1. Don’t rehearse the Easter Vigil Almost everywhere, parishes are planning to rehearse the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday. I know this is going to be hard to hear, but we have to stop making Holy Saturday a work day. It is a day of prayer, reflection, and fasting (see RCIA 185). In the Eastern […]
Seven ways RCIA teams can make Holy Saturday holier
Introduction to the Third to Fifth Sundays in Lent:The Johannine Gospels for the three middle Sundays in Lent for Year B pursue the same themes as those of Year A: how Jesus brings us in his person cleansing from sin, true light, and new life. Again, we learn each Sunday of God’s compassionate love, but
Reflection Questions for RCIA Seekers — 3rd Sunday in Lent to Palm Sunday, Year B
5th Sunday in Ordinary TimeBackground: There is an ambiguity about Jesus’s mission. As God’s beloved Son upon whom the Spirit has come, both his words and actions have power. And so today we see his compassion towards those suffer in body and spirit. Yet his ministry as healer sometimes seems to get in the way
Reflection Questions for RCIA Seekers — 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time to 2nd Sunday of Lent, Year B
Q. We have a candidate who was baptized as a Baptist going through RCIA. Can he be confirmed with our teen confirmation candidates when the bishop comes to celebrate? A.Thanks for reaching out. Your candidate needs to celebrate the Rite of Reception into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church prescribed in RCIA Part II:5.
Q&A: Can we celebrate confirmation with an RCIA candidate when the bishop comes to our parish?
Q. I have a question about the minor rites. Because of COVID, should we skip all exorcisms, blessings, and anointings before the Rite of Election? Or should we try and include the anointing at the Rite of Election? Is the anointing in the minor rites the same thing as the prebaptismal anointing? A. I would not
Q&A: How to celebrate the Anointing of the Catechumens and other RCIA minor rites in pandemic
Q. We do not have any catechumens this year, and therefore no scrutinies. How do we liturgically engage in the journey of the baptized candidates? A. This is a common question. Because there are few Lenten preparation rites for the baptized candidates in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, we can tend to think that
Q&A: What rites can we celebrate with RCIA baptized candidates in Lent?
Most people who want to delay the confirmation or first Communion of children who are baptized through the catechumenate process believe it is more pastoral for the children to celebrate confirmation or first Communion when they are older, with their peers who were baptized as infants. Two reasons for this run along the following lines
Will the Rite of Election be celebrated in your parish worship space this year? Many dioceses are shifting the rite out of the cathedral and into the parish because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And in dioceses where the celebration will still be held at the cathedral, the number of people present will be dramatically smaller
Will your Rite of Election be a true decision point this year?
Q. How do I get buy-in for my RCIA vision from the parish leadership and faith community? A. This question is at the heart of being human and being in relationship. Differences among us are baked into our DNA. The challenge is, in spite of all our differences, how do we join together to proclaim
Q&A: Eight ways to get RCIA buy-in from everyone in the parish—including the pastor
Q: What would you do with someone coming from a tradition that baptizes adults and older teens and so was catechized but never baptized? We don’t have an unbaptized, catechized, category. A:This is a great question, and it is actually a fairly common one. In the United States and in some parts of Canada and
Q&A: Does the RCIA have a category for unbaptized, catechized seekers?
