RCIA

Soon we will celebrate Easter.  At the Easter Vigil many people across the world will be baptized and/or received into the Catholic Church.  As that draws closer we are seeing more rites for these people at Sunday Mass.  Lent begins for these people with the Rites of Sending and Election (Call to Continuing Worship).  For those baptized in another Christian denomination, on the Second Sunday of Lent we celebrate a Penitential Rite.  On the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent, we celebrate the Scrutinies for those to be baptized.  All these mark their final discernment to become Catholic.

We called this process RCIA.  This abbreviation gets used a lot.  So much that has become a label of its own.  I would guess that there are people who use the term in its proper context but don’t know exactly what it stands for.  RCIA stands for Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.

In the early church, everyone was new to the Catholic Church.  The process for adults to join the Catholic Church would have been a major part of the ministry of the parishes.  Then, the number of converts dwindled.  Over time, if anyone wished to become Catholic, they met with the priest one-on-one until the priest determined the person was ready to receive the Sacraments of Initiation.

With the reforms of Vatican II, the RCIA was restored with the formal rites that go with it.  Since some of us are seeing these rites now, I would like to share with you this flowchart that shows the major rites that go with RCIA (there are other rites/presentations that can be done).  I believe it is important for us to know a little about these rites.  Why?  Because the people participating in this rites are becoming our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We are to pray for them and offer them the same support due all our brothers and sisters.

So why do we have all these rites with RCIA?  First, as I already indicated it is a time for us to pray for them.  These rites also serve as markers of their progress towards becoming Catholic.  I refer to them as markers in the same way we mark progress in other things like our education where we celebrate ceremonies at various grade levels ranging from completing Pre-K and Kindergarten to high school graduation; progress towards Christ deserves to be recognized.

So, if you see someone receiving these RCIA rites pray for them not just as part of the congregation during the rite itself but throughout these final weeks on Lent.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff