If you participated in the webinar on the Rite of Election a few weeks ago, you will be ready to appreciate the good and the not-so-good aspects of any celebration of that rite. Even if you missed the webinar, however, I hope you are quite familiar with the rite as it appears in the ritual text (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults 118 ff.).

Keep your eyes open when you attend the Rite of Election. Notice what happens. Here are ten questions (in no particular order) to help you sharpen your observations.

1. Did each catechumen have a godparent?

They should. The godparents have an important role in this rite. No “group godparents,” please. Each catchumen should have somebody who is there for them, and who can testify before the community of faith on behalf of that catechumen.

2. Did the bishop sign the book of the elect?

He shouldn’t. It’s not in the rite. It’s not in the tradition. It makes no sense. The book is for the catechumens to sign, not the bishop. Some dioceses began having the bishop sign the book because in the beautiful books from Liturgical Press there is a line at the bottom of the page for the bishop’s name. I have it on good authority, however, that when the press designed that book they had no intention of creating a new ritual. The space for the bishop’s name records who presided. You can write it in later, but please not during the rite itself.

3. If you celebrated the combined Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion, could you tell the difference between the catechumens and the baptized candidates?

You should be able to. According to National Statutes #30, “Those who have already been baptized in another Church or ecclesial community should not be treated as catechumens or so designated.” If it looks like everybody is doing the same thing, something’s wrong.

4. Did the bishop greet each catechumen or group of catechumens personally during the rite?

He shouldn’t. The receiving line happens after the celebration, not during it. The bishop is the presider at liturgy; he is not a minister of hospitality. The purpose of the rite is not to have the bishop meet the catechumens or the catechumens meet the bishop. The purpose of this rite is rather to celebrate their election by God and the Church, in preparation for the Easter Sacraments.

5. Were the names called as the catechumens come forward to sign the book of the elect?

They shouldn’t be. The calling of names happens earlier in the rite, in preparation for the Affirmation by the Godparents and the Assembly. In fact, that is why their names are called—so that we know who is being affirmed. Once that affirmation has taken place, there is no need to call their names again. They may inscribe their names in the book of the elect in any order.

6. Did the godparents speak up audibly (strongly) when asked to affirm their catechumens?

They should. If necessary, you could practice this with them at home before going to the Rite of Election. A weak response is a poor sign. The affirmation is saying, in effect, “Yes, this person is ready to go forward to the sacraments!” If the godparents really believe it, they should speak up.

7. Were the names called out individually?

They don’t have to be. At the Rite of Election, the catechumens may be called forward in groups if there are too many. But if they are not called by name in this rite, they MUST be called by name in a special celebration beforehand. In fact, this provides the warrant for the Rite of Sending (see the rubrics for RCIA 130).

8. Did the bishop preach about election?

He should. It says so in the rite itself. “The celebrant should open to all the divine mystery expressed in the call of the Church and in the liturgical celebration of this mystery.” (RCIA 125). The rite makes no bones about it. The mystery is God’s election. “This step is called election because the acceptance made by the Church is founded on the election by God, in whose name the Church acts.” (RCIA 119).

9. Did the catechumens sign the book of the elect during the rite?

They don’t have to. The book may be signed at the parish, if signing at the diocesan celebration would be cumbersome or take too long. Be warned, however. If you don’t sign the book at the diocesan rite, something else has to take its place at this point in the ritual—usually a presentation of the books brought from the parishes. This can be done with ceremony, and should be reverent and impressive as a ritual act. Stacking up books on a table is a poor witness to the value of this symbol.

10. Did you get a sense that the elect are being called to mission?

You should. Election is for mission. God calls us so that we may share in the very mission of Christ. God calls us to be light for the world, not merely to bask in the light of Christ ourselves. If we forget the mission, election becomes little more than a feel-good moment. But if we remember the mission, everything else makes sense—including the need for purification, through the Scrutinies that are to come.

Happy Rite of Election, everyone!

It’s good to see you again. If you enjoyed this post, please share with a friend or colleague. Thanks for visiting!

1. What is the meaning of the symbol of ashes on Ash Wednesday and where do the ashes come from?
    
2. What are the fasting regulations for Lent?
    
3. Should we empty the baptismal font for Lent?
    
4. But aren’t we fasting from water during Lent? Like Jesus did in the desert?
    
5. Who signs the Book of the Elect?
    
6. Should the elect choose a baptismal name?
    
7. How is the catechesis for the elect in Lent different than catechesis during the catechumenate period?
    
8. What are the “Presentations” and how are they celebrated?
    
9. Do we have to use Year A readings for the RCIA scrutinies?
    
10. What are the proper prayers for the scrutinies?
     
11. How can we make the scrutinies more meaningful for the assembly?
     
12. What is the history and purpose of the scrutinies?
     
13. If the elect don’t rehearse the scrutinies ahead of time, how will they know what to do?
     
14. Do child catechumens celebrate the scrutinies?
     
15. Why can’t we celebrate a Seder Meal on Holy Thursday?
     
16. What are the Holy Saturday preparation rites and how are they celebrated? (Free retreat outline.)
     
17. Any tips for celebrating the Easter Vigil?

This morning, the news was released that Pope Benedict has created a Personal Ordinariate in which Anglicans can enter into full communion with the Catholic Church, but keep their liturgy and traditions—as long as they are opposed to women’s ordination and to ordaining openly gay bishops.

Rachel Donadio of the New York Times offers an account of it here.

Austen Iverleigh’s post on the America blog is informative and contains the link to the Associated Press story.

It remains to be seen what effect this move will have on the practical, day-to-day experience of individual Anglicans who wish to enter the full communion of the Catholic Church via the Rite of Reception.

Here is a terrific resource for working with baptized candidates!


One at the Table: The Reception of Baptized Christians
Ronald Oakham, et al

Price: $17.00 $16.95

Click here for details

Will their situations be handled as the reception of Orthodox Christians is? When members of an eastern Christian Church not in union with Rome enter into full communion with the Catholic Church, they automatically are enrolled in the corresponding Catholic community: Greek Orthodox become Greek Catholic, etc. It takes permission from Rome to actually allow someone to become a member of the Latin Rite Catholic Church under such circumstances.

Once this Personal Ordinariate is in operation, will the same situation obtain for Anglicans? Will anyone received into the full communion of the Catholic Church from an Anglican background have to become an Anglican Catholic of this newly created Ordinariate, and be faced with the need to petition Rome if they wish to do otherwise?

Because the Anglican Communion is descended from the Latin Rite (the Catholic Church in the West), the answer would seem to be no. But never before has this sort of entity existed (a Personal Ordinariate), in which the Anglican Church has—so to speak—it’s own household within Catholicism. So there may be some new rules coming.

Stay tuned.

In June, New York’s new Archbishop, Timothy Dolan, came to welcome the participants at a Forum Institute held at the Passionist Center in Riverdale. (I was there.) He said a lot of positive things about the RCIA. (Click here to read his comments.)

Archbishop Dolan is a church historian as well as a pastor. He commented that historians looking back on developments in the church after Vatican II would no doubt write many books about the RCIA. I was struck by this remark. It seems to me true and important.

The RCIA is not some passing fad, today’s enthusiasm to be forgotten tomorrow. It is having a profound influence on how we understand what it means to be church. The effects of what we do in this ministry will, in all probability, outlast us.

Keep it up, friends. We’re making history!

The Catholic News Service has posted a word cloud for Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical, “Charity in Truth.” A word cloud is a pictorial representation of the most- and least-used words in a document. The CNS graphic makes it very obvious what the emphasis of the Pope’s letter is.

• Free reader’s guide to Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate)

In preparation for the upcoming meeting between President Barack Obama and Pope Benedict XVI on July 10 at the Vatican, the USCCB media office has put together a nice summary of the 26 previous meetings between a pope and a sitting U.S. president.

What struck me most was the length of John Paul II’s pontificate, measured in presidential administrations. The first president he met was Jimmy Carter in 1979. The last was George W. Bush in 1991.

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

The Way of Faith

Explain that the Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith, a faith handed down to us by the first disciples.

In the news

While Mexico or Havana beaches may be calling out to thousands of high school and college spring breakers, many are choosing to heed the call of God during their week off. Hundreds of students on spring break this week are hitting the Gulf Coast to help families still recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Ike. Others are also heading to the Midwest where flooding has destroyed hundreds of homes. (Spring Breakers Choose Outreach Over Vacation)

In the readings

He said to them, “Do not be amazed!
You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified.
He has been raised; he is not here. (Mk 16:1-7)

In the tradition

The Church continues to sow the Gospel in God’s field. Christians, in the most diverse social situations, perceive the world with the same eyes with which Jesus contemplated the society of his time. The disciple of Jesus Christ deeply shares the “joys and hopes, the sadness and the anxieties of people today.” The Christian knows that every human event—indeed all reality—is marked by the creative activity of God which communicates goodness to all beings; the power of sin which limits and numbs people; and the dynamism which bursts forth from the Resurrection of Christ, the seed renewing believers is the hope of a definitive “fulfilment.” A world-view not incorporating these three elements cannot be authentically Christian. Hence the importance of a catechesis capable of initiating catechumens and those to be catechized into a “theological reading of modern problems.” (General Directory for Catechesis, 16)

The crack IT department here at TeamRCIA (pictured) appologizes if you’ve been trying to get on the site in the last 24 hours. There were some nasty coding and technical problems that we were up all night trying to solve. Okay, we were only up until midnight, and we were multitasking between fixing the site and watching Conan O’Brian, but we were on it. Everything should be alright now.

The latest newsletter of the North American Forum on the Catechumenate is now available.

Among the contents you will find:

• an appreciation and sampling of pictures from Forum’s Fifth International Convocation, November 6-8, 2008, in Cleveland, Ohio
• a fine reflection on the Catechumenate in relation to all catechesis
• 3 important resource reviews
• the 2009 calendar of Forum’s incomparable formation institutes taking place in dioceses throughout the U.S. and Canada
• and pics of Nick, Diana, Sr. Miriam, and other Forum members you may have met on an institute

Download the pdf newsletter (2.7 MB) here.

Reading II

2 Pt 3:8-14

But according to his promise
we await new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells.

The way of faith

• By death the soul is separated from the body, but in the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body, transformed by reunion with our soul. Just as Christ is risen and lives for ever, so all of us will rise at the last day. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1016)
• The church is holy: God is her author; Christ, her bridegroom, gave himself up to make her holy: the Spirit of holiness gives her life. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 867)
• The grace of the Holy Spirit confers upon us the righteousness of God. Uniting us by faith and baptism to the passion and resurrection of Christ, the Spirit makes us sharers in his life. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2017)

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