Soon we will celebrate Easter.\u00a0 At the Easter Vigil many people across the world will be baptized and\/or received into the Catholic Church.\u00a0 As that draws closer we\u00a0are seeing more rites for these people at Sunday Mass.\u00a0 Lent begins for these people with the Rites of Sending and Election (Call to Continuing Worship).\u00a0 For those baptized in another Christian denomination, on the Second Sunday of Lent we celebrate a Penitential Rite.\u00a0 On the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent, we celebrate the Scrutinies for those to be baptized.\u00a0 All these mark their final discernment to become Catholic.<\/p>\n
We called this process RCIA.\u00a0 This abbreviation gets used a lot.\u00a0 So much that has become a label of its own.\u00a0 I would guess that there are people who use the term in its proper context but don’t know exactly what it stands for.\u00a0 RCIA stands for Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.<\/p>\n
In the early church, everyone was new to the Catholic Church.\u00a0 The process for adults to join the Catholic Church would have been a major part of the ministry of the parishes.\u00a0 Then, the number of converts dwindled.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
With the reforms of Vatican II, the RCIA was restored with the formal rites that go with it.\u00a0\u00a0Since\u00a0some of us are seeing these rites now, I would like to share with\u00a0you\u00a0this flowchart<\/a> that shows the major<\/em> rites that go with RCIA (there are other rites\/presentations that can\u00a0be done).\u00a0 I believe it is important for us to know a little about these rites.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because the people participating in this rites are becoming our brothers and sisters in Christ.\u00a0 We are to pray for them and offer them the same support due all our brothers and sisters.<\/p>\n So why do we have all these rites with RCIA?\u00a0 First, as I already indicated it is a time for us to pray for them.\u00a0 These rites also serve as markers of their progress towards becoming Catholic.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Peace,<\/p>\n Fr. Jeff<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Soon we will celebrate Easter.\u00a0 At the Easter Vigil many people across the world will be baptized and\/or received into the Catholic Church.\u00a0 As that draws closer we\u00a0are seeing more rites for these people at Sunday Mass.\u00a0 Lent begins for these people with the Rites of Sending and Election (Call to Continuing Worship).\u00a0 For those …<\/p>\n