Attention RCIAers!

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Figment713

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Do you realize (assuming your parish is on the same schedule as mine) that it’s only two months until Easter Vigil??? :bounce:

I don’t know about y’all, but I am VERY excited. I know this is really just the start of the rest of our lives…and now that we’ve become it, we have the task of living it. But it’s still (for me at least) a very exciting becoming, indeed.

I think I have been “becoming Catholic” for most of my life. I twice before started instruction, only to drop out when other things going on in my life seemed more important. This time I started RCIA only after doing so very much study and praying on my own…

Anyway, and at the risk of appearing to be totally whack-o :whacky: excited, I did want to point out to all of you that IT’S ONLY TWO MONTHS OFF!!! (I thought about this every time I wrote the date today.)
 
I know how excited you feel,because i’m just as happy,but I just found out tonight at my meeting that our priest was leaving to go and see his father that is very ill,and he will be gone for 4 months. So he will not be here for my BIG Day
 
YEEEE!! Two months! I’m excited and giddy, but I’m reallly going to miss RCIA when it’s all done (we get 2 weeks after the Vigil, and then that’s the end). I sense I’ll be signing back up for RCIA when it starts again in the fall. :cool:
 
the Easter Vigil is awesome, no way to describe it, you have to experience it. just a reminder, it is not over at Easter, please, please continue through mystagogy, the period after Easter when you continue meeting with your RCIA catechists, sponsors etc. and answer the question: Hey, what just happened to me and what does it mean? This is just as important as everything that has gone before. If you forego these meetings you are losing out on support and growth at a critical time. Be there.
 
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puzzleannie:
the Easter Vigil is awesome, no way to describe it, you have to experience it. just a reminder, it is not over at Easter, please, please continue through mystagogy, the period after Easter when you continue meeting with your RCIA catechists, sponsors etc. and answer the question: Hey, what just happened to me and what does it mean? This is just as important as everything that has gone before. If you forego these meetings you are losing out on support and growth at a critical time. Be there.
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I would most certainly be “there”, if there was a “there” to be! As good as my RCIA program has been (and it truly has been good…no complaints whatsoever on the program from me), they end it with the Easter Vigil. I did know from reading about the program here, and on other boards that it was supposed to continue through mystagogy. Ours just doesn’t. I was surprised by this. If anything, I’d have believed the priests who have taught this program (each and every class taught by one of the priests from the two parishes) would have more time for us after Easter than before.

Whatever…
 
I’m stoked, but I’m also nervous as heck. I’m worried that I’ll never be a good enough Catholic. My church attendance during RCIA has been rotten (I think I’ve gone maybe 3 times). I am having trouble getting myself out of my comfortable lukewarm existance and going deeper into God. But, anyways, that’s a blog entry elsewhere LoL

Mostly I’m excited grin
 
each year we carefully explain mystagogy and its purpose and content in detail, issue invitations, make phone calls, send letters and cards and do everything except send a limo to the neophyte’s home but cannot get anyone to return for even the 7 weeks of the Easter season until Pentecost, which is the minimum period for mystagogy. We have social events, parish events as well, and people simply do not respond. The sad thing is, 30 years experience with RCIA has proven that when mystagogy is neglected neophytes have a very high “failure” rate, that is, within 5 years they are no longer practicing Catholics.
 
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JessicaCeleste:
I’m stoked, but I’m also nervous as heck. I’m worried that I’ll never be a good enough Catholic. My church attendance during RCIA has been rotten (I think I’ve gone maybe 3 times). I am having trouble getting myself out of my comfortable lukewarm existance and going deeper into God. But, anyways, that’s a blog entry elsewhere LoL

Mostly I’m excited grin
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Jessica I understand how hard it is to get up and out, especially when the weather is bad. I am a convert and a sponsor, so I’m very excited for you and all of the others who will be received into the church at the vigil. I have learned to think of mass as my special date every week with the greatest love of my life. I know that He is always excited and happy when I’m there and He will never stand me up! I love to sing, so now that I’m in the choir sometimes I will be at mass twice on Sunday.

It means more when you go deeper and participate more. The more you go to the same mass time then the more you will feel a part of the community. At my parish the same people usually go at the same time and sit in the same part of the church, so after a while you get to know them.

Perhaps you can find out more about the mass than your classes have taught and it will mean more to you? There is a book called “Understanding the Mass” that I found on amazon that really helped. Also I read “The Lamb’s Supper” by Scott Hahn which talks about how the mass is when Heaven touches the earth. We are singing with the angels during the “Holy, holy, holy.”

Definitely ask yourself why you are coming into the church and really examine what you believe before taking the big step at Easter. Our RCIA emphasizes that it is better to be good and faithful Baptist or Methodist or whatever you are than a lukewarm or “in name only” Catholic. We encourgage the candidates to really learn the faith and make a conscious personal choice. It is not good enough that a spouse or fiance is pressuring you.

Your RCIA should have taught that if you miss your “Sunday obligation” as a Catholic through your own fault for inappropriate reasons then it is a mortal sin. I know that may sound harsh, but sometimes the truth hurts. This is directly from the Catechism of the Catholic Church not just my opinion.

I like to think of it as my Sunday privilege and it feels horrible to me to miss mass now even when I’m ill. In the beginning I told myself that God gave me life and everything good in it so what is an hour per week to give back to Him. I’m a little concerned that you have not been to mass but three times in 6 months or so but you plan to join the church. Why?
 
Congratulations to all Converts. I attended the Easter Vigil where a large number brought into full communion and it was a beautiful ceremony. I am equally happy for you that you have discovered the richness of the Catholic church.
 
Congrats to Figment and all of the rest!

My greatest joy has been since coming into the church at Easter 2001.

Definitely use Lent to continue your prep and to go deeper into your faith. Try attending daily mass if you have never been or something else new. It can definitely make the work or school day go better. There is a large group of teens at my parish who get up for early mass before high school and then they have breakfast together at least once per week. I thought that rocked, so I took my much older than high school self down to the cathedral during lunch for mass since I work 2 blocks away. It has been very cool. Especially nice is going there on special holy days for mass when the Bishop presides.

I also used my RCIA time to try some different devotionals like saying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Rosary. You can follow along on EWTN if you have cable or watch on the net. I think the chaplet comes on around 3pm central but you can check their website schedule. Even if you decide that certain things are not your cup of tea it will help you to know what other Catholics are talking about when they discuss these types of things.

Don’t forget to pick your saint name for Confirmation! I think that EWTN and some other sites have info on the saints that might help you to choose. Your parish may have a copy of a book about saints. I think there is an encyclopedia called Butler’s. Remember the name is supposed to be different from your legal names. I just love hearing all of the saints names that candidates have chosen sung during the Litany of the Saints at the vigil.

Again, congrats!
 
Yeah, I can’t wait. I am scared at the same time (kind of like a Senior Prom or Graduation kind of thing).

raises glass Here is to the next two months. May we all come closer to God and our new faith. May we all be able to live up to the new standards that have been placed upon us. Go Irish!
 
I, too am excited about Confirmation! However, on March 5 my RCIA class is going to the Cathedral in Miami for what is called a “Sending”, where we meet the Bishop. The next week, I get my marriage Convalidated and then a month later, Confirmation! I fully intend to continue RCIA during the Mystagogy period and I also hope to contribute in RCIA next year or enter into some form of Stewardship at my parish. Remember everyone, that Confirmation is only the beginning!
 
I’m very excited as well about the Easter Vigil. I’m learning to be more patient. Now that I think about it, it’s better to wait so that I have a better knowledge about the faith instead of only going by emotions.
 
This thread reminds me of when I was in RCIA. 🙂 I had typed up a calendar on my computer, and was counting down the days, erasing each day as it passed- I started it, I think 6 or 7 months before. Sometimes it seems like ages ago- other times it seems like yesterday. This was a good thing to remember.

I encourage all of you to spend time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. If you have a deep love for the Eucharist, you’ll stay strong in the Faith. If nothing else goes right at Mass- you’ll know that you received God Himself- and that alone made it worth everything. Adoration was the first time that I really believed in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and it continues to be an important aspect of my Faith today. My Godmother took me to a local adoration chapel- and as we drove up, it hit me- “Jesus is- as literally as I am in this car- in that chapel!”. Please find an adoration chapel, or a parish that has adoration, near you, and take advantage of this wonderful opportunity we have- and this wonderful treasure of the Catholic Faith.
 
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