"Let us pray - as the family of God who share in his life.

Father in heaven, creator of all, you ordered the earth to bring forth life and crowned its goodness by creating the family of man.   In history's moment when all was ready, you sent your Son to dwell in time, obedient to the laws of life in our world.  Teach us the sanctity of human love, shows us the value of family life, and help us to live in peace with all people, that we may share in your life forever.  (ICEL 1998)

The RCIA  offers a pathway for returners - in steps and stages, gradually introducing people to the person of Christ, through the community life, the Word broken and shared,  various forms of liturgy, and the outreach in service to the wider community.   (See RCIA Part II, chapters 4 and 5).  The important thing is that we are who we say we are, Body of Christ, and that we build relationships and walk with those who come as Christ, through being sensitive, friendly,  and welcoming as a parish community - giving the strong Gospel message, Yes, You Can Belong Here !  And also recognising the treasure they bring to us - Christ welcomed in the stranger.

One vital truth to remember in any process  - their conversion to Christ is based on their Baptism, already received, the effects of which they must develop.   At every step, we make mention of this fact -  and any ritual we engage in respects this too.   As with other candidates, and catechumens, we listen to their stories, we share ours, and help them to connect with God who is active in their lives.   Other rites may also be suited to their needs along the way - a Presentation of the Gospels, and the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer,  the Sacrament of Reconciliation - as signs of God's grace at work in their preparation for Confirmation and Eucharist.   

Last word?  Don't abandon them at any stage - listen, encourage, and reflect with them.   Help them to find themselves at home.   If you'd like any help with adapting RCIA for returners, please get in touch with the Network via the website.

• the liturgical year - the heart-beat of the catechumenate as  the life, death and resurrection of Christ unfolds, and each Sunday,  nourishes the journey in faith
• liturgical catechesis - using the lectionary and texts of the liturgy in planning for the themes of the catechetical sessions, beginning with a process of  shared lectio divina, followed by reflection on:
• Who is the Jesus we meet in this Gospel? 
• What are the themes of the Gospel that emerge (link to first Reading)? 
•  What is the church teaching linked to the Gospel/other readings? 
• What questions might you use with the catechumens and candidates? 
• What are the implications for living this out in our daily lives? 
• What form of prayer/song will we use to conclude our session with the catechetical group? 
• roles in the catechumenate - the whole community, Sponsor, Godparent,  bishop,  priest, deacon, catechist - and a variety of  other supplementary roles (faith friends, welcomers/hospitality, Readers)
• liturgies of the catechumenate period - Celebrations of the Word, Liturgy of the Word at Sunday Mass, Blessings, Anointings, Minor Exorcisms.

On Saturday last it was the turn of Hexham & Newcastle Diocese to host their Study Day.  A number of priests and catechists from across the Diocese took part.  Some were new to RCIA.  Table groups engaged in a process of liturgical catechesis, which was very profound and moving,  and uncovered a rich seam of Catholic doctrine to explore with catechumens.  The themes varied according to the make-up of the group and the parish context - centred round  'Jesus had a busy day' - moving from the synagogyue and community prayer and community life, to the home life,  the response to suffering, healing, personal prayer, the demons in our lives, our context in the modern world and our response as Catholic Christians.   Most groups planned to use one of the liturgies of the catechumenate period to close their catechetcial sessions. 

At this point, we explored what the liturgies of this period are, including  'minor exorcisms' - how did people feel about these?  Did they use them? Most were put off by the title 'exorcism' - but after reflection on the goal of catechesis 'to put people not only in touch but in intimacy and communion with Christ' and a look at the prayers offered in the Rite (RCIA90-93 A-M) which are about clearing away what stops us coming close to Christ,  people felt more confident, and were able to plan how they would introduce these.    

Generally, when used in the context of parish catechesis for Christian initiation, the word 'exorcism' is not in the sense of 'psychic' or 'occult' (although there may be people coming to the Church via RCIA who have dabbled in such things, who will specifically benefit from the one prayer than mentions these by name - choice RCIA 94 B).  It is more in the sense of awareness of the inner self, and the struggles we have with our own selfishness, and other 'debris' that gets in the way, impedes our journey and disables us from making good choices.  Have a look, and you will find these prayers are about healing, protection, building hope, allaying fears and hesitancy,  recognising the need for God's help with self-denial and re-orientation to Christ and His kingdom of freedom, justice, love and peace.

What is the purpose of the Rites in this period?   Why bother? 

It's pretty clear in the text:  In participating in the liturgies (not 'talking about' or 'telling about - like a commentator at the Royal Wedding) and experiencing the liturgy with all our senses, this helps us to enter into the mystery of God-with-us, an encounter, where God is inviting us to be 'family' and share in the divine life of Christ - and this changes us!  Participating in the liturgy seeks to ... 'implant the teachings they are receiving, to give instruction/experience in different ways of prayer, to immerse them in the signs and celebrations and seasons of the liturgy, which prepares them gradually to enter the worship assembly of the entire community'. (RCIA 82) 

All agreed - our journey of conversion with the catechumens (adapted for candidates) is centred on a vital and convincing encounter with Christ - it happened on this day - through the gathering together, the Liturgies, the Gospel broken and shared, the blessings (RCIA 95-97) &  anointing (RCIA 98-102).

What is your experience?

• Which of the Rites of the catechumenate period do you celebrate in your situation? 
• What stops you celebrating them?
• What are the strengths of the experience of celebrating these rites?

Action

If you would like to have a study event similar to the one described above, please get in touch with the Convenor - slides/process can be made available for diocesan, deanery or parish use.

you have chosen us to be members of your family, by your love you have created us to live in unity... you will lead us to your light, walk before us through the night, you will guide us on our journey, you will keep our vision bright.... You will hold us when we fall, give new strength to hear your call, you will never be beyond us for your love is all in all... You will nourish, you will lead, giving every gift we need, for your reign will be established from the smallest of all seeds.

The team began nervously, with the usual questions: how will we know what to say? What if we dont know 'the answers'?  They found the hymn reassuring - its God's work, trust God!   They know that everything they offer is in the context of the parish community of faithful people.  They have seven enquirers  who will begin with them next week - again, a real mix of people, all ages.  There are several parents from the school - their children made their first Holy Communion last term, and they were so touched by the journey they made with their children, that they now want to make that journey for themselves - a non-Catholic parent, an uncatechised baptised Catholic, a person with no faith background at all.  The team discussed how they could meet these people where they are - and what times are going to be  most suitable for them?  Is it a twilight session after school, or a session after Mass on Sunday with another catechist doing a liturgy of the Word/stories/games with the children  while the parents meet over coffee? This is going to be a time of listening and telling stories, responding to their initial questions, calming fears, exploring aspects of the faith, offering spiritual support, and introducing them more fully to the life of the community as they gather every Sunday.  During this time of evangelisation, the Rite says 'faithfully and constantly the living God is proclaimed and Jesus Christ whom he has sent for the salvation of all.'  How do we do this?  When someone comes to your house to get to know you, what do you do?

ACTION:

Have a formation session to refresh your own parish team and stir up new life and hope.

Put out an invitation for enquirers to 'come and see' and have an open session with a glass of wine to tell people about it.    Some will have been coming to Mass with their Catholic spouse for years, and have never been asked.  Others are new to the area.  Others are parents in the school.

One step at a time - do not worry about how it will go.  Pray, Trust and Go for it being as open and welcoming as you possibly can!

Action:

In our own lives, can we consider that question?  Maybe even ask it of a close friend  - Who do you say I am?  Perhaps this week we can set a few people free, unbind them from their lack of self-esteem or anxiety by simply recognising one another's need for affirmation and encouragement.  Perhaps tune in to other people a little more, especially those with whom you live or work, and take the opportunity to say 'I think you're doing a really great job' or 'thanks for listening to me - I really value  your friendship'  or 'It's good to have you around - you encourage me'.   Can we recognise the goodness of one another?  The Holy Spirit is echoing in the hearts and lives of all if we can but see it, and through us is ready to unbind and fill with 'the healing power of love'.

'All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him.  To him be glory for ever! Amen' (Romans 11:36)

My post-summerschool reflection is that we cannot separate out the threads of life in liturgy, or liturgy in life.  It is all an integrated web of relationships - God and us, and ourselves and one another.  We celebrate one in the other, and vice-versa. The encounter with God and one another in the  liturgy forms and shapes and feeds us, and like food, becomes part of who we are.  It literally gets into every fibre of our being, shaping what we believe and our response to life.   Whatever it is that happens in and through the liturgy is what keeps us going - and yes, it is beyond words!   

RCIA is often simply referred to as 'Journey in Faith' - and like any journey, it is something we are actively engaged in at every step.  It isn't a 'system' or 'education' or 'entertainment'.   Nor is it something we do alone - 'me and God'.  It's when we can find ourselves most aware of being held in a unity, addressing God together, in, through and with Christ.   We need to sing our songs and listen and respond to the Word, make gestures and soak in moments of silence - and this tunes us in afresh to who we are, and gives our lives its gospel shape.  On my own, I have limits, needs, longings - and recognise I cant 'do' life or liturgy on my own.   The journey of faith, for all of us, needs nourishing through company - and the Liturgy is the visible sign of our deepest reality - being made One in Christ, and receiving the life of Christ not for ourselves but for the world.     We had Marty Haughen with us for the week - we laughed a lot, and we sang many of his songs. 

'Let us build a house where love can dwell, and all can safely life.  A place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.  Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;  Here the love of Christ shall end division:  All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.'

In these lovely Summer weeks, where we seem to have more space than is usual in our busy, 7-day week lives, perhaps we can be increasingly hospitable in the Sunday Mass, and accompany our catechumens and candidates in a more reflective way of experiencing the Liturgy.    The Liturgy can only be the 'catechist' if we let it.  We need to encourage reflection - and to be reflective ourselves for a start!  In every Mass we are working in 'partnership' with:

• the liturgical and scriptural texts:  alive and active words that accomplish the actions they describe!
• the community itself - being together, and open to the power of the texts as the Word of life addressed to us!
• on this particular Sunday - for speech, listening, silence, encounter! to find ourselves surprised, breathless!
• in this space - our building, and the symbols we use - do they bear the weight of the mystery?
• thy mystery that is to be revealed today - full of hope and possibilities, new life.

Perhaps we can help enquirers, catechumens, candidates with a simple 5-minute reflection before Mass:

• How am I as I come to Mass today?  Who have been listening to this week?  What about the key things going on in the world?  What do I expect as I come to Mass today?

And then to tune in to all the different elements of the Mass - alternating between sound and silence, speech and song, movement and stillness, proclamation and reflection, word and action (Environment and Art in Catholic Worship 25) - the way liturgy is celebrated will itself carry the mystery - and this is how we 'pass on faith' to those who come.

• How does it feel to pray at this point in the Mass, how does it shape or influence my understanding and commitment to the Liturgy at this point?

At the end, we are sent out to 'glorify the Lord by your life' (new translation)

• What is your overriding feeling or thought at this point as you leave Mass?  What do you expect as you go?

If we can reflect on our experience of the Mass, and allow it to bubble away in us, we will somehow find it speaking into to life during the week - courage, peace, joy, comfort, challenge.     In the words of the late Cardinal Joseph Bernadin (Chicago):

The commitment I envision must be in our Catholic bones:  the need to assemble each Sunday, to make common prayer, to hear the scriptures and reflect, to gather at the holy table and give God thanks and praise over the bread and wine which are for us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and finally to go from that room to our separate worlds - but now carrying the tune we have heard, murmuring the words we have made ours, nourished by the sacred banquet, ready in so many ways to make all God's creation and all the work of human hands into the kingdom we have glimpsed in the Liturgy.'

One step at a time, imperfect, wounded as we are, encouraged by other wounded healers - after all Christ seems to say that we enter into the kingdom now by doing little daily things with love .   And I would agree - 'it is not in craving after ready-made, complete and finished things that love finds its meaning - but in the urge to participate in the becoming of such things' (Bauman, Liquid Love: On the Frailty of Human Bonds).  These Summer weeks of the community life and our Sunday Liturgy really are a very blessed time in the Journey of Faith.

God with us in every day relationships

How was it for you? Easter? Pentecost? Trinity Sunday?

Walking alongside our elect, we have trod the lenten path in preparation for sacraments of initiation at Easter. We have rejoiced with them in the Easter Vigil, and have lived and shared our faith with our new Catholic members throughout the 50-days of the Resurrection of the Lord. We havecontinued with joy through Pentecost, and yesterday, with the feast of the Most Holy Trinity we again gathered together as a parish community, Body of Christ, to know, celebrate and experience how much God loves us. I was very struck by the Opening Prayer yesterday - in the current 1973 Missal translation: '

Father, you sent your Word to bring us truth and your Spirit to make us holy. Through them we come to know the mystery of your life. Help us to worship you, one God in three Persons, by proclaiming and living our faith in you.

The 1998 Icel text, also in our current missals as an alternative opening prayer reads:

God, we praise you. Father all-powerful, Christ Lord and Saviour, Spirit of love. You reveal yourself in the depths of our being, drawing us to share in your life and your love. One God, three Persons, be near to the people formed in your image, close to the world your love brings to life.

In the first Reading God proclaims Godself to be 'a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness.' In the second reading we are exorted to 'try to grow perfect, help one another, be united, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.' In the Gospel 'God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.'

If we are praying these texts, opening our hearts and lives, they will have an impact - they will renew us and shape us, and be the lens through which we see the world and respond to people and events in the ordinary every-day of life. Every moment, bidden or unbidden, God is with us, revealing Godself in the depths of our being, drawing us to share in the Divine Life and Love. Wow! It's all a mind-blowing mystery. We are made new! We dont have to react in the same old way when the wrong buttons are pushed. We can see things differently, we can take the long view. Summer is a great time to allow this renewal to get into our bones - like vitamin D from sunshine, we need it. In quietly reflecting on our experience of the liturgy - what did I hear? What did I see? What did I sense? What did I touch? - we will find ourselves living it! Yes, the Lord is with you! The words and actions of the liturgy reflecting our relationship and sharing in the life of God, are echoed in the actions and words of daily events, daily encounters with others. As St Benedict use to say when he encoutered an old friend 'It is Easter indeed!'

Action?

Tune in and be consciously aware more often during the day - to the Word and the Spirit at work in YOU, achieving so much more than you can ask or imagine!

Look out and see just how close God is to the world his love brings to life.

In your journeys to and fro, God direct you. In your happiness and pleasure, God bless you. In care, anxiety, or trouble, God sustain you. In peril and in danger, God protect you. (Archbishop Timothy Olufsen, 1918-1992, Nigeria)

Let's look at formation offered in the parish -

Children for first sacraments, baptism preparation with new parents, confirmation candidates,  marriage preparation, welcome of returners and so on.  How are these informed by the vision of RCIA?  Where sacramental preparation is concerned, what are we saying through what we offer?  Are Sacraments divine gifts, celebrating the human and divine relationship, to be  prepared for, received and opened to, gradually over a life time, or are they the end-of-programme certificates of knowledge, passports to a Catholic school or a wedding in a pretty church? 

RCIA gives the parish an incarnational model that involves the whole person, body, mind, heart and spirit - 

with invitation and welcome (Come and See where we live), gradual pathway into community life  (see how they love one another) , encounter  with God (I am with you always) through the Word and  the experience of Liturgy, prayer, and reflection on scripture and tradition, outward-looking concern for others, and steps marked by liturgical rites, and blessings to strengthen the whole community on the journey of deepening conversion.

I was invited by a priest colleague recently to give a day for engaged couples, as part of their preparation for the sacrament of marriage.  In this one parish, 12 couples have applied to get married this year.  So far the marriage preparation has involved: (1) individual meetings of the couples with the priest to discern where they are and what they are asking for (2) invitation to weekly Family Mass on Sundays to celebrate with and meet the community (2) a rite of welcome that took place during

T & C vows

a Sunday Mass, asking the community to pray for  all the couples (3) marriage preparation sessions given by a married couple covering all aspects of 'Catholics and marriage' - opening with 'beginner's guide to lectio on the Word, and finishing with special prayers of blessing for them (4) members of the community involved in preparing for the wedding itself (5) follow-up sessions to share wedding stories, and offer ongoing support.  Not a bad RCIA model!

What is your experience of RCIA as model for other areas of catechesis?

Let's recap Sunday's Gospel for a moment: Mary, at stage one of her betrothal to Joseph, is pregnant, and he is not the father.  He loves her and sees the solution, in obedience to the Law, as a quiet divorce, avoiding shaming Mary by a public scene.  Having made up his mind, he goes to bed.  In a dream that night an angel comes to him saying 'Do not be afraid to take Mary to your home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus'.  Joseph affirms Mary's 'Yes' with his own courageous response, completing his betrothal by taking Mary to his home as his wife, offering her and the child Jesus security, love and protection.

• What major decisions have you faced in your life?  How did you make up your mind?
• Have you ever said 'Yes' to a different course of action from the one you had planned?  
• Do you believe that God is with you, now, today, whatever your circumstances?

I'm told that Joseph is the patron saint of anyone who has to change and adapt their lives because of someone else's needs.  Perhaps this week, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, we can reflect on Joseph, and thank God for all those people 'off stage'  in our own lives who have  said 'yes' for our sake, and nourished, guided, encouraged and enabled us to live out our calling.  Parents, grandparents, friends....? 

The real-life drama of the last few weeks in San Jose mine, and the Word of God in sacred scripture intermingled. I wondered what sort of witness to my faith do I both give and receive in the parish community, particularly in our accompaniment of  enquirers and catechumens?  Is it obvious that we are trying to live what we know to be true, tuning in to the Spirit listening in us, teaching us?  Perhaps it is in our darkest times that we recognise our need of rescue - and find that there are life-forces at work unknown to worldly authorities.   It could have turned very nasty down there in the dark ruins of the mine - but  it seems that other deeper truths were drawn on and sustained them - discipleship seems to function at a level where power does not exist..

This week?   Will Christ find evidence of real, living faith in me?  Can I open my eyes and ears and heart and notice the sacred encounters  the continuing, ongoing, dynamic, saving, healing presence of Christ among us, whether I am  in darkness or light,  creating that life-giving environment?   I think Christ will, Christ does find faith on earth!  Do you?