Nick Wagner is the cofounder and codirector of Team Initiation.
When parishes that use an academic, school calendar model for evangelizing and catechizing seekers, it can be difficult to imagine any other way of doing things. Some common objections for expanding to an ongoing process include: We have limited resources The rest of the world is organized around a school-year schedule It’s just easier The […]
What is ongoing (year-round) RCIA, really?
One thing we learned during the pandemic is that the movement of the Holy Spirit in people’s hearts cannot be limited to a predetermined calendar. We have always known this, of course. But the pandemic forced us to be more flexible in our formation processes and find new, more responsive ways to accompany seekers on
Why is an ongoing (year-round) RCIA important?
When parishes look for RCIA catechists, they tend to look for people who are good at giving presentations. While this tendency is understandable, it’s not exactly what the church expects of a catechist. The Directory for Catechesis describes the catechist as someone who has a vocation. The catechist is a Christian who receives a particular
Why your RCIA team needs a mystagogue
We have said many times before that mystagogy takes place throughout the entire catechumenate. If that’s so, why is there a particular period of the catechumenate specifically named “mystagogy”? To understand that, we have to understand how liturgy relates to catechesis. The church teaches that the liturgy is “the privileged place for catechizing the People
Why the RCIA period of mystagogy is crucial for your neophytes
Someone recently asked on Facebook, “What is the Easter Vigil for?” The person asking is from a Christian tradition that does not usually celebrate baptisms at the Vigil. If you’re old enough, you will remember when that was true for Roman Catholics. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults was issued shortly after Vatican II,
What does baptism do? A mystagogy on the sacramental act of washing
There are two dangers posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first is the danger of serious physical illness. And the second is the danger of convenience. We will eventually overcome the physical danger. But the danger of convenience may linger. Many pastoral leaders are already worried about what will happen to their Sunday gatherings when
Is the pandemic making RCIA too convenient?
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
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?
