What is RCIA?
By Mike Murphy
I think identifying the core principle or principles of the RCIA process is key to understanding how the RCIA can be fully integrated into parish life. As I listen to and correspond with other RCIA team members and pastoral leaders, through classes at The Archdiocese, and The Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation (VLCFF) an adult religious education and faith formation via the internet. I am on my Level II courses in receiving my certificate. I hear a lot of different opinions of what those RCIA core elements are.
Here are some basic RCIA core values that come to mind for me:
1) Provide a safe place for faith sharing. Almost no one speaks in our current RCIA, it was after the Easter vigil that we found out that we had 2 cancer survivors in the class. After 9 months the group members didn’t even know everyone in the groups name. Some people never spoke the whole class. We never got to fully know some of the people, or hear their stories, which is a shame and says little for our faith formation.
2) When I did RCIA my main purpose was to facilitate the formation of disciples of Jesus Christ, not dominate it. People are smarter then most think. They bond, even over the language barrier. I have found it best to perhaps introduce a topic, by reading scripture, watching a segment on DVD, or inviting a topic from the group. Then go around the Circle so as everyone participates, or at the very least checks in. The team members are to encourage sharing provide positive affirmation to the shy ones, and to facilitate or curb some of the group members that just like to go on and on. The group can then freely participate in expressing their thoughts with out the fear of being made fun of or interrupted by an authoritarian “leader” who more often the not, knows very little and just wants to exercise their ego.
3) We are journeying with fellow adults; so adult-learning principles should shape our gatherings. I have found we don’t bring God to the other, but find God in the other.
It’s not just about learning the liturgy it’s about becoming engaged in it! The original meaning that Jesus clearly intended has nothing to do with a particular dogma or doctrine, Catholics, or Protestants. It has even less to do with church membership, its liturgy, rubrics, vestments, candles, or a hierarchy. It has everything to do with “initiation” with the experience of Jesus. Imitating the life of Jesus Christ and sharing God’s kingdom values here on earth. The easiest way to get out of following Christ, is to worship him.
4) I must emphasize the crucial role sponsors play in RCIA. I always thought Brian would be an excellent Sponsor Coordinator. I gave him some books and a DVD on what it means to be a Sponsor, Also a Knights of Columbus Article that was publish I wrote on Sponsorship using the Flannery O’Conner title “The Life you save may be your own” see attachment. Meet your Catechumen at the entrance to the church. The Catechumen shouldn't have to walk into church alone. If your Catechumen misses Mass, make a follow up call. if you have to miss a Mass, if possible find a substitute to be with your Catechumen.
Show your Catechumen how to bless him or herself with holy water from the font. Introduce your Catechumen to new parishioners each Sunday. Encourage fellowshipping by greeting and handing out hymnals or attending other Church events. It is your job to make him feel part of the community.
Show your Catechumen how to genuflect and bow. For instance, if the tabernacle were in the sanctuary, behind the altar, you would genuflect before entering your pew. If the tabernacle were off to the side or in a separate space, you would bow to the altar before entering your pew. My main point is that personally I felt nervous during Mass. Many of us have not fit in or been involved in a community in a very long time. I was convinced that I didn't belong, that everyone was looking at me and thinking; what is he doing here? Then I started asking myself the same questions.
As a catechist and someone who works in 12 step groups, my biggest dilemma is how to prepare that person, and to somehow bring about a desire for change, open to the Holy Spirit, open to living a life of Sobriety with the aid of God. Believe it or not people fight this “Transformation” I do not know why, Freud called it the “Death Instant”. You would think that the fact that a person shows up at an RCIA Class or an AA meeting, that alone meant they were ready to change, to become something new. But this is more often then not false. Change is very scary, as Auden wrote:
“We would rather be ruined than changed,
We would rather die in our dread,
Than climb the cross of the moment,
And let our illusions die.”
It has been my experience that as the Alcoholic has to hit bottom, so must the Catechumen… in a sense. For most this means that they must go to the place of their most wounded and injured self; for some with disabilities and mental/physical issues like addiction, depression this can be easy, for others, it is the place where our marriage didn’t work out, the place where we were laughed at in grade school for wearing glasses, where we weren’t the prettiest girl in high school, where we were picked last for a sports team. Perhaps we’re a member of a minority race, or a gender minority. There is always a place where each of us has mourned and felt rejected. And that is the place were we have to start moving forward from. We have to go to that place and weep. We must go to that place where we have felt an outsider, alone; we must go to that place to meet God.
Nowadays, depression affects as much as 25 percent of the population. Although it has always been a human problem, no one really knows why. But what Christians do know is that God is not silent when we suffer. On every page of Scripture, God's depressed children have been able to find hope and a reason to endure. For example, take 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Nowhere is this principle better seen than in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Only when juxtaposed with the endless ages of eternal bliss does suffering in this life become tolerable. There is also another contrast here. In verse 18 Paul juxtaposes “transient” things “that are seen” with “eternal” things “that are unseen.” Especially the connection between verse 18 and verse 16. Our "inner nature" is being renewed as we look or while we look at the unseen, eternal things of the age to come. If you don’t “look” you won’t change! The process of renewal only occurs as the believer looks to things as yet unseen. As we fix the gaze of our hearts on the glorious hope of the age to come, God progressively renews our inner being, despite the decay of our outer frame! Inner renewal does not happen automatically or mechanically. Transformation happens only as or provided that we "look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen" We come to God with our suffering.
You can start to experience the inward renewal that the apostle Paul experienced when you come to God with your suffering. God seems far away when we suffer. You believe that He exists, but it seems as if He is too busy with everything else, or He just doesn't care. After all, God is powerful enough to end your suffering, but He hasn't. If you start there, you'll reach a dead end pretty quickly. God hasn't promised to explain everything about what He does and what He allows. Instead, He encourages us to start with Jesus. Jesus is God the Son, and He is certainly loved by his heavenly Father. Yet Jesus also went through more suffering than anyone who ever lived!
This to me is the meaning of RCIA, but what I find really happening in RCIA, in fact its goal, is to simply make “nice” people even “Nicer” and I‘m sorry but that is not what Jesus came to earth for, its clear he didn’t come to make nice people feel good about themselves and give us a sense of moral superiority or one-upmanship over others. The word nice does not even appear once in the Bible. What I see happening for the most part is RCIA, in fact it might be said about most of religion, is nothing more then creating a positive self-image and has very little to do with the search for God. I meet with so many people and it seems there has never really been any journeying, any real encounter any real surrender. It’s all simply going through this morality game, thinking that I am going to bend the arm of God to get him to like me, and to give me a positive self-image so I can feel good about myself. The Irony is true religion leads you initially into an encounter with a negative self-image. The self-help author Scot Peck wrote “Most people seem to simply want to feel well of themselves”. Now this is not an awful thing but it is not what Christ calls us to do. Saint Therese of Lisieux (my patron Saint) put it so nicely in her gentle way: "If you are willing to serenely bear the trial of being displeasing to yourself, the you will be for Jesus a pleasant place of shelter."
I believe most RCIA Classes’ will not be teaching the transformative mystery of the cross until we have a model of mystagogy in catechesis that leads people into that true initiation of that painful and terrifying mystery of the cross, and not just some socialization process of how can I feel good belonging to the Parish. (Which is all fine and good, but which is really a 3rd level concern)
Vatican II made it clear that the order of catechumenate would be reintroduced and that the rites of initiation for adults would be revised, interest in the pastoral application of mystagogy was revived. In 1972, when the Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) was established, mystagogy was again given credence in the life of the Church as a Formal step on the path to becoming fully invested in the Catholic life. Since that time some pastoral leaders have paid increasing attention to the ancient notion of mystagogy, attempting to recreate a mystagogical experience much like that of the early centuries of the church. Mystagogy can be seen in the Church back to the time of Christ. In the apostolic era, as the new Church struggled to understand its brand new experience of Christ, early converts could know the initial Christian theology concerning creation, death, resurrection, and eternal life only by participating in the experiences of baptism, Eucharist, and charitable ministry. The Church Fathers did not view mystagogy as simply an initiation to the sacraments but an initiation through the sacraments. The initiation rituals conveyed a reality through which the catechumens would become invested in the life of Christ by experiencing him. Because of this, the Church Fathers insisted that the rituals of initiation be carried out with a great deal of pomp and solemnity and those they incorporate sensual, evocative symbolism capable of reinforcing the mystery of the experience. Modern RCIA leaders have a tendency to interpret the mystagogies of the fourth-century bishops as mere catechetical explanations of the sacraments. (I just finished an awesome book by Cardinal Newman where he defines the sacraments as not only an outward sign of an inner movement of grace, but as also an “instrument of Grace.”) The notion that mystagogical is nothing more than a fifty-day catechesis to aid the converts in their reflection on initiation is an unfortunate and incomplete interpretation; it does not allow mystagogy to flourish throughout the entire period of conversion as the true and proper theology that it is. The brilliance of mystagogy of the early church is that it caused the catechumens to actually participate in the saving activities of Christ through the experiences of baptism, chrism, and Eucharist. For me the real genius of early church Catechesis, and I have discovered much of it through the RCIA library, that I donated to The Blessed Sacrament Library, and witnessed as Lead Catechist under Father Sebastian, is that information was not given to early newcomers, except as it was matched by sacramental experience, in other words real encounters with the holy, and then we will tell you the words. What we have been doing lately is giving catechism answers and words way beyond their level of inner experience of God, which trivializes the entire process. It makes people think they have it when they don’t have it. They’ve taken no journeys with God but they have all the answers. Mystagogy which was the initiation rite into the Cross and Resurrection experience, said that words cannot surpass experience, and that they had to go forward in parallel fashion. The whole reason for dismissals is that the Catechumen could not hear the creed, could not go to communion, until they somehow had experienced communion and experienced what it meant to say, “I believe in one God”. Now the Creed just flows off the tongue effortlessly like they Know what they are talking about, but they do not know what it means! The Jewish people were much smarter when they said; don’t even dare to use the word! Because you don’t even know what you are talking about!
My Last 2 years in RCIA mystagogy was not even taught, I was asked once to correctly pronounce the word for the group and that was it. Instead the class was told that if they did not participate in the 50-day post Confirmation sessions of RCIA, that their Baptism and Confirmation certificates would be withheld. Does anyone realize how childish and counter productive this is? The reason this implemented this was that people stopped coming to RCIA after they were confirmed, what does that tell us? In former RCIA days, the class wept at our last meeting and the Catachuemens of those years still keep in contact and many are parts of various ministries’, we even have reunions and had a party when our RCIA Father visited us from Nepal. As far as anyone holding on to everyone’s confirmation Cert’s, I think they are still holding on to them cause no one cared enough to ask for theirs. My friend just received hers in this month after pestering the RCIA Director for months, only to be dismayed that her “New” Christian name “Veronica” was nowhere to be found on the certificate. You would think that whatever was lacking in the wisdom experience department, would be at least made up for by administrative competency.
When I was dismissed, which I had to go around myself and ask if I was indeed dismissed (all very Childish) I was told that RCIA rested on knowledge and information, not transformation. Knowledge and information, Isn’t that called Gnosticism? Has anyone ever heard of someone being converted by reading a Papal encyclical, or someone quitting cigarettes’ from simply reading the warning on the side, or getting Sober because a medical journal informed him or her that drinking is not healthy? Or you can go to Jail, or to Hell? No, information and laws doesn’t transform lives! While trying to convey this I was accused of teaching against the Ten Commandments. I was interrupted and my presentation was ended. Had The RCIA director heard me out I was simply stating the Law is not an end unto itself, but an archaic starting point, had Joseph followed the Law he would have had Mary stoned, The Law turned Saint Paul of Tarsus into a mass murder! The Law Killed Christ! Its so sad these people believe if they just follow the law and do good deeds, they can talk God into loving them. Don’t they know that you cannot talk God into loving you, and likewise you cannot talk God into not loving you! They think if they believe this dogma and go to church every Sunday they are in good shape. As Augustine observed, That even the devil believes the laws and dogmas of the Church! It’s not about beliefs; it’s about Faith! There was almost no round-robin faith sharing in RCIA, RCIA let everyone share their experience in a safe environment where they won’t meet with often brash and offhand calloused remarks, also if the leaders tried listening to someone else’s voice besides their own, I believe all evolved will benefit. No one knew my friend was a Cancer survivor, there were 2 others in that class also, we found this out during the last few sessions, such a shame, such opportunities lost!
When we’re meeting with inquirers or catechumens, we try to avoid awkwardness. We don’t want to feel awkward ourselves, and we certainly don’t want the inquirers or catechumens feeling awkward. So we talk. We fill up the silence with chatter.
Sometimes that’s a good thing, especially during inquiry. The new folks usually don’t want to be responsible for the conversation. Often, they have come to listen to you tell them what they are supposed to do. Chatting can help put the inquirers at ease. There comes a moment, however, when we have to stop talking. For many of us, that’s difficult.
I don’t have all the answers, but I have some suggestions. First, we have to be comfortable with silence when we are alone. How much time each day do you spend just being silent? No reading, no television, no Internet, no Facebook. Just you and silence. For me, it’s not much time at all. I suppose I could say my prayer time is silent, but usually I’m reading a psalm or going over the list of people I promised to pray for. I’m lining up my day in my head and asking God to help me with all my tasks and projects. If anyone else were in the room, they might say I was silent. But in my head, there is a lot of noise going on. True silence is difficult. Even so, if we are going to be comfortable with silence with the inquirers and catechumens, we have to practice being silent with ourselves.
The next step is to listen. When I was in college, I learned about “active listening.” Most of us have had at least a little training in active listening. I’m very good at active listening, but in order to know when to stop talking, we have listen to what the other person is saying. If we are listening well, we will hear the needs, wants, and dreams of the person we are listening to. We will also hear a lot of what is not being said. Listening well will help to ask insightful questions that will spur more conversation from your inquirer or catechumen. And once you ask a question, stop talking. This is where I get tripped up a lot. If I ask a question that is anywhere close to a vulnerable spot in the inquirer or catechumen, their response is going to be silence. They don’t yet trust me enough to share their vulnerability. So they have to think about it for a second. They have to decide if they want to answer and then carefully phrase how they are going to answer. All this usually takes about five seconds. But five seconds is often way too long for some to wait. Most tend to jump in and fill the “awkward moment” with a clarification of what I meant or a change of subject. At that point, the other person is off the hook and feels no need to answer. So here’s something to try. Next time you ask a question, wait 10 seconds. Then, after you get comfortable with 10 seconds of silence, bump it up to 20 seconds. I guarantee you that in your next conversation, if you can insert just three meaningful questions, each followed by at least 10-seconds silence, and you will learn way more about your “quiet” inquirer than you ever thought you would.
Another tip that works for me is to talk slower. When I get nervous, I tend to be thinking of the next point I want to make, even as I’m making my first point. To mitigate that, I try to think of my conversation in blocks of threes. For example, suppose you want to tell an inquirer something about your pastor. Think of three qualities of your pastor. Describe the first quality in as much detail as you need to. Then imagine yourself taking a sip of water. Or, actually take a sip of water. Then describe the second quality. Take another sip of water. Finally, describe the third quality. Don’t be surprised if, while you’re sipping, your inquirer begins talking!
My final tip about silence I learned as journalist for film magazines. I would tape record all of my interviews while at the same time taking notes. When the interview was over, I stopped taking notes, but left the tape-recorder running. The most compelling part of the interview often happened after it was “over.” The subject would often relax and say something in a less guarded way because the reporter no longer seemed to be gathering information. You might think that sounds a little duplicitous, but you are not using a tape recorder and you are not looking for a scandalous scoop. You are just using your new skill of not talking to give your inquirers and catechumens a chance to say something meaningful. So, when your session is over, thank the inquirers or catechumens for coming, stand up, gather your things, but keep your mental tape-recorder running. And try not to say too much.
Mother Teresa said, “We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence…. We need silence to be able to touch souls.” Try some of these tips for being silent and see how deeply you will touch souls.
To Be Continued.
