Question on RCIA and Baptism

[LateranBasilica]

In the Early Church the process could take 3 years before a candidate was baptised. The candidate had a mentor who taught and guided them mostly on moral teaching. The teaching of the Church was left until after Baptism, due to the dangerous nature of being a Christian.

 

[Horton]

Your diocese has set a standard of a number of lessons that need to be completed. That is the reality for you in your parish. As someone up thread said, part of being Catholic is obedience, submitting our lives to the will of God. For some this is very difficult, especially in today’s culture if individualism and entitlement attitude. To give over control to the will of God is hard.

That you are trying to somehow go around the process of RCIA in your parish tells me you aren’t ready to make that final commitment to God, to submit to his will for your life. Think about that and spend some time in prayer with God to get some clarity.

 

[savedbychrist]

I have no intention to skip any RCIA class. Every true Christian are Christian because we want to be children of God, this is what the Sacrament of Baptism is all about: to be reborn and become the children of God eternally. It is not only our duty, but also our desire to know about God, so I have no intention to cut corners and attend fewer lessons. All I want is to be sealed as the children of God, simple as that. Our faith requires submission to the Church, but this submission is not a blind one. I am not confident that the Diocese’s requirement for everyone to attend the same number of classes before becoming God’s children is exactly His will, though I cannot be sure.

 

[HeDa]

In the parish where I (candidate) was received into the Church it was a two year process. First year we were taught the basics and a little more in the Catechism classes. I can say that the first year was all way to basic for me and what I already believed. Second year we went deeper and those who hadn’t started living as a Catholic (but without receiving the Sacraments) did so.

What was most important to me during those two years were the individual meetings I had with a priest and sometime the deacon during the two years. We talked about “my issues”, how I could love God more and what God had created me for. I knew that I would not be received earlier in that parish and I also knew that I would be received after a year in my parish but I accepted that it would take two years. During the time it took, my baptism became very important and Easter Sunday the year I was received was also the same date as my baptism day.

Those I have met who have had a longer preparation have been well prepared to live as Catholics. In some cases there are family members and relatives who have to “calm down” when a family member is about to become a Catholic. A marriage should not end up in a divorce if one of the spouses becomes Catholic. The spouse also needs the time to accept that there will be a Catholic in the family.

 

[Fraevo63]

Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1249: Catechumens “are already joined to the Church, they are already of the household of Christ, and are frequently already living a life of faith, hope and charity.” “With love and solicitude mother Church already embraces them as her own.”

1259: For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament.