American Pickers is a reality show on the History Channel that follows two antique dealers around the country as they discover “rusty gold” that they can make a profit on. A usual segment shows them arriving at someone’s house or barn that is filled to the rafters with everything you can imagine. The dealers zero in […]
Last Sunday, the pastor of the church I was visiting stood up during the announcements and asked everyone to exchange name tags after we finished the closing song. The point, he said, was to find someone we did not know, introduce ourselves, and share one thing we would like the other person to pray for
Use the liturgy to teach RCIA catechumens how to live
Has this ever happened to you? You’re watching a movie or a TV show. Somewhere close to the end of the show, your spouse walks into the living room. He or she gets drawn into the show and asks, “What’s this story about?” When the show breaks for a commercial, you have two minutes to
Six amazing things every RCIA inquirer has to learn
Saint Peter has one of the best lines in all of Scripture: “These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!” (Acts 2:15). This is, of course, Peter’s explanation to the people of Jerusalem about why the disciples seemed totally inebriated on Pentecost day. You remember the story, right? All
Is your RCIA process a little drunk?
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is filled with understated little phrases that, if you scratch them a bit, you discover they are packed with meaning. For example, look at the very first sentence: The rite of Christian initiation presented here is designed for adults who, after hearing the mystery of Christ proclaimed, consciously
Do you know what the RCIA is waiting for?
In RCIA ministry, there are 1,000 things to do. There are things you want to do, things you should do, things you could do, and things you have to do. Start with what you have to do. Start at the heart. For example, if you are planning a dinner party, you might focus on cleaning
The work we do as initiation ministers is important, but do you ever wonder if you are making a difference? If you stopped showing up, would anyone notice? None of us are doing this ministry for fame or money. We just want to make a difference. Making a difference, however, doesn’t have to mean changing
Pope Francis’ secret for changing the world
When I moved to California over 20 years ago, I left my Midwestern roots, my family and friends, everything I knew. I moved 2,000 miles from home. That is about 500 miles more than the distance between London and Moscow. You have to cross two mountain ranges to get from the Midwestern United States to
Pope Francis wants to know, does your RCIA team smell like sheep?
I remember the first time I read a papal letter. I was a junior in college, and I had recently taken a job as a campus minister. The new, young, exciting pope, John Paul II, had just issued his first encyclical. There was no Internet in 1979 (well, there was, but only computer geeks and
Five ways Pope Francis will change your RCIA ministry
We all know there is a shortage of priests in the United States church, right? But what is the impact of that shortage on our evangelization efforts? Of course, the fewer priests we have, the fewer evangelists we have. But the shrinking ranks of the priesthood has an even more profound effect than just the
One unexpected way the priest shortage impacts evangelization
