Thank you for the great job you’ve been doing! Last week, I was helping to lead a training session for catechumenate teams, sponsored by the North American Forum on the Catechumenate. I was so impressed by the dedication and commitment of the participants. Some of them have been at this 20 years or more. And […]
Kent Schaffer, on the Church Relevance blog, has posted the top 13 reasons seekers choose a church. The top three are: preaching teaching hospitality This would be a great discussion to have with your team. As you are making plans to start or improve your catechumenate process, how can you make the seekers’ top three
Pope Benedict XVI has just written a letter to all of us about the current economic crisis and the solutions required to fix it. Download your free preview to the Reader’s Guide of this ground-breaking letter. Free preview of introduction section as PowerPoint (2.1 MB) (When prompted, click Open to view the file, or Save
Free preview of reader's guide to Caritas in Veritate
In this surprising discussion on the science of happiness, Nancy Etcoff says that even though we are wired from birth to be happy, we are not very good at increasing our happiness. Her 20-minute presentation covers a lot of data, but she never talks about the link (or absence of one) between faith and happiness.
What's the secret to happiness?
Imagine a catechumen named Penelope who is in the care of a dedicated group of RCIA team members at St. Peregrinus Parish in Pittston, PA. Penelope became a catechumen, along with two other inquirers, in October. It is now February, and the St. Peregrinus team is starting to think about the Rite of Election and
I just returned from an RCIA institute sponsored by the North American Forum on the Catechumenate. It was an engaging, intense, fulfilling couple of days. The participants were revved up from the beginning all the way through to the end. I love being with people who are so dedicated to catechumenate ministry. One question that
Who should lead your RCIA process?
John Madden, the legendary football coach and television announcer is retiring at age 73. And his mother still calls him to check up on him. I totally understand this because, if current trajectory is any guide, I will be getting calls from my mother when I am well into my 70s. And I also understand
Call your mother: Human experience as a locus for catechesis
Sometimes talk about the RCIA process falls prey to generalizations based on “well, at my parish” or “everybody says.” It’s a good thing to balance one’s personal experience or hearsay with some objective information. If you haven’t already read the U.S. Bishops’ study on the implementation of the RCIA, Journey to the Fullness of Life,
For some RCIA teams, the period of postbaptismal catechesis, or mystagogy, seems to be the most difficult part of the catechumenate to implement. I commonly hear complaints that “they don’t come back” for mystagogy, and I get requests for “a good resource” to use during the mystagogy sessions. To me, those kind of comments reflect
RCIA teams: 8 ways to make mystagogy work in your parish
People keep usurping the word evangelization, and therefore make it more difficult for us to accomplish the primary mission of the RCIA—go and baptize. First it was the evangelicals, who used the word to identify a denomination of Christianity quite distinct from Catholicism. On the face of it, there’s nothing wrong with a denomination defining
Evangelization 2.0: Reclaim the mission of the RCIA
