You know who they are. They’re the ones who keep coming back week after week long after the Easter Vigil and Pentecost are over. They light up anytime someone mentions the catechumenate or becoming Catholic. They want to be sponsors even before they’ve gotten the Chrism smell off their pillowcases.
They’re the neophyte evangelists, those newly-initiated who are not only living breathing proof of the resurrection but also walking billboards for the Christian way of life. They are your parish’s greatest fans and your number one supporters.
The initiation process is not a one-way street that shapes only the catechumen into a disciple. It’s a mutual formation in the life of Christ that changes both the catechumen and the parish. That mutual relationship is evident when a neophyte feels called to share their experience of transformation with others. Essentially, this neophyte is doing faith-sharing, exactly what the catechumenate taught them to do and what all the baptized are called to do.
Some parishes invite neophytes to share their experience with the rest of the parish sometime after their initiation. It’s best to give a neophyte time to process for themselves or with a small group what they experienced and what it meant (mystagogy) before you ask them to speak to the assembly at a Sunday Mass about it. They might speak during the announcements or before Mass begins or even at coffee and donuts after Mass.
But don’t limit yourself to just the Sunday gathering as the venue for evangelization. Neophytes who are more comfortable writing their thoughts can provide a brief reflection for the bulletin or your parish website or social media platform. Or better yet, record their reflection and put it on your parish website just like Saint John the Evangelist Parish in Davison, Michigan, did with one of their neophytes.
Listen to Michael McCarty’s testimony about his journey of faith and conversion.
(Thanks to Michael McCarty and Elaine Ouelette, Director of RCIA and Family Faith Formation at St. John the Evangelist in Davison, Michigan, for their permission to include his testimony from 2008 on TeamInitiation.com. Click the link to their parish website to hear even more testimonies!)
Imagine an entire archive filled with reflections like Michael’s from your neophytes, sponsors, team members, and parishioners who witnessed the transformation taking place in your catechumens and in themselves!
Do you have other ways you invite your neophytes to share their experience with the community? Have you included reflections from your neophytes on your website? Click the comment link below and share your ideas and links to your own neophytes’ testimonies that you want to share with the Team Initiation community!
