When I first heard about the dismissal of the catechumens from the Sunday Mass, it was an “I-could-have-had-a-V8-smack-on-the-forehead” moment. I instantly saw the catechetical value for parish communities. If mid-pew Catholics saw people processing out of church in the middle of Mass, what would they think? How would they deal with the disruption? Who would […]
Time to recover the prophetic power of the RCIA dismissal
Here is a recipe that is part of Friends on the Way: A Children’s Catechumenate Resource for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Good-Health Muffins Line muffin pans with 2 ½ inch cups with papers. Preheat oven. Make 1 cup pulp by blending pitted plums and chop 3 pitted plums. Set aside. Stir together: 1
Good-Health Muffins for Children’s RCIA
ARE YOU SOMEONE OR DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO… Has expressed an interest in becoming Catholic? Has a child over the age of seven who has not been baptized? Was baptized Catholic as a child, but has not celebrated the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist? We offer an opportunity to come together in a small
Example bulletin announcement for initiation ministry
The latest Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II opens next week in theatres. I cannot wait to see it! In this seventh and final episode of the Harry Potter saga, Harry and his friends have the ultimate confrontation with the Dark Lord, Voldermort, and his wicked allies. It’s a brutal
What Harry Potter Knows about Forming Kids in Faith
We get a lot of questions at TeamRCIA, but one question we never get is, “How can our team be better at evangelization?” If you think about it though, shouldn’t this be the burning question for every RCIA team? The first stage of the catechumenate is named the “Period of Evangelization.” Everything else we do
Set the stage for effective evangelization
When you think about the children’s RCIA process in your parish, are you fairly satisfied with the way it works? Or, are there aspects of children’s RCIA that are weak and need improvement? Do you wish parents were more involved? Do you wish the liturgical component was stronger? Whether you are satisfied with your children’s
Six simple ways to improve your children’s RCIA process
My friend and I were laughing the other day remembering how our kids loved to put on “shows.” In fact, on Erin’s daughter’s eighth birthday she received a special gift which she had specifically requested: a huge roll of red tickets – the kind you get at a school carnival or raffle. These tickets were
Why the RCIA is Dead Wrong about Celebrating Rites with Children [paragraphs 257, 260]
I am the proud owner of a series of four catechumenate books in Swahili. They were given to me by a religious Sister from Congo who attended a workshop I gave a couple of years ago in the Bronx. My Swahili is basically non-existent, yet I love these books. Part of what attracts me are
“In our own languages we hear them speaking”
My secret strategy for involving parents in the children’s RCIA process is fourfold. I promise that if you follow these four steps, you will improve the level of parent involvement in children’s RCIA. 1. Talk to parents in person. The very first step is to sit down, face to face, and talk with at least
Four strategies guaranteed to get parents involved in their children’s RCIA process
In a previous post, I said that reevangelization might be easier for us than evangelization because when we are evangelizing, we have to spend more time and energy talking about why we believe in Jesus as opposed to what we believe about Jesus. We have to say more about how Jesus answers our deepest longings
If Jesus is the answer, what is the question?
