Christ the Shepherd King
This reflection is mainly for the RCIA leaders. We guide others on their path of formation and transformation, and the first reading from this year’s feast of Christ the King is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our practice. All RCIA leaders need to learn about – as well as from – the supreme Shepherd so as to discern how to guide the “flock” entrusted to them. We will look at the actions and attitudes of the shepherd in Ezekiel 34:11-112, 15-17.
God is deciding to take over from the shepherds of Israel. Stepping in because of their negligence and greed, he is taking over his own flock. He is going to be vigilant, keeping a careful watch. No wonder we celebrate the Easter Vigil, the mother of all vigils, as a blueprint of this heartfelt involvement. To have all sheep in view requires lots of alertness and conscious movement, but most of all, one’s compassionate interest. Here we can stop and ask ourselves: how much am I really interested in the people in my RCIA group beyond the meetings? And how well do I keep all of them in view?
The beautiful image of a shepherd standing in the middle of his flock so as to see all is next. There is a certain weight and gravity about it. This is perhaps something we constantly need to learn to do, as well as to recognise and point out. In other words, we need to be flexible and constantly move with the moving flock so as to keep this “middle ground” of neutrality, good perspective and clear vision. Yet we also need to learn to recognise and bring to people’s consciousness the Good Shepherd who is always standing attentively in our midst, wherever we are on our journey. Whether we know it or not, Christ is always this reference point from our birth to death – and beyond. So the next question can be: where do I stand, and where is the place of Christ in the RCIA process that I lead?
And then comes the rescuing. Of course, God does all of it – but often by using our own lives, gifts and resources. Interestingly, the sheep are scattered only when the conditions spell out poor vision: in the mist and darkness. Baptism is the sacrament of illumination par exellence. Yet even on the way to it, the light of Christ often comes through the fellow pilgrims and dispels the power of darkness. Just like our candles do at Easter Vigil when they are lit - first from the Paschal candle, but also from one another. So how do I encourage, respect and foster everyone’s “glow”?
The provision of rest comes next. Pointing out where to rest is God’s prerogative – it is the Lord who speaks – but we can assist those sacred moments of rejuvenation by taking prayer and liturgy seriously. So seriously that it becomes an occasion of authentic peace, childlike wonder or intimate delight. How can we make prayer become a real stepping stone to a life lived to the full?
And then comes the searching, bringing back, bandaging, strengthening, watching over… Notice that each activity matches the need perfectly: the shepherd does not bandage healthy animals! So what are the needs of each individual in my flock? And do I respond to them appropriately? And finally, do I really watch over the “fat and healthy” stock as well? Or do I assume that there is no risk of injury on the way just because they always seem fine?
Let’s learn all those shepherding skills from the Good Shepherd whose loving gaze has been resting on us, and on the people in our care, all our lives.
Pentecost and beyond: living and sharing our life with God in the everyday!
God with us in every day relationships
How was it for you? Easter? Pentecost? Trinity Sunday?
Walking alongside our elect, we have trod the lenten path in preparation for sacraments of initiation at Easter. We have rejoiced with them in the Easter Vigil, and have lived and shared our faith with our new Catholic members throughout the 50-days of the Resurrection of the Lord. We havecontinued with joy through Pentecost, and yesterday, with the feast of the Most Holy Trinity we again gathered together as a parish community, Body of Christ, to know, celebrate and experience how much God loves us. I was very struck by the Opening Prayer yesterday - in the current 1973 Missal translation: '
Father, you sent your Word to bring us truth and your Spirit to make us holy. Through them we come to know the mystery of your life. Help us to worship you, one God in three Persons, by proclaiming and living our faith in you.
The 1998 Icel text, also in our current missals as an alternative opening prayer reads:
God, we praise you. Father all-powerful, Christ Lord and Saviour, Spirit of love. You reveal yourself in the depths of our being, drawing us to share in your life and your love. One God, three Persons, be near to the people formed in your image, close to the world your love brings to life.
In the first Reading God proclaims Godself to be 'a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness.' In the second reading we are exorted to 'try to grow perfect, help one another, be united, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.' In the Gospel 'God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.'
If we are praying these texts, opening our hearts and lives, they will have an impact - they will renew us and shape us, and be the lens through which we see the world and respond to people and events in the ordinary every-day of life. Every moment, bidden or unbidden, God is with us, revealing Godself in the depths of our being, drawing us to share in the Divine Life and Love. Wow! It's all a mind-blowing mystery. We are made new! We dont have to react in the same old way when the wrong buttons are pushed. We can see things differently, we can take the long view. Summer is a great time to allow this renewal to get into our bones - like vitamin D from sunshine, we need it. In quietly reflecting on our experience of the liturgy - what did I hear? What did I see? What did I sense? What did I touch? - we will find ourselves living it! Yes, the Lord is with you! The words and actions of the liturgy reflecting our relationship and sharing in the life of God, are echoed in the actions and words of daily events, daily encounters with others. As St Benedict use to say when he encoutered an old friend 'It is Easter indeed!'
Action?
Tune in and be consciously aware more often during the day - to the Word and the Spirit at work in YOU, achieving so much more than you can ask or imagine!
Look out and see just how close God is to the world his love brings to life.
In your journeys to and fro, God direct you. In your happiness and pleasure, God bless you. In care, anxiety, or trouble, God sustain you. In peril and in danger, God protect you. (Archbishop Timothy Olufsen, 1918-1992, Nigeria)
Lent – an important time for RCIA
Lent can be very much a time of being alone in the wilderness. We may discover that we rely on some worldly things more than we care to admit to cope with life. Yet giving them up helps us to see things that matter more starkly in the clean dry air of the desert. We can only ponder what Jesus was thinking about for forty days in the wilderness but after fasting for such a long time it is not surprising that he was very hungry and this exposed him to temptation.
Jesus normally warns us to avoid temptation. He asks us to pray 'lead us not into temptation'(Matthew 6:13) and suggests that 'if your right eye should be your downfall, tear it out' (Matthew 5:29). But in Lent as we open ourselves up to God we also may expose ourselves to testing but, if we approach it in the right way, we do so in a safe environment. To help us to learn to swim better the instructor asks us to jump into the water but remains always on hand to save us if we get in trouble. Lent is, of course, a time to deepen our relationship with the Lord through learning humility through repentence (we discover we really aren't as good as we think we are), and learning to trust in Him.
Lent may be a time of being alone with God - yet, paradoxically, being alone is a communal activity. We are alone with our brothers and sisters of our parish community. The wilderness is full of our friends! For the catechumens and candidates preparing for the Easter Vigil it is a period of Purification and Enlightenment. But then that is what Lent should be for all of us. This is why the RCIA process involves all the parish community. The catechumens and candidates can be a great blessing for us all, an encouragement and a challenge in our own Lenten journey, and a source of joy in the Lord.
The RCIA process offers a route by which people can prepare to be received into the Catholic Church which is inseparable from growing in personal faith. It also offers nothing less than a means of promoting renewal within a parish community. The more the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is implemented in full and the greater the opportunities it offers.
In our parish, as in many others that 'do' RCIA, we have never really carried it out in full, and what actually happens is somewhere between the ideal and what seems to be practical. This year we have gone increasingly lectionary-based, and carried out a combined Rite of Acceptance (of Catechumens) and Welcoming (of candidates already baptised) in Sunday Mass. We combined these because this year we have fewer participants than usual, just one Catechumen and two candidates. It is important to emphasise that catechumens and candidates are different yet just as important to see them as fellow travellers with us on their journey in faith. The Rite of Acceptance and Welcoming did not take up much of the Mass yet it proved very meaningful not only to both Catechumen and Candidates but provided a 'before your very eyes' experience of the work of the Holy Spirit. As Lent began the Rite of Election and Enrollment in the Cathedral a few weeks later gave added to the momentum. Two weeks later our catechumen took part in the First Scrutiny in Sunday Mass. The candidates came to support their catechumen brother and the scrutiny concluded with all three being presented with the Creed. Thus the people of the parish have their own experience of Lent deepened by being part of it. This year we are going to carry out the second and third scrutiny within the weekly RCIA meeting but next year we shall consider doing all three in Mass, particularly if we have more catechumens. Perhaps each scrutiny at a different Sunday Mass so that more of the community might become involved.
So far we have not gone as far as dismissal. It is quite possible that once we started the practice it might well become accepted much more readily than one might think. We considered introducing the idea towards the end of Lent this year as the first step in extending it to the whole period of the catechumenate. To do it this year might be to expect too much of our one catechumen but perhaps we shall have more next year and we can extend dismissal to the whole of Lent. In our parish we tend to have more candidates than catechumens and the candidates consist a mixture of those who have already been catechised as practicising member of a non-Catholic Christian Community and some who, though baptised as infants, have had little or no further catechesis. The Rite suggests that the latter might be dismissed but the catechised might not, with an element of choice. For this year at least, with only one Catechumen and two candidates , it seemed better to keep them together and encourage each other. Perhaps we shall have more catechumens next year, do all the scrutinies in Mass and start to introduce the dismissal principal.
The more the members of the parish become involved in the journey of the Catechumens and Candidates and the more they will share their joy at the Easter Vigil and the more the newcomers will be a blessing to the whole community. After the period of mystagogia and they descend from the mountain of transfiguration comes the challenge not only of integrating the new members of the body of Christ into the parish but in appreciating that they represent new life which has the potential to renew us all. Are we going to be content to let them merge into the inward-looking background or are they going to lead us in inviting strangers into our church to 'come and see a man who has told me everything I ever did'? (John 4:29). Our new brothers and sisters of the Easter Vigil offer us the opportunity to see our parish community to grow not only in numbers but in spiritual depth and in the Joy of the Lord.
May we, along with our new brothers and sisters, all be Easter people!
Believing in the Past
I have recently been reading Paul Bradshaw's Reconstructing Early Christian Worship. It follows on from two previous books: The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship and Eucharistic Origins. Paul Bradshaw is an liturgical historian who is interested what we know of the practice of the Early Church. He describes himself as a splitter rather than an a lumper. A lumper is someone who makes connection and fits the pieces into an overall picture; a splitter looks at the evidence and is suspicious of any suggestion that goes far beyond the text.
In this most recent book he looks at his three areas of interest: Eucharist, Baptism and Prayer, and explores a series of questions. His method is to look at what various writers or Church documents in the early Church tell us but recognising the geographical differences. This requires a careful reading of the texts but also acknowledgement that the we only ever have glimpses of the picture. Imagine, for example, that in 100 years time this blog was the evidence for RCIA - what picture would you construct.
There are 3 chapters on Baptism: Catechumens and the Gospel, the Profession of Faith and Varieties of Anointing, The third traces the differences in the practice across the churches of pre and post-baptismal anointing, The first, Catechumens and the Gospel, ask the question at what point did Catechumens hear the gospel. In looking at the evidence from the first 3 centuries the possible answer seems to be surprising late. Initial formation seemed to been ethical — how to live.
The second chapter of the section, the Profession of Faith, builds on the first chapter. Bradshaw first suggests that a profession of faith seems to be a key element in the process of initiation and then makes the distinction that we cannot be certain that credal texts in early documents are a record of catechetical or liturgical use. Looking at 4th century Syrian sources he notes that there was shift from a profession of faith in Christ coming when catechumens began to hear the Gospel, to a fuller credal statement which is connected to baptism. In Roman practice he makes the interesting proposal that the text: 'Do you believe…' 'I do believe' is not just a consequence of Latin not have a word for 'yes' but that form of question and answer is that of a Roman contract. So he suggests that someone being initiated understood themselves as making a contract with Christ rather than just assenting to a set of beliefs. This has implications for infant baptism as a sponsor is, in Roman legal terms, a proxy making contract.
Bradshaw does not study and write about the past just so that we know about the past but is fully aware of its implications for the present. He is not though someone who wants to recreate the past rather he wants to do a couple of things. One, help us understand what we are doing at present within the history of what the Church has done and secondly not to get stuck with the idea that there is one way of doing or understanding something.
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
The heart of RCIA
St Paul is at the heart of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. In the Easter Vigil, the beating heart of the process, the reading from St Paul to Romans describes what we are about:
When we were baptised in Christ Jesus we were baptised into his death.
Other traditions in the Church taking a different set of imagery for Baptism based on the Baptism of Jesus and John's writing of the water and the Spirit, but we have Paul and the intimate connection between baptism and the Paschal mystery - the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. If the Paschal Mystery is the Big Bang it is Paul who is its Stephen Hawkings! Coming so soon after the event and realising that everything had changed. That Christ's death and resurrection changed everything, but not only that but that we have a part in it.
For all his rhetoric Paul's image of the body is central to his thinking — that we all have a part in being Christ, we are Christ's ambassadors.
Paul is at the heart of the Rite in another way. At the very centre of all Paul's writing is a person — Christ. Even though Paul never met Jesus in the flesh it is his response and devotion to the person who turned his life and all his thoughts around. Nothing was ever the same again.
In this year of St Paul:
- See how the second reading at Sunday Mass might feed your reflection and catechesis.
- Find out what your diocese is doing to celebrate the year.
- Have you a favourite passage — why not share it with your catechumens.
- Give a number of short passages from Paul for their prayer and reflection — there are times when Paul seems to be a string of familiar quotations
All white on the night
Something I have learnt through experience is never ask a group a question that you do not know how to answer yourself. This is not about being omniscience but being prepared first to draw on one's own experience before expecting others to do likewise.
As we look beyond the Triduum to the Easter Season and see 6-7 weeks of mystagogy we need to remind ourselves the celebration of the Triduum is the starting point. Perhaps we need to first note down our experience of the liturgies of the three days. I am a great one for jotting down the practical details: what went well, what needs to be attended to next time, what could be better. This is all very useful when we come to prepare the following year's liturgies. But here I am more thinking of a journal. Reflections and impressions over three days. Even if you are busy as a liturgical minister in some form your need to participate. Participation is the first condition of mystagogy.
On Holy Thursday
- What were your expectations before hand?
- Was there a word or a phrase in the readings that stayed with you?
- Which symbols caught your attention?
- How did you feel at the end?
On Good Friday
- What words would you use to describe the liturgy?
- During the intercessions for whom did you pray?
- What did feel like to kiss the cross?
At the Easter Vigil
- What did you see as you gathered around the fire?
- How many times did images of water come in the readings?
- How would you depict the liturgy of baptism?
These questions are only starters. After you have got down your impressions take the opportunity to come back to them, to reflect on them. Ask why did you think or feel that, what can learn about what we celebrate, about Christ.
These reflections will enable us to help others to reflect. In the end though it will be the neophytes who lead us deeper into the mysteries. This paradox is at the heart of the Easter gospel.
When I prepare the liturgy booklet the one thing I am likely to forget is the reading that changes each year — the gospel at the Easter Vigil. One of the element that is common to gospel in all three years is that the resurrection is announced by someone in white garments. In Matthew 'His face was like lightning, his robe white as snow'. It is not too fanciful make a connection with those who will rise up from the waters and put on a white garment, white as snow perhaps. In the waters of baptism they will die and rise with Christ, they are the sign that Christ is risen in our midst. From them over the coming weeks we will learn what it all means.