Here at TeamRCIA, we spend a lot of time talking about the inadequacy adapting the catechumenate into a school model. Using a classroom paradigm is so common in parishes that many RCIA teams think it is the norm. However, if you read the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults carefully, you will … [Read more...]
How the RCIA will renew our parishes after the pandemic
The renewal of the catechumenate is key to the renewal of our parishes. That was one of the points made in a recently released Vatican document, “The Pastoral Conversion of the Parish Community in the Service of the Evangelizing Mission of the Church” (Congregation for the Clergy, July 20, … [Read more...]
RCIA will never be the same again
Many of us who guide and form spiritual seekers are hoping for a return to normal as soon as the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. But normal probably won’t look like what we are used to. The effects of the pandemic have permanently ruptured “the way we’ve always done it.” For the most part, that is … [Read more...]
The Period of Evangelization and Precatechumenate — a time for getting messy
A light mist was falling as I waited to cross the intersection. Suddenly, out of the darkness, a tall man asked me for a handout. Then a look, or a word, or his own demons set him off, and he began to yell. The light changed, and I rushed past him to the other side. Looking back to see if he was … [Read more...]
RCIA requires big paradigm shifts, starting with these two
Previously, I wrote about the big paradigm shift caused by the Second Vatican Council. To understand the impact of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, we have to first of all realize the overall goal of the Second Vatican Council was to turn the pyramid upside down. Flowing from the … [Read more...]