Longing for...

[Paris_Blues]

I just realized that waiting for the moment of recieving the Eucharist is worth it to wait even though it will be another year or so.

I went to my RCIA thing and asked why it takes so long to convert, even though I knew the answer kinda…I just wanted them to know that I was longing for it!

I was told that I just have to know what the church teaches because if I went into it too early, I would wonder if I should continue or not because I wouldn’t have known everything that I should’ve. Make sense?

Also, she told me that it’s kinda like getting ready for marriage…would have to do all this, that, etc. know what to do, expect, etc. so that gave me a better understanding of why I should wait.

So the best way for me to accept this and endure this “awesome pain” (sounds like an oxymoron, I know! ) is to take and see it like as if taking this RCIA was like saying, I’m getting married to the Church so I will have to go through this process, etc. get to know it better, etc. and when the time comes next Easter Vigil, I’ll be “married” to the Church!
Kinda like a couple WAITING to get married because they love eachother!

 

[Faustina]

Just think, non-christians that are converting to Catholicism, RCIA is 3 years long!

 

[mommy]

I am glad the process is a long one. I have learned so much. I have such a deeper appreciation for all of it, that it will definately mean more to me when it happens, than if it had happened last. year.

 

[Paris_Blues]

Yeah, I guess it is good to wait…therefore there maybe something that I’ll learn more about that I’ll know IS important when joining the Church! I will continue to pray that I’ll know before next year!

 

[mommy]

Whenever I think about what’s to come in the next 2 months, and how it will all come together on Holy Saturday, it really brings me to tears. I just am filled with an overwhelmly sense of love and fullness I’ve never had.

 

[puzzleannie]

all I can do is assure you that the waiting and preparation period is full of immense blessings, and should not be curtailed. Just as a woman who is eager to hold and love her infant would not be justified in inducing labor.

In the 30 or so years since the RCIA process has been implemented, directors have learned through bitter experience that when the natural progression of the periods and the rites that mark the transition from one period to the next are truncated or curtailed, it nearly always results in inadequate spiritual preparation.

Trying to push everyone at the same pace, or rush them through a series of hurdles produces converts who are not able to withstand the challenges they inevitably encounter, and leads to a high dropout rate. Those who are pushed through a 6 or 9 month program are far more likely to leave the Church within 5 years of converting.