QHow do I lead an ongoing catechumenate in a campus ministry setting when we only have the catechumens from September to April? ASome of the general adaptations you’ll need to make for RCIA in a campus ministry setting depends a bit on the type of campus you’ll be working at. Is it a commuter campus […]
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
How do you train sponsors for the RCIA?
In your RCIA process, do your catechumens and baptized candidates know the difference between Eucharist and communion? In 2008, Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Center 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
Eucharist and communion—what’s the difference?
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: ((Since the church’s life is apostolic, catechumens should also learn how to work actively with others to spread the
How to catechize about apostolic mission in the RCIA
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
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
Is my pastor right about dismissal?
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
Are your catechumens ready for the next stage?
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
Can you take RCIA classes online?
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
Where to find RCIA retreat material
Benedict XVI released his letter, “Saved by Hope,” 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.
Teach the catechumens about Advent hope
