One of my favorite movies is Rain Man, starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, two estranged brothers whose father dies, leaving Hoffman, the older brother, two million dollars in an inheritance. Cruise, to his great dismay, gets his father’s rosebushes. He sells high-end sports cars in Los Angeles, and Hoffman is a resident in a […]
Is conversion a journey or a destination?
The Rite of Sending can be a significant step in the journey of catechumens preparing for the Rite of Election. This is an optional rite that appears only in the United States edition of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (starting at paragraph 106). Some parishes in other English-speaking and Spanish-speaking countries have used
The transformative power of the Rite of Sending
In the previous posts in this series, we have been exploring how to make the catechumenate — and specifically the rites of the catechumenate — more effective. In this post, I want to focus on a specific element of effective ritual that Fr. Clarence Rivers called “catharsis.” Catharsis is an emotional release or purification that
The power of catharsis in the catechumenate
In previous articles, we have discussed “effective ritual.” First, Diana explored how effective liturgy enables seekers to follow “inspiration from above.” I then took a brief look at some of the foundations of effective ritual as taught by Fr. Clarence Rivers, who is often called the Father of Black Catholic Liturgy. While his principles arose
How to make the rites effective
In a previous post, Diana explored how effectively celebrating rituals in the catechumenate process can help catechumens follow “inspiration from above.” In this article, I want to build on that foundation by examining how the insights of Fr. Clarence Rivers, often called the father of Black Catholic worship, can help parish teams create a more
Make the catechumenate more effective using principles from Black Catholic worship
The journey of faith is a transformative experience for both unbaptized seekers and the Christian community. Along the way, seekers learn how to be disciples and missionaries of the gospel. The primary way that they learn this is through the rituals of the church. The rites for the unbaptized are not just add-ons to the
Embracing ritual: Why the rites for the unbaptized are essential
When the revised Roman Missal was published in 2011, it contained this rubric: “If the anointing of the adults with the Oil of Catechumens has not taken place beforehand, as part of the immediately preparatory rites, it occurs at this moment” (“Easter Vigil” 48). However, this contradicts the rubric in the Rite of Christian Initiation
Have you anointed your catechumens yet?
I celebrated my first Communion when I was in first grade, as did my entire class. And I celebrated confirmation in third grade, as did all the children in my school. That’s because that was the year the bishop came to our parish to administer the sacrament. Our sacraments were scheduled on the school calendar
The slow work of God: Why initiation is a gradual process
The catechumenate is designed to train catechumens to become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. However, it’s easy to get caught up in delivering the curriculum and lose sight of the ultimate goal—the conversion of the catechumens. What we do matters, and if we are doing something that matters, that means we are creating change. So,
What is the catechumenate for?
Business authority Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt says, “Tell me how you measure me and I will tell you how I will behave. If you measure me in an illogical way…do not complain about illogical behavior.” When I read this, I thought of some of the complaints we often make about the catechumens and candidates. They don’t
Why measuring is key to a successful catechumenate
