Going the Extra Mile
In the forthcoming gospel (28th OT) we hear how a rich man who has kept all the commandments, is made sad because the ultimate task of selling everything he owns to give to the poor is just too challenging. Like the rich man it is going the extra mile that sometimes challenges us. Being a committed RCIA team member is quite demanding. There is a lot of work that goes into preparing the regular sessions that are held for the candidates and catechumens, as well as planning for the liturgical celebrations: why would anyone want to add to the workload?
Well sometimes it doesn't take an awful lot of effort to try something new, and long term it can be easier on the whole team and liturgically fulfilling. This applies to two particular practices: the first avoids having RCIA meetings during school holidays, and the second is celebrating the Sacraments of Initiation as well as the Reception of Baptised Christians into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church at the Easter vigil, in the combined rite found in the Appendix of the Rite ( 418 E&W).
So what links the two? It has to do with the liturgical year. As Catholics, we celebrate the Eucharist each Sunday, following the lectionary as it leads us through the scriptures. There is a gentle progression of themes and issues covered through the different church seasons.
Imagine not going to Mass during any of the school holidays (including half terms) and have a look at the Sunday Missal to see what you would be missing.
Well of course you wouldn't dream of missing mass short of an emergency, but if you follow a lectionary based scripture programme, how do you justify missing out one third of the liturgical year for the catechumens? Doesn't it involve a lot of hard work planning a programme that cover all the 'topics' but in a shorter period of time. What about concerns later on that you didn't cover everything you planned to do.
Similarly, combining those being fully initiated, with those being received into full communion is quite a timely task. There is the job of getting everyone to the right stage at the same time; there are the logistics of combining both in one celebration, and the adaptation necessary to ensure that the sacrament of baptism is properly recognised, and that the already baptised are received appropriately.
Yet the rite offers a choice: of Reception into Full Communion within Mass #475 (389), or outside Mass #476 (390) when what is stressed is the need for it to be ‘a celebration of the Church and have as its high point Eucharistic communion.’
So I return to the comment about going the extra mile. The combined rite was initially used at a time when unbaptised candidates were rare, but that isn't the situation now. When you have unbaptised as well as adults being received into Full Communion, it makes for a very lengthy service, often meaning that the Liturgy of the Word is cut short, or that the balance isn’t quite right in stressing the baptism. Perhaps the renewal of baptismal promises for the faithful are less structured or lose emphasis.
I don't know about others, but I often feel on the night that something didn't quite work: it was just a bit messy. Well, running the catechumenate all year round makes it easier to structure celebrations throughout the year. Yes full initiation will take place at the Easter vigil, as the usual time (#23), but it becomes easier to celebrate the reception into full communion at other times during the liturgical year, at a time that is most appropriate for the individual.
What does it entail?
- Starting now and evaluating the different celebrations and combined rites from the rite of acceptance through to the Easter vigil
- Having early planning meetings for the next year.
- Map out the liturgical year noting possible alternative dates.
- Have the co-operation and agreement of clergy, team sponsors, helpers.
- Inform the whole community of the proposed changes and explain why.
- Use it as an opportunity to engage more of the community into assisting with RCIA
You Can’t Be Serious!
Over the past couple of Sundays the foot stamping antics of the bold John McEnroe questioning the referee decisions at Wembley seem very appropriate. It is easy to imagine Peter and the other disciples talking among themselves saying “He can’t be serious?”
“How could He possibly mean that the whole adventure will end in total failure? – on a Cross! Surely not!”
“And what does he mean by saying we must become like a stateless child, one who has no say and that’s the way to leadership!”
“And we must work with others who are outside our group and not shut them up!”
He can’t be serious – but maybe He is.
A number of years ago with a small group we visited the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi – it was a most moving occasion. What stayed with me, however, aren’t the beautiful frescos by Giotto or even the image of Francis himself but the question put to us by the American Friar who led us around the building. “Before we begin, can I ask you; “Are you here as tourists or pilgrims?” Rather shame faced we replied “Pilgrims”. Then he said “Great – I will try to bring you into something of the experience of Francis.”
The question has continued to haunt me. Am I a tourist or a pilgrim? – The tourist goes on a journey and tries to capture the moment taking the photo before even looking at the scene, trying to capture the moment - a journey of refreshment and hopefully excitement but essentially the tourist doesn’t change. The adventure just adds to his or her levels of experience and possible knowledge. The Pilgrim on the other hand sets out on a journey where hopefully he or she will experience change, possibly radical change, and come back seeing with different eyes, becoming, in the words of St Paul, a new creation.
These past few weeks are definitely an invitation by the Man Himself to get off the tourist journey into becoming an Adult Christian and move away from a rather shallow discipleship – away from the pick and mix of many a market based media approach to spirituality with instant formation and preference. The invitation is to step into deeper waters, to reflect and grapple with the riddles and ambiguities of the Man from Galilee – a task not just for one or two evenings but for years to come.
How is it possible to die and rise again – to be open to complete failure– and make that a creative way of life?
If we are caught up in the language and behaviour of “Who is the greatest?” what hope is there for true peace?
The great Mohammed Ali, used the phrase “I am the Greatest” not simply as a sign of personal vanity but as a profound challenge to the prejudices and bigotry of his own nation at a time when black people were very definitely second class citizens. Is it possible to use the language of dying and rising, becoming like a child, working with those outside of our group, beyond the pale, in a similar imaginative way?
The challenge to catechists, inquirers and catechumens is to allow the gospels of these weeks to find a deep home within and to resist the temptation to water down these radical sayings of Jesus and like the disciples to hide behind: “We don’t understand what he’s saying and we’re afraid to ask”. Or like the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane to simply run away.
Surely! He can’t be serious?
Making Enquiries
At this Sunday’s Mass we had a talk by the St Barnabas Society. It was St Barnabas who introduced Paul to the disciples in Jerusalem, and spoke in his support to those who were wary about his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus.
I was struck by the account of welcome and help (emotional and financial) that is given to clergy and religious, from other Christian denominations, that come to full communion with the Catholic Church. There was a particular relevance to our community, as last year we welcomed a former Anglican priest and his family. So at first hand we could empathise with what we were hearing.
Two questions arose for me:
- How does the welcome and support we give our inquirers and catechumens compare with that offered by the St Barnabas Society; and
- is there a patron saint of catechumens?
From my own experience, we still have to work at engaging with the ‘whole parish concept’, rather than having an RCIA team that does it all. Having ordinary parishioners who can be introduced to inquirers was a point discussed at the RCIA Network Study day at Tooting Bec (13.6.09). Catechists have their place but weekly structured meetings don’t necessarily fulfil the Period of Evangelisation and Pre-Catechumenate, which ‘is a time of no fixed duration or structure, for inquiry and introduction to Gospel values, an opportunity for the beginning of faith.’
Potential Inquirers come from diverse backgrounds, at any age, with or without dependants. It must be quite daunting to people to make that first step and knock on the church door. But if they are also being alienated from their family and friends by their decision, that must make it a very difficult step to pursue. There are ways we as a community can make it easier. This is a just a suggestion. You will have others that work, do share them.
- Offer an invitation to them to bring their family and friends to your parish church. This is not about converting them, but saying this is what we do because we are catholics.
- Have a ‘drop in’ hour, say 3.30pm-4.30pm: ideal if your church is on the school route. 5.30pm to 6.30pm is a good time to catch those returning home after work. Have parishioners who can chat about what it means to be a member of your parish church. (This is also an evangelising moment).
The above also apply to catechumens. Another way of offering support is by the optional rites eg Blessings [RCIA 95-97] can be done at any time. Think how you feel when you receive a blessing: they can be a real boost, whether in a small group or within the whole assembly. Do remember to extend the invitation to the catechumens’ family or friends.
As to my second question I did find a saint for catechumens: Saint Robert Bellarmine whose feastday is on September 17.
Looking around
Like all those Walking the Rite Way in August the pace might be a little gentler. As in the parish accompanying those who are continuing their journey to Easter we won't stop and say switch off your 'faith button' nobody wants to know about faith in August. We will continue on the journey and maybe the slower pace will allow us to point out things we might otherwise have missed.
Why no one should join the RCIA
One of many things I enjoy about the Team RCIA blog is the ability to express clearly and succinctly some of the issues faced by RCIA teams - even when they may not be aware there might be an issue in the first place! I particularly enjoyed the recent posting Why no one should join the RCIA as it articulated something I have been aware of for a while use of the letters 'RCIA' as a kind of fairy dust that validates everything we might do.
One of the questions the Network Executive will be reflecting on at its September meeting will how do we present RCIA to the outside world. I am sure this article will help our discussion but we would also welcome local experience as well.
development matters!
One of the great achievements in ecumenism and liturgy has been the adoption of the Revised Common Lectionary by many non-Catholic denominations. A revision of our own Roman Lectionary which in particular reviewed how the Old Testament was used there is however far more in common between the two versions than there is different. One fruit of this is that most Sundays any church that uses a Lectionary will be hearing the same Gospel being proclaimed - a communion of the Word. Another fruit is the greater number of scripture resources that become available to us.
One I came across recently is on the website of the Anglican diocese of Bath and Wells - development matters! global issues linked to the lectionary. For every Sunday there is a note on the themes and ideas in the text, and then notes on contemporary parallels, comments and questions. The themes are linked within background notes, stories, invitations to action and prayer.
Who Shepherds Whom?
Mark tells us that the crowd reaches that ‘quiet’ place before they do. Like Moses with the wandering Israelites, Jesus sees that the crowds waiting for them are “Like sheep without a shepherd.” So, they are shepherded and nourished by him and his words – the crowd’s need for other food will come later. This is still our way: we feed at the table of the Word then at the table of the Bread and Wine.
As Jeremiah promised and we hear in the first reading, Mark shows Jesus acting as the “virtuous branch… The Lord-our-integrity”; God, who will look after his own sheep when their leaders have failed to do so. Jeremiah’s anger at the leaders almost leaps out at us as he berates those shepherds of Israel who do not take care of the people, who do not build them up in unity. There are threats for them: “…you have not taken care of them. Right, I will take care of you for your misdeeds…” But for the people, there is the assurance of God’s care: “I myself will gather…I will raise up shepherds to look after them…” God will not let the flock remain un-shepherded living in fear.
In our parish contexts of walking our road of faith with inquirers, catechumens, candidates and new catholics and with each other, what warnings, teachings and hope might this particular part of ordinary time offer us and prepare us for? Who shepherds us and those with whom we share our stories? As catechists what warnings are we offered about how we shepherd others, for example, those who come as inquirers, and how we allow ourselves to be shepherded along the way. How well do we each know the Lord as “My Shepherd” in truth; and how do we build up the unity of God’s people?
A presumption is, of course, that our notion of shepherding is real, never ‘soppy’. Shepherding is not for ‘whimps’, even in these days when farmer-shepherds often get around to their sheep on quad bikes. So too, taking care of God’s people doesn’t happen without cost to oneself. Indeed, we know it’s a pre-requisite of being a disciple of Christ who laid down his life for the flock!
At the Rite of Acceptance the parish community, sponsors and catechists promise to help the inquirers to “find and follow Christ”. From then on the period of the catechumenate enables them to become “familiar with the Christian way of life…” [The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) n75]. The promise has been made to live along side, to shepherd, the catechumens within the community. The Rite gives us the scaffolding of the example and the support that helps them embrace this familiarity:
“… the catechumens learn to turn more readily to God in prayer, to bear witness to the faith, in all things to keep their hopes set on Christ, to follow supernatural inspiration in their deeds, and to practice love of neighbour, even at the cost of self-renunciation.” [RCIA n75.2]
Jesus’ invitation to those who returned from their mission was to join him in some lonely place to rest. The primary response to conversion and on-going conversion is for the catechumens and ourselves to step back to make time for a deepening of our ‘readiness to turn to God in prayer’. Yet, Jesus shows that the shepherding of those in need challenges us with the ‘practice of love of neighbour’. That service will come with cost to ourselves and our plans. Had the twelve still had nothing to eat while Jesus taught all that day? They are then asked to feed all of that crowd!
In Sunday’s liturgy we will have prayed the psalm before hearing the gospel passage. In that ancient prayer we state our trust in the Shepherd who leads us and spreads a banquet, even though the journey passes through the valley of darkness. May summer breaks offer some ‘rest for a while’ and opportunities to shepherd and be shepherded.
Untapped talents – You only have to Ask!
I was having a look through some of the previous blogs and wishing that I had taken the time to send in a comment to ‘Open in the Spirit’ (June 1st 2009) and ‘Spreading the Word – Mass in the Park’ (June 27 2009). Both indicated how much we rely on others to help make things happen. Arranging two teams of catechists, one to support enquirers and one to support candidates is quite a challenge, and the logistics of arranging a Mass in the open air in a public park for the parishioners of six parishes is even more testing. That both events continued says much not only for the organisation but also for those who offered their assistance. Yet how many times do we see the ‘usual suspects’ being involved, or rather how often do we forget to look a little deeper to find those with hidden talents.
In this Sunday’s 1st reading ( Ezek 2:2-5) and in the Gospel (Mark 6:1-6) we hear that a prophet is not acknowledged in their own town. While Paul (2 Cor 12:7-10) explains, that by God’s grace, it is Paul’s weaknesses that make him strong. I bet there are lots of people in our parishes who don’t realise they have strengths that could assist the RCIA team: they just need somebody to discern their talents.
Consider the retired, part-time workers, or mothers with school age children: they will have a variety of experience. They may even include teachers, catechists or just parishioners with an interest in scripture or the church: good catholics. At the recent study day at Tooting Bec entitled ‘One of Us’, examples were given of a single parent, and of a carer, who weren’t trained catechists, but who had the skills to be involved with those at the pre-inquiry stage. Identify 3 or 4 like these and you have a pre-enquiry team.
List those who have ministries as readers, welcomers, eucharist ministers: are there some who may with a little support consider assisting in dismissal catechesis?
Pair an experienced catechist with a welcomer for the pre-enquiry stage. Perhaps some of the eucharistic ministers would be willing to explore the liturgical symbols or eucharistic sacramentality as part of a mystagogy team. You only have to ask!
Have a refresh of RCIA 9. It directs that ‘the initiation of adults is the responsibility of all the baptised’, and ‘the entire community must help … throughout the process of initiation’.
So dig deeper and look at the whole community, I bet there are people who can assist, but have never been considered. There is a lot of untapped talent in the community: it just needs some discernment to recognise it.
- Ask each team member to suggest 3 people who are good listeners and willing to talk about what it means to be a catholic.
- Ask leaders from each ministry to suggest people.
- Have an open evening for all involved in parish ministry to discuss involvement in RCIA.
- Make enquiries of parents at the school gate.
- Don’t overburden those who volunteer.
- Allow people to decline.
- If the time is not right, leave the door open to be able to ask again in the future.
Don’t waste the talent in your own community!
If you want to explore the above see www.teamrcia.com Who’s on your team & 100 ways to involve parishioners in the RCIA
St Peter & St Paul — Sitting by the Beautiful Gate
Our neophytes are finding themselves increasingly ‘at home’ in the parish community, which is fantastic – life-giving for all. They have talked a lot about their Easter experiences over the last months, and the community have shared their lives in many simple, small ways. The heart-beat of the Word pulsing throughout the process of preparing these people for the sacraments, continues in other forms in the parish. And yes, the community continue to give ‘thoughtful and friendly help ‘ (RCIA 234)
However, once again the process of initiation has challenged us. Why am I surprised that the readings for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul raise more questions than answers? Yes, we have received into our community a number of people this year, but there are still so many people ‘sitting at the Beautiful Gate’ turning to us expectantly, and hoping to get something from us, and actually either we don’t notice them at all, or we are frightened of them because they are ‘different’, or we are too busy, or we don’t think the Church can support even a conversation with them, so we ignore them.
Perhaps for me the challenges are:
- Can we notice the people on the edge, and try and get into their shoes?
- If we ask them to ‘Look at us’ what do they see?!
- How can we engage their trust and confidence?
- If we say (with Peter) ‘I will give you what I have’, what exactly do we mean by that?
- When we hear the questions from Christ for ourselves: ‘Who do you say I am?’ and ‘Do you love me?’ and find ourselves saying with Peter ‘You are the Christ’ and ‘Yes, you know I do’, how do we avoid paying lip-service, and actively respond to Christ’s follow-up: well then, feed my lambs and look after and feed my sheep?
- And what about the Church in Acts - do we ‘pray to God unremittingly’ for one another, and for those in troubled circumstances?
- How can we make ourselves available, and be that liberating and healing presence? How do we show we care and not leave people with a sense of isolation and rejection?
Peter took the crippled man by the hand and helped him to stand up on his own two feet for the first time (and the man was jumping up and down and praising God! ) Can we dare to do this? I think so, yes, because, as Paul says in his letter to Timothy, the Lord will stand by us and give us the power – power to bind up the wounds of hostility, disparaging remarks, prejudice, and power to loosen the bonds of helplessness and hopelessness.
Solemn Blessing for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul: You might like to pray this line by line, very slowly, allowing silence between phrases. How does it speak into your life?
The Lord has set you firm within his Church
which he built upon the rock of Peter’s faith.
May he bless you with a faith that never falters.
The Lord has given you knowledge of the faith
through the labours and preaching of Saint Paul.
May his example inspire you to lead others to Christ
by the manner of your life.
May the keys of Peter, and the words of Paul,
their undying witness and their prayers,
lead you to the joy of that eternal home
which Peter gained by his cross, and Paul by the sword.
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!
One of Us
There is still time to book a place on the Network's two Study Days in Tooting Bec (13 June) and Bristol (30 June).
The days address key aspects of our practice of RCIA. In the morning Nicky Stevens in Tooting and Martin Jakubas in Bristol will look at the role of the assembly in RCIA:
The people of God, as represented by the local Church, should understand and show by their concern that the initiation of adults is the responsibility of all the baptised… the entire community must help the candidates and the catechumens throughout the process of initiation. (RCIA 9)
In the afternoon there will be a choice of workshops: Forming an RCIA team and Receiving the Baptised.
Booking for Tooting is open until Monday 8 June and for Bristol - Friday 12 June. Download the booking form.
Come Anytime
It has always felt wrong to ask inquirers to wait. Once they have taken the all important first step of approaching someone it is not fair to send them away to wait until a more ‘convenient’ time for us. Last year we tried to solve this dilemma by working towards monthly open ‘welcome’ sessions for inquirers, perhaps to include new parishioners.
Other parish needs pre-empted that particular drive and the parish is benefiting from the reconstituted Ministry of Welcome and new impetus to complete a parish handbook.
What had felt like something of a setback with regard to a way of being available to inquirers, in fact has solidified into a ‘come anytime’ mentality. Though the experience is now more of fluidity than of something solidifying! The work of the Spirit - not how we had meant to plan!
It came about without any fresh (autumn) invitation or information about the Journey in Faith process in the parish. That had been stalled while parish consultation about ways of inviting and welcoming took place. Yet, before that first meeting inquirers were making their own first approaches. For three weeks running a different person arrived making inquiries: one asking for baptism; one to be Confirmed and to receive Eucharist and then one to be received into Full Communion. Within a week or so of the first approach we had arranged a suitable time for her and those who where close on her heels. We gathered our small RCIA team and new sponsors. As with Peter at the house of Cornelius [Acts 10], the Spirit was leading people and all we could do was to respond to their request, and stay with them and share experiences of God’s work in the church.
So it has continued. We have managed to respond immediately to individuals who have continued to arrive – not weekly! We have taken account, of course, of their family, work and time commitments and fitted in with them as much as possible. One group now has a catechumen whose babies were baptised at Easter, a previously uncatechised catholic who is now fully initiated and a new catholic brought up within a different Christian tradition and another who remains on the periphery as yet. Because of child minding issues the best time for this group to meet was after Mass on Sundays, or rather, after coffee following Mass. [For very good reasons dismissal catechesis was not appropriate.] A result of that timing has meant that we had a natural way of parishioners and inquirers getting to know each other – people made new friends and parishioners became more aware and involved in the process simply by offering welcome and acceptance. Older teenagers and later families have become invaluable child minders too. It has been of great benefit to meet from within the heart of the parish assembly and fresh from the Sunday liturgy.
Another group has formed in the meantime - meeting on weekday evenings. Because of catechists and sponsors and by now the experience of the rites of acceptance, reception and confirmation and first Eucharist for those others there is a bond between the two groups. There is a sense of a heightened challenge – a goal that is achievable and empathy. The awareness goes both ways. For example, it mattered to those who went to the cathedral at the beginning of Lent that others were exploring in the ways that they had. At the same time it caused some excitement and a sense of unity for the inquirers.
In a sense it is a ‘messy’ process because of new inquirers joining a group who are in the early stages of getting to know each other. Yet it feels right. Ironically perhaps, it seems peaceful and is at once energising and calming. People who are still new in their exploration of catholic Christianity are themselves encouraged by, and encouraging of, new comers. It has made the RCIA process even more just that – a fluid process. We find that we don’t have to try to avoid the idea a programme. Liturgical catechesis feeds all of us and the issues that are brought by inquirers and that catechists suggest for exploration have no set sequence and get revisited along the way.
There are, of course, hurdles to overcome. There is a shortage of trained catechists and no diocesan provision to call upon. Inevitably the RCIA team is stretched even more in terms of time and commitment. Will we reach a time when we have confident catechists to lead in the initial stages and others to lead catechumens and candidates? Perhaps. For now we will endeavour to respond to the Spirit who prompts inquirers long before we meet them and try to offer “catechesis suited to their needs, [and] contact with the community of the faithful…” (RCIA n401)