Does your catechumenate team feel like they have to “get everything in” before Easter Vigil? That feeling can make formation feel overwhelming—like an impossible checklist of doctrines, precepts, and practices that must be taught in a limited timeframe. But what if you could shift the burden off of yourself and your team? What if Jesus […]
Have you felt a sense of renewed energy in your parish or diocese lately? Maybe the church seems a little fuller or the questions a little deeper. Something is definitely happening. There is a significant rise in adult baptisms across the globe. Is it happening in your area? Are you are witnessing this firsthand? Let’s
A wave of faith: Understanding the surge in adult baptisms
One of my favorite movies is Rain Man, starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, two estranged brothers whose father dies, leaving Hoffman, the older brother, two million dollars in an inheritance. Cruise, to his great dismay, gets his father’s rosebushes. He sells high-end sports cars in Los Angeles, and Hoffman is a resident in a
Is conversion a journey or a destination?
We always get that question whenever Lent is coming around and it’s Year B or C in the Lectionary cycle. We also hear the concern that people are “missing out” on the Year B and C readings for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of Lent when we celebrate the three Scrutinies. If you’re getting
Do we really have to use Year A readings for the Scrutinies?
You can reflect on questions for every Sunday of the year by clicking here. First Sunday of Lent Background: To understand this Sunday’s gospel, we need to realize that we are jumping back over the unfolding of Jesus’s ministry in Galilee that we have been reading in the early Sundays of Ordinary Time and returning to
Reflection Questions for Seekers: Year C – The First Sunday of Lent through Palm Sunday
The journey through the catechumenate is a profound period of transformation, but sometimes we can make the mistake of viewing evangelization as a preliminary stage with a firm stop date. But what if evangelization wasn’t just a starting point? What if it were a continuous thread woven throughout the entire catechumenate, forming active witnesses who
Ongoing evangelization: Making missionary disciples
One of the most powerful aspects of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults is its emphasis on immersing those seeking Christ into a living, active parish community (see OCIA 75.2). The rite teaches that faith is not merely a set of intellectual beliefs but a way of life that is learned through participation and
Igniting faith: The apprenticeship model in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults
We often hear that mystagogy is a crucial part of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, but what does it actually look like? It’s not more classes or extra meetings. It is, rather, a way of being. Mystagogy, at its heart, is about deepening our grasp of the Paschal Mystery and integrating it into
The Art of Reflection: A Practical Guide to Mystagogical Conversations
There’s an important difference the Church gives us between the role of sponsor and that of godparent. And when we attend to their differences, we help to model the beauty and importance of being part of the body of Christ. In this short video, learn about those differences and what each of these roles do
Sponsors and godparents: What’s the difference?
The 50-day period after Easter is time identified in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults as the Period of Mystagogy (see OCIA 244-249). However, all catechesis should be “mystagogical.” The Period of Mystagogy is time when the neophytes acquire “a genuinely fuller and more fruitful understanding of the ‘mysteries’” (OCIA 245). However, understanding the
Why is mystagogical catechesis vital for conversion?
