RCIA Experience

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Dave_in_Dallas

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My wife went all the way thru RCIA about 7 years ago, went to Easter Vigil Mass and was accepted into the church, but then rarley stepped foot back into a Catholic church since then.
There was the sex scandal at the time and all which didn;t help.

But it seems at the core is that her RCIA class did a (very) poor job.
– they didn’t explain the mass
– many people were insensitive and not-loving
– there were no educational materials :eek:
– basically everything is a mystery just accept it, don’t ask questions, “what’s wrong with you protestants?” etc

We were talking the other day and I told her I am sure the parish is much better since then (I hope)…

What has other folks experiences been?
 
Dave_in_Dallas said:
My wife went all the way thru RCIA about 7 years ago, went to Easter Vigil Mass and was accepted into the church, but then rarley stepped foot back into a Catholic church since then.
There was the sex scandal at the time and all which didn;t help.

But it seems at the core is that her RCIA class did a (very) poor job.
– they didn’t explain the mass
– many people were insensitive and not-loving
– there were no educational materials :eek:
– basically everything is a mystery just accept it, don’t ask questions, “what’s wrong with you protestants?” etc

We were talking the other day and I told her I am sure the parish is much better since then (I hope)…

What has other folks experiences been?
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Dave,

Well, unfortunately, you got short-changed. You didn’t even get close to your “money’s worth.” Don’t feel bad, though. Catechesis in this country and much of the western world has been unbelievably poor, in general. There are exceptions, but yours evidently wasn’t one of them.

That being said, there are lots of resources available online for you to get what they failed to give you in RCIA class, etc.

May I invite you to visit my website and download as many .mp3 talks as you like (for free, of course). You can play them on your PC with Windows Media Player, or copy them to your MP3 player or iPod, or burn them to a CD and play them on your CD player.

Here’s a couple of good ones to get you started:

alabamacatholicresources.com/Downloads/The_Mass_Explained.mp3

alabamacatholicresources.com/Downloads/Confession.mp3

Here’s the main page to the website:

alabamacatholicresources.com/

God bless! I think God is still working on you to drag you into the Church. 😉
 
My one personal direct experience was when I was the sponsor for a good friend about 15 years ago or so. We met once a week and on Sunday mornings after the dismissal (as a sponsor I did not always have to attend the dismissal). The catechisis in the class was very unimpressive. My friend learned more about the details of the faith from me after the classes when we went to grab a beer. Lots of “faith sharing”, which is really quite worthless in my opinion. I suspect the classes have gotten better at a lot of parishes overtime. The problem probably continues to be the volunteers in the RCIA programs do not know their faith very well themselves. The problem in a lot of faith formation areas are that all of us middle age people did not receive good religious education as kids.

As to the Sunday morning dismissal, I really think it needs to be stopped. Why take a group of people, who are, by definition, unformed in their faith, and have them discuss the gospel readings. On top of that it reeks of a protestant bible study class (eg lots of “what did the reading say to you?”). The symbolism of them being dismissed because they aren’t quite Catholics is quite corny. The whole thing is a bad idea.
 
+I am so very sorry your experience was of such poor quality . . . it is a real sadness that for some reason the RCIA experience is of such varying quality in our churches . . . depending almost completely on the individual church’s training and preparation . . . *or lack thereof *. . . for this introductory sharing experience of the wonderful things of our . . . ***Lord **. . . ***Jesus **. . . the blessed Christ . . . and our extraordinary Holy Mother Church . . . with those seeking a closer walk with our Lord through God’s leading them to the Catholic Church . . .

But please . . . don’t let this discourage you and keep you from learning and growing in your walk with our **Wonderful God **. . . I highly recommend the extraordinary blessed . . . Eternal Word Television Network . . . EWTN . . . to you and your wife . . . they are a marvelous school for learning of God and His holy ways and our Lord’s . . . **Apostolic Holy Roman Catholic Church **. . . below is a link to their website and all the riches of the things of God they have made available for God’s children throughout the world . . .

On Sunday evenings a great teaching priest . . . Father John Corapi . . . teaches The Catechism of the Catholic Church . . . portion by portion . . . line upon line . . . precept upon precept . . . and explores so much of the riches of God’s love ❤️ and wonderful abundant provisions for mankind here on this earth . . . and there are daily pray:gopray2:ers available with Father Mitch Pacwa who’s daily pray:gopray2:ing of the Holy Rosary Pra:gopray2:yer our family never misses . . . and there are Mother Angelica’s marvelous teaching shows flowing our of her abundant love of Sacred :bible1: Scripture . . . and daily inspiring **Holy Masses **are broadcast which we never miss as a family . . . and there are many more marvelous teachers available at EWTN . . . below is a link to their website . . . *which our family used daily until **EWTN **came into our area through television . . . *

:compcoff: **Link: ** ewtn.com/devotionals/inspiration.htm#16

Please don’t give up on Christ and His Church because of a bad experience . . . there are wonderful things of God available if you know where to find them . . . growing in the grace and knowledge of our loving Lord . . . day by day . . . is an experience to be sought out and cherished every day of your life as God’s children . . .

*My pray:gopray2:ers are with you both as you search for God’s holy provision for your lives . . . *

. . . all for Jesus+
. . . Sweet Spirit of our Holy God+
. . . guide and direct+
. . . Sacred Heart ❤️ of Jesus+
. . . have mercy+
. . . Holy Mother Mary+
. . . pray for these God’s dear children+​
 
Unfortunately I was a cradle-Catholic and had little retained from CCE/CCD classes… other than to be “nice” so I wasn’t much help.
I went protestant with her for the past 6-7 years, but in doing so I learned a lot about their faiths and in asking questions I was led right back to Catholic faith. Needless to say I am here to stay…
 
Dave_in_Dallas said:
Unfortunately I was a cradle-Catholic and had little retained from CCE/CCD classes… other than to be “nice” so I wasn’t much help.
I went protestant with her for the past 6-7 years, but in doing so I learned a lot about their faiths and in asking questions I was led right back to Catholic faith. Needless to say I am here to stay…
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I heard someone say that today’s “CCD” stands for “Color, Cut, and Draw.” Pretty accurate from what I’ve seen. Children aren’t taught the faith. They’re entertained by letting them color and draw pictures of Jesus, etc. Not even good pablum, when the need MEAT!

Fr. Corapi said he visited his brother once, and his niece was about to go into her senior year at a Catholic school. He said, “Look at that pile of books on the table! That’s the classes she’s going to take!” He looked at them. The first book was a book on Shakespeare, Hamlet. Not the cliff notes, or a dummied down version. The real deal! The next book was a book on Latin (she was taking Latin) that was one of the most difficult to get through. The next was a big book on Physics, which was bristling with complicated formulas. And the next was her book for her Catholic catechism class. It was basically a comic book with lots of pictures and captions! Dummied down and watered down as to be almost meaningless!
 
tafan said:
As to the Sunday morning dismissal, I really think it needs to be stopped. Why take a group of people, who are, by definition, unformed in their faith, and have them discuss the gospel readings. On top of that it reeks of a protestant bible study class (eg lots of “what did the reading say to you?”). The symbolism of them being dismissed because they aren’t quite Catholics is quite corny. The whole thing is a bad idea.
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As a candidate I agree re Sunday AM dismissal (as does my cradle-Catholic spouse) A bunch of non-Catholics sitting around discussing the Scripture readings. :confused:The leader is a new convert himself. Bless him for doing this!

The weekly RCIA meetings are primarily manned by converts - WONDERFUL people all for volunteering so much time. The cradle Catholics unfortunately don’t know their faith near as well as most of the Protestants in the group. This includes the sponsor assigned to me.

Thank God for the internet and CAF! This (and my copy of the CCC) is where I learn most of what I know re the Church.
BTW I already LOVE the Church and am looking forward to my 1st communion…hopefully next Easter vigil.
 
RCIA is generally a joke :(. The only way that most Catholics actually learn their faith is by studying it on their own. That is what I ended up doing. I went through the RCIA class as a formality. Granted, the one I was in was bad but not AS bad as some others out there. I was bored most of the time. The key thing to do is to continue learning. It doesn’t stop at the Easter Vigil when one is received into the Church.
 
TrixRN said:
As a candidate I agree re Sunday AM dismissal (as does my cradle-Catholic spouse) A bunch of non-Catholics sitting around discussing the Scripture readings. :confused:The leader is a new convert himself. Bless him for doing this!

The weekly RCIA meetings are primarily manned by converts - WONDERFUL people all for volunteering so much time. The cradle Catholics unfortunately don’t know their faith near as well as most of the Protestants in the group. This includes the sponsor assigned to me.

Thank God for the internet and CAF! This (and my copy of the CCC) is where I learn most of what I know re the Church.
BTW I already LOVE the Church and am looking forward to my 1st communion…hopefully next Easter vigil.
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the intent of Mass dismissals and the subsequent discussions are NOT about learning doctrine by having a bunch of new people discussing the Bible passage and coming to a conclusion on “what it means”. The POINT is to experience Christ through the Liturgy and the Word of God. Discussions should center around how a passage speaks to the participants in their daily lives and recognizing that God is speaking to them to do “x”, as Christ does/did. The “material” learned is on a different level than formal doctrinal learning.

This all presumes that there is another meeting during the week that discusses more formally a catechesis of the faith. I agree that Sunday dismissals are not the place to learn the doctrines of our faith. But they are important to the intent of RCIA, which is a sacramental formation in the experiencing of Jesus Christ. Sunday dismissals are integral to this process.

As to being dismissed as “silly”, consider how you would feel if you were invited to a picnic or party, but were not allowed to eat at it… While candidates can be presented with a choice of remaining, invariably, they prefer the sharing of experiences of Jesus that goes on during the Dismissals.

Regards,

Fdesales
 
Dave, I am sorry to hear about your poor experience with RCIA.

I was baptized a Catholic but made no other Sacraments as a child. While in my 40’s I decided that I was going make sure I could receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord along with my daughter and husband (my daughter was beginning her CCD studies).

We belong to a very small parish, and there is no RCIA “class”, but Father gave me the CCC and a bible and the worksheets to guide me in what I needed to study and read. It was different for me mostly because I had been on the fringes of Catholicism and had been attending Masses, so the form was not totally foreign to me.

My husband was my sponsor and he was educated through 8th grade in a parochial school (taught by nuns, even 👍) but when I asked him questions, many times he didn’t know the answer. Those were the times I went to the priest. I completed my Sacraments, fully joined the church, I lector, belong to Altar & Rosary, attended a great retreat awhile back, and I attend EA (try to every week). I even started teachng 1st grade CCD.

I still don’t know everything by a long shot, but I continuously read and will always try to learn more. Perhaps my “going it alone” method turned out okay after all. 😉

Good luck to you and your wife, I hope it all turns out well for you. God Bless and take care.
 
Wow, this thread has made me feel a little sad.

I am in RCIA as are many others. Our parish began dismissals and I am the first to admit I am not happy about having to leave the Mass because I get so much out of the quiet of prayer and the faith of the people in our parish during Communion.

During a conversation on other matters, I spoke briefly with our Monsignor about my feelings, and he suggested that I could attend the early Mass and remain for its entirety, then participate in the dismissal later in the morning. Without thinking I said “That’d make for a long day!” to which he smiled and replied “I do it every Sunday.”

I’m glad he smiled. I felt silly. But he made a very good point. This is about taking some initiative. Consider attending another Mass so you don’t feel like you’re missing something on Sunday. Dismissals are required. Lets make the most of them. Let’s read the Gospel Reading before Mass and spend some time thinking and praying about them on our own before Mass. Let’s listen to the homily, and then let’s participate in the Dismissal and share our thoughts one with another. Those who lead Dismissals in our parish are also recent converts. And all of them talk about how they grew to love the Dismissals. I can see how close they remain as friends after two and three years. I’m looking forward to those sorts of friendships in my future.

Initiative is also important in RCIA class during the week. I enjoy this forum. I read about stuff and then I go look up topics that I want to know more about. I can ask questions in class. Sometimes the answer does not satisfy my curiosity, but more important than the information at that moment is that others in the class have begun to ask questions too and as all of us emerge from our shy cocoons, so does RCIA as a whole.

A lot of the learning is going to be up to us. One year, in my case, is not going to be enough time for any one “class” with the best, most charismatic and knowledgeable teacher to offer students all there is to know about being a Catholic. Get to know a few folks in your parish! You’ll probably find someone who knows A LOT but maybe they are shy enough that they’ve never volunteered to work with RCIA. They may become a resource for you right now and a friend down the road. This is about relationships with other people as much as it is about seeking the Kingdom of God and book learning.

May God lead us and help us to help one another on this shared journey through the church and down the stairs to the depths of the cathedral for dismissals … 😉

Hope
 
Unlike, apparently and unfortunately, most people here, my RCIA experience was very good. The deacon who ran the class did a very good job of making sure that even the post-Dismissal talks were grounded in Catholic teaching rather than just what everyone felt about the readings, and during the classes-proper we were taught a lot of substantive Church teaching, the reasoning behind it, and the historicity of our One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic faith. And then, we were encouraged to ask questions, to which he always had the answers, and if we needed more instruction he was available throughout the week.

One of the things he taught us was the meaning behind the Dismissal. Back in the first few centuries of the Church, catechumen were not permitted to attend the Liturgy of the Eucharist at all because it was a sacred mystery for which God had not yet prepared them. The reverence for the Eucharist which the Early Church fostered was so intense that they feared early exposure to it by those who had not been baptized would expose Christ to blasphemy and scandal. In my opinion, the Dismissal of today is a beautiful continuity with the historic origins of our Eternal, Universal Church. And as for the extreme reverence and fear that our forefathers held for the Most Blessed Sacrament, I cannot help but acknowledge that their fears have come true in many places. The openness with which we explain the Eucharist, especially to our seperated brethren in the many other Christian faith traditions is, in many ways, a necessary evil. (And I stress the word necessary far over evil, because I love explaining the Eucharist - and especially John 6 - to confused non-Catholics, don’t get me wrong. If our hands were still tied so that we could not discuss it, our arsenal of Truth would be quite sadly weakened in debates with them.) Consider how many approach our Lord unworthily or even unconscious of Who is There because we no longer drape the Sacrament in mystery or so fervently protect our Lord from the aproach of those who do not know Him. In the first few centuries of the Church, Paul’s words of warning regarding the Eucharist were very seriously heeded, and “that is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died” (I Cor 11:30). But today we test God’s patience so much that He, in His infinite mercy, deigns to lessen His power in the Sacrament, else thousands upon thousands, perhaps even millions, of poorly catechized Catholics and unwarned Protestants would be dead for recieving Him unworthily.

I understand your frustration at being removed from Mass for what seems to be a fruitless exchange of undogmatic opinion, but the Dismissal has so much more meaning and beauty than you’re perceiving. Think not on where you go after you leave, but rather ponder what it is you are asked to leave behind, and then thank God that He has openned your eyes to the beauty of the Blessed Sacrament and protected you so graciously from receiving before you had been clensed and thus “eat[ing] and drink[ing] condemnation on [yourselves]”.

We may not always understand them, but the Church does have reasons for everything She does. Would that Her catechists would teach them to us rather than leaving us to wonder about them until we make up our own, uninformed reasons…

I truly am sorry that so many of you were not blessed with the RCIA instruction that you deserve. If you’re interested in reading what catechumen in the Early Church were taught, I highly recommend the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. They’re specifically addressed to those who were enterring the Church in the late 4th Century, seeking to learn the mysteries of Christ and His Church, and they’re packed full of more Scriptural references than you can imagine for every Sacrament and liturgical practice. St. Cyril’s words make you feel as though you are truly enterring into the Church during those ancient days when the Church was young (though, as G.K. Chesterton points out, She is still and eternally young even while she remains also ancient…).

May God bless and keep you all in His Glorious, Catholic Church, and give you the grace to always learn more of His Truth!
 
Posted by Tiberius1701Unlike, apparently and unfortunately, most people here, my RCIA experience was very good. The deacon who ran the class did a very good job of making sure that even the post-Dismissal talks were grounded in Catholic teaching rather than just what everyone felt about the readings, and during the classes-proper we were taught a lot of substantive Church teaching, the reasoning behind it, and the historicity of our One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic faith. And then, we were encouraged to ask questions, to which he always had the answers, and if we needed more instruction he was available throughout the week.
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This sounds similar to the experience I am having now!
One of the things he taught us was the meaning behind the Dismissal. Back in the first few centuries of the Church, catechumen were not permitted to attend the Liturgy of the Eucharist at all because it was a sacred mystery for which God had not yet prepared them. The reverence for the Eucharist which the Early Church fostered was so intense that they feared early exposure to it by those who had not been baptized would expose Christ to blasphemy and scandal. In my opinion, the Dismissal of today is a beautiful continuity with the historic origins of our Eternal, Universal Church.
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Thank you for posting this. My sponsor told me about this when I asked about the Lord’s Prayer. In the CCC it says that after baptism, they (the newly baptized) are now able to say the Lord’s Prayer.

I was curious about that, as the Our Father is repeated in Mass (I attend daily Mass when I can), and in the rosary prayers.

She explained that the Lord’s Prayer was also kept from the catechumen until just prior to their baptism due to the sacredness of the prayer.
I understand your frustration at being removed from Mass for what seems to be a fruitless exchange of undogmatic opinion, but the Dismissal has so much more meaning and beauty than you’re perceiving. Think not on where you go after you leave, but rather ponder what it is you are asked to leave behind, and then thank God that He has openned your eyes to the beauty of the Blessed Sacrament and protected you so graciously from receiving before you had been clensed and thus “eat[ing] and drink[ing] condemnation on [yourselves]”.

We may not always understand them, but the Church does have reasons for everything She does.
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Again, thank you for your thoughts.
If you’re interested in reading what catechumen in the Early Church were taught, I highly recommend the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. They’re specifically addressed to those who were enterring the Church in the late 4th Century, seeking to learn the mysteries of Christ and His Church, and they’re packed full of more Scriptural references than you can imagine for every Sacrament and liturgical practice. St. Cyril’s words make you feel as though you are truly enterring into the Church during those ancient days when the Church was young (though, as G.K. Chesterton points out, She is still and eternally young even while she remains also ancient…).
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And thank you for the reference to the Catechetical Lectures. I will look for them.

Hope
 
Tiberius1701 said:
One of the things he taught us was the meaning behind the Dismissal. Back in the first few centuries of the Church, catechumen were not permitted to attend the Liturgy of the Eucharist at all because it was a sacred mystery for which God had not yet prepared them. The reverence for the Eucharist which the Early Church fostered was so intense that they feared early exposure to it by those who had not been baptized would expose Christ to blasphemy and scandal. In my opinion, the Dismissal of today is a beautiful continuity with the historic origins of our Eternal, Universal Church. And as for the extreme reverence and fear that our forefathers held for the Most Blessed Sacrament, I cannot help but acknowledge that their fears have come true in many places. The openness with which we explain the Eucharist, especially to our seperated brethren in the many other Christian faith traditions is, in many ways, a necessary evil. (And I stress the word necessary far over evil, because I love explaining the Eucharist - and especially John 6 - to confused non-Catholics, don’t get me wrong. If our hands were still tied so that we could not discuss it, our arsenal of Truth would be quite sadly weakened in debates with them.) Consider how many approach our Lord unworthily or even unconscious of Who is There because we no longer drape the Sacrament in mystery or so fervently protect our Lord from the aproach of those who do not know Him. In the first few centuries of the Church, Paul’s words of warning regarding the Eucharist were very seriously heeded, and “that is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died” (I Cor 11:30). But today we test God’s patience so much that He, in His infinite mercy, deigns to lessen His power in the Sacrament, else thousands upon thousands, perhaps even millions, of poorly catechized Catholics and unwarned Protestants would be dead for recieving Him unworthily.

I understand your frustration at being removed from Mass for what seems to be a fruitless exchange of undogmatic opinion, but the Dismissal has so much more meaning and beauty than you’re perceiving. Think not on where you go after you leave, but rather ponder what it is you are asked to leave behind, and then thank God that He has openned your eyes to the beauty of the Blessed Sacrament and protected you so graciously from receiving before you had been clensed and thus “eat[ing] and drink[ing] condemnation on [yourselves]”.

We may not always understand them, but the Church does have reasons for everything She does. Would that Her catechists would teach them to us rather than leaving us to wonder about them until we make up our own, uninformed reasons…
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Hmm…I’m going through RCIA in the fall…but have been baptized Catholic and had first communion…a long time ago…but recently have had my first reconciliation and have been going to reconciliation and communion…so I wonder if I will be dismissed? I would hate to miss communion…😦
 
Annabelle_Marie said:
Hmm…I’m going through RCIA in the fall…but have been baptized Catholic and had first communion…a long time ago…but recently have had my first reconciliation and have been going to reconciliation and communion…so I wonder if I will be dismissed? I would hate to miss communion…😦
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You don’t need to go through the RCIA program.

Check to see if there is a Confirmation program for adults program. The Church will require you to be Confirmed before you are married by the Church. It is usually only a few months.

Being Catholic and received the Eucharist, you don’t need to go through RCIA, unless you insisted on it for some reason.

Regards
 
fdesales said:
You don’t need to go through the RCIA program.

Check to see if there is a Confirmation program for adults program. The Church will require you to be Confirmed before you are married by the Church. It is usually only a few months.

Being Catholic and received the Eucharist, you don’t need to go through RCIA, unless you insisted on it for some reason.

Regards
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I’m already married.:p…and had my marriage blessed. :p…and then found out that wasn’t necessary as I formally left the church–before the clarification of it in 2000.🤷 My parish is not large so I don’t think there is one…and my husband is going through RCIA…so I figured since I had the last instruction on my faith when I was 7 or 8…that it wouldn’t hurt me. But I don’t want to miss communion…😦
 
Annabelle_Marie said:
I’m already married.:p…and had my marriage blessed. :p…and then found out that wasn’t necessary as I formally left the church–before the clarification of it in 2000.🤷 My parish is not large so I don’t think there is one…and my husband is going through RCIA…so I figured since I had the last instruction on my faith when I was 7 or 8…that it wouldn’t hurt me. But I don’t want to miss communion…😦
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As a Catholic who has received Holy Communion already, all you have to do is go to Confession. You don’t have to wait to go through RCIA, so you won’t miss anything! You can rejoin us at the Table of the Lord this weekend! 🙂

I think going through RCIA is a good idea to learn about your faith, but it is not necessary. If your husband is doing it, it would be a good, supportive means of being with him during the process. But for yourself, you could just as easily read the Catechism if you are rusty on your faith. I can understand if you prefer to have the faith taught in a classroom environment - but be aware that RCIA is directed more at the unbaptized and Protestants converts…

I, as a Coordinator, do not turn people away who are in your situation, I just like to tell them all their options (so they aren’t upset that “I could have done this instead…” after 6 months of classes and dismissals.)

Good luck and God bless,

Fdesales
 
fdesales said:
As a Catholic who has received Holy Communion already, all you have to do is go to Confession. You don’t have to wait to go through RCIA, so you won’t miss anything! You can rejoin us at the Table of the Lord this weekend! 🙂

I think going through RCIA is a good idea to learn about your faith, but it is not necessary. If your husband is doing it, it would be a good, supportive means of being with him during the process. But for yourself, you could just as easily read the Catechism if you are rusty on your faith. I can understand if you prefer to have the faith taught in a classroom environment - but be aware that RCIA is directed more at the unbaptized and Protestants converts…

I, as a Coordinator, do not turn people away who are in your situation, I just like to tell them all their options (so they aren’t upset that “I could have done this instead…” after 6 months of classes and dismissals.)

Good luck and God bless,

Fdesales
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Thanks…I did do my first confession at the Lenten penance service (and also another time since) so I have been receiving communion.

I am REALLY rusty on my faith although I am catching up…😃 But I have spent the last 20+ years as a Protestant…and still have some of that thinking. I don’t want to leave again because I don’t know my faith…😦 And it’s something for my husband and I to talk about together. Although if they do dismissal…I think I’ll let him do that and stay at Mass.

Thanks for letting me know what to expect though.

God Bless!
 
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