Nick Wagner is the cofounder and codirector of Team Initiation.
For Christmas, a friend gave me The Complete Robuchon, which is 800 recipes for “French home cooking for the way we live now.” My friend and I both love to cook, although she is much more serious about it than I am. She takes classes from important chefs, stocks her pantry with sea salts from […]
A French chef’s guide to the RCIA
You might think the week after Christmas Day is a little early to be talking about emptying the baptismal font. Actually, it’s late. I walked into a local church during the fourth week of Advent to see what they had done with their environment. You guessed it. The baptismal font was bone dry and covered
Seven reasons you should never empty the baptismal font
This is a guest post from Father Robert Duggan. It’s one of the longer posts we’ve featured on the site, but it is well worth your time. Father Bob is a presbyter of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, and a frequent speaker and author on topics related to Christian initiation and liturgical and sacramental renewal.
RCIA: Program or process? And does it matter?
How do you know if the catechumens are ready for the rite of election? Who decides? What is the process for discerning their readiness? Take a look at Sr. Miriam Malone’s invitation to a one-hour, live training workshop to answer these questions and more. Click here here for more information and to register for the
Discernment skills for your team
I have a friend who, for 35 years, successfully resisted all attempts to promote her to a management position in her company. She loves her work, but she did not relish the idea of supervising other people. A couple of years ago, her boss finally convinced her to move up the ladder. And last week,
Should you ever fire a catechumen?
With catechumens, there are two kinds of discernment. There is an ongoing discernment that begins the moment the seekers become catechumens. And there is at least one formal discernment to determine if the catechumen is ready to celebrate the Rite of Election. Ongoing discernment Honestly, I don’t use the word discernment all that much when
Are your catechumens ready for the Rite of Election?
I’m writing a guidebook for catechumens and candidates. My hope is to give them some ideas about how to look at the world through Catholic eyes. The book is not intended to be a “catechism” that gives them an outline of the faith. I figure you’re already doing that in your catechetical sessions with them.
Even though I don’t live in your parish, I know this is the week you need to do some discerning about your catechumens and candidates. How do I know that? Because discernment is an ongoing process. It never stops. Every week is discernment week. What are you discerning? There are two general kinds of discernment—annual
What is your RCIA discernment plan this week?
This is the All Saints altar at the parish I was in on All Souls Day. The marigolds are supposed to provide an attractive scent so loved ones who have passed away will want to come and visit the altar. The altar is filled with favorite foods and drinks of the loved ones. There are
On this All Saints Day, I have a proposal. Let’s not rename the catechumens with saint names. Many of them come to us with saint names already, but not all of them do. As I said in The Way of Faith, I once had a child catechumen named “Pebbles.” Let’s just say the topic of
Do you need to have a saint’s name for baptism or confirmation?
