Walking the Rite way

It’s a beautiful spring morning as I sit to write: the kind we’ve been longing for and which is much more Easter than most of the preceding twenty eight. Cold yes, but with the brightness of morning sunshine promising to warm water and soil and hearts. A wonderful morning to look to what will be next Sunday’s First Reading (Acts 6:1-7) and which begins with the words:

“About this time, when the number of disciples was increasing …”

It’s a familiar story: the good news of increasing numbers, tempered by struggle and tension; we’re not being fairly treated! And with it comes the requirement for the early church to listen to the complaints and adapt to meet the needs of the current situation. It’s certainly a relevant text for our own times, but what about the neophytes and their continuing reflection on their new status as full members of the Body of Christ? As the apostles considered ways of delegating and involving more people in the tasks of ministry, perhaps it’s a good time to consider ways in which the neophytes’ particular gifts and talents can be welcomed and put to good use within the particular parish community to which they belong. The rite instructs us:

“The period of post-baptismal catechesis is of great significance for both the neophytes and the rest of the faithful. Through it the neophytes with the help of their godparents, should experience a full and joyful welcome into the community and enter into closer ties with the other faithful. The faithful in turn should derive from it a renewal of inspiration and of outlook.” [R.C.I.A. 236]

In my last parish we made a special effort to undertake the necessary discernment and then training and support across various ministries in order that by Pentecost our neophytes could be seen to be active in an appropriate area of ministry. So we had new readers, new cleaners, new flower-arrangers, new welcomers and companions on the journey for new enquirers. Sadly, the new life of Easter can be restricted to a narrow, spiritual focus if we’re not careful and the opportunity to bring new people into new areas of ministry can be overlooked. Just as that clear blue sky of a sunny spring morning can highlight the tired paintwork and dingy windows that have survived the darkness and gloom of winter so too the Easter life of resurrection can highlight the need to revitalise ministries that have perhaps grown tired, albeit settled and comfortable. A burst of energy and enthusiasm can be just the Easter sunshine required to warm the water, the soil and the hearts of our parish ministries. Whilst a failure to consider ways of integrating the new life the neophytes represent into the existing life of the community risks leaving them marginalised and under-valued. There’s a wonderful David Whyte poem, Everything is Waiting For You, that I think speaks to both neophytes and the community at this special time, especially the final verse:

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.

Perhaps part of the joy of mystagogia is the discovery that for both neophyte and parish community everything is indeed waiting!

• Everything is Waiting For You, Poems by David Whyte, 2003 Many Rivers Press

It’s a shame that, at least as far as Sundays are concerned, we only hear the story of the disciples on the Road to Emmaus once every three years.  As a story that shows the power of meeting Jesus in the Word and Eucharist, it is wonderful for all Christians - and a real gift for those in these early days of mystagogy.  It’s a Gospel we can go back to from time to time and reflect on how we have met Jesus - and what effect this has had on our own discipleship.

At some point, the weather in the UK has to improve - our bleak weather at Easter must soon give way to springtime! There are signs of spring around us - but they are hard to spot from under and umbrella or behind a scarf and hat. So, having a bit of faith… let us assume that this is the week when it will be warm enough to get outside and maybe take an Emmaus Walk for ourselves.

New Catholics might like to do this with their godparent or sponsor - or it could be done in small groups. The main thing is to ensure that there is space for talk - and space for the silence in which the Word can speak. It can be useful to give each person a certain amount of time - to speak without interruption or to keep silent - their companion offering respectful listening before having their own time to speak.

The Walk can be divided roughly into four parts. Though each part will have its own dynamic and there has to be flexibility if something really significant comes up, it is important that all four areas are experienced to give a sense of wholeness and completion by… Participants can always agree to come back to the parts that seem worth revisiting.

Read the first part of the Emmaus Story: Luke 24: 13-17

What were the sorts of things that we were discussing at the beginning of the Journey to initiation? And what issues along the way caused us to ask hard questions - perhaps even to wonder if this was the right path for us: was this man Jesus actually the one we wanted to follow? What helped to resolve the issues - or are there still things we are pondering on?

Read the second part of the Emmaus Story: Luke 24: 18-27

What are our memories of the Easter Triduum? Of Holy Thursday evening? Of the solemn celebration of the Lord’s Passion and the long hours of waiting at the end of Good Friday and Holy Saturday? How easy was it to feel part of the events we were recalling? What emotions did we experience?
What spoke to us in the Word of God during those days? Where did we hear the voice of Jesus as the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus did - speaking - explaining - challenging - as we listened to the many pieces of Scripture of the Triduum?

Read the third part of the Emmaus Story Luke 24: 28-31 (If this can be timed to arrival at a convenient hostelry or tea room for refreshments so much the better!)

What was the experience of taking part fully in the Liturgy of the Eucharist like? What did it mean for me - does it mean for me - to recognise Jesus in the breaking of bread?

Read the final part of the story: Luke 24: 32-35

So - having encountered our Risen Lord in our confusions and questions - in the Word of God - and in the breaking of bread - what are we going to do with it? Leave it all behind with the hymnbook at the end of Mass? Or…
As we walk back to our own “Jerusalem” what do we take back - and how do we share that with other people?

For neophytes, and those candidates just received into full communion with the Catholic Church, this Second Sunday of Easter marks yet another turning point, as they enter the final period of christian initiation. While remembering the height of the Easter Vigil, it is quite easy to be brought sharply back to the realities of everyday life in the readings of the Second Sunday of Easter. This leads me to ponder four questions. What signs are going to be received in awe by our new catholics (Acts, 2.43)? How will their faith be nurtured? Are they going to have the resilience to continue the post baptismal period of mystagogy? What are the practical considerations for the RCIA team?

As ever I return to the rite: the neophytes, together with those received into full communion with the catholic church #244, #410 ( see #330 for children) now join with the whole community as they:

… grow in deepening their grasp of the paschal mystery and in making it part of their lives through meditation on the Gospel, sharing in the eucharist, and doing the works of charity.

RCIA #244

The above assumes #75 will have been followed in a systematic way: providing appropriate catechesis over sufficient length of time, based on the liturgical year. The Word that was opened up in the period of Dismissal, is now able to be explored and built upon, particularly during the Easter Season when the sacraments of initiation have been encountered, experienced and made one’s own. In the following Sundays all the faithful can be reminded of their baptismal vows (sometimes overshadowed at the Easter Vigil when all thoughts have been with those being baptised). The community is ready for the sacramentals to be opened up anew, to be reminded of the importance of the symbols of our faith: oil, water, bread and wine. Yet one of the greatest ritual symbols is the assembly: this is the community the neophytes will have experienced through sponsors, godparents, catechists and the local church as they were introduced to the christian way of life. Now this relationship develops as they become one with the community, as all journey towards Pentecost, nurtured by liturgical catechesis, the ongoing RCIA sessions and all the people.

The community must never underestimate their role in the initiation process, but this can only occur where the whole church is aware how vital is the ‘the pastoral care of Christian initiation’ (GDC 91). Where RCIA is not part of integrated church practice this poses a delicate problem to be overcome. The Easter Season provides the opportunity for the whole community to walk the same easter path.

Another obstacle is if the catechumenate period envisaged by #75 did not take place. What can then occur is a frenzy to impose all the required catechesis in the mystagogy period. But we have missed the purpose of mystagogy if we cram it with ‘religious facts’ (see #244- 248), whether during the initial period which ends with Pentecost, or the extended mystagogy to the anniversary of initiation (adopting the USA system).

This is the time for the neophytes to create and make firm their ties with the community; to experience the liturgy as one of the faithful, and to become immersed in a process of formation that continues throughout one’s life. This is a time to renew the whole community as they see faith experienced as known, lived, celebrated and prayed (GDC 84)

Suggestions

• Forward planning to provide a new group for the newly initiated; to plan the initial period and extended period.
• Use the liturgy - involve the initiates, process the gospel, the offertory gifts, intercessions.
• Use the homily - remind the faithful of their baptismal vows: the rights, obligations and duties they bring; before Pentecost have the sprinkling rite, or invite the assembly to process and dip their hand in the baptismal font.
• Let the initiates continue to meet sponsors, godparents, the community; provide opportunities for questions to be asked, contexts explored.
• Have ongoing formation sessions for the whole community- open up the Easter Mystery, explore the symbols, look for the signs in daily life, bring the gospel alive through lectionary based catechesis, engage in prayer.
• Introduce them to parish groups, tasks, charities, web based resources, newspapers and journals.
• Ensure they attend - and the parish is represented - at the Pentecost Mass with the bishop (this should occur in all dioceses).

Have in mind that faith has to be known, celebrated lived and prayed (GDC 84) as you search for new ways to show what it means to be part of the body of Christ in today’s world, nourished by the Word and Eucharist.

All this demands forward thinking so the newly initiated don’t believe they’ve hit the jackpot and have nothing more to do. This is a new way of life for those who believe, and it will keep returning to new heights.

• # RCIA (1998, USA edition)
• GDC General Directory for Catechesis (1997)

Two Opening Prayers from the Missal for Easter Week

Easter Monday

Father,
you give your Church constant growth
by adding new members to your family.
Help us put into action in our lives
the baptism we have received with faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who live and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Easter Saturday

Father of love,
by the outpouring of your grace
you increase the number of those who believe in you.
Watch over your chosen family.
Give undying life to all
who have been born again in baptism.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who live and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.