| August 17, 2006
Does this sound scary or is it just me? ;) Can some of you tell me about your personal experiences?
RCIA the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is a journey for adults, 18 and older, who ..#1 have NEVER been baptized in any Trinitarian form of baptism (in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and want to become Catholic #2 HAVE been baptized in a Trinitarian faith that is not Catholic but now want to become Catholic and #3 people who are baptized Catholic but have not received both or one of the other sacraments of initiation Eucharist and Confirmation. These Catholics have not been "catechized" or formed in the Catholic faith through age appropriate religious formation classes.
RCIA 2006-2007, will begin at Seton on Wednesday, August 23 and formally run through May 9th, 2007. We meet every Wednesday evening beginning at 6:30 p.m. with dinner and end at 9:00 p.m. We serve a snack during our August and beginning September sessions and begin those sessions at 7:15. These early sessions are primarily a question and answer time for our Inquirers to ask our pastor anything they want to know about Catholicism. We meet in the parish hall, next to the church.
The "Inquiry Period" is the first phase of the RCIA journey and lasts from the time you begin inquiring about the process (now) thru November. In November, we have a mandatory reflection weekend (November 3 and 4, 2005) here at Seton and then the following Sunday or next Sunday have the first "Rite".
After that, we are in the " Period of the Catechumenate" which lasts until the first Sunday of Lent (February 25, 2007). Beginning with the Sunday of the Rite in November, all RCIA candidates are expected to attend the same Mass during which the participants celebrate the Dismissal Rite and participate in Breaking Open the Word. This is also mandatory.
We have a spring reflection weekend (February 16 and 17, 2007) which occurs before Ash Wednesday (February 21, 2007). There is a Rite on the First Sunday of Lent (February 25, 2007) for the unbaptized and the 2nd of Sunday of Lent (March 4, 2007) for the baptized. This period during Lent is called the "Period of Purification and Enlightenment".
It is at the Easter Vigil, (April 7, 2007), that everyone involved in the process is initiated into the Catholic Church the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist are received that night. Those who have been baptized Catholic or been baptized in the Trinitarian tradition are not rebaptized. Those who are from another faith tradition make a profession of faith that night that is when they officially become a Catholic. After that all receive the sacrament of Confirmation in the Catholic Church. Mass continues and everyone receives the Eucharist for the first time.
We then move to the "Period of Mystagogy" the mystery of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, being Catholic and all that it means. This period officially lasts for 50 days after the Vigil, or on Pentecost Sunday. Our last formal Wednesday session ends with a Mass and a dinner on May 9th, 2007. We then continue to meet every other week through the summer and once a month after August until the following Easter.
One of the "perks" of this journey is that candidates are paired with a sponsor. Spouses, fiances, boy/girl friends ARE NOT allowed to be sponsors of their spouse, fianc , boy/girlfriend. As one of our new Catholics told us in his evaluation last year it's one way to make a new friend. Seton parishioners answer this call to ministry and you may choose one of them or have the team assign you a person in late September after you've had an opportunity to meet the sponsors during sessions.
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