From childhood till now you taught me to praise your wonders. Psalm 71:17 “Yes, but, do we have to go to all three?” my own children asked at dinner last night as we discussed the family schedule for the week. The unequivocal answer is, “Yes.” It is right and good for children to celebrate the […]
The Triduum and Children in the RCIA
Msgr. Andrew Varga, pastor of St. Luke Parish in Westport, Connecticut, sent in this terrific homilette on Spy Wednesday. So… Here we are… Six weeks ago to the day we stood here with smudges of ash on our foreheads. We were well-meaning and eager to make a promise to ourselves and to all the church
A homily for the third Sunday of Lent Today, through our ancestors in faith, Moses and the Unnamed Woman of Samaria, the Church’s liturgy calls us to reflect on water—living water. But all week everything in me has resisted—a lot! NO, NOT NOW! The images in my mind are of too much water. Too much
How dare we reflect on living water today?
I’m not sure why, but some places do stuff to the scrutinies that makes them less “scrutinish.” The primary symbol—the main event—in this rite is the exorcism. You can find the exorcism at paragraphs 154, 168, and 175. There are three things that we need to do well to make the exorcisms as liturgically meaningful
3 do’s and 6 don’ts for powerful scrutinies
I think all of us at some point in our lives have someone—maybe our parents, a teacher, a certain group—someone we wanted so much to just love us as we were. We want someone who knows everything about us, all the good stuff and all the bad stuff, and who still wants us anyway. But
“Enough”—A Scrutiny Homily for the Woman at the Well
We asked you to tell us about the joys and vexations of initiation ministry. About 25 people answered the questionnaire, and here is a summary of what they said. (Share your thoughts in the comments box below.) Joys Most of those who responded included something about seeing adults search deeper in their faith or watching
The joys and vexations of RCIA ministry
Can I get your thoughts on what the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults means by uncatechized? We get a lot of questions about the rites that arise from differing understandings of what we mean by this term. For example, we often hear from folks who are trying to figure out what to do with
What does the RCIA mean by “uncatechized”?
The very first time I heard about the RCIA was at a diocesan information meeting in St. Louis in 1982. I don’t remember a lot about the meeting, but the one thing that really grabbed my attention was when the presenter said that we would be dismissing the catechumens from Mass after the homily. At
Five things your RCIA team may not know about the dismissal
What are your plans for mystagogy this year? There may be several models to choose from.
Came across this recently in an essay by the American Catholic novelist, Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964): Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, in instructing catechumens, wrote: The dragon sits by the side of the road watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the Father of Souls, but it is necessary to pass by
