My RCIA So Far...

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Hi all!

As some of you know, I am in RCIA now, and I haven’t been horribly impressed. There are three of us, myself, who only needs confirmation, my fiance who needs communion and confirmation, and this 15 year old kid who doesn’t want to be there. He just looks around the room the whole time. Anyhow, he needs baptism and the whole lot. We don’t have sponsors yet, it hasn’t even been mentioned in class that we need one, and we haven’t had the Rite of Initiation either.But then, how can we be initiated without a sponsor? She told us that initiation would happen in a few weeks.

For 5 weeks now we have been going over the “inquiry” portion of “Journey of Faith”. JOF really seems to be written on about a third grade level, and having been brought up in the church, there is really nothing new for me. My fiance has read some books as well, and is getting nothing out of the class.

But I guess the thing that is really killing me is what is being taught. Or not taught. The teacher is an “Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist” with a priest complex: she can’t be a priest, so she does the next best thing. And she teaches RCIA.

Two weeks ago we went on a tour of the church. I knew more of the terms than she did. Now our church was built by Irish immigrants in 1929, and of course, it is St. Patrick’s. So, as she took us around the church anything traditional she said was old and outdated. For instance: our baptismal font is in the rear of the church in its own little chapel. Thats wrong. The confessionals are now ‘reconciliation rooms’. Whenever I refer to them as confessionals, she corrects me. When we got to the altar rail, she told me they should have been torn out because they close off the sanctuary from the congregation, and the mass is all about the congregation. When we got to the High Altar she said: “Now this looks like an altar doesn’t it?” And I said: “Because it is.” And then she went on to tell us how the priest used to celebrate mass facing away from the people, but that made the people feel bad because they weren’t part of the mass. Then she went on to tell us that the tabernacle probably shuld have been moved off to the side to follow Vatican II guidelines.

I could feel my face turning red.

She didn’t have too much to say when I told her the tabernacle should stay right where it is so that God is at the center of the church, not the chairs of the priest.

Now, even as I look at the next JOF, No. 8 “Places in the Catholic Church” on page two under the heading “the CRUCIFX” the so-called crucifix in the picture is a modernist piece of wood with a wood diamond in the center showing the RISEN Christ. Holy ****!

What’s going on with this stuff? Am I the only one who sees that these people are taking away our identities as catholics?

And if she says one more time how the Catholic church has not changed in 2,000 years, boy will I have a mouthful for her.

I need some guidance, or at least some of your 2 cents. And maybe a prayer. Or two.

Steve
 
I can totally sympathize with you. I have gone to RCIA in three different parishes in several different states and have been totally unimpressed with the folks that they have teaching the classes.

I am still looking for a parish that actually can teach me something that is accurate and true to church teaching and answer simple questions.

All I can say is if this is the norm I can understand why there are so many Catholics that do not understand their own faith!
 
Steve,

If you hang in there and get confirmed, consider offering your services to help run the RCIA next year. I bet the priest will be glad to have more people who want to help! You could at least offer to be the person in charge of the church tour day. :eek:

Please stick it out and get confirmed so as to receive that grace! It is our confirmation grace that seems just perfect for being someone to run RCIA.

Pray for all the catechumens in your class!!! I wish I had a solution for you, but I don’t.
 
please stick it out, do your own reading in the Catechism and come here with questions, please be there for the sake of that 15 yr old kid who really needs you and your witness. The catechist also needs you, somebody needs to, shall we say, educate her.
 
Oh, I almost forgot the best part.

When we went into the sacristy, Father was there. He started showing us the rubrics and so forth, and then he started to show the vestments. Now I remember helping to dress my priest for mass as an altar boy in the late 70’s so I know what they are called. I asked him where his amice is. He said they are “old fashioned, we don’t wear them anymore”. Medieval writers have given very many and very different symbolical meanings to this vestment. The prayer from the Roman Missal that the priest speaks as they are putting it on begins “Place on my head, O Lord, the helmet of salvation”. Sounds kind of important.

Then we looked at the chalice. I had noticed that it wasn’t veiled during mass. I asked: “Shouldn’t sacred vessels be veiled?” The RCIA teacher said “no” before the priest could open his mouth. Again, that was ‘old fashioned’, but he did think there was a veil “…around here somewhere.”

Then I asked where the sacrarium was. Well, they don’t have one of those either. He then told me that the Bishops feel we are getting too carried away with the “small things” and not concentrating on the Eucharist.

But that’s exactly what we’re concerned with! All of these “little things” is what helps to make the sacred mystery of the Eucharist more sacred! Why are they doing away with these things?

Steve
 
I’m so sorry that you’re encountering these challenges with your parish. Please stay and pray, pray, pray for your priest and fellow parishoners.

Someone needs to stick around to represent the fullness of the truth.

CARose
 
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Karin:
I can totally sympathize with you. I have gone to RCIA in three different parishes in several different states and have been totally unimpressed with the folks that they have teaching the classes.

I am still looking for a parish that actually can teach me something that is accurate and true to church teaching and answer simple questions.

All I can say is if this is the norm I can understand why there are so many Catholics that do not understand their own faith!
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If by the Garden State, you mean New Jersey, come to St. Joseph’s parish in Swedesboro, Gloucester County, NJ on Tuesday Night at 7:00 PM. My dh & I are the Catechists, and I can assure you that we are accurate and true to Church teaching. We can also answer questions or find the answers to those we can’t answer.

Peace,
Linda
 
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LindaS:
If by the Garden State, you mean New Jersey, come to St. Joseph’s parish in Swedesboro, Gloucester County, NJ on Tuesday Night at 7:00 PM. My dh & I are the Catechists, and I can assure you that we are accurate and true to Church teaching. We can also answer questions or find the answers to those we can’t answer.

Peace,
Linda
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Linda-
Yes…Garden State=NJ 🙂
But can I ask you what exit of the Turnpike you are…I think you are a bit too far for me.😦
Thank you for the offer though…do you know of any churches up in the Northern Part of NJ that are true to the Church teaching and can answer “simple” questions?
 
Hi Slewi, I am not in RCIA these days, luckily, but one of my best friends is. I have posted several times on this forum concerning his experiences as he has related them to me. I had thought that maybe he was exagerating a bit, but after reading your posts and seeing the commonality in them, I am starting to believethat these sorts of things are the norm rather than the exception.

Tell me, did your grioup have an Agape, complete with candles and meditation? My friends did and it sounded too surreal to be true, or so thought.

All I can say is hang in there, keep your eyes and ears open and pray for the day you can do something to correct these things.
 
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slewi:
Hi all!

As some of you know, I am in RCIA now, and I haven’t been horribly impressed. There are three of us, myself, who only needs confirmation, my fiance who needs communion and confirmation, and this 15 year old kid who doesn’t want to be there. He just looks around the room the whole time. Anyhow, he needs baptism and the whole lot. We don’t have sponsors yet, it hasn’t even been mentioned in class that we need one, and we haven’t had the Rite of Initiation either.But then, how can we be initiated without a sponsor? She told us that initiation would happen in a few weeks.

For 5 weeks now we have been going over the “inquiry” portion of “Journey of Faith”. JOF really seems to be written on about a third grade level, and having been brought up in the church, there is really nothing new for me. My fiance has read some books as well, and is getting nothing out of the class.

But I guess the thing that is really killing me is what is being taught. Or not taught. The teacher is an “Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist” with a priest complex: she can’t be a priest, so she does the next best thing. And she teaches RCIA.

Two weeks ago we went on a tour of the church. I knew more of the terms than she did. Now our church was built by Irish immigrants in 1929, and of course, it is St. Patrick’s. So, as she took us around the church anything traditional she said was old and outdated. For instance: our baptismal font is in the rear of the church in its own little chapel. Thats wrong. The confessionals are now ‘reconciliation rooms’. Whenever I refer to them as confessionals, she corrects me. When we got to the altar rail, she told me they should have been torn out because they close off the sanctuary from the congregation, and the mass is all about the congregation. When we got to the High Altar she said: “Now this looks like an altar doesn’t it?” And I said: “Because it is.” And then she went on to tell us how the priest used to celebrate mass facing away from the people, but that made the people feel bad because they weren’t part of the mass. Then she went on to tell us that the tabernacle probably shuld have been moved off to the side to follow Vatican II guidelines.

I could feel my face turning red.

She didn’t have too much to say when I told her the tabernacle should stay right where it is so that God is at the center of the church, not the chairs of the priest.

Now, even as I look at the next JOF, No. 8 “Places in the Catholic Church” on page two under the heading “the CRUCIFX” the so-called crucifix in the picture is a modernist piece of wood with a wood diamond in the center showing the RISEN Christ. Holy ****!

What’s going on with this stuff? Am I the only one who sees that these people are taking away our identities as catholics?

And if she says one more time how the Catholic church has not changed in 2,000 years, boy will I have a mouthful for her.

I need some guidance, or at least some of your 2 cents. And maybe a prayer. Or two.

Steve
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Steve:

Steve, One, I will pray for you. I’m an Anglican who has been in the position of teaching 6th Grade CCD (preparation for Confirmation) where I was probably the only teacher who made the kids learn the Catechism (25 years ago - Baltimore then). layreading at St. Ignatius in San Francisco and another Catholic Church and being in a Church choir (same place I taught CCD).

You don’t have to be in theat particular class. Politely inform the Parish Priest what this lady is doing - He has every right to know, and then ask him if he can provide the instruction. If he says he can’t, then politely inform him that you’ll be seeking instruction for confirmation elsewhere. There must be a parish in your area which provides RCIA instruction which is orthodox and doesn’t question what the Church has been doing for most of the past 2,000 years.

If that doesn’t work, hook up with the people doing the Indult Masses in your Diocese. I guarantee you that whatever instruction you receive there will be trustworthy and won’t question the Church or use “The Spirit of Vatican II” to justify a personal or political agenda.

I hope this helps. My prayers are with you.

In Christ, Michael
 
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CARose:
I’m so sorry that you’re encountering these challenges with your parish. Please stay and pray, pray, pray for your priest and fellow parishoners.

Someone needs to stick around to represent the fullness of the truth.

CARose
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CARose:

That someone needs to be someone like you.

Steve needs a safe place where he can learn the fundamentals of the faith without some (Place your own word here) questioning everything most Catholics have held dear for almost 2,000 years.

I suggest he get away from that wolf in sheep’s clothing, inform the parish priest, and find a safe place where he can receive instruction in the faith…

I would not that sheep be lost because of people like this RCIA teacher. Therefore, as soon as he has found that safe place, he should come back and inform his classmates, so that they can join him.

In Christ, Michael
 
It sounds to me like Steve already knows the difference between truth and fiction and is well set to help the parish where he’s enrolled in RCIA.

CARose
 
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Karin:
Linda-
Yes…Garden State=NJ 🙂
But can I ask you what exit of the Turnpike you are…I think you are a bit too far for me.😦
Thank you for the offer though…do you know of any churches up in the Northern Part of NJ that are true to the Church teaching and can answer “simple” questions?
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Karin:

Don’t worry about the distance.

If you have some knowledge of the faith, and can work independently, the catechists ihere can probably set you up so that you don’t have to go see them more than once or twice a month, provided you can talk on the phone and email questions and answers.

I think you’ll find out that it also won’t take very long once you start dealing with people who concentrate on the Faith and the Teaching of the Church and not some personal or politicial agenda.

Write LindaS and give her a try - It sounds a lot better than what you’ve been going through!

My prayers are with you! God go with you.

In Christ, Michael
 
I’m very thankful to read this thread. I was informed by a couple devout Catholics that I should probably be teaching RCIA rather than going through it. (Of course, if I want to be confirmed, I must do the latter) Their point was that my knowledge of history, Scripture, and Tradition outweighed that of the average RCIA teacher. I told these people they overestimated me.

They didn’t.

I’m sorry for others here who also struggle…sad as this next statement is, I’ve come to consider RCIA as a “cross to bear” … something that I “offer up to God.”

I hope to one day aid in the instruction and education of catechumens.

Let us pray for one another in the coming weeks as we continue through this process of listening to people teach us who don’t always have their information straight.
 
I’ve seen RCIA in two different parishes and have yet to be impressed. I was sponsoring a candidate a couple years ago, and began a “supplemental” adult course on Catholic doctrine for all those who wanted to attend, as the RCIA didn’t really teach doctrine, but was more of an experience sharing opportunity.
 
Scotty PGH:
RUN!

ecclesiadei.org/direct00.htm
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Don’t run. Stay and help the others who are less informed and likely to be led into modernism.

I simply go to the parish in my neighborhood. I can’t stand “church shopping” as I see this as yet another modernist tendancy.

Instead, I believe the parish is a geographical divison of the diocese. I don’t “church shop” for my parish any more than I “church shop” for my diocese. We are called to worship with the family we are given, not look for a better family. 😉 Families, at times, want to keep their crazy uncles somewhere out of sight, hidden in the attic. Yet, I think all the crazy uncles in my Catholic family are still the family God intended that I worship with.

I’m a catechists and an apologist. Some have called me an argumentarian. I prefer to stay put in the wacky desert of a liberal parish and fight for orthodoxy rather than to retreat to the oasis of an orthodox FSSP-celebrated liturgy 45 minutes away. Someone has to stay and fight for the faith. I figure that’s the cross that I should carry. If others would do the same, then I think the desert would start to bloom as God intended.
 
I have spent the last 10 years throwing out all the false teachings I learned in RCIA.

On a positive note, I checked the website of the parish where I went through RCIA and they now have a highly intelligent orthodox Catholic in charge of the RCIA program.👍
 
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Akanke:
I’m very thankful to read this thread. I was informed by a couple devout Catholics that I should probably be teaching RCIA rather than going through it. (Of course, if I want to be confirmed, I must do the latter) Their point was that my knowledge of history, Scripture, and Tradition outweighed that of the average RCIA teacher. I told these people they overestimated me.

They didn’t.
.
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Wow, you sure learned a great lesson on charity and humility. Do you realize how much time and effort it takes to coordinate an RCIA program? Maybe this woman is not the most orthodox, but she sounds far from a heritic. You accuse her of wanting to be a priest because she is an EMHC?? A bit of a leap don’t you think?

As far as the amice and chalice veils, I have NEVER seen a veil used, even in what are considered orthodox parishes. Most priests do not wear an amice, not my Opus Dei priest friends, not my Legionaire priest friends (well 2 LOC priests wear one from time to time), and certainly not the diocesan priests I know.

It sounds to me you have a case of more Catholic than the Pope-itis. I would recommend that you give you catechists a break, try to listen what they are saying, and be open to the Holy Spirit…in other words, watch out for the plank in your eye.
 
Lurchy,

I am confused. First you quoted someone else’s post, and then started in on me, I think.

Have you attended RCIA? Have you had the luxury of having gone through it years ago? And therefore have no idea what nonsense newly initiating catholics have to endure to get to confirmation?

Nice to be able to stand back and tell me to give the RCIA teacher a break, but until you are where I am don’t accuse me of not having humility and charity. That shows a lack of humility and charity on your part.

You have never seen a veil used? Sorry, but I have. And so have the majority of the people who frequent this site. You don’t know of any priests that still wear the amice? I do, and not just FSSP either.

Matthew 7:1-6. I’m not judging. I just tell it the way it is. I give witness to the truth. And sometimes the truth is a sad state of affairs. If I can’t come here and and gripe, and then learn, then what is the purpose of this site?

Seems like you just needed to have something negative to say about my post. But that’s ok. Maybe some of us hear the Holy Spirit more clearly than others.

Steve-O!
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