RCIA catechist question

[chewchoo]

i am one of the RCIA dismissal catechists at my parish.
last week the main catechist gave us an introduction to all of the catechumens and candidates.

“fred” is a candidate and “sue” is a catechumen. they are going to be married next fall in the church. but currently they are living together and she is pregnant.

“mary” is a catechumen and her civil husband “bob” is catholic. his 11 yo son is a candidate as well and her 14 yo daughter is a catechumen. mary and bob will have their marriage blessed next year sometime. (their previous marriages/relationships are not a problem)

i know as a dismissal catechist i am not privy to the details of the candidates and catechumens, but nothing was said by the main catechist that indicated to the dismissal catechists that these people were informed about living chastely until their respective marriages. should i just assume that this has been discussed? or should i ask the main catechist if this issue was brought up?

another thing the main catechist mentioned in our meeting last week. a different catechumen has been very dedicated in reading the Bible. she asked the catechist, why did Jesus to this here? and the catechist replied. “its a story, don’t over analyze it.”
ummmm???

i realize learning catholicism is a life long process, but the Bible is just a “story”?

help?

 

[1ke]

I’m not sure what you mean by a “dismissal” catechist. If you mean a catechist who leads a session of “breaking open the word” for catechumens, then you hsould lead the lesson at hand and not delve into the personal situations of the candidates and catechumens.

The responsibility for discussing these things with candidates and catechumens lies with the RCIA director and/or the pastor, in private and in the context of their interview and/or their meetings regarding marriage prep.

 

[chewchoo]

I’m not sure what you mean by a “dismissal” catechist. If you mean a catechist who leads a session of “breaking open the word” for catechumens, then you hsould lead the lesson at hand and not delve into the personal situations of the candidates and catechumens.

The responsibility for discussing these things with candidates and catechumens lies with the RCIA director and/or the pastor, in private and in the context of their interview and/or their meetings regarding marriage prep.

right, it’s the breaking open the word sessions. (i’m still new to the RCIA process )

and yes, it’s not my business to know their personal details, it just seemed odd to me, the amount of information that was shared with us and then it made the rest confusing to me.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

i am one of the RCIA dismissal catechists at my parish.
last week the main catechist gave us an introduction to all of the catechumens and candidates.

“fred” is a candidate and “sue” is a catechumen. they are going to be married next fall in the church. but currently they are living together and she is pregnant.

“mary” is a catechumen and her civil husband “bob” is catholic. his 11 yo son is a candidate as well and her 14 yo daughter is a catechumen. mary and bob will have their marriage blessed next year sometime. (their previous marriages/relationships are not a problem)

i know as a dismissal catechist i am not privy to the details of the candidates and catechumens, but nothing was said by the main catechist that indicated to the dismissal catechists that these people were informed about living chastely until their respective marriages. should i just assume that this has been discussed? or should i ask the main catechist if this issue was brought up?

another thing the main catechist mentioned in our meeting last week. a different catechumen has been very dedicated in reading the Bible. she asked the catechist, why did Jesus to this here? and the catechist replied. “its a story, don’t over analyze it.”
ummmm???

i realize learning catholicism is a life long process, but the Bible is just a “story”?

help?

Hopefully they are not dismissing Candidates, only catechumens. Anyway it is not your issue to deal with until discussing something in the Sunday readings that relates to this and they bring up questions about their situation. The Bible does contain stories. So without knowing exactly what passage you are talking about it would be hard to give a specific answer.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

right, it’s the breaking open the word sessions. (i’m still new to the RCIA process )

and yes, it’s not my business to know their personal details, it just seemed odd to me, the amount of information that was shared with us and then it made the rest confusing to me.

It is important for the whole team to know certain details and they are confidential unless they wish to discuss them. When I lead BOW sessions I consentrate on the readings for that Sunday, but also allow an open time at the end of the Bow session for anyone to ask any question. It can be related to the RCIA process in general, to their specific situation, to something that might have been discussed at the Tuesday meeting, or something totally out of the blue.

 

[chewchoo]

Hopefully they are not dismissing Candidates, only catechumens. Anyway it is not your issue to deal with until discussing something in the Sunday readings that relates to this and they bring up questions about their situation. The Bible does contain stories. So without knowing exactly what passage you are talking about it would be hard to give a specific answer.

they are dismissing both.

and as for the issues, i wasn’t going to bring them up with the catechumens/candidates, but i was wondering about the “scandal” part of living together. since as a whole, the catechesis of the catholic church is widely varied, and here we have people wanting to enter our Church and they aren’t doing all they can to try to be holy at the onset what does that say to others? am i making any sense?

i don’t know the specific bible passage either. it just sounded to me that the bible was being trivialized the way it was said… i might just be over analyzing the whole thing?

 

[chewchoo]

It is important for the whole team to know certain details and they are confidential unless they wish to discuss them. When I lead BOW sessions I consentrate on the readings for that Sunday, but also allow an open time at the end of the Bow session for anyone to ask any question. It can be related to the RCIA process in general, to their specific situation, to something that might have been discussed at the Tuesday meeting, or something totally out of the blue.

right, confidential. they will remain so with me too.

i have my first BOW session this sunday.
i am praying that i do a good job.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

they are dismissing both.

and as for the issues, i wasn’t going to bring them up with the catechumens/candidates, but i was wondering about the “scandal” part of living together. since as a whole, the catechesis of the catholic church is widely varied, and here we have people wanting to enter our Church and they aren’t doing all they can to try to be holy at the onset what does that say to others? am i making any sense?

i don’t know the specific bible passage either. it just sounded to me that the bible was being trivialized the way it was said… i might just be over analyzing the whole thing?

This is where I would agree that having other Sponsors for them would make sense. Their Sponsors would be in a better position to discuss the living arangements with them. Well you are correct, Catechumens and Candidates should be “LIVING” out the Catholic Faith as proof of an interior conversion.