RCIA Early Dismissal

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Are there any supporting articles, documents etc to not do the early dismissal before the Liturgy of the Eucharist. What is the History of this Early Dismissal?
 
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Eucharistic:
Are there any supporting articles, documents etc to not do the early dismissal before the Liturgy of the Eucharist. What is the History of this Early Dismissal?
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As far as I know, there are no documents that say not to do the dismissal.

Historically there are two aspects to this. During periods of persecution the fully initiated members of the Church would move the entire Mass to a different location and the catechumens would remain where they were. This was to avoid identifying the priest who would not be present for the early part of the Liturgy. When persecution did not take place, the catechumens were dismissed just as they are today. In fact, in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (and of St. Basil) there is actually a specific litany that the deacon leads for the dismissal of the catechumens:
Deacon: Catechumens, pray to the Lord.
Catechumens: Lord, have mercy.
– Let us faithful pray for the catechumens.
All: Lord, have mercy.
– That the Lord may have mercy on them.
All: Lord, have mercy.
– That He instruct them in the word of truth.
All: Lord, have mercy.
– That He open to them the Gospel of righteousness.
All: Lord, have mercy.
– That He join them to his holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
All: Lord, have mercy.
– Save them, have mercy on them, help them and protect them, O God, by your grace.
All: Lord, have mercy.
– Catechumens, bow your heads to the Lord.
Catechumens: To You, O Lord.
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Prayer for the catechumens.
Lord our God dwelling on high and watching over the lowly, who sent forth Salvation to the human race your 0nly-begotten Son, God, our Lord Jesus Chris look upon your servants the catechumens who have bowed their heads to you, and in due time make them worthy of the bath of regeneration the remission of sins and the robe of incorruption. Join them to your holy catholic and apostolic Church and number them among your chosen flock. That with us they too may glorify your most noble and magnificent name, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always and for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
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Deacon All catechumens, depart. Catechumens, depart. All catechumens, depart. Let no catechumen remain.
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Deacon Ed
 
Catechumens, of course, are the unbaptized. But in RCIA, both the baptized and unbaptized depart for the early dismissal. This leads to some ironic situations. There are some in the RCIA who have attended Mass with their spouses and families for decades; but now that they are in the RCIA process, they must leave early!
 
This doesn’t happen at all in our parish. But then there are several things that don’t happen at our parish that seem to be required elsewhere, and several other things that do happen at our parish that are forbidden elsewhere. Go figure. :confused:

DaveBj
 
i HATED early dismissal. I just went through the RCIA process last year. I always felt like I was missing out on half the Mass (which I was). When we were dismissed, we would parade out after the Homily,(father sending us out with a blessing), then we would “discuss” the readings and tell what we “got out of them”. We did the SAME thing the very next RCIA meeting. :rolleyes:

Even though we could not as yet receive our Lords Body, we missed the greatest miracle known to man kind, the summit of our faith and what makes the Holy Mass the most beautiful thing this side of heaven. THE CONNSECRATION OF THE HOST.

To be honest, I always felt like I was an animal being viewed at a zoo. :eek:
 
I think that in actuality, RCIA is only mandated for those not yet Baptized. So those who have been Baptized could (in theory at least) enter the church without going through the formal process.

I’ve known several people who had been going to Sunday Mass for years, (and staying through the whole Mass), but when they finally made the decision to enter the Church, they had to miss half the Mass.

Is there any possibility that this “breaking open of the word” will be eliminated? While it may have been useful in the early church, it is sometimes counterproductive in today’s world.
 
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Eucharistic:
Are there any supporting articles, documents etc to not do the early dismissal before the Liturgy of the Eucharist. What is the History of this Early Dismissal?
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Something that is severly mixed up in most RCIA processes is the Dismissal. That is because the Rite itself does not clearly specify some things. It assumes that those applying the Rite know it’s purpose and background.

I would not agree it is counterproductive, I would say it is misused and abused. Many people get much out of it when done properly.

The Only people who should be dismissed are those who are NOT Baptized. Anyone who is Baptized has a right to remain for the Mass of the Faithful. However those who would like to join those who are dismissed could do so. The Rite assumes that you are only dismissing those who are NOT Baptized, so it does not address the Baptized.
 
I have been assisting our pastor for several years now, and generally take the Catechumens out. We follow a format: I read the Gospel, then ask “What word or phrase jumps out at you?”. We go around the room quickly. I read it again, and ask “What is the aha! What is something that you had never really seen before?”. Again, around the room fairly quickly. I read it a third time, and ask “How does this Gospel reading call you to change?” and again, around the room. It is not a discussion; no one is to comment particularly or question another’s response (there is a bit of latitude). It is not a time for teaching or answering questions (I generally don’t). And whatever is said in the room stays in the room.

The purpose is to focus on the Gospel reading, and to engage in faith building. There is plenty of time in class to discuss theology. But this is a time to look at God’s Word, and see how it applies to ourselves.

About three years ago I had a very bright young woman in class, and she was really dragging her feet about the dismissal. She just didn’t want to do it. The first few times, she was almost a non-paticipant. As time went on, she became more engaged. At a brunch we have after Pentacost, she told the group that it was the single most important part of her process towards the Catholic Church.

It goes back, soemwhat, to the comment “I don’t get anything out of Mass”, to which the reply is, “What are you putting into it?”

I can understand the reluctance to get up and leave Mass; it should be missed. Part of the idea is to instill a sharp hunger for the Eucharist. They have the rest of their life to go to Mass with their family and participate fully. Is it really such a sacrifice for 10 or 15 weeks?
 
OTM,you stated there is plenty of time to discuse theology in class (RCIA),I wish that was the case in my RCIA class. Only basic theology was touched on, and not in depth sadly. The coordinator was very honest with us when she said there was not enough time to get into a deep discussion and that we needed to do the research on our own. Now the only problem with that is, what if we start headed in the wrong direction in our personal study? What if we use the wrong data to do our research, there is alot of MIS information out there concerning the faith. Being still in the learning process, how were we to know what was a GOOD read or a BAD read?
 
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mkw:
OTM,you stated there is plenty of time to discuse theology in class (RCIA),I wish that was the case in my RCIA class. Only basic theology was touched on, and not in depth sadly. The coordinator was very honest with us when she said there was not enough time to get into a deep discussion and that we needed to do the research on our own. Now the only problem with that is, what if we start headed in the wrong direction in our personal study? What if we use the wrong data to do our research, there is alot of MIS information out there concerning the faith. Being still in the learning process, how were we to know what was a GOOD read or a BAD read?
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Oh, don’t get me started…

You ask some excellent questions. And the difficulty is that if you are new to the Church, it is hard at best to understand where the truth is. I dislike using a political analogy, but the Church has a spectrum from very liberal to very conservative, and depending where someone comes down on that line, you may or may not get much help.

One clear place to start your reading is the Catechism of the Catholic Church, although it can be heavy reading. There have been, I think, several synopses of it, which may be more helpful.

I don’t have my books handy, but if you want more, send me a note.

A little over a year ago, there were several articles in Our Sunday Visitor about RCAI, and possible changes. Like most things in the Church, things move slowly…

The general approach has been the Lectionary approach; that is, focused on the readings of the next Sunday. However, it doesn’t work very well if it is not used to get into the major doctrinal issues of the Church; and if the program is not a year-around program, it definitely won’t…

But I’ll stop there.
 
The way it was explained to me, is that it is actually a old custom from the early Church. It was a defensive tactic to make sure that the persons who were trying to join the Church were not infirtrating her and trying to get names to sell to the roman army. Mass then was still a jewish service mostly OT scripture and hymns, then the catachumins were dismissed so they did not see the gospel like homilnies and eucahrist that would desinagte them as Christians otherwise they were just a jewish sect.

For me I think it really added to my experiance, also since I used to go to dailies one did feel left out by not particibating in communion. So it was kinda a nice thing to be able to leave early, but as we got closer I dreaded leaving.
 
I never had to leave early. I always stayed for the whole mass even when I went through RICA.

The only way it would have worked for us would have been if our RICA instructors told us all to attend the same mass, which they did not. They told us to attend the mass which was most convenient to us…and there were five on Sunday plus one at a mission chapel!

We were all scattered around on Sunday morning so it just was not practical. Now if they had asked us to attend say…the 9 am Mass together it might have worked but there were too many conflicting schedules…(mine was one of them)

Every Monday night at RICA meeting we would go over what happened at Mass…if we had questions and so forth and they would discuss it. I don’t think we missed anything by not being dismissed early.

dream wanderer
 
Br. Rich SFO:
The Only people who should be dismissed are those who are NOT Baptized.
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Is this correct? Then every RCIA that I’ve seen lately has been doing it wrong.
 
You asked for documentation, well the language seems a little ambiguous, perhaps to allow for what is best for the individual:

It seems important to note that the early dismissal is prescribed only for catechumens (those who have not been baptized.) “If the eucharist is to be celebrated, the catechumens are normally dismissed at this point…” (RCIA 67) (“this point” is after the homily.)

Those who have been baptized but who are “uncatechized” are, at most places I know, dismissed out at their own option. The baptized are “already a part of the community because they have been marked by baptism. Now the Church surrounds them with special care and support as they prepare to be sealed with the gift of the Spirit in confirmation and take their place at the banquet of Christ’s sacrifice.” (#412)

“Once formally welcomed into the life of the community, these adults, besides regularly attending Sunday eucharist, take part in celebrations of the word of God in the full Christian assembly and in celebrations arranged especially for the benefit of the candidates.” (#413)

This seems to allow flexibility for candidates (those already baptized).
 
Like a lot of other things in the Church it is assumed that one shoe fits all. We are the largest parish in our diocese and over 15 years or so have anywhere from a dozen or more than twenty who want to enter the Church. We have always kept Catachumens and Candidates together and attend the 9:00 mass as a group. After communion the priest dismisses us before the recessional hymn and we go to a conference room to re-read and discuss the readings for about 45 minutes. After a five minute break we take up the lesson for that week and try to end it all with prayer just before noon. I think that purists just have to make things hard for people by insisting on every jot and tittle of the rules . Each parish has to adapt certain parts to fit their needs. Of course neither Catachumens or Candidates receive communion until the Easter Vigil Mass. We also do all the scrutenies, rite of acceptance etc. at that 9:00 mass. It gives the parish an opportunity to play out their supportive role in the process. In fifteen years the largest complaint was by one gentlemen who wanted a priest to do the instructing as he did not trust the team to “do it right.”
 
I’m a little confused about rwoehmke’s post. I completely agree that RCIA is not “one size fits all.” (See my post about committed Christians & RCIA.) It sounds to me, though, that the program as explained is being run as “one size fits all.”

I congratulate you on your successes & I suppose you mean that each parish must adapt RCIA to what works for them. I agree but I also feel that we must be adapt to each person. Not every person needs a full catechumenate process & the way I read the document (RCIA), we must be sensitive to the individual’s needs.

According to the National Statutes for the Catechumenate #31:

“Those baptized persons who have lived as Christians and need only instruction in the Catholic tradition and a degree of probation within the Catholic community should not be asked to undergo a full program parallel to the catechumenate.”
 
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mkw:
i HATED early dismissal. I just went through the RCIA process last year. I always felt like I was missing out on half the Mass (which I was). When we were dismissed, we would parade out after the Homily,(father sending us out with a blessing), then we would “discuss” the readings and tell what we “got out of them”. We did the SAME thing the very next RCIA meeting.
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I’m just starting RCIA this year. I think I’ll enjoy the historical rituals including early dismissal.

At my parish, “Rite of Sending” is one Sunday (we are dismissed early and have brunch after a discussion). Then “Scrutiny / Dismissal” is only three more Sundays during Lent.

They don’t do early dismissals on weekdays too. I suppose I can go to an early morning mass sometime in the week at that time. Or the Friday night Holy Hour. There are also good things to attend during the week.
 
I think another reason why we didn’t have early dismissal is because out of the 16 people in RICA…only one was a catechuman. The rest were baptized canidates.

dreamw anderer
 
My understanding of the dismissal during my RCIA process was this: Since the earliest times, those who were considered the uninitiated, those who hadn’t yet received the Sacraments of Initiation, were dismissed from the rest of the congregation because they weren’t yet worthy to recieve the Body and Blood of our Lord. It was called the “secret” part of the Liturgy because then as today, the Liturgy was divided into the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Often the Mass was held in the catacombs and those who were there for the Liturgy of the Word were taken away so that they couldn’t, if captured, reveal the “secret” of the Eucharist for various reasons, not limited to imitation among heretics and copyists. The point for those of us to be received was that we wouldn’t receive the Body and Blood unto our own condemnation as is found in Scripture, etc. out of ignorance or irreverance. This, to me was and remains an Act of Love from our Church to me, the sinner, who may or may not know any better. There were more reasons for their dismissal, but for me, what it did was heighten my reverance for the Bread of Life and helped me to anticipate my final reception into the Church and also that of the Body and Blood in a way that would have lost its meaning should it have been done another way. At the time, I was attending daily Mass as often as I could, so I was aware of the parts that on Sundays I was missing, but it still built up in me a reverance for the Eucharist and helped me understand some of the deeper meanings for the Liturgical actions we participate in. I think also helped me to take more seriously my call to fully participate in the Liturgy once my time came to let Jesus in in His fullest in Holy Communion.

The part I didn’t like about the dismissal was that after we went over to our usual classroom, the disgruntled RSM who thought she had a right to be the Pastoral Assistant, would dis Father’s homilies and poured out her own theology instead of instructng us in the things that we were supposed to be learning. That was a real pain and a test of my patience, that alas, I’m afraid I flunked at times. Let’s just say, I wasn’t sister’s pet pupil.

Peace and all good,

Thomas2
 
It was explained to me once that it wasn’t because of the “secret” that the candidates etc were sent out but rather because it was “rude” to have someone at this most important feast and then tell them that they can’t eat.

Kris
 
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