work in initiation ministry. Our faith—our hope—is continually renewed when we see those who have been without hope for so long begin to “walk in the light of the Lord” (first reading, First Sunday of Advent, A). Nevertheless, many of us and many of our fellow parishioners can seem to the catechumens to be much like the rest of the world, tending to despair. Or at least not letting our joy spill over into the day-to-day affairs of our lives. Pope Benedict would ask each of us: do the catechumens and those in the world who are not walking in the light see the bright light of hope in us? Are we a beacon that draws the world to Christ our Hope?

In the rest of that brief paragraph, Benedict goes on to describe the journey of faith of Josephine Bakhita, canonized by Pope John Paul II. She would not have been called a catechumen since the rite had not yet been restored in her lifetime. (She was born in 1869.) Yet, her journey, as described in the pope’s letter, is certainly the story of an inquirer who found the first glimmer of faith, who claimed that faith, and who went on to share that faith with others who were without hope.

[B]esides her work in the sacristy and in the porter’s lodge at the convent, she made several journeys round Italy in order to promote the missions: the liberation that she had received through her encounter with the God of Jesus Christ, she felt she had to extend, it had to be handed on to others, to the greatest possible number of people. The hope born in her which had “redeemed” her she could not keep to herself; this hope had to reach many, to reach everybody.

This Advent will be an opportune time to teach the catechumens one of the central tenants of Catholic identity—we are a people of hope. Stay close to the Sunday readings and the opening prayers for the Sundays of Advent. Ask the catechumens to connect their personal stories with the Scripture stories. And tell them the hope-filled story of Josephine Bakhita.

For more on Catholic identity, see:

• Prayers every catechumen should know
• The Four Essential Doctrines the Liturgy Teaches

Spe Salvi

Paragraph 75 of the RCIA identifies the four pillars of catechetical formation: word, worship, community, and service. During their formation process, the catechumens will want to learn the prayers that every Catholic knows by heart so they may fully participate in the worship life of the church. Here is a list of prayers they should know. Click on the comments below to list others you think are essential.
x
x

• The Sign of the Cross
• The Lord’s Prayer
• The Creed
• The Hail Mary
• The Glory Be
• Grace before meals (”Bless us, O Lord…”)
• Act of Contrition (”Oh my God, I am heartily sorry…”)
• The Confiteor (”I confess to almighty God…”)