Dismissal of Catechumens and Candidates

[puzzleannie]

my other reason for not dismissing besides simple logistics is that most of my catechumens are from nominally Catholic families and there is already an uphill battle getting the individuals and the families attending Mass at all, and this is a priority. It seems much more beneficial to establish the regular Mass attendance habit in the family and schedule classes before or afterward. It is also the only way I can do both English and Spanish on the same day, and Sunday results in much better RICA attendance than any other day or time. It is also the best time to have the full RCIA team together. We do have classes at other times during the week so no one is shut out due to scheduling onflicts, but this way also families with children need only come once a week, rather than back and forth for different age groups classes all week. Each session begins with BOW for 20 minutes, break for snack, then class for 50 minutes, and prayer.

 

[novusCatholic]

my other reason for not dismissing besides simple logistics is that most of my catechumens are from nominally Catholic families and there is already an uphill battle getting the individuals and the families attending Mass at all, and this is a priority. It seems much more beneficial to establish the regular Mass attendance habit in the family and schedule classes before or afterward. It is also the only way I can do both English and Spanish on the same day, and Sunday results in much better RICA attendance than any other day or time. It is also the best time to have the full RCIA team together. We do have classes at other times during the week so no one is shut out due to scheduling onflicts, but this way also families with children need only come once a week, rather than back and forth for different age groups classes all week. Each session begins with BOW for 20 minutes, break for snack, then class for 50 minutes, and prayer.

Our RCIA class was held after Wednesday evening Mass and lasted for 1 hour. I felt that it was helping to establish a good practice of also attending Mass during the week, rather than on Sunday only. Unfortunately, after RCIA was over, most did not continue to attend weekday Mass.

Our BOW was during the second half of Sunday Mass.