RCIA: A BALANCING EXERCISE
RCIA A Balancing Exercise
In the 21st century we have to become very adept at balancing: juggling our home life with our work commitments, ensuring a good balance of ‘busyness’ and ‘me-time’. It is the same with RCIA: using the resources at hand (and here it is helpful to keep reminding ourselves ‘that the initiation of adults is the responsibility of all the baptised’ RCIA 9), as a variety of enquirers, catechumens and candidates have to be assisted and supported along their journey of faith.
Fortunately as well as human helpers we are blessed by our scriptural and liturgical resources. There is the ease and importance of using lectionary based catechesis. ‘Ease’ because it follows the liturgical year and the scripture text comes around every three years, so it is experienced by every one of the faithful; and ‘important’ because it is the Word of God on which we all feed for the truth of what it means to be a catholic christian.
On the 32nd Sunday in ordinary time as we near the end of this liturgical year it is easy to follow on from All Saints and All Souls and discuss the promise of resurrection in our sessions or meetings. In balancing the needs of the unbaptised: whether initial enquirer or catechumen, and those perhaps of the already baptised: whether uncatechised catholic or those pursuing reception into full communion with the catholic church, the lectio divina process could be employed.
- Depending on when they became involved in the RCIA process, enquirers* should be open to learning about this ancient form of prayer. I find that it helps the focus, to use the shortened version of this text (Luke 20:27, 34-38).
- By explaining the whole exercise in advance, the enquirer knows how the time is going to be spent.
- Before it is first proclaimed, ask them to listen to it and to see if a word, phrase or image strikes them. (I find it breaks concentration if you say this after it has been read)
- If this is their first experience of lectio divina you may find it helpful to read it a second time before you invite them to share their phrase.
- Invite them to listen to what strikes them when they hear it proclaimed again.
- Then for the next reading invite them to listen to how the Word of God is meeting them at this stage of their life.
- In the final proclamation ask them to dig deep into their heart and ask what God is calling them to do.
- After each reading give at least a couple of minutes for reflection.
- After sharing give further time for meditation on what has been said.
The challenge of this type of prayer is that you don’t always know where it is going to lead, but it can offer a real insight into where your enquirer or catechumen are in their journey.
* For those making initial enquiry I would use part of the gospel, read once and invite them to spend a couple of minutes in quiet reflection on what it is saying to them,
You might also find it useful to look at the Rite of Acceptance with the enquirer. In the first acceptance of the gospel all the proposed addresses stress that faith leads to ‘eternal life’ #52.
What does eternal life mean to those approaching the catholic church? How does the promise of eternal life impinge on their present way of living? Does it involve change and if so what support will they need from the community?
This also offers consideration for the discernment process. The uncatechised baptised may benefit from celebrating a Rite of Welcome #381. This needs to be discerned.
Discernment is also needed when considering the committed non catholic churchgoer. Perhaps in their previous church they were involved in church ministries and so may need very little ‘doctrinal and spiritual preparation’ #391. Their individual journey will help channel their journey, having regard that the Rite of Reception ‘is so arranged that no greater burden than necessary is required...’#387.
Whatever the individual journey lectionary based catechesis is an essential tool.
A Reflection for All Saints
Holiness- A Gift Offered to All the Baptised
Once again we are invited to celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. We can admire and be inspired by the example of all the saints and be aided by their prayers. But as we celebrate we can also be challenged, challenged with the invitation to become one of their number!
Our reaction to this may take many forms, perhaps it is ‘Lord, I am not worthy...’ or alternatively we may share the sentiments of Groucho Marx who famously said “I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.” And yet the challenge and the invitation remain. By God’s grace we are called to become saints.
Many will know that this theme was emphasised at Vatican II and again significantly at the turn of the Millennium with these words:
“stressing holiness remains more than ever an urgent pastoral task. It is necessary therefore to rediscover the full practical significance of Chapter 5 of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, dedicated to the ‘universal call to holiness’. The Council Fathers laid such stress on this point, not just to embellish ecclesiology with a kind of spiritual veneer, but to make the call to holiness an intrinsic and essential aspect of their teaching on the Church. The rediscovery of the Church as ‘mystery’, or as a people ‘gathered together by the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’, was bound to bring with it a rediscovery of the Church's ‘holiness’, understood in the basic sense of belonging to him who is in essence the Holy One, the ‘thrice Holy’ (cf. Is 6:3). To profess the Church as holy means to point to her as the Bride of Christ, for whom he gave himself precisely in order to make her holy (Eph 5:25-26). This as it were objective gift of holiness is offered to all the baptised.”(NMI 30)
This striking last sentence deserves some consideration, it tells us clearly that the gift of holiness is offered to all the baptised. This gift of holiness is offered therefore to us and to all those that we journey with on the RCIA process, all seeking baptism and full belonging to the Church. It reminds us that we are all on a journey. Some of us may be on a journey of initiation, but all of us are on the journey towards holiness. On this journey we accompany each other. And it is ultimately, from an eternal perspective, it is the only journey that really counts.
Pope John Paul II goes on to stress that the gift of holiness “in turn becomes a task, which must shape the whole of Christian life: ‘This is the will of God, your sanctification’ (1 Th 4:3). It is a duty which concerns not only certain Christians: ‘All the Christian faithful, of whatever state or rank, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity’”. (NMI 30)
So as we celebrate together, as we journey together, let us take this opportunity to be open to holiness, to be open to the gift that it is, and open to the task that it entails. And as we do so let us remember that many have trod this path before us, and pray for us to join them.
How is God ‘Abba’ to us?
Before all the important moments of his life, Jesus takes time out to be with his father.
Luke gives us a slightly shorter version of Jesus's response to the question 'Teach us to pray', beginning with a simple intimate greeting equivalent to 'Papa' or 'Dad', and continuing as we know 'may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test.' Again the simplicity strikes me - 'may your kingdom come' - may we really live out what we believe and share the life you give us with others, bringing your kingdom among us; and may we rely on you each day to nourish us with your life, and forgive us as we forgive each other. For the catechumen, and for each of us in the community, our life in Christ is like a spiral, ever deepening, the more we open to the truth Jesus gives us. And the truth today is staggering - that God is our 'dad'. In the human family, the dad is traditionally the member of the family responsible for providing for the needs of the body - food, shelter and warmth. He gives identity to his children. SO a son becomes a man and knows himself and his abilities from the way his father relates to him and what he says to and about his son. And in the same way, a daughter gains her identity as a woman through the way her father treats her and communicates with her. The father also provides protection and security. (A mother, and siblings/ friends have different roles in the formation of our person too, which you can align with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus, but I wont go into these here).
Towards the end of the catechumenal journey of conversion (either at the end of the catechumenate period, or during Lent), the Lord's Prayer, our prayer of the church, as an integral part of our daily prayer and our liturgy - is ritually 'presented' or proclaimed for and over the catechumens (or elect) - God is drawing them to himself, like a father who lifts up his child and holds them close (Hosea 11). This is a very moving moment - a moment of recognition of the compassion and love of God calling them to the waters of baptism - as the rite suggests: 'Give them new birth in your living waters, so that they may be numbered among your adopted children.' It is a preparation for the moment when they as baptised Christians will for the first time recite this prayer in the liturgical assembly of the faithful. It is a sign of recognition by the community of the progress of the candidates in spiritual maturity - they recognse who they are becoming. It echoes the process of human development in a family too.
In order for the catechumens to be able to publicly receive and pray the 'Our Father', it would be vitally important for the community, as represented in the team members and sponsor, to be aware of the need for ritual prayer throughout the catechumenate to help them towards this point - blessings, annointing and minor exorcism - all of which are there for affirmation and healing. None of our family backgrounds are perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Ask a room full of people to put up their hands if 
they consider they come from a 'dysfunctional family' and 95% will do so! For all sorts of reasons, our family members may not have understood or were unable to f'perfectly' fulfil their roles in our lives - and this can lead to a misunderstanding of the who God is as Loving Father, or who Jesus is, or the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the blessings, annointings and minor exorcisms are to heal the wounds and lies that may have been learned from our experience, enable us to understand and forgive our families/those in close relationship for any inadequacies in their roles, and to open to the truth of the incredible intimacy offered by God, who says call me 'Abba' , offering identity, security and protection, as well as giving a joyful purpose for our lives as Christian family reaching out to love, heal and serve in the world.
The invitation to the elect following the Presentation of the Lord's Prayer has a prophetic ring about it:
'Although you cannot yet participate fully in the Lord's eucharist, stay with us as a sign of our hope that all God's children will eat and drink with the Lord and work with his Spirit to re-create the face of the earth'.
Setting souls free…
A conversation a couple of weeks ago has left me wondering … if the person to whom I was speaking was seeking full communion with the Church (they weren’t) how would the Team deal with what the person came with?
It was clear from the conversation that there were some mental health issues but, sensing some deep spiritual disturbance, I continued with gentle questioning which brought out the fact that the person had been heavily involved in tarot reading and that many aspects of their life was now controlled by the cards. They were convinced of the presence of an evil spirit and terrified that, if they got rid of the cards, it would harm them and members of their family. We got as far as putting the cards out of easy reach and I am hoping that we will get as far as the cards being given to me or to someone else who can destroy them on the person’s behalf… it would take a long time for them to be able to do this for themselves.
But the thought lingered – and so I thought this opportunity to prompt discussion could be helpful not just to me but to others who might be walking alongside someone who has had a similar experience.
If the person is not baptised, there are, of course, the minor exorcisms where there is provision made for a prayer asking that, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, God will remove “the worship of false gods and magic, witchcraft and dealings with the dead” (Prayer B, p42 of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). But how often is this part of the prayer used? Is there a temptation to avoid saying the words out loud? Are we inclined to see such a prayer as appropriate in mission territories – or perhaps in Pentecostal churches – but less necessary for us? And yet, tarot – astrology – wicca – mediums – and more – are increasingly prevalent in the UK and many who are searching for “the spiritual” will often have tried some of them on their way to Christianity. Some may have emerged apparently unscathed. Others, such as the person with whom I was speaking, may be very seriously affected both mentally and spiritually and in need of medical intervention but also deep spiritual healing.
People who are baptised may also have been attracted to similar practices. The Rite does suggest that some of the rites belonging to the catechumenate could be used in the preparation of the candidates preparing for full communion. We often use the presentations of the Creed, Lord’s Prayer and Gospels and a penitential rite – but would we consider bringing in the minor exorcisms – and how would we do it? Obviously, there will be occasions when this is best done in private – and some people may need a fairly lengthy process of coming to trust that they have been set free of what was holding them bound with several rites along the way. (Discernment would be needed by catechists, sponsors and clergy as to how this might work bearing in mind the individual’s vulnerability). But might there be a place for the minor exorcisms to take place within a meeting – or during a service in the church? Does anyone have experience of doing this – and how did it work?
The person I was speaking to has a long journey ahead and its outcome is far from clear.
The prayer has to be that whatever brought them to take the step of getting in touch will give them the strength to continue the journey to healing… that they will continue to search for the truth – the real truth that will set them – and keep them – free.
Cometh the hour…
I'd always dutifully thought of the miracle at Cana in terms of a foretaste of the new wine of the Kingdom. I've always listened to the homily! But at Mass today another thought crept in, a picture of Jesus at this morning's wedding, waiting for a sign: when to begin the Great Work. Having refused to turn stones to bread for his own hunger and called his disciples together for whatever is to come, suddenly here is his mother at his elbow, giving him the same story: the wine has run out: my son, they have no wine! Jesus has promised his disciples visions of angels ascending and descending, but here is a crisis on the catering front. He says to her, Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come. But Mary has had years to ponder the angel's message, and she recognises hours when they come. She gives the instructions: Do whatever he tells you, and all are astounded at the quality of the wine-from-water.
It is as though Jesus realised that the sign he was waiting for might not be the mighty voice of his Father, but the quiet voice of his mother speaking out a human need. And so his ministry begins, life-giving miracles and meals with friends, transfiguration on the mountaintop and stories of lost coins. This is a man who will know if a sick woman touches his cloak to find healing, who will find faith in unexpected places and change his attitude, who will fight against ordinary, unthinking human injustice. Heaven may well open, with angels ascending and descending, but in the meantime Jesus goes among people who are in need. Nothing is too small or too great for the One who has put death beneath his feet, the second person of the Trinity.
Following Jesus, trying to be like him, is something which comes gradually. I've written elsewhere about how I fell into the Church through the liturgy and the music, a route I wouldn't change. But it meant that Jesus himself became for me a public figure glimpsed through the liturgy, whether as one of the 'presences of Christ' or a the star of the Gospels. In catechesis, he wears many hats: Son of God, Son of Man, Saviour, Emmanuel, Head of the Body which is the Church. To meet Jesus for the first time as someone who responds to the people he meets every day is something altogether different. Jesus challenged by his mother, Jesus, compassionate, Jesus, quick on the uptake, Jesus, powerful. All these hats, these titles are for something, and that something is us, his people. And not when the hour comes, but now, in our need.
What does this morning's Gospel mean for us today? Maybe, if we are following Jesus Christ and trying to be like he is, just maybe it's a reminder that the right time for compassionate action is not later on, as a New Year's resolution, or during Lent, or when we think we're ready, but now, now, now.
Listen: whose voices do you hear?
A prayer every catechumen should know
Listening to the Gospel on Sunday I was struck again by the power of the Magnifcat. It bursts in as a response to Elizabeth's friendly and formal greeting. It is as though these words have been bubbling up in Mary and Elizabeth is first person she has seen who can begin to understand what she is going through.
A favourite bugbear of mine are those songs which are predominantly in the first person, 'songs about me and Jesus, which often come from different ecclesial traditions fit uneasily in our liturgy with its ecclesial/communal dimension. I was once asked, 'yes, but what about the Magnificat - is that in the first person' But looking at the text it anything but self-centred. Elizabeth says Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled. Mary's response is two-fold: it's not about Mary it is about God — she is blessed for what God has done for her; he is holy, and she has come to realise that the fulfilment of God's promise affects everyone — the world will be turned upside down by the child in her womb. We sometimes forget that Mary sings her song before Christ is born — she is a prophet.
So why should every catechumen know this prayer? Well, it is a core liturgical text. Sung by the Church every day as part of Evening Prayer. It occurs a number of times in the Lectionary either as part of the Gospel, as yesterday on the Assumption, or in place of the psalm. When the liturgy refers to a song of thanksgiving such as following communion or at the end of a penitential service the Magnificat is often given as an example. So part of the reason a catechumen should know it is so that they can participate in the prayer life of the Church. There is both a richness and a radicalism in the text which has sustain the Church's prayer across the centuries.
Furthermore I think it offers a model of prayer:
- that the fundamental attitude or starting point should praise and thanksgiving — for what God has done for us
- that our petitions should remember the lowly and hungry — that God has an option for the poor
- that our prayer links us with the wider Church across time and space — even to Abraham
- that God's promises will be fulfilled.
Some thoughts about putting it into practice
- Ideally introduce the text within the context of the Gospel passage
- Use the Magnificat in your prayer
- Sing it — it's the original Marian hymn. There are plenty of settings — try to use one which sticks closely to the text. If your parish has a regular sung Evening Prayer why not use that version.
- Use it as a building block to praying Evening Prayer together possibly in a simplified form.
- Make or obtain a prayer card with the text on and give one to each catechumen inviting them to pray it every day.
- Have an Advent reflection using the Magnificat perhaps focussing on Mary'. What does the text tell us about Mary?
- Magnificat is the first word of the Latin text and is used a shorthand way of referring to the text in any language. It can be translated as proclaims, rejoices, glorifies.
- The clip art is from a site run by Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Peru who provide an image for every Sunday
Being dogmatic or About a Boy
At the recent Network Study Days One of Us one thing that I heard a number of times was either 'I have never thought of it like that' or I had not realised it meant that'. These moments of revelation were often connected with fundamental aspects of rite. They were theological equivalent for not being able to see the wood for the trees. We may have read the Rite through but unless we have grasped some guiding principles or recognise the assumptions that the text is making we may miss the meaning. To give one example I think the rite assumes that parishes are places of life long learning. A surface reading of the rite might assume that mystagogia ends at Pentecost rather than the neophyte is initiated into a community that continues to want know more about the love of God and has opportunities to do so.
One of my favourite phrases in my favourite paragraph (75) is a suitable catechesis… 'accommodated to the liturgical year'. You could breeze past that without a pause. An interesting aspect of the Rite is that does not contain a syllabus, at first glance there are only rites but I would argue the information is all there. But first a quotation from Pope Benedict:
…in the Church's ancient tradition the process of Christian formation always had an experiential character. While not neglecting a systematic understanding of the content of the faith, it centred on a vital and convincing encounter with Christ,as proclaimed by authentic witnesses. Sacramentum Caritatis 64
This echoes the General Directory for Catechesis that the object of catechesis is to promote communion with Christ. (GDC 30)
Back to my favourite phrase. What is the purpose of the liturgical year — 'to unfold the entire mystery of Christ' (GNLYC 1). I would suggest that within the simple phrase 'accommodated to the liturgical year' is a the foundation of the catechetical content of the catechumenate — to know the life, mission, teaching, passion, death and resurrection of Christ as unfolded through the liturgical year. We hear this story unfolding but it is not enough to know the story that would be seeing only wood. The story has meaning and challenges to how we live our lives.
In a review of the recent book by Karen Armstrong The Case for God the reviewer Paul Vallely summarised part of Armstrong's argument about the differences between earlier centuries understanding of belief and current perceptions:
We see a number of revealing shifts in meaning 'I believe' has become scientised to mean 'I assert these propositions to be empirically correct.' What it originally meant was 'I pledge my heart and my loyalty'. Jesus was asking for commitment not credulity. Similarly the word dogma now means a ruling laid down by authority. But originally it meant a teaching that cannot be expressed verbally but which is intuited through the liturgy.
…a vital and convincing encounter with Christ,as proclaimed by authentic witnesses…
A final reminder as to why the life of Jesus is not only foundational but necessary is the results of the Biblical Literacy survey. It is an area rich in anecdotes which we who are familiar can find amusing or astonishing, or perhaps should remind us that we can take these things for granted. As in one of a group of art students going round the National Gallery after seeing numerous Nativity scenes and asking why is it always a boy?
Open to the Spirit
Pentecost is upon us – the formal time of Mystagogy is complete, at least for those who were initiated at Easter and in at least some parishes things quieten down again in the catechumenal programme.
Lent and Easter sees extraordinary activity for our RCIA groups. The Rite of Election, Scrutinies, and the celebration of the sacraments at the Vigil, and then adapting ourselves to the distinctive form of catechesis that is Mystagogy and finally the gathering of new Catholics with their bishop. Now there’s a checklist and a half. Which of these things have we done? And which have we failed to do. What omissions were due to us, and which were due to others? What might we learn from how kept Lent and Easter with our catechumens and neophytes this year for what we might want to do next year?
In the parish where I serve our catechumenal programme used to really quieten after Pentecost. In fact it went into complete hibernation – with an expectation that it would start up again in the Autumn. This was the practice up until this year.
That things are different this year is not especially because we decided to do things differently, (and some might say ‘properly’). However change has been thrust upon us by those who have been coming along to our parish enquirers meetings this year.
Unusually (for us) those people have mostly been unbaptised people, and have been young parents with pre-school children. The number of pre-school children for whom our enquirers have responsibility presented us with an early challenge.
Our Enquirers group has traditionally met on a weekday evening. This year’s participants were happy with this so long as they could bring their babies and toddlers with them. The group leaders found this a challenge too far so after six weeks or so we switched to an afternoon meeting which was good for the parents and ok for our leadership team.
The next challenge was just how much formation the group needed at enquiry stage. It was quickly clear that they would not be ready for the sacraments at Easter this year, and that was quite a break with tradition in this parish, where we have for many years operated a curtailed and constrained Autumn to Easter programme. So we had no Easter baptisms or confirmations from this group and had a very much more extended enquiry stage, because the members were very clear they were not ready to make any commitment.
Interestingly enough we did have a number of confirmations this Easter – for a number of adults, already regular in their practice, independently approached the parish team wanting to receive the sacrament. Our enquirers not yet having become catechumens we found it better to establish a new group which met weekly during Lent to prepare for confirmation.
The experience of Lent/Easter was a powerful one for our Enquirers and has helped them all to come to the decision that they want to make the commitment to continue their exploration of faith in a more committed fashion. Which itself presented the team with an issue – what to do about welcoming into the catechumenate, and what form might that catechumenate take.
Over recent years we have not made much of the role of sponsor: the RCIA group itself has tended to take on that responsibility. But this year was to be different in this respect also. We’ve encouraged the enquirers to think about who they already know that in fact is exercising something of that role. And where those people are ready and able we have chosen them to be the sponsors.
The Rite of Entry into the Catechumenate is being celebrated on Trinity Sunday. The season of Easter has come to take on a particular initiatory flavour for our parish. This is not only because of the (usual) celebrations of adult initation at the Easter Vigil. In our diocese confirmations take place in the Easter season and this year all our parish first Holy Communions (about 100!) have taken place over the last 4 Sundays of the Easter season. But this year, when Easter has finished we gather the next Sunday to celebrate a rite which has us mark out work to be done in readiness for Easter 2010.
Our present expectation is that the group will be ready for baptism next Easter but as flexibility has been our keyword so far this year, who knows?
And as for catechumenal process, one good thing that has come from this group is that because of their various other commitments they are happy to try out Sunday dismissal catechesis. This will be something new for us all. So please keep us in your prayers!
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)
You are warmly invited…..
Lent! and it begins with a blissful invitation 'Come back to me with all your heart'. At the beginning of this period in the ritual text is the quote 'The water that I shall give will turn into a spring of eternal life'. That sounds mysterious......
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RCIA 125: 'In the liturgy and liturgical catechesis of Lent, the reminder of baptism already received or the preparation for its reception, as well as the theme of repentance, renew the entire community along with those being prepared to celebrate the paschal mystery..... for both the elect and the cmmunity Lent is a time for spiritual recollection.'
We are being drawn into an ever-deepening experience of who Christ the Saviour is for us personally and communally. Through the Word, in Sunday Gospels, in scrutinies and presentations, we are invited to come closer and be touched by the one who has given us living water to quench our thirst, light for our path, and the freedom to live life to the full, in love and service of others. Its an opportunity for each of us to be reminded of who we are and who we are becoming, and to renew our resolve to hold fast. We might take time in these next six weeks to look at the initiation rites for ourselves, and through the lens of these promises, our intimate covenantal relationship can take on new meaning and hope. The whole purpose of the Gospel of John, proclaimed in the scrutinies, is our union wth Christ through the Spirit - so no academic pursuit this! No requirement to learn or acquire or achieve or posess - but simply to open, and allow for what is happening amongst the people in the Gospel narratives to happen among us in our communities. These are not rituals instituted and left behind by a departed Jesus, but Jesus risen and present in and around us now.
So with a double-awareness of Jesus in his time and history, and Jesus in similar movement in our lives, we respond to the invitation, the question:
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What is your thirst? What darkness or blind spots are in your life? What causes you to remain bound up in 'deathly' attitudes?
We read the gospel differently when we are hungry, says Gustavo Guttierez. You could by extension say we read the gospel differently when we are thirsty, blind or bound up with troubles? And we discover that Christ meets us right where we are, with living water, light for our path, new life full of hope and meaning.
So yes, I am looking forward to Lent and I pray to be open to both personal and community renewal.
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Lord God, You created the human race and are the author of its renewal. Bless all your adopted children and add these chosen ones to the harvest of your new covenant. As true children of the promise, may they rejoice in eternal life, won, not by the power of nature, but through the mystery of your grace. We ask this ghrough Christ our Lord. Amen (RCIA 122, B, Prayer over the Elect)