A Star to Follow
One thing that I have found irritating this year is when other Christians, once Christmas day has passed, wish me a 'Happy New Year omitting the 'Happy Christmas'. The child in me wants Christmas to last for ever; the christian in me knows it is a season packed with liturgical delight, from the Vigil mass right through to the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. That is why the RCIA process is so invigorating, because time and time again we are privileged to witness others experiencing the same liturgical delights.
Christmas Crib
I would like to share some ideas for using the nativity scene.
The story of the wise men is one of gentiles coming to pay homage to the infant king of the Jews; of hope: being driven to make a journey, following a great light in darkness; of trust: in the signs, of following a the night stars; of love: for a tiny baby whom they worshipped as the Christ child.
It is about gifts, eye-opening gifts of great wealth, a time for the catechumens to examine the gifts they are given, the gifts they offer to others, for part of the catechumenate is to 'learn how to work actively with others to spread the Gospel, and build up the Church by the witness of their lives and by professing their faith.'( # 75.4). This is also a time for catechists to reflect on their gifts.
- The Feast of the Holy Family (28th December) reminds us that holiness is found in the ordinariness of our everyday life, at home, in the family, in our parish community. Whether single, widowed, elderly, with or without children, the hope is that all experience the support of others in the community. Have a few of the faithful invite the catechumens with their family or friends, to see the nativity scene and to experience the hospitality from the RCIA group. At a time when people have long Christmas breaks, a late afternoon visit followed by mulled wine and a mince pie go a long way to breaking down barriers and the tensions, that can exist when a family member is taking the step in considering becoming a catholic.
- For the Epiphany, have a procession to add the Magi to the crib. Some (it doesn't have to be three) catechumens could carry a figure through the church to add to the crib. Or stress the manifestation of Our Lord to the whole world by inviting those from other cultures to process a figure.
- Focus on the crib as a catechetical activity. Explain it's origins, how St Francis of Assisi brought the idea of a live Nativity scene to his local church, and how it stresses the poor and lowly beginnings, the humility of Jesus being born as a child.
- Spend some time around the nativity scene and let people share their stories. With the secular world outside the church doors it can be quite soothing to get away from the bustle of planning social gatherings, and to think a little deeper about Christmastime in the catholic church. Reflect on the scene, the stories behind the figures, Joseph the Husband, Mary the mother, the baby Jesus.
- If you practice Dismissal, here is one time when you might like to issue an open invitation to the assembly to join the session at the end of Mass, and perhaps move it to the location of the crib, and give the catechumens opportunity to meet families and other groups of Christians (# 38)
The above can apply to those engaged in any period of the RCIA, from inquirers through to mystagogy. I particularly thought of the following sections: #4, #9. #38, #78, #244-6 (RCIA, 1988, USA study edition)
Rejoice! The Lord is with you!
On Christmas eve, at our Vigil Mass, Sean will be received into full communion with the Catholic Church. It’s been a long journey – around 20 years, married to a Catholic, and parenting 4 Catholic children, and the time seems right. Sean has been part of a Catholic parish community for all this time, learning how Catholics pray, how they worship together, how they live out faith in daily life, and have a care for those on the margins. He’s been part of all this! After 18 months of more formal ‘enquiry’, and some instruction on various aspects of the Catholic faith that he needed to know about, Sean and the community felt that Christmas Eve would be perfect – and so in these last days of Advent, he is especially in our hearts, as with Paul we pray ‘Glory to him who is able to give you the strength to live according to the Good News’. Sean wondered if he ‘knew’ enough, and then he realised that he could never know enough! There would always be more – and it would be in the realm of experience that he would grow, surrounded by the love and support of family and community, his relationship with Christ would develop. We, the community, have been encouraging him through lectio with the Sunday Gospels – and like Mary, some of what has been heard has been deeply disturbing….challenging… That God is with us! Do we believe it? Is it true? This is our story! As James Hanvey said in the Tablet (29.11.08) We are not dying! We are not declining! We are being made ready! We are learning anew who we are, and the mystery of what we carry within us! Sean is helping us to do this!
‘A secular world can describe us… if it chooses. It may seek to dismiss us… but it does not write our story! It can’t judge the life of the Spirit or the work that God is doing in His people!
James Hanvey, Tablet, 29.11.08
In the fulfilment of Sean’s initiation , the Holy Spirit overshadows, and in the fullness of time this Christmas Eve, as we celebrate the great solemnity of the Incarnation, the world stands still, as Sean’s past, present and future are brought together, and Christ is born anew in another of God’s holy ones, ‘You are my Son, this day have I begotten you’. – Sean’s quiet and humble response and our prayer too, ‘ Let what you have said be done in me’.
Let’s pray with joy and hope for one another as God’s glory breaks on the world time and time and time again! Very happy Christmas to all bloggers and readers!
People in darkness…
It was odd coming back from Evening Prayer tonight... for the first time I noticed that there weren't so many lights on the outsides of houses this year. No enormous blow-up snowmen or Santas climbing walls - and just a few flashing icicles and snowflakes – and, bizarrely, one Father Christmas on a penny-farthing! (Obviously a new tradition in the making there!)
It's as if the financial gloom is being translated into a literal gloom with fewer lights to brighten dull winter nights. Perhaps it speaks too of an inner gloom besetting the minds and hearts of people as the fears of unemployment and loss of income take hold. Faced with massive uncertainty, people seem to become stuck in wintriness and losing faith that things will get better – and it is true that the light on the horizon is very faint for many people at present.
But as we approach the darkness of the longest night, we know (somewhere very deep down) that the nights will begin to draw out and light will prove stronger than the darkness. As we approach the feast of Christmas – with its timing at the darkest part of the year – we may be lighting the third and fourth candles of Advent wreaths and seeing the increase in light reminding us of this. On the other hand, Advent candles are gradually burning down – and the chocolates in the Advent calendars running out!
We are also coming up to the pre-Christmas Octave and the time of the O Antiphons – the antiphons that open the praying of the Magnificat at Evening Prayer in the days leading up to Christmas. These are a rich source of images and thoughts for prayer – for the dark time of year and the chill of economic troubles – drawn as they are from a heritage of faith of people who lived through their own dark times – of slavery – of Exile – of longing for a shoot of hope from long-dead tree.
Even if time does not permit the praying of the whole of the Evening Prayer of the Church, it could be worth finding the antiphon for each day (see below) and praying it – and the Magnificat – and praying that the prophecies and promises of God intervening in the world will be fulfilled. We can explore the Divine Office and its role in the prayer life of the whole Church – and then unpack the meaning of the Antiphons a little with our catechumens and candidates.
The opening words of the Antiphons form titles of Christ – and the links between the dates and the titles are as follows
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17 December - O Wisdom
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18 December - O Adonai (an ancient name of God)
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19 December - O stock of Jesse
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20 December - O key of David
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21 December - O Rising Sun
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22 December - O King...
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23 December - O Immanuel...
And, as a thought for Christmas Eve, we could add, though not a title of Christ, an acknowledgement of the woman who made it possible with
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24 December - Blessed is she...
There is a variety of places to find the O Antiphons – in the Office books for starters but also online – at http://www.universalis.com/ for example. A daily reflection on them with a Scripture reading and questions can be found from http://www.wellsprings.org.uk/o_antiphons/index.htm
As people become – like those in the time of Isaiah – people who walk in darkness, we can point them to the promise of Light… to the One whose titles span the centuries – the One who is Emmanuel, God in it with us.
Advent – and 1 year on
So Walking the Rite Way has clocked up its first year. Thanks to all the writers who have shared their thoughts and ideas over the last year. It has been inspiring and thought provoking.
Thanks also to everyone who has passed by, and returned, to read the weekly offerings. We average about 150 visits a week. I hope you find it useful and stimulating.
We always looking for new contributors — if you are a Network member and interested send me an email.
As well as looking for more writers we would also welcome your thoughts and comments to each week's entry. Just click on 'comment' below. For your first comment I need to ratify you are not selling insurance or offering spam; after that it will recognise your email address. Join in and share!
To begin an invitation to share either of Advent scripture that inspires you in the context of RCIA or a thought or experience that is connected into the season.
I was struck by the passage from Isaiah 30 that is read on Saturday in week 1 of Advent. I am not sure I had come across it before but it seemed to intertwine many of Isaiah's images of the God who redeems his people, who is hope. Hope seems to me be at the heart of Advent and the process of Initiation:
He will send rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the bread that the ground provides will be rich and nourishing… on the day the Lord dresses the wounds of his people and heals the bruises his blows have left.
Be Alert
BE ALERT
I love the Church’s new year – In this year of Mark the season of Advent begins with the imperative to ‘Be on your guard’, ‘Stay awake’, ‘Be alert’ ‘Don’t be caught asleep’. There is a great urgency in the language, there is no time for sitting back and taking ones time, considering all the options and then coming to a reasonable decision. Now is the time for action.
Wow! It sounds like the Governments response to the Credit Crunch. The difference being that our Government’s urgency is based on the belief that we are all consumers and that our whole economic viability depends on us becoming successful consumers. We kind of sleepwalked into the Credit Crunch by being encouraged to live way beyond our means. Now we are encouraged to become more alert consumers, spending with a purpose to kick start the economy. A pragmatic solution designed to bring about a brighter economic future.
Surely the Advent directives don’t belong to the same pragmatic camp. They certainly challenge us to:
BE ALERT
STAY AWAKE
BE ON OUR GUARD
To what purpose?
Getting ready for Christmas! Granted not the consumer Christmas symbolized by Santa, who year by year has a go at elbowing the infant child out of the crib, but for the celebration of the amazing truth that ‘God loved us so much that he sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent his Spirit into our hearts, crying “Abba Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.’ (Galatians 4:4-7) The great truth is that we already are the children of God, we already have the Spirit of God deep within us, enabling us to address God as “Abba! Father!” We are already heirs – the problem is that we sometimes miss this reality and live as if these great truths weren’t true.
Advent is a time not so much of preparing for Christmas but of longing. A deep longing that we might become what we already are – children of God. Those of us who were fortunate enough to hear the vision of Dr Martin Luther King whose dream of a future where children of different religions and different colour would walk hand in hand had our imaginations captured. We knew that when he spoke of climbing the mountain and looking into the valley and seeing the future – he was speaking of the present and calling on his community and society to change. It was an Advent speech inviting all to be alert, to stay awake and not to be found asleep – the future calling to action in the present.
The prayers used in the celebration of the Rite of Welcome or the Order of the Catechumenate are profoundly Advent prayers:- particularly the signing of the senses where past present and future come together in a great embrace.
“Receive the sign of the cross on your ears,
that you may hear the voice of the Lord.”
“Receive the sign of the cross on your lips.
That you may respond to the word of God” etc etc
Each prayer is an invitation to Be Alert, Be Awake, Be on your Guard. Be Advent people – don’t miss the moment.