Several years ago, I was leading a workshop, and I asked the room what they thought the most important reform was to come out of the Second Vatican Council. For those of us who remember the church before Vatican II, there are many choices. However, on that day, no one with gray hair raised their […]
The secret to holiness—an RCIA challenge
Fifty years ago today, the bishops of the world issued this mandate: “The catechumenate for adults…is to be restored” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, December 4, 1963). Fifty years later, I don’t think we have yet answered this call—not completely. In fact, I think we may be getting off track and “restoring” something that never
Pope Francis is setting sail…is your RCIA team onboard?
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
In a previous post, I said that if we want to involve the whole parish in the RCIA process, we have to stop making scholars and start making disciples. This is not easy. Our entire formation system is designed to create scholars. We place a heavy emphasis on “knowing the faith,” by which we usually
Five things every Catholic parish must do—and how RCIA matters
I gave my last Forum institute this past weekend. Well, sort of a Forum institute. Forum, as our readers will know, closed down on June 30. But this institute had been scheduled many months ago. When Jim Schellman asked the diocese of Shreveport — and me — if we still wanted to go ahead with
RCIA ministry is flourishing in Shreveport
Sometimes, when we are pressured to provide a religion of absolutes straight out of the Catechism; sometimes, when candor, actual experience, and the importance of involving ordinary people in the RCIA is pooh-poohed; sometimes, when the community is not taken seriously as the most basic agent of evangelization; sometimes, when the catechumenate is seen as
It’s the community that initiates
I remember watching Joan talk with a group of middle schoolers who were just beginning the RCIA process. All the kids seemed to be smiling and engaged. Afterwards, I said to her, “You are a master!” She very casually replied, “Nah. I just love kids and I love Jesus.” This simple encounter got me thinking
Six skills every children’s RCIA catechist must have
Let’s try a thought exercise. Pretend for a moment that you are God on the day before Creation. What is going through your mind? Are you perhaps lonely and dreaming of what it would be like to have companions? If you had companions, what would they be like? What would they do? How would you
RCIA catechists: Are you good stewards of imagination?
There are three ingredients in this secret formula. The first two are simple ingredients that you can pull off your shelf anytime. What I mean by “pull off the shelf” is that they are already present and waiting – right there in your parish. It’s the third ingredient that seems to be a secret. Ingredient
The secret formula for involving the parish school in children’s RCIA
One of the things I love about the catechumenate is the sense of community that happens within the formation group. The team bonds more closely together, inquirers take that “leap of faith” together in the Rite of Acceptance, baptized candidates share their common love of Christ and how they find the fullest expression of that
Should inquirers be joining “the RCIA”?
