Am I Catholic?

[Subrosa]

Hi abb and WECOME to the forums!

Without question the best thing you could do is get into the RCIA program. It will bring you into full communion with the Church by completing the Sacraments of Initiaion which all Catholics are required to do, including myself. My teenage son will be Confirmed on Mother’s Day (They could have picked a better day! Sheesh!)

While you have been baptized, you need to complete First Penance, First Communion and Confirmation, all of which are part of the RCIA process.

To understand Confirmation, read Acts 8:14-17. You will see that in order to recieve the Holy Spirit, you need the Bishop to give it to you.

You can read all the books and articles at your leisure, but receiving the sacraments is most important, without question.

Again, WELCOME!
Subrosa

 

[Subrosa]

Todd Easton:

Originally Posted by abb

Thanks for all the replies, I have a question though, after my first confession will I be able to attend mass and receive communion?
The short answer is Yes. You are welcome to attend Mass right now but should refrain from receiving Communion until you make your first confession. After your first confession you will be eligible to receive Communion at Mass until such time as you commit a serious sin. Committing a serious sin makes you ineligible to receive Communion and you remain ineligible for Communion normally until you go to confession again.

what’s this about “first” communion?

I am pretty sure this simply refers to the first time you receive Communion, kind of like your first kiss. First Communion is objectively the same as any subsequent Communion you will receive but subjectively it is special because it is the first.

Hi guys!

Todd, there is a correction that needs to be here. First Communion is a Sacrament that is given through the initiation process. One does not simply go to church and receive after giving first penance, or confession. ALL of these sacraments are part of the RCIA process and are dealt with according to the ancient Traditions of the Church. They NEED to be done properly, not at one’s whim. If done in the way you describe, they will not be valid.

Abb, I cannot overstate the importance of the RCIA process. It will bring you into full communion with the Church. There is not a Catholic alive that has not gone through all of these Sacraments of Initiation, not even the Pope! They are required of ALL Catholics, and they are required to be done properly.

If done properly, it will take a year. You will complete the process on Easter vigil. It is then when you will receive First Communion and Confirmation. You will Confess during the process.

Abb, notice that the process takes a year and is done the night before Easter Sunday. That means you should act sooner rather than later since Easter is just a short time from now. You can start the process and have it done in time for next Easter.

In the meantime, go to mass. You will not be judged. Just do what everyone else is doing and you’ll be fine. However, you are not allowed to take Communion until you complete the RCIA process. Once you are in the RCIA, if you chose to do so, you will be going to mass quite often.

I hope the journey is a joyous one. My prayers are with you.

Subrosa

 

[abb]

Subrosa:

Hi guys!

Todd, there is a correction that needs to be here. First Communion is a Sacrament that is given through the initiation process. One does not simply go to church and receive after giving first penance, or confession. ALL of these sacraments are part of the RCIA process and are dealt with according to the ancient Traditions of the Church. They NEED to be done properly, not at one’s whim. If done in the way you describe, they will not be valid.

Abb, I cannot overstate the importance of the RCIA process. It will bring you into full communion with the Church. There is not a Catholic alive that has not gone through all of these Sacraments of Initiation, not even the Pope! They are required of ALL Catholics, and they are required to be done properly.

If done properly, it will take a year. You will complete the process on Easter vigil. It is then when you will receive First Communion and Confirmation. You will Confess during the process.

Abb, notice that the process takes a year and is done the night before Easter Sunday. That means you should act sooner rather than later since Easter is just a short time from now. You can start the process and have it done in time for next Easter.

In the meantime, go to mass. You will not be judged. Just do what everyone else is doing and you’ll be fine. However, you are not allowed to take Communion until you complete the RCIA process. Once you are in the RCIA, if you chose to do so, you will be going to mass quite often.

I hope the journey is a joyous one. My prayers are with you.

Subrosa

Thanks, that cleared a lot up, I have one more question:

Can I goto confession before going thru the entire RCIA process or must I wait until a special time within the RCIA?

 

[Church_Militant]

abb:

Thanks, that cleared a lot up, I have one more question:

Can I goto confession before going thru the entire RCIA process or must I wait until a special time within the RCIA?

Ask your priest, but I’m pretty sure that you can. It being Lent there is probably a parish reconcilliation service sometime soon.

 

[Subrosa]

abb:

Thanks, that cleared a lot up, I have one more question:

Can I goto confession before going thru the entire RCIA process or must I wait until a special time within the RCIA?

Taking communion completes the RCIA process. It is the last thing you do, along with Confirmation. Once you have done these things, you are completely initiated and fully a member of the Church.

You may NOT take communion until it is given by the priest. I am not sure about confession, but it is also a Sacrament. Clear it with the priest first.

Oh, and another thing…you need a sponsor. Any Catholic in good standing will do. They will explain everything to you at the parish you approach. I’d do it myself, but I think we live too far apart! http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon10.gif

Blessings,
Subrosa

 

[Todd_Easton]

Subrosa:

Todd, there is a correction that needs to be here. First Communion is a Sacrament that is given through the initiation process. One does not simply go to church and receive after giving first penance, or confession.

I am sorry if this is not the way things are done now but this was my experience twenty-five years ago, if I remember correctly. Though baptized in the Catholic Church, I was not brought up in the Catholic faith. In my early twenties, I began studying the Catholic faith on my own. When I met with my parish priest to talk about my situation, he determined that I was sufficiently instructed in the faith, he heard my first confession and I received Holy Communion for the first time at the next Mass I attended.

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

Todd Easton:

I am sorry if this is not the way things are done now but this was my experience twenty-five years ago, if I remember correctly. Though baptized in the Catholic Church, I was not brought up in the Catholic faith. In my early twenties, I began studying the Catholic faith on my own. When I met with my parish priest to talk about my situation, he determined that I was sufficiently instructed in the faith, he heard my first confession and I received Holy Communion for the first time at the next Mass I attended.

Todd,

Were you confirmed by the Bishop?

 

[Todd_Easton]

Semper Fi:

Todd,

Were you confirmed by the Bishop?

No. I was confirmed by my parish priest while I was on leave from the military. My parish priest had received the faculty to administer confirmation to me from the bishop, according to Canon Law, Canons 882-883.

 

[NPS]

Those adults who have been validly baptized (both Catholic & NC) can be on their own schedule, so to speak, with the support and instruction of their parish priest. They do not have to go through the entire RCIA class itself. Sometimes it’s a great idea to do so, however, because you get to take part in a wonderful group experience and many questions you don’t know you had come up.

If a person is knowledgeable about the faith and makes a commitment that the priest believes is true, then it can all fall into place relatively quickly. That’s IF your parish priest feels it is right. He will likely say “Great!! RCIA starts in September.”

However, the actual rules are a little different than that.
The Statutes for the Catechumenate state that there is a distinct difference in baptized/non-baptized.
A lot of parishes have gone to the September-Easter schedule of RCIA and put all the baptized and non-baptized on the same schedule, yet the Statutes state that they should be seperated as far as schedule goes even to the point of saying that those already Christian (i.e. baptized) should not be fully accepted at the Easter Vigil as the non-baptized are, but rather in a different ceremony, preferably during a Sunday Mass.
Having said that, most parishes put everyone together and stick to a Sep-Easter schedule and do seperate things at the Easter Vigil, although some have a year-round program and have many people on different tracks.

It all depends on how well you know Christianity and how well you know the Catholic faith. By all means go to mass, if only just to see what goes on and to get a feel for it. Perhaps buy a book about the mass and watch for things. ( The How To Book of the Mass by Michael Dubriel is great ) But you cannot partake in communion.
YOU MUST go to confession before communion. This is not an option. Talk to the priest beforehand to get an idea how it all goes and to find out when you will be ready for confession.

If you do go to RCIA class, expect the worst. Seriously. Some RCIA classes are filled with “fiances” who are bored by and put off by the whole thing. Some classes are taught by…people who shouldn’t be teaching. It can be incredibly frustrating to be so pumped up about this and you get in there and…it’s not what you expected. Hopefully you’re in a parish blessed with a fantastic, knowledeable, enthusiastic teacher (hopefully a priest). It’s a real Catholic Embarrassment that it’s not always this way.

I agree with everyone else—dial up the parish priest and tell him the sitch. Don’t just drop in–they are busy dudes—call and ask when it is good for him. Then go see him and let God lead you where He may.

 

[Subrosa]

So, hey, Abb -

What have you decided to do? We are sitting here biting our nails in suspense!

Subrosa