The Year of Saint Paul
Reading II
Brothers and sisters:
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God….
The way of faith
- “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2590)
- The principal difficulties in the practice of prayer are distraction and dryness. The remedy lies in faith, conversion, and vigilance of heart. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2754)
- The Holy Spirit who teaches the church and recalls to her all that Jesus said also instructs her in the life of prayer, inspiring new expressions of the same basic forms of prayer: blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2644)
To see how you might use one of these three points in your catechesis, see “How to lead a 90-minute catechetical session.”
See also these related articles:
I have a question.
The National Statutes #36 say “The celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation with candidates for reception into full communion is to be carried out at a time prior to and distinct from the celebration of the rite of reception. As part of the formation of such candidates, they should be encouraged in the frequent celebration of this sacrament.”
This seems to imply that they should be receiving the Sacrament throughout their preparation process, not just once prior to reception and then as needed/desired thereafter. Do you think this is the intention? I have not heard of those in preparation receiving the Sacrament more than once prior to Reception into full communion.
Thanks!
Hi Terry,
I read the statute to intend frequent celebration of the sacrament in the same way the faithful are encouraged to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation frequently. Most active Catholics probably celebrate the sacrament once to three times a year when the parish has a seasonal reconciliation service. It would be good if the candidates were celebrating reconciliation more often, but we want to be careful not to make it sound like frequent celebration is encouraged because they are in the preparation process. It is encouraged as an ordinary part of Christian life.
We also want to keep in mind RCIA 482. “[T]he candidate, according to his or her own conscience, should make a confession of sins….”