Walking the Rite way

The Miracle Maker is an animated film produced for the Jubilee Year 2000 which tells the story of Jesus. It generally uses the gospel of Luke as the source for its narrative – but it hangs loosely to the source, and treats it somewhat creatively. This is most noticeable in its development of the character of Tamar, the daughter of Jairus. It’s easily available from most DVD stores, or of course from Amazon. or Play.

It was well-received by faith communities: A pretty typical review follows:

In The Miracle Maker, the film’s makers have a small miracle of their own: a simple, modest retelling of the gospel story of the ministry and passion of Christ that does little more than present the bare events of the gospel narratives, without adornment or invention, without idiosyncratic “explanations” or editorial spin, without elaborations for the sake of amusement or excitement.

It’s so straightforward, it’s practically revolutionary. Adapting a story for the screen substantially as it was written is a lost art nowadays. It’s easy to see why, in a way; storytellers are just naturally attracted to projects to which they feel they have some creative contribution to make; some special angle or insight to offer.

http://artsandfaith.com/t100/2005/entry.php?film=52

You might wonder about the claim that there is little adornment or invention – remember Tamar – but she operates more as a narrative device to help the viewer engage with the story of Jesus than a distraction or dumbing down.

The Miracle Worker is a rather beautiful creation – most of the narrative shown through stop-go animation; but others through painted cell work. And it is an engaging presentation – with much of the credit for this going to the somewhat stellar cast, led by Ralph Fiennes as Jesus.

We’ve been using it in our parish over the past weeks – a ten minute section as a time, as a way of familiarising the group with the outline of the story of Jesus, and as a ‘safe’ way of giving them matter for discussion reflection. Last year we had a very quiet group who rather resisted discussion. It’s a different group this year but there’s much discussion and I think the film is to credit for that.<

I’d recommend the film as a most useful aid for first evangelisation, for the pre-catechumenal time. And I am happy to share below the  discussion sheets we used to to give you an indication of the sort of conversation starters we’ve used.

• 1-Values.pdf
• 2-Kingdom.pdf
• 3-Call.pdf

During the early part of this year we had talked increasingly about our hopes for future developments in implementing the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. We discussed wanting to begin year-long invitation opportunities for people who may wish to know more about living a Catholic Christian life.

Our other main area of concern was how to be much more faithful to including, or should it be allowing, the whole parish to take its due role in evangelisation and catechesis. That is, to “be always fully prepared in the pursuit of its apostolic vocation to give help to those who are searching for Christ”. Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, n9.  How do catechists, in the task of assisting an initiation process, avoid at best being the ‘yeast’ consciously working on behalf of the parish and at worst an exclusive group? We need to unveil more the role of parishioners as threshold companions.

If something like monthly opportunities to meet with, question and find welcome from catholics were to happen we had to involve all parishioners. Both objectives went hand in hand. We knew that perceptions and experience of RCIA could develop more with this process.

To begin with the discussion needed to be opened up for fresh dialogue…to start a ripple effect at least. Hence, parishioners representing some ministries, activities and interests, as well as different age groups were personally invited to come together to explore ways in which we could become an even more welcoming parish.

The Spirit of God doesn’t hang around waiting for our ideas to come to fruition, of course. We had thought that our hopes for regular welcome sessions may be our fresh way to being open to inquirers. The week before the exploratory meeting inquirers came seeking! The ventures happily became parallel sooner than anticipated.

Thankfully, when the invited group met they did not want to hear and then just rubber stamp the ideas proposed but responded to the questions raised and added their own. What happened was an appraisal of how welcome is experienced by all and how it could be. We prayed together, reflected and explored suggestions about who the people are whom we want to welcome. The list included: ourselves, new parishioners, the curious, those who may wish to re-discover a once familiar belonging along with those who have a wish to get to know the Lord and us better and may wish to begin a process towards initiation.

What has happened so far is that the discussion continues among parishioners as the group talk with others. The newsletter was used to alert all to the meeting beforehand and to give a brief account of the ongoing nature of the enterprise. One of the most heartening outcomes was a date in diaries to meet again as a steering group – one that is open and inclusive and listens. A decision that will be worked on initially is to use Christmas, with its customary visitors and ‘returnees’, as a first step in offering invitations to ‘come and see’. It is intended to offer a couple of dates for informal gatherings to be planned for soon after Christmas. Similar action was envisaged for Easter and September. We can work more then with suggestions of how this is to be done and explore materials like those available from CASE (Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation).

Other questions raised were around how welcome is practiced weekly and how to utilise better our restricted entrance space. Work had begun some time ago on compiling information about the parish in the form of a parish booklet and action was decided on bringing that to fruition.

What we learned was a lesson in how listening and dialogue change and open up ideas – perhaps this is an affirmation of the principle that where even ‘two or three gather together…’ [After apologies, we were 12 or 13!]. We also learned something of the need to change pace in order to include the values and perspectives of others. One step at a time…and need for patience while ‘God gives the growth’!

The hope for yearlong group opportunities to welcome potential inquirers had started with two of us. It took a day or so to realise that this had not been rejected but transformed for the moment and may come in the future. However, there is a sense of shared growth, enthusiasm and responsibility that is enlivening.

Ultimately we have the Spirit of God prodding us to honour the pastoral cycle of continuously bringing ideas together, allowing new ones to be born and moving into action: to explore the mystery of Christ. We are conscious that those of us with leadership in Christian initiation in the parish have the task of keeping the vision of the Rite to the fore in all areas of parish life.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with our spirits!

Catherine D

Many countries are lavish in their remembrance of their saints’ days, with the whole village enjoying a day of festivity and reverence to a particular saint. The people of Malta take the celebration of the feast of St Paul’s Shipwreck, very seriously. Preparation is year long for this annual feast to their patron saint. It falls on the nearest Sunday to February 10th and there is much anxiety about the weather, for the 17th century wooden statue cannot be carried outside in high winds or heavy rain. I took this photo after the men had spent a couple of hours transferring the statue to its portable beams, had proudly begun the procession, only to be driven back into the safety of the church when the rain fell. It wasn’t only the bearers that shed tears, but many in the crowd acted as if they had suffered a great loss.

This year All Saints Day will be celebrated next Sunday November 2nd (England & Wales only) and I would like to explore how this provides a catechetical opportunity for RCIA catechists and the community.

Saints are so much a part of our life. We read about them, we pray to them in Mass and in a time of need; we feel supported by them and are secure in knowing they are a communion of saints. Our churches are dedicated to them, but so are street names, pubs and businesses. Statues are part of our architectural heritage Even non-christians have heard of St Christopher, and when on holiday how can you ignore the patron saint hanging above the visor of the bus driver in Malta, Crete, Cyprus etc.

From time to time, saints have featured with great predominance in my faith journey. Although, not always obvious at the time, on looking back I have been able to chart a sideways and upwards step, leading me to new exploration and depths as I try to fathom what exactly God has planned for me. While I find it a little puzzling why All Souls is not being commemorated on the 2nd November, I relish the opportunity that this change to the liturgical year offers to RCIA catechists.

• Those involved with the period of inquiry have the chance to share in hearing the richness of saints’ stories when members of the parish participate in group sessions. What an easy way to introduce a relationship with saints when exchanging stories of how St Christopher was invoked on a hazardous journey, or how prayers to St Jude or St Rita helped turn a hopeless situation into a triumph. As for the lost things that St Anthony is asked to find…
• For both inquirers and catechumens, there is the opportunity for exploration and discussion over birth names and what saints they identify with. This may involve hearing about holy people from other cultures, and learning about new saints.
• Hands on experience is possible by bringing statues, icons or pictures to the group. Many art books or museum catalogues will show how saints have been depicted through the ages.
• Use this time of the liturgical year to think ahead to the Easter Vigil to bring alive those named in the Litany of Saints, so that our candidates will be able to sing out ‘pray for us’ with some familiarity of the saints named.

In our parish, everyone has been invited to bring to Sunday Mass a picture or statue, or icon of their favourite saint. I am hoping that those who have adopted England as their second country will bring statues of the saints they have grown up with, and catechumens and all, will see the variety of holy people that have inspired those in our community. It is a time for the neophytes and those who were confirmed to remember their confirmation saint, and together with the parish young confirmed earlier in the year, they could place their saints in a special location in the church.

• For those experiencing mystagogy, here is a chance to explore holiness. Look at popular prayers, or the saints named in the Eucharistic prayers. What is amazing about saints, is that they come from such a diversity of backgrounds and cultures. Anne Gordon in A Book of Saints - True stories of how they touch our lives, offers instances where people today have been influenced by their relationship with a particular saint.

The glory of saints is, that they have lived, and coped with temptation, doubt and what seemed insurmountable obstacles; they have planned their path of faith only to find its progress thwarted, until eventually they have realised God is leading them along another path. But perhaps the most apt is St Martin of Tours, the pagan soldier who tore his cloak in half to give to a freezing beggar, and then in a vision Christ called him to stop being a catechumen, and to be baptised.

Every time you turn on the radio or the telly these days, its doom and gloom and credit crunch.  None of us, whatever our financial ‘profile’ is immune from the effects of this, whether its the pension fund, or the high street bank we use, exchange rates, cost of heating and fuel, food, mortgage, even jobs.  How does the Gospel speak into our lives this week?   How does it fire up our faith when the going gets a bit tough?  How does it support our catechesis for bringing people into communion with Christ?  The entrance antiphon for 29th Sunday in OT is a call for  protection, the opening prayer for strength and joy, Isaiah ‘from the rising to the setting of the sun, apart from me, all is nothing’.  Paul begins his letter offering grace and peace from God, and encouraging faith in action - ‘when we brought the good news to you, it came to you not only as words, but as power and as the Holy Spirit and as utter conviction’.  Jesus, caught between a rock and a hard place, says legitimate government has authority and deserves our co-operation.   Easy to get bogged down in worries, payment of bills and taxes, and forget to cash in the revealed treasure of God’s salvation, freedom, and all the gifts poured out for our lived lives!  These wonderful mysteries of our faith and our ordinary lives are not separate realities, but find their full expression in each other.  As Seamus O’Connell, Professor of Scripture at Maynooth says, some people in restaurants refuse to put down the menu and do not taste the food - we know the teaching, we know the Gospel - but its useless unless we consume it and allow it to nourish us for every eventually, every worry, every ‘crunch’, every need.  The Communion antiphon from Sunday’s Liturgy supplies: ‘See how the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those who hope in his love;  that he may rescue them from death and feed them in time of famine.’  Let’s be aware of people whose basic needs are not being met.

The parish I serve has a term-time catechumenate. It starts up again next week. So the last few weeks have been a time for more focussed encouraging of people to come along as our group starts back after its fallow-period post Pentecost.

People come to the group that supports the catechumenate through a variety of ways. Particularly important are the personal contacts - through friendships in the parish; through the Parents and Toddlers groups; through the pastoral encounters around weddings and funerals. But also of importance - it seems to me, (their author and designer!) - are the leaflets and posters we put around - sources of information, prompts to action.

Last year I used a series of posters which used images of gates and paths and lighthouses. I hoped these would suggest the idea of journey, and - who knows - for the more biblically literate the idea of Christ our pioneer, our way, the gate, the light. A few people noticed them but they didn’t seem to find them particular significant - the images didn’t seem to register, much.

So this year I decided I’d lose the visual images and go for words. Searching? Questioning? Lost? And suggesting that in response to these experiences the Gospel has something to offer - companionship on the way; support in the search; and yes, able to introduce the searcher to a relationship with Christ who we have found to be the way, truth and life.

I though the new poster looked pretty good and eye catching. Bold graphics, bright colours. I still think that. But a number of the people who I am in contact who will be coming to the group have been on the look out for the poster which would give them information about when the group starts up. And none of them thought that what this poster was advertising could be what they are looking for!

I’ve not yet had the chance to explore with them why that might be. But clearly the poster and its words speaks to my agenda and not theirs. At the moment it’s enough for them to know when to come and where to ‘become a Catholic’. Their main interest is not the why or wherefore

So, all this has got me thinking again about where people are coming from and what, at a conscious level at least, people are looking for. I’m comfortable with the idea of people searching from motives of existential angst. I’m also happy with the idea of people interested in ‘becoming Catholic’ or wanting to deepen a relationship with Jesus or the Church. Different things engage and motivate different people. I hope in pastoral practice that I’m sensitive to that, and can give space for the person to journey as they see fit as well as trying to feed into their exploration of Catholic faith an awareness of important dimensions that they may not yet have considered in any conscious or explicit way.

But the question of the posters and what we put on them and what they say to people has me thinking again about what we offer and what people want. What is the good news we want to share? I can put names to aspects of that. But then my fear is that the Christian specificity of these things might be neglected. We could offer ‘Community’. Our Gospel offers this, but it also promises to set brother against brother. ‘Truth through intimacy with Jesus’: we can offer that. But from time to time Jesus might turn and call us Satan and say we think as people think and not as God. ‘Security’ too we can offer, but it is a security that sometimes leads us into hard and lonely places.

It probably all boils down to a matter of quality of catechesis. They will perhaps be coming from one reason. The challenge to the group is to ensure that if they stay, they stay for a reason which is acceptable to the Church and authentic to the Gospel we preach.

My personal fresh resolution - encouraged by the poster issue - to try to make sure that the Gospel we share in our pre-evangelisation meetings and in catechumenate is one which welcomes those who come, offers the assurance we all need that we are loved by God and chosen. And at the self same time, draws us speedily into the mission which helps us to see that if the Gospel is for us, we and not just the Gospel are for the world.

Walking round the local mega-supermarket last year in Autumn (part of a well known ‘family’) was like entering a time-warp. In the same aisle were Halloween costumes, Bonfire Night essentials and a few early reminders that Christmas wasn’t too far away. In the milk aisle, the plastic cow was mooing and the plastic chicken clucked next to the eggs. In the background, over the PA system, someone was giving a commentary on life in the store – bargains on aisle 26, Golf Clubs on aisle 2 – oh, and  “Sandra on aisle 24 is 40 today, lets all sing: Happy Birthday too you…”. By the time I got the shower-gel aisle, I was completely overwhelmed with the endless choices – Which water do I want? What kind of bread do I want? What kind of cereal, soap, ….? The experience became somewhat surreal and for a moment, time stood still and I began to feel like I was caught in some weird sci-fi universe in which “resistance is futile”.

So, what has this got to do with RCIA? The key thing is to trying not to overwhelm people all at once with the speed of the process and all that’s on offer.

As many of our parishes will be preparing to welcome new enquirers over the next couple of months maybe we need to be aware that in new situations people can easily feel overwhelmed, carried along by the momentum of the group and end up feeling a like there’s no way out - or that ‘resistance is futile’. We often speak of meeting people ‘where they’re at’ and not where we want them to be. This requires discernment on the part of the enquirer and of catechists – and it requires us as catechists to be aware of any of our own desires and tendencies which might be coming into play. It also means avoiding the temptation of the October – Easter ‘course’. RCIA is a gradual process, not a treadmill. How does the way we work in parishes allow for the different speeds at which enquirers will journey?

We also need to avoid the RCIA curriculum approach – we’re not about putting everything our faith brings to us on offer all at once – like the supermarket shelves. We are about creating space for an encounter with Christ. As Pope Benedict said recently, Christianity is not a moral code or a philosophy, but an encounter with a person. In speaking of Paul on the road to Damascus he said “this change of his life, this transformation of his whole being was not the result of a psychological process, of a maturation or intellectual and moral evolution, but it came from outside: It was not the result of his thinking but of the encounter with Jesus Christ.”

( http://www.zenit.org/article-23546?l=english)

In exploring the implications of conversion for us as Christians today, he said “We can touch Christ’s heart and feel him touch ours. Only in this personal relationship with Christ, only in this encounter with the Risen One do we really become Christians. And in this way, our reason opens, the whole of Christ’s wisdom opens and all the richness of the truth. Therefore, let us pray to the Lord to enlighten us, so that, in our world, he will grant us the encounter with his presence, and thus give us a lively faith, an open heart, and great charity for all, capable of renewing the world.”

( http://www.zenit.org/article-23546?l=english)

The Summer holidays, or any holiday is a time to catch up on reading . If you have time try Paul Turner’s  When Other Christians Become Catholic.  It is a must when considering how we should be planning our catechumenate.

Turner not only explores the ritual text, but puts the practice of receiving others into full communion with the catholic church into our 21^st century context, reminding us that the rite is what it says, about being “received”: it is not about being ‘forgiven or reconciled’. We have moved on from the early church  needing a route, by which those guilty of heresy or apostacy, could renounce their beliefs and return to the fold. The process and rites that applied to such a situation are hardly applicable to those christians who knock on our parish doors today.

While restoring the RCIA, Vatican 2  also looked at providing an appropriate means that would enable other christians to come into full communion with the catholic church, in a way that would not make too burdensome, Turner shows how we have in a way compromised the rite, when we combine the rite of receiving baptised christians  into the catholic church with the rite of initiating  unbaptised catechumens.

What becomes clear, reading Turner, if you hadn’t already felt it so, is that there was no intention to make is so easy for catechists, that those already baptised would be added to  the catechumens, so that all progressed the same route, using the same rites.

From such a background there are some surprising but reassuring insights, for Turner says the rite was intended for a single candidate. How many of us worry when we only have person forward? Turner refers to such a situation, which calls for a ’simple ceremony with a profound meaning’. Looking at it from the opposite perspective, what does this say to us, when we have a large number of candidates, generally outnumbering the catechumens in combined rite? Should we immediately be thinking of spreading out our rites of reception throughout the liturgical year, so as to help that meaning come out? 

For Turner the Rite of Reception happens within a Sunday mass, at any time of the year,  any time that is, but at the easter vigil.  Why not read his book and see if you think what he says makes sense . Will it influence your future planning of the RCIA process?

Sue 

Caesarea Philippi is situated at the foot hills of Mt Hermon on the borders between Jordan and Israel. It is an extraordinary place. The waters of the river Dan, one of the sources of the river Jordan, flow out of the base of the mountain, ice cold and fresh. Carved into the side of the mountain are the remains of the cave dedicated to the god Pan to whom the area was originally dedicated. The generative powers of the gushing waters were taken as signs of the fertile qualities of this god of nature, still captured in its current name of Banyas. It is a truly significant place. During the lifetime of Jesus of Nazareth it was the site of the capital of the region ruled by Herod the Great’s son Philip. It was he who dedicated Paneas (Town of Pan) to Caesar.

It is little wonder that one of the key questions of Matthew’s Gospel , “Who do you say the Son of Man is?”(the gospel for the coming Sunday) is set in this part of ancient Israel. The area was redolent with answers of all kinds. The area spoke of the awesome power both of the fertility god of nature and the might of ancient Rome and it’s Emperor. Powers rarely questioned. Where we’re concerned the context for the question put by Jesus appears to be very different, no longer do we believe in the god Pan and the power of ancient Rome has passed away. However the realities which they represent are very much present in our culture and society. We are surrounded by all kinds of offers “guaranteed to give us life in abundance”, not gushing from the foot of Mt Hermon but flowing out at us in a constant stream of images and adverts: -coming from the various forms of media, offering a plethora of alternative possibilities of life style to one and all. Total freedom of choice: ‘after all it’s your life, do with it what you will’. As for Caesar and his military power, he has simply changed his clothes. He now wears a collar and tie or a free flowing garb. The approach of Pax Romana (Pax Britannica or Pax Americana), which maintains peace through the use or threat of violence has more adherents than the more vulnerable approach of Pax Christi.  The world of Caesar hasn’t quite passed away.     

The question put by Jesus is a real question but it is not a request for a definition of belief, a catechism answer, no matter how accurate that answer might be. It is an invitation to answer from the depth of our own relationship with the person of Jesus. I love the story told by Anthony De Mello where he imagines a conversation between Jesus and a Christian:

The whole process of the RCIA at its heart is a journey of formation rather than of information. Sadly in many cases we give in to the danger of overloading the information to the detriment of the formation. Next Sunday’s Gospel gives us time to pause whether we are continuing to journey each week with an enquiry group or a catechumenal group or taking the time out to prepare for a new start after the holidays. The question still remains in our complex world: “Who do YOU say the Son of man is?”

In the middle of August, we have this well-known Gospel, which echoes powerfully with us as a parish,  in the ‘holiday season’ trying to maintain contact with our candidates - feeling we are battling against the odds…..  And He made us get into this wretched boat and go on ahead while he dismissed the crowds (yes, dismissed!) and went up into the hills for a nice quiet time by himself!  We quite fancy a nice bit of quiet ourselves.

Well, in this story there is room for both - time for quiet refreshment in the ’sheer silence’ on the hillside (Community Bible translation of ‘gentle breeze’ (in 1 Kngs 19:12) and with the psalmist to ‘hear what the Lord has to say, a voice that speaks of peace’,  and time for battling with our own fears and immaturity as we attempt to move forward with the process of initiation. 

On reflection, perhaps rather than highlighting Peter’s doubt, it is is his courage and faith that is emphasised when he says in the height of the storm on seeing Jesus walking towards them, ’Order (or ‘tell’)me to come to you’ and Jesus says ‘Come’ and he climbs out and gives it a go!

So what have we been ‘giving a go’ this Summer?  The ‘group’ has not been meeting to break the Word, which could be seen as a disapointment.  However, the sponsors have been alongside our candidates these last weeks, sitting with them at Mass, bringing them to parish picnics, prayer vigils for Zimbabwe, and pilgrimages to local shrines, as well as continuing to share on the Sunday Gospels over a coffee, and telling stories of their own experience, for example, of reconciliation, as this sacramental opportunity approaches for the one who is to be received into full communion in September (on the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross - most appropriate for him).  Our neophyte has got married - so that has been a great joy in the whole parish community.  He specifically wanted the recitation of the Creed in the nuptial mass because it has come to mean so much to him.   So on reflection, the community and the candidates have been quietly getting on with the business of helping ‘those who are searching for Christ in the various circumstances of daily life’. (RCIA9)  Perhaps, gradually we are moving towards a more liturgical/mystagogical apprenticeship!

Today is the feast of St Etheldreda! She was born in AD 636, the daughter of the King of East Anglia, a Christian, who did much for the conversion of his kingdom and neighbouring Wessex. Having been married twice, Etheldreda then built a large monastery at Ely, where she was Abbess for 7 years. Her influence was wide, and many of her friends, relations and courtiers came to her for spiritual guidance. She was a friend of St Wilfrid, and adviser to the young St Cuthbert too. These saints are all part of our rich Christian culture in these islands. It strikes me that over the Summer months, it would be good to introduce our candidates and catechumens to some of our fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers in faith, and it could be fun! We could plan visits and picnics to local convents and monasteries in the town and countryside - ring the guestmaster or pastoral centre in advance to ask - and I’m sure there would be a warm and hospitable welcome, perhaps even a guided tour, and some opportunity to talk about the history of their order or foundation, and their particular charisms. This could be on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, or one weekday in one of these lovely long Summer evenings. How about a pilgrimmage to a not-to-distant shrine? These would be great opportunities for the parish community to participate very actively in initiating candidates into Catholic Christian life, further developing relationships with them, increasing their sense of belonging with us.

As I write, the gardeners amongst the parish are getting the cemetary ready for an outdoor Mass next Sunday - and I notice two of the candidates have come along to help too. The Mass is for everyone who has someone buried in the cemetary - from the parents of the young lad killed in a helicopter accident last month, to the grandparents of grandchildren who live away from the parish now, and all in between. The graves will be blessed, and then we will all drink sangria in the sunshine (we hope) and talk about their lives and how they influenced us! And in the past, several enquirers have been amongst this group too. So we come back to Etheldreda and other saints in our ’story’ right up to the present day - and as we tell the stories of those who have ‘gone before us marked with the sign of faith’, we will be amazed and humbled at the response, not only in the hearers, but in ourselves too. Perhaps we will find ourselves being seen, and found, and grasped and named and knocked breathless by God - again!
All of a sudden, this year-round catechumenate doesnt seem so hard after all!