Human beings are bad at making estimates. How long will it take to shop for groceries? How long will the meeting last? I’ll just check Facebook for a minute or two. We are just plain awful at giving accurate answers about time. So when someone asks us, “How long does RCIA take?” what should we […]
As Easter draws closer, we tend to get a flurry of questions at TeamRCIA. Many of the e-mails and voice mails have a tinge of panic about them. So the answer to every question is, don’t panic. Even if you’ve overlooked something huge, no one’s eternal salvation is at risk. No matter how big a
Last year, Msgr. Edward Deliman of Saint Charles Borromeo in Bensalem, PA, found a note in the collection basket that said, “No more Spanish in the bulletin. Tell them to speak English.” That was the reaction of a non-Hispanic parishioner to the influx of Spanish-speakers from the recently merged Latino parish, Our Lady of Fatima.
How the RCIA teaches us to love the unlovable
If you have been reading the training articles on TeamRCIA for very long, you know that the RCIA is the model for all catechesis. But does the rest of the parish know? Who needs to know this stuff? You might consider “evangelizing” other catechetical teams in your parish to begin using the six principles of
Discover a simple way to help the whole parish catechize the RCIA way
For the first five centuries that the church existed, the norm for initiation was baptism of adults. Infants were probably also baptized, but the New Testament never explicitly mentions that they were. By the second century, there is more firm evidence of the baptism of infants and children, but it is not the norm. Some
Why is the norm of adult initiation so important?
In this episode, we focus on what the Creed says about Jesus’ sacrifice. And in the “Did you know?” segment, we talk about the Rite of Reception and the Rite of Confirmation. Finally, Nick and Diana will revisit a listener question what to do if a presider forgets to do the dismissal of catechumens at
Episode 108: How to understand Jesus’ sacrifice — Part 1
In this episode, you will learn the top ten ways churches discourage first time visitors from returning. And in the “Did you know?” Nick and Diana discuss what the National Statutes on the Catechumenate have to say about a one-year catechumenate. Finally, we answer a question about preparing Catholics for confirmation.
Episode 100: Ten reasons first time visitors don’t return
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
In this episode, we talk about how baptism incorporates us into the priesthood of Christ. And “Did you know?” that there is an anointing after baptism that is different than confirmation? Also, Nick and Diana answer a listener question, “Can a person be baptized without having gone through any of the other rites in the
Episode 93: Baptized into the priesthood of Christ
I submitted an article about the future of the RCIA to America, the Jesuit weekly news magazine, and they were kind enough to print it. In the article, I try to make the case that we are at a turning point in our use of the adult initiation rites. Here is the opening of the
Can the RCIA meet the needs of modern-day spiritual seekers?
