A number of years ago, I wrote a little book about election (On the Rite of Election, LTP, 1994) for the Forum Essays series. I felt that divine election was an important concept to grapple with, and that—for a variety of reasons—our liturgical celebrations of election were missing the boat.

The main problem at that time seemed to be that the bishop was dominating the event. Election became “all about the bishop” rather than a rite that is “all about God” and God’s giving of a mission to the elect. The praenotanda of the rite clearly tell us that the rite is about divine election, but you’d be hard pressed to discover this from watching most election celebrations unfold. If the uninstructed observer dropped in and was asked to discern what was happening, she’d have said it’s a rite designed to have everyone receive the bishop’s special handshake.

Now, some fourteen years later, I wonder if things have really improved all that much. People did read the book (it’s still in print), and a considerable number of diocesan leaders and committees took its critiques to heart when it first came out. Workshops were offered. Planning teams looked again at how they had adapted the ritual. Some stayed with what they’d done, but many dioceses discontinued the handshake, or took it out of the center of the ritual so that the testimony and signing of the book would stand out better. People thought a bit harder about why we do the things we do.

Unfortunately, not too many bishops read the book. And as new bishops got appointed, they didn’t necessarily look carefully at the rite either. My information is anecdotal, but it seems to me there has been some backsliding. I’ve heard of numerous occasions in recent years where the bishop is a lackluster presider at the Rite of Election and doesn’t seem to understand what it is all about. Their predecessors had put some energy into celebrating election. It was new. Now, it seems to have slid to a level of a low priority. (There are exceptions, but this seems to be the trend.)

So what happens when the bishop doesn’t “get it”? The default setting is, of course, for the bishop to assume that the catechumens are there for a sort of RCIA “graduation” ceremony—a poor substitute for the celebration of God’s vital and life-changing intervention in our own human history, but there we are.

The important question now is: Can we do anything about it? As my esteemed colleague Father Paul Turner has pointed out, the idea of making election the sole initiation rite presided over by the bishop is brand new historically, and may in fact be a bad idea. Some have suggested taking election back to the parishes. On the other hand, having it at the parish doesn’t necessarily make it better. If a diocesan Rite of Election is done well—with the focus placed where it belongs—it can make a positive contribution that folks will bring home with them to their parishes.

Any impetus for improvement has to come from the grassroots. If our celebration of the Rite of Election is going to get better, it will be because somebody has worked at it. The people who participate in diocesan committees or commissions to implement the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults need to put the Rite of Election on the table for discussion again. Communicate with your bishops. Raise theological and pastoral questions. Don’t settle for ho-hum leadership. Ask yourselves, where are we going with this? How do we want election to look a decade from now, a generation from now? Why?

Rehearsal outline:
Sending of the Catechumens for Election

RCIA 106-117

6:30 Before everyone arrives

• Turn on lights and put out microphones.
• Put stand or table for the Book of the Elect in place.
• Place the book and a substantial pen on it.
• Put the lectionary on the ambo.
• Put presider’s script or ritual book on his chair.
• Put the catechumenate director’s script on her chair or pew.
• Place name tags in the pews where you want the catechumens and their godparents to sit.
• If necessary, mark the spots where the catechumens will stand with a piece of masking tape.

7:00 Welcome the participants: the presider, the director of the catechumenate, the godparents, and perhaps the musician. (The catechumens are not present.) Ask the presider, godparents, and catechumenate director to sit in their places. Lead a brief prayer.

7:10 Remind the godparents of these essential points; be lighthearted, but still convey the importance of the information:

• Point out to the godparents that this rite has two primary elements
  • The testimony of the godparents (and the assembly)
  • The signing of the Book of the Elect
• Godparents need to pick up their catechumens from home or meet them in front of the church before Mass.
• Everyone needs to be in their seats 15 minutes before Mass starts.
• From the minute they walk into the church, until the minute the catechumens are dismissed, the godparents need to be in physical contact with their catechumens. A hand on an arm or shoulder at all times.
• It is the godparents’ responsibility to know the details of the rite. They need to project an air of confidence and always reassure the catechumens that things are under control.
• Point out to them that Mass will begin as usual and will be “normal” up through the homily. After the homily ends, they need to be ready.

Read the rest of this entry »

A central element in the Rite of Election is the enrollment of names. This part of the rite is so important it is given equal billing in the title: “The second step in Christian initiation is the liturgical rite called both election and the enrollment of names….” (RCIA 118). Their enrollment is a sign of the catechumens’ fidelity to live the life of a Christian.

The rite offers several options for the inscription of names, but it says nothing about where the names are inscribed. See the rubrics at paragraph 132 in the rite.

1. The catechumens may inscribe their names themselves
2. They may call out their names while the godparents do the actual inscription
3. They may call out their names while another minister does the actual inscription
4. The parish may simply present a list of names to the bishop

Option four is perhaps the most common choice, as many dioceses opt to have the inscription of names take place at the parish rite of sending. (Note that even when this is the case, the actual enrollment does not occur until the names are presented to the bishop at the Rite of Election.)

What the rite does not say is where the names are actually written. Presumably, they could be written on a sheet of loose leaf paper (as I saw happen in one not-to-be-named parish). But that strikes us as inadequate. For such a solemn moment, shouldn’t the vessel that holds the names of those about to be baptized into Christ’s death be something worthy of the commitment? Shouldn’t it have more gravitas?

I presume we would all agree, and so I am a bit confused by what passes for a worthy book in many communities. A couple of publishers hit upon the “blank book” craze long before Hallmark did by mass producing some economical registers with “Book of the Elect” stamped in fake gold leaf on a church-maroon cover and some lined or blank sheets stuck in between. (One publisher has, incomprehensibly, even added a signature line for the local bishop.) If these were merely record books, such as the baptismal register kept in the parish vault, perhaps there would be no harm. But we have taken to using these weak and pallid things as symbols of the spine-chilling “YES” that shouts from the hearts of those about to be plunged into the waters of baptism.

Perhaps it’s time to stop shopping for our ritual books at ecclesial value-marts and think about ways in which we might obtain or create volumes that are worthy of the names they bear.

Click here for a set of links for handcrafted books you can purchase and instructions on how to make your own Book of the Elect. If you have bought or created a Book of the Elect you think raises the bar, send me a picture at nick[at]teamrcia.com, and I’ll publish it here.

• Testify!
• Are your catechumens ready for the next stage?
• RCIA Discernment: How do you know if they know enough?
• Help your assembly prepare for the Rite of Election

The Rite of Election is one of those “hinge” rites in the RCIA because it marks the transition from one period to the next for a person becoming baptized. But most people in your church won’t ever see a Rite of Election which usually takes place at the diocesan Cathedral. What most people will experience is the Rite of Sending, the optional rite that happens in the parish before the Rite of Election. The Rite of Sending has many of the elements of the Rite of Election, such as testimonies and giving of names. But the principal rite is the Rite of Election. It’s the highpoint of this part of the catechumen’s journey.

Help put the Rite of Sending in its appropriate place by catechizing your assembly from the symbols and actions of the Rite of Election. Even if they never see an actual Rite of Election, they will better appreciate this turning point for the catechumens. (BTW, unless your diocese says otherwise, anyone can go to the Rite of Election. So make a point of letting your assemblies know when your catechumens’ Rite of Election will be and invite them to come.)

Below is the unformatted text from a PDF bulletin insert that you can download, print, and copy for FREE for use in your parishes to help you catechize your assemblies about the discernment process. Please include the author and copyright information on any copies you make.

Get the fully-formatted ready-to-copy bulletin insert (pdf) here.

The testimonies during the Rite of Election can be one of the most moving moments in the catechumenate process. Let’s look at how they happen.

How does the testimony happen in the election rite?

In the Rite of Election, the ritual text gives two ways for the godparents to offer their testimony (paragraph 131). Option A presumes the bishop has “taken part in the earlier deliberation” to determine the suitableness of the catechumens. In that case, he will have already heard the testimony of the godparents. So the ritual text has him asking the godparents to “state their opinion once again, so that all may hear.” Their ritual testimony consists of two words, said in unison: “We do” [consider the catechumens worthy]. The bishop then has the option of asking the assembly if they also affirm what has been said about the catechumens (presumably in the earlier deliberation).

Option B presumes the bishop has not been involved in any previous discernment, and so he does his discerning on the spot. He asks the godparents three questions about the readiness of the catechumens, to which they answer three times, “They have” [prepared well]. Again, the bishop has the option of inviting the assembly’s affirmation.

How does the testimony happen in the parish rite of sending?

The parish rite of Sending of the Catechumens for Election is an optional rite. It includes a ritual dialog, similar to Option B in the Rite of Election, during which the godparents offer similar testimony (paragraph 112). However, this is not the testimony before the bishop and could be considered part of the “earlier deliberation” the Rite of Election expects. Since the rite is optional, and since the rubrics allow for the pastor to address the catechumens and the assembly “in these or similar words,” many parishes take this opportunity for an expanded testimony from the godparents. Instead of using the formulas given in the rite, the presider might simply stop speaking after he says: “I turn to you, godparents, for your testimony about these candidates.”

The godparents would then offer some thought-out sentences about the readiness of their catechumens to be presented to the bishop for election. It is imperative that these testimonies do not devolve into what a friend of mine calls bowling award speeches. This isn’t meant to be a praise statement about the good work the catechumen has done. It is to be a thanksgiving for the good work God has done. The godparent is to give witness to the movement of the Spirit in the life the catechumen. My friend gathers all the godparents in his parish well ahead of the ritual and makes them tell him, roughly, what they intend to say. He makes them rephrase any sentence that doesn’t begin with “God….”

Here again, the presider is given the opportunity to ask for the approval of the assembly. In parishes that have the time available on Sunday, it can be particularly appropriate for the presider to make the same request he made of the godparents: “I now turn to you, parishioners of St. Vitus, for your testimony about these candidates.” In my experience, the catechist and other team members almost always have something to say at this point. Sometimes folks from the assembly testify; sometimes they don’t. Some parishes place a few “plants” in the assembly, but I never have. However, it is one way to encourage the assembly to participate in the testimonies. In a future post, we’ll look at some others. In the meantime, click the comments button below and share some strategies you have used.

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.

How do you know if the inquirers or catechumens “know enough”? When are they ready to move to the next stage?

Discerning readiness is often a subjective art. Discernment in terms of faith is not a completely rational process in the way that decision-making is often simply weighing the pros and cons and choosing the most beneficial option. Discernment is more of a listening and careful observance of the movement of the Spirit and God acting in a person’s life. It is also a group activity and is not meant to be done alone. (Click here to read more about the process of discernment and the four points that assist in discernment.)

The process of becoming initiated into the Church is often measured by one’s depth of conversion to Christ. Rather than counting how many sessions a person has attended or how many hours he or she may have spent participating in parish activities or how many things they know—although these are important—discerning readiness primarily involves looking for the outward signs of internal conversion. When a person’s mind and heart turn more readily to Christ, we can see it in the visible actions and attitudes of that person.

In discerning their own readiness, the inquirer or catechumen tries to pay attention to these changes happening in their life. They are assisted, supported, and called to honest discernment in this process by the catechumenate team, their sponsor, the parish members and staff, the pastor and other clergy, and even the diocesan bishop.

Though it may seem more pastoral to “err on the side of the Spirit,” we also need to remember that the Spirit is one of truth. Discernment moves a person and a community to a deeper sense of the truth–in one’s identity, in a parish’s mission, in the obstacles that prevent us from being who God intends us to be. When discernment is done with openness and trust in this Spirit of truth, we will surely be more pastoral, for we will help both the inquirer or catechumen and the parish community deepen its commitment to discipleship. As many have often found, expediency on our part doesn’t always lead to strengthened commitment to Christ.

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults gives some very clear criteria for readiness at each period. Here are the main things to look for in the inquirer or catechumen to discern their readiness to take the next step.

For inquirers discerning becoming catechumens

RCIA 42
“The prerequisite for making this first step is that the beginnings of the spiritual life and the fundamentals of Christian teaching have taken root in the candidates. Thus there must be:

• evidence of the first faith that was conceived during the period of evangelization and precatechumenate
• and of an initial conversion
• and intention to change their lives
• and to enter into a relationship with God in Christ.

Consequently, there must also be:

• evidence of the first stirrings of repentance,
• a start to the practice of calling upon God in prayer,
• a sense of the Church,
• and some experience of the company and spirit of Christian through contact with a priest or with members of the community.
• The candidate should also be instructed about the celebration of the liturgical rite of acceptance.”

RCIA 43
“Before the rite is celebrated, therefore, sufficient and necessary time, as required in each case, should be set aside:

• to evaluate and, if necessary,
• to purify the candidates’ motives and dispositions.”

Who decides?

RCIA 43
[Before the rite of acceptance is celebrated] “with the help of

• the sponsors,
• catechists, and
• deacons,
• parish priests (pastors)

have the responsibility for judging the outward indications of such dispositions [of the candidates].”

For catechumens discerning becoming elect

RCIA 120
“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.

With deliberate will and an enlightened faith they must:

• have the intention to receive the sacraments of the Church,
• a resolve they will express publicly in the actual celebration of the rite.”

RCIA 131
[The Bishop says to the godparents:] “God’s holy Church wishes to know whether these candidates are sufficiently prepared to be enrolled among the elect for the coming celebration of Easter. And so I speak first of all to you their godparents.

• Have they faithfully listened to God’s word proclaimed by the Church?
• Have they responded to that word and begun to walk in God’s presence?
• Have they shared the company of their Christian brothers and sisters and joined with them in prayer?

RCIA 132
[The Bishop says to the catechumens:] “Since you have already heard the call of Christ, you must now express your response to that call clearly and in the presence of the whole Church. Therefore,

• do you wish to enter fully into the life of the Church
• through the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and the eucharist?”

Who decides?

RCIA 121
“Before the rite of election the

• bishop,
• priests,
• deacons,
• catechists,
• godparents,
• and the entire community,

in accord with their respective responsibilities and in their own way, should, after considering the matter carefully, arrive at a judgment about the catechumens’ state of formation and progress.”

RCIA 122
“[T]o exclude any semblance of mere formality from the rite, there should be a deliberation prior to [the Rite of Election’s] celebration to decide on the catechumens’ suitableness. This deliberation is carried out by the

• priests,
• deacons, and
• catechists involved in the formation of the catechumens, and
• by the godparents and
• representatives of the local community.
• If circumstances suggest, the group of catechumens may also take part.”