A Flavour of a Northern Network Day
Last Saturday saw the first of the R.C.I.A. Northern Network “Journey in Faith” days that I ‘blogged about’ in September. Amongst the fifty five who gathered were ‘new teams, experienced but tired catechists, parishioners who have often wondered just what it’s all about’ and a genuine Enquirer who had telephoned the office some days earlier. He had seen the poster and ‘wondered what it was all about’. We explained the purpose of the day and that although he had not yet officially taken the step of contacting a local parish regarding his growing desire to ‘become a Catholic’ he would be made welcome if he chose to come along: and he did!
He admitted later that when he first entered he had ‘cold feet’ and wanted to run away, but he came and introduced himself instead and I was able to introduce him in turn to someone I knew would be a very good ‘accompanier’ through the morning session. Nikki is in the second year of a Foundation Degree in Pastoral leadership at Hope University and is currently reflecting on the RCIA for her course so this opportunity for ‘hands-on’ experience was valuable for her too. I knew I’d made the right decision when at lunch time he came to me again and asked me how he could go about taking this forward: he had thoroughly enjoyed the morning and knew he wanted to further explore living as a Catholic Christian. I introduced him to the co-ordinator of the parish RCIA team which meets just five minutes away from his home and she accompanied him through the afternoon.
What were the main ingredients of the day that were so much appreciated in the final evaluation forms? Well we shouldn’t be surprised that in fact, they all flowed from the vision of the RCIA itself:
“warmth, we were made welcome, a variety of voices giving input, lovely spiritual atmosphere, good teaching and sharing, enlightening and encouraging, breaking and sharing the Word, friendliness and openness of people sharing, scripture study in a small group, excellent music ….”.[1]
Also greatly appreciated were the two real life story tellers who came to the day. The first told his story of his family’s journey from non-practising Anglicanism to becoming enquirers and spoke movingly of ‘the threshold’ of belonging and the freedom to choose. In the afternoon a Neophyte (he loved his new name!) described how full membership resulted in him knowing that he wanted to ‘give something in return’ and his involvement in the RCIA group in a new way. Both these ‘very brave witnesses who spoke on their journeys’[2] added a deeper dynamic to the experience of the day and kept it ‘real’.
A mixture of experience and freshness, of accompaniers and accompanied permeated the day and the inclusion of parts of the Rites themselves: in the signing of the cross during morning prayer and the dismissal … to lunch (!) brought alive the ability of the Rites to speak to our experience.
There was some serious conversation in plenary about people not wanting to be seen ‘upfront’ and therefore not celebrating Acceptance/Welcome rites except within the RCIA group, but these were countered by others who shared what it meant for them to receive the welcome which followed such a celebration.
Without doubt though what stays with me is the very rich sharing of the Gospel for the 32nd Sunday in ordinary Time Year B. The images, words/ phrases and questions posed by people as it was broken open in the large group stretched and challenged my reception of it and I am left with the images of three faces discerned within the story itself: the smug, the humble and the watching face of Jesus.
Did we achieve what we hoped for? I think we did :
It is an introduction for anyone new to RCIA or for parishes wishing to refresh their team. An opportunity to glimpse a vision of the richness the RCIA journey offers, not only to new comers to the faith, but to the whole parish community. All are Welcome!”
The programme for the day was arrived at through inter-diocesan collaboration and was delivered through local collaboration: Amen to collaboration! May Middlesbrough, Hexham & Newcastle, Leeds and Hallam all experience similarly encouraging days.
[1] From the evaluation forms completed on 7.11.09
[2] Evaluation forms
What’s happened to RCIA?
Coming back to the desk at the beginning of September is always a mixture of dread and excitement for me: excitement at all the possibilities that beckon and the opportunities for implementing the planning which took up so much time before the break but also dread at the thought of the amount of post and e-mails waiting and that sense of yet another year starting! Last September, following the last RCIA Network Conference, a group of us with a passion for RCIA in dioceses across the North of England, agreed to meet together to see whether we could address a shared feeling of ‘What’s happened to the RCIA?’. There was a general feeling that where good practice had been evident in many areas this was less so now. Fewer people seem to be in touch with the vision and whilst people are still being welcomed into the Church in Easter initiation ceremonies, the journeys they are invited to make towards these are hugely diverse. If we imagine the RCIA as a person and were to ask “Who do you say I am?” would we be prepared for the responses? And so, this group of northern RCIA practitioners decided to pool our resources, work together and have a go at enthusing a new generation with the vision and scope of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.
We’ve agreed to offer a day which is visionary and introductory and is for everyone: new teams, experienced but tired catechists, parishioners who have often wondered just what it’s all about. We’re determined to keep it grounded in the ordinariness of human experience – inviting people to tell their stories and witness to “spiritual journeys that vary according to the many forms of God’s grace.” [RCIA 5] We want it to be rooted in experience with a living Word of God that somehow conveys the passion of 1 John 1:
“Something which has existed since the beginning that we have heard, and we have seen with our own eyes; that we have watched and touched with our hands: the Word who is life - this is our subject.”
We asked ourselves questions such as: How do we convey the passion and enthusiasm? How do we do it? How simply can we do this? We identified a large target audience: people with responsibility for RCIA whom we want to be able to see that Yes – we can do this, it is possible; and also those with little or no experience but who’ve heard something! And in working our way through the questions we allowed ourselves the luxury of prayerful, gentle reflection time together during which we broke open the scripture of the day and learned from such figures as Lydia.[Acts 16:11 – 15]
The result is a one-day road show under the banner: R.C.I.A Northern Network called Journey in Faith: Exploring RCIA (The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). The poster states that:
It is an introduction for anyone new to RCIA or for parishes wishing to refresh their team. An opportunity to glimpse a vision of the richness the RCIA journey offers, not only to new comers to the faith, but to the whole parish community. All are Welcome!
We plan four venues between now and May, 2010 with local teams fronting the road show and support from other members of the planning group as required. The first will be in the Archdiocese of Liverpool in November, closely followed by Middlesbrough then Hexham and Newcastle, Hallam and Leeds. It’s an exciting initiative, not least because it is a genuine effort to take seriously the call to work collaboratively across dioceses:
Collaborative ministry begins from a fundamental desire to work together because we are called by the Lord to be a company of disciples, not isolated individuals. [The Sign We Give 1995]
The Power of Three
Solemnities abound at this time in the Liturgical Calendar: Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi and we can have a feeling of there being too much of a good thing! And so for the week in which we celebrate The Most Holy Trinity I offer a trinity of mini-reflections and accompanying images. May they bring blessing in some guise or other.
Firstly, the lectionary readings for the Solemnity.
The final part of the Deuteronomy reading is a gift for those newly initiated intent on ‘deepening their grasp of the paschal mystery and making it part of their lives’ [RCIA paragraph 244] as disciples rather than neophytes:
“So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Keep his statutes and his commandments which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendents after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.” [Deuteronomy 4: 39-40]
But then, very much in the mystagogical spirit of ensuring that the whole community be inspired and renewed by their experience of the sacraments [RCIA paragraph 246], we find within the gospel another gift: a reminder of the real purpose of all our membership and ministry:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. [Matthew 28: 19]
Truly – the power of three!
Secondly, an extract from a current ‘best seller’.
Mack is the main character in The Shack [Wm Paul Young 2007, Hodder & Stoughton] and is beset by what becomes known as ‘The Great Sadness’ when his much loved daughter is abducted from their holiday tent and presumed murdered. He is called, supposedly by God, to make a journey to the shack believed to be the site of her murder. On arrival he encounters ‘the Trinity’:
“Thoughts tumbled over each other as Mack struggled to figure out what to do. Was one of these people God? What if they were hallucinations or angels, or God was coming later? That could be embarrassing. Since there were three of them, maybe this was a Trinity sort of thing. But two women and a man and none of them white? He knew his mind was rambling so he focused on the one question he most wanted answered.
“Then,” Mack struggled to ask, “which one of you is God?”
“I am” said all three in unison. Mack looked from one to the next, and even though he couldn’t begin to grasp what he was seeing and hearing, he somehow believed them. “
Through his encounter with these three beings, Mack’s life is transformed and his relationships broadened, deepened and renewed.
A very different power of three!
And finally, for RCIA team members.
A diocese in the North of England is planning an evening offered in four venues during the early summer. Called Reflect, Refresh, Renew they are offering a chance to engage in this trinity of catechetical activities. Each separate component represents an important dynamic in the life of catechists and RCIA teams. Developing as reflective practitioners will ensure their ministry remains grounded in the reality of their particular context and the needs of their enquirers and catechumens. Ongoing ministry over a number of months, and often years, becomes stale and lifeless without times of refreshment and inspiration. To renew implies review: openness to an honest appraisal of how things have gone, and whether the aims and processes articulated at the beginning of the journey have been met. This then enables a renewal of the vision and fresh heart for the journey. Put the three separate components together however and what is on offer has the potential to be much more powerful than the individual components: a different energy, a more complete process.
Indeed – a very different power of three!
"A Day in the life ..."
The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B
Last week’s gospel and the gospel for Sunday 8 February are two halves of a whole: a Sabbath day in the life of Jesus of Nazareth which begins in the synagogue, moves to a domestic setting and ends with a restless, sleepless night prompting a search for a place to be alone in prayer. When the disciples find Jesus again they find a man resolute and clear about the mission assigned to him. Verses 29 – 39 of this first chapter of Mark’s Good News can be very easily looked at in three sections or movements and there are many different ‘ways in’ that could be used. Here’s just one of them.
In the first section we meet Jesus immediately after synagogue where he has astonished and amazed people with his power and authority. It is a lovely contrast that he now goes to a family context: an ordinary domestic scene in the house of Simon and Andrew – perhaps hoping for the equivalent of our Sunday brunch or lunch. Whatever, it is certainly a family context and we can imagine the consternation when it’s discovered that the mother-in law is ill! Jesus’ treatment of her is told with a gentle tenderness by Mark and normal service is quickly resumed.
The next section is a natural extension of a family scene, in which, renewed and refreshed, the doors of hospitality are opened wide to the neighbours, the locals, ‘the whole town’.
Healthy, loving family relationships naturally prompt an open-hearted and compassionate generosity that needs to be shared. Once again we see Jesus in demand: his reputation spreading rapidly.
But the night time brings a restless urge to be alone and in touch, through prayer, with the essential mission of preaching the Good News beyond the boundaries of local expectations. It ends with Jesus and his companions moving on to ‘elsewhere’.
Sunday 8 February is at the start of National Marriage Week and perhaps it would be a good opportunity to explore the importance of marriage and family life from the perspective of today’s gospel. The holiness of everyday, loving marital and family relationships is one which our bishops are eager to promote and excellent resources for doing this are available through the Home is a Holy Place web site: homeisaholyplace.org.uk
In a DVD produced to accompany the resource pack which is available to all parishes throughout England & Wales, one of the sections suggests that home is a holy place because God’s presence graces all creation and shows families making it better for each other in countless different ways: from sticking on a plaster when someone falls and grazes a leg to staying up all night because a child or elderly parent has a fever. This is precisely the image we’re given by Mark in the first section of today’s gospel: a home in which the health of every member matters and in which Jesus’ natural action when faced with illness was ‘he took her by the hand and helped her up’. Let’s encourage one another to give thanks for healthy, committed loving relationships that ground us in our sense of identity and belonging and provide the foundations from which we can set out on the road of our own mission in life – whatever that may be. Let’s also remember all who struggle with such commitment, all who have been damaged by broken relationships and all who work with them to promote healing and wholeness. In whatever way we can, lets’ take time to celebrate marriage and family life this week.
Advent Awakening
As we move into the Year of Mark with the dawn of the First Sunday of Advent upon us we are challenged in the short gospel to really go against the grain! I don't know about you, but with dark nights that begin ever earlier and dark mornings that last ever longer, I really want to spend more time sleeping and dosing my way towards the shortest day. But the gospel and the season we are about to enter are very definitely about ‘awakening' and ‘staying awake'. It's perhaps a good time to encourage those we are accompanying to take stock of their journey of awakening to God and God's call in their lives and perhaps to discern their readiness to celebrate the Rite of Welcome or the Rite of Acceptance. At the same time it's worth asking whether the parish community is ready too and to consider the best ways of celebrating so that candidates and catechumens become the focus for all to experience the power these rites can have when celebrated well.
I used to only consider a combined rite celebration when dealing with both baptised and un-baptised enquirers and worked hard to differentiate the different elements of both rites so that all involved could appreciate what was happening. But it often failed to impact on the parishioners in the pews who seemed a bit confused and nonplussed and now I'm not so sure that combining these two rites is the best way forward. If we're working hard to make explicit the importance of the whole parish community in our enquirers' journeys, then these two key moments along the way are wonderful opportunities to move that forward. Rather than using a combined rite at one Sunday Mass, if you have both baptised and un-baptised enquirers ready to make that first witness within the parish community then why not celebrate ‘Welcome' during one Sunday Mass and ‘Acceptance' at another Sunday Mass a couple of weeks later, and maybe at a different time (Saturday evening Vigil perhaps). This will enable the parish community to see clearly that there are differences but more importantly, to have the opportunity of welcoming on a more personal and individual level. It will also encourage a more discerning spirit within the RCIA group as it decides who might be ready for these end of first stage rites. Finally, it can help to prevent that programmed sense of "We'll celebrate Welcome and Acceptance' next week because it's Advent and that's when we always do it!"
This First Sunday's readings also provide us with a rich array of images of the God who calls us and working with these would provide a lovely reflective session as part of the discernment process. How and where in our awakening to God might we have encountered God as:
Father, Redeemer, Ancient One, Guide, Melter of Mountains, the Presence, God as Face Hider, Creator, Potter, Shepherd, Planter and Protector of vines, Life Giver?
Not to mention 'the unexpected owner of the house who looks for a wide awake welcome'!
The Joy of RCIA Labours
The Joy of RCIA Labours
Recently I had the pleasure of visiting an ongoing, parish RCIA group which had just taken its summer break and was coming together once more with the expectation of welcoming two brand new enquirers. It’s quite a while since I was directly involved with a ‘live’ parish RCIA group and I had forgotten the sheer joy a good group can generate: the power of its relationships; the adrenalin rush as new people take those first tentative steps of formal enquiry; the exuberance of newly received Catholics; and the wonder at the diversity of gifts active within a community.
After a warm welcome and a gentle round of introductions, the leader for the night invited two new Catholics to share highlights from their own, very recent journey …
And the words just tumbled out, with an evangelising force that I have rarely experienced before. The two new Catholics were very different: but both mesmerising. I watched the reactions of the new enquirers and they were both inspired and affirmed as some of their own questions and hesitancies were named and the strong support of this community was applauded. These two ‘latest arrivals in the vineyard’ witnessed to a radical conversion centred on the Rite of Election and the unfolding story of the Holy Week. The younger of the two, spoke of her fear that next year’s experience of Easter would somehow disappoint and openly rejoiced in the difference this journey and made and was making to her life and the life of her young family. Throughout this testimony, the other parish accompaniers who share responsibility for the group, listened attentively, nodded in recognition and smiled proudly.
On Sunday we were invited to celebrate Home Mission Sunday and to consider our call to evangelise ‘at home’, on our own doorstep and in our own communities. The gospel parable of the labourers in the vineyard reveals a God who sees things differently to us: who is not concerned with the economics of labour, or market forces; but with the scandal of gifts and talents not being used. A God who has not time for idleness and who rewards all efforts with unbounded generosity.
My visit to this lovely, local group reminded me of the importance of the ministry of the newly received especially in the context of peer evangelisation. It prompted me to give thanks for the work of so many parish RCIA groups up and down our countries and for the contribution they make to the mission of the church ‘at home’.
“The eyes of faith behold a wonderful scene: that of a countless number of lay people, both women and men, busy at work in their daily life and activity, oftentimes far from view and quite unacclaimed by the world, unknown to the world's great personages but nonetheless looked upon in love by the Father, untiring labourers who work in the Lord's vineyard. Confident and steadfast through the power of God's grace, these are the humble yet great builders of the Kingdom of God in history.”
CHRISTIFIDELES LAICI Pope John Paul II1988
Social Justice and RCIA
Dear RCIA practitioner,
RCIA Research Project on behalf of CAFOD
![The CAFOD-funded National Federation of Fishworkers organises fishermen to defend their rights [Nithila Mariampillai/HUDEC]](http://www.cafod.org.uk/var/storage/images/media_folder/cafod/images/international_images/asia/sri_lanka/fisherman_throwing_net/2862-2-eng-GB/fisherman_throwing_net_1column50_12space_landscape.jpg)
I have been commissioned by CAFOD to undertake research amongst RCIA practitioners: especially diocesan co-ordinators, catechists and clergy; but also some new Catholics with recent experience of the RCIA journey.
The aims of the research are:
- To determine whether or not there is a need to integrate CAFOD and CAFOD’S approach to global social justice into RCIA programmes
- To discern the most effective ways of achieving such integration
- To identify training needs and opportunities.
The research will be conducted across three strands: initial questionnaire, informal conversations during the RCIA National Network conference in July, and recorded interviews with a range of respondents. A final report with recommendations about future resourcing for RCIA will be presented to CAFOD at the end of September.
I would be grateful if you would agree to take part in the first strand of this project and I attach a copy of the questionnaire. Please complete it as fully as possible and return it by Friday 27 June. Please feel free to invite other colleagues involved in RCIA at local level and/or some recent new Catholics to complete a questionnaire too. All responses will be treated as confidential and any evidence cited in the final report will be de-personalised. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me, either by e-mail: research@christianfs.info or see Christian Formation Services website..
With sincere thanks in anticipation of your co-operation, and with very best wishes,
Veronica Murphy
Everything is Waiting For You
It’s a beautiful spring morning as I sit to write: the kind we’ve been longing for and which is much more Easter than most of the preceding twenty eight. Cold yes, but with the brightness of morning sunshine promising to warm water and soil and hearts. A wonderful morning to look to what will be next Sunday’s First Reading (Acts 6:1-7) and which begins with the words:
“About this time, when the number of disciples was increasing …”
It’s a familiar story: the good news of increasing numbers, tempered by struggle and tension; we’re not being fairly treated! And with it comes the requirement for the early church to listen to the complaints and adapt to meet the needs of the current situation. It’s certainly a relevant text for our own times, but what about the neophytes and their continuing reflection on their new status as full members of the Body of Christ? As the apostles considered ways of delegating and involving more people in the tasks of ministry, perhaps it’s a good time to consider ways in which the neophytes’ particular gifts and talents can be welcomed and put to good use within the particular parish community to which they belong. The rite instructs us:
“The period of post-baptismal catechesis is of great significance for both the neophytes and the rest of the faithful. Through it the neophytes with the help of their godparents, should experience a full and joyful welcome into the community and enter into closer ties with the other faithful. The faithful in turn should derive from it a renewal of inspiration and of outlook.” [R.C.I.A. 236]
In my last parish we made a special effort to undertake the necessary discernment and then training and support across various ministries in order that by Pentecost our neophytes could be seen to be active in an appropriate area of ministry. So we had new readers, new cleaners, new flower-arrangers, new welcomers and companions on the journey for new enquirers. Sadly, the new life of Easter can be restricted to a narrow, spiritual focus if we’re not careful and the opportunity to bring new people into new areas of ministry can be overlooked. Just as that clear blue sky of a sunny spring morning can highlight the tired paintwork and dingy windows that have survived the darkness and gloom of winter so too the Easter life of resurrection can highlight the need to revitalise ministries that have perhaps grown tired, albeit settled and comfortable. A burst of energy and enthusiasm can be just the Easter sunshine required to warm the water, the soil and the hearts of our parish ministries. Whilst a failure to consider ways of integrating the new life the neophytes represent into the existing life of the community risks leaving them marginalised and under-valued. There’s a wonderful David Whyte poem, Everything is Waiting For You, that I think speaks to both neophytes and the community at this special time, especially the final verse:
Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.
Perhaps part of the joy of mystagogia is the discovery that for both neophyte and parish community everything is indeed waiting!
- Everything is Waiting For You, Poems by David Whyte, 2003 Many Rivers Press
Praying with Paint For Purification & Enlightenment?
One of the biggest challenges I found when working with my parish RCIA group was how to effectively shift the emphasis of the weekly session from the kind of intense catechetical activity of the catechumenate to the more reflective period of ‘intense spiritual preparation' that this firmly time bound stage demands. In reality, the pressure builds at this time because of all the practical details in preparing for and reflecting afterwards on the Rite of Election and then preparing for and reflecting afterwards on the Scrutinies and then preparing for the Presentations and the Preparation Rites and ...! If we're not careful, the practicalities of so much to be dealt with in such a relatively short period can actually deflect our focus. As JD Crichton in his commentary on these period states:
"Lent has often been called a spiritual retreat and it is to this that both the elect and the local community are called during this period. For this reason it is to be marked by ‘interior reflection' rather than ‘catechetical instruction'."[i]
So how, in an ordinary parish context might we attempt a slowing down and give space for the Spirit to both purify and enlighten. Well one way that we discovered not only worked but was really appreciated by all who shared the journey was a ‘Praying with Paint' session during the first or second week of Lent.
It requires some advance organisation to ensure that there is sufficient space for all to be able to ‘paint' and that there are sufficient supplies of poster paint or crayons or watercolours (the parish toddler group or primary school can often be most helpful if approached in good time). Otherwise it's just a question of creating a reflective atmosphere with quiet music playing and perhaps dimmed lighting (but not too dimmed so that people can't see their own creations). Obviously the basic principles of adult formation apply and people are free not to take part, but in over ten years of offering this I only ever encountered one person who chose not to participate. So:
- Stress the reflective nature of the task, reassuring all those who had bad experiences of art at school that it's not about creating works of art but rather allowing the Spirit of God to move within us in response to the gospel in a different way from those we may otherwise have experienced.
- Proclaim the gospel and allow a period of silence
- Proclaim it again but with a different voice
- Invite people to respond using the materials provided, as they feel appropriate.
- Quiet, reflective music will help and as people finish there should be no pressure to show the paintings, although most people will happily want to do so.
- There should however be a time to come together and say a word or two about how the experience was received and an opportunity to end with shared prayer, perhaps hearing the gospel one more time
In this Year of Matthew (Cycle A) the story of the Transfiguration affords a wonderful opportunity for a creative reflection. Happy painting!
[i] Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, The final Texts with Commentaries The Columba Press 1986