Nick Wagner is the cofounder and codirector of Team Initiation.
In Teaching as a Subversive Activity, Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner make some interesting observations that could very well apply to initiation catechists. For example: The trouble is that most teachers have the idea that they are in some other sort of business. Some believe, for example, that they are in the “information dissemination” business….There […]
Love of God does not spring from study. It is not from others, after all, that we learn to enjoy the light, to yearn for life, and to love our parents and those who nourish us. Much less, then, does love of God arise from external teaching. Rather, as soon as people exist they have
Teaching secrets from the ancient church
Sometimes a sense of futility creeps upon us. We despair that “they don’t come back for mystagogy.” Or we fret that “we can’t find enough sponsors.” We bemoan the lack of participation among the members of the assembly. And now the diocese wants us to run the catechumenate “year round” when we are already stretched
May 13, 2007 Sixth Sunday of Easter, C Core beliefs You can discuss one or more of these teachings of the church today. Use your powers of discernment to make your choice based on three criteria: What have the catechumens been asking about? What issues came up during the dismissal reflections? What, in your opinion,
Catechetical Session, Easter 6C
May 6, 2007 Fifth Sunday of Easter, C Core beliefs You can discuss one or more of these teachings of the church today. Use your powers of discernment to make your choice based on three criteria: What have the catechumens been asking about? What issues came up during the dismissal reflections? What, in your opinion,
Catechetical Session, Easter 5C
April 29, 2007 Fourth Sunday of Easter, C Core beliefs You can discuss one or more of these teachings of the church today. Use your powers of discernment to make your choice based on three criteria: What have the catechumens been asking about? What issues came up during the dismissal reflections? What, in your opinion,
Catechetical session, Easter 4C
Today there is a great silence over the earth, for the King sleeps. The earth has trembled and fallen still, for the Lord sleeps in his fleshly nature; in the netherworld he is arousing those who have slept for ages. God is dead in the flesh, and has shaken Sheol to its foundtions. —From an
Frank C. Senn writes about the mystagogical process for neophytes in the early church: During the week after Easter Day, the neophytes attended the liturgy daily, wearing their white robes, while the bishops instructed them in the mysteries (sacraments) they had just experienced. The faithful were also permitted to attend these sessions during the “week
How to do Mystagogy with the Neophytes in Easter
During the Triduum, the question arises about when to dismiss the Elect and the catechumens. (If you are engaged in a year-round process, you will likely have both.) If parish leaders understand the liturgical role that the unbaptized have in worship, it will be clear that the Elect and the catechumens are dismissed before the
When Do You Dismiss during Triduum?
A recurring question among catechumenate team members is, what do the catechumens need to know before they can be initiatated. And some are often doubtful the liturgy, which is the source of all catechesis, can in fact teach them what they need to know. Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of
The Four Essential Doctrines the Liturgy Teaches
