RCIA Rewards

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I would just like to share a little something: how rewarding I have found it to be on an RCIA team. This is my third year now, and yeah, it can be a fair amount of work, and my Sundays are committed until after Easter, but the joy of seeing someone come into the Church more than makes up for any inconvenience.

There is a lovely lady and her daughter who are coming into the Church from another denomination. They aren’t Catechumens, but our program includes Candidates also. She asked me a question after class and we got into a discussion. She shared how she had been searching for years, felt something was missing in her various church experiences, and decided to investigate the Catholic Church after a Catholic in-law had spoken to her about it. I shared with her how I had wandered from the Church, been to various churches, and while I found wonderful faith-filled people, and enjoyed the music and the singing and the preaching, I, too, had felt that something was missing. Then I asked her if she had any idea of what that might be. She looked at me for a bit and then said “the Eucharist?”. I was surprised–she somehow “knew” this! The Holy Spirit has been working in her. She said that in the churches she had attended not much attention had been paid to Communion, but she always had a feeling there was something very special about it, and she was missing out. Now she knows she will find what she has been looking for.

She also shared how she has been able to have her questions and doubts about Catholicism answered so far. She has discarded her pre-conceived notions (she came from a very anti-Catholic background) and is finding out the truth, and is happy learning about Catholicism.

When I see these people “get” it, and see the transformation in them, I know it is all worth it. If any of you have ever considered working RCIA, or feel God is calling you in this direction, I urge you to give it a try. You will get as much out of it as they do.
 
I came into the Church this past Easter, my past was more Agnostic than anything. After coming home,I had a feeling that I needed to be on the RCIA team, so this is my first year and I love being involved in this ministry
 
CB_Catholic said:
I would just like to share a little something: how rewarding I have found it to be on an RCIA team. This is my third year now, and yeah, it can be a fair amount of work, and my Sundays are committed until after Easter, but the joy of seeing someone come into the Church more than makes up for any inconvenience.

There is a lovely lady and her daughter who are coming into the Church from another denomination. They aren’t Catechumens, but our program includes Candidates also. She asked me a question after class and we got into a discussion. She shared how she had been searching for years, felt something was missing in her various church experiences, and decided to investigate the Catholic Church after a Catholic in-law had spoken to her about it. I shared with her how I had wandered from the Church, been to various churches, and while I found wonderful faith-filled people, and enjoyed the music and the singing and the preaching, I, too, had felt that something was missing. Then I asked her if she had any idea of what that might be. She looked at me for a bit and then said “the Eucharist?”. I was surprised–she somehow “knew” this! The Holy Spirit has been working in her. She said that in the churches she had attended not much attention had been paid to Communion, but she always had a feeling there was something very special about it, and she was missing out. Now she knows she will find what she has been looking for.

She also shared how she has been able to have her questions and doubts about Catholicism answered so far. She has discarded her pre-conceived notions (she came from a very anti-Catholic background) and is finding out the truth, and is happy learning about Catholicism.

When I see these people “get” it, and see the transformation in them, I know it is all worth it. If any of you have ever considered working RCIA, or feel God is calling you in this direction, I urge you to give it a try. You will get as much out of it as they do.
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I have been involved in RCIA in our parish for 15 years. The last 8 have been as the Lay Director. Most of our team are converts, including myself.

In the past 10 yrs, our parish has welcomed well over 200 new Catholics, and each year the blessings grow.

I have seen everyone from the athiest, to the muslim, mormon and buddhist “get it” as you put it. Sometimes I think that is almost as big a blessing for the team member as it is for the candidate.
 
As someone who is currently in RCIA:

I for one will always be thankful to the RCIA team members at our church. These people are basically going to be in my faith family tree. For the rest of my life I will look back and say, “I learned how to be a Catholic from the RCIA Team Members”.

It’s already made a big difference in my life.

Thanks, to all of the RCIA team members out there, you make a huge difference.
 
mcrow said:
As someone who is currently in RCIA:

I for one will always be thankful to the RCIA team members at our church. These people are basically going to be in my faith family tree. For the rest of my life I will look back and say, “I learned how to be a Catholic from the RCIA Team Members”.

It’s already made a big difference in my life.

Thanks, to all of the RCIA team members out there, you make a huge difference.
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I can agree with this statement. I have really enjoyed listening to what the team members have to say in my RCIA. There are many people from so many different walks of life and pasts!

As someone who has been LDS for 12 years, I can definitely state, and agree with the OP’s Canidate statement that the Eucharist is probably at the very TOP of the list for me of what was missing in my life. It was somehow awe inspiring to realize what the Eucharist does for us…and now, as someone who is not yet a Catholic, I spend time in Eucharist Adoration for these reasons as often as I can!

Thanks for your service on the team! 😃
 
OK, this is somewhat off topic but – what exactly is an RCIA team member? How do you become one? It sounds like a really rewarding position. (I entered the Church before RCIA came into being)
 
SecretBeliever said:
OK, this is somewhat off topic but – what exactly is an RCIA team member? How do you become one? It sounds like a really rewarding position. (I entered the Church before RCIA came into being)
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Simply someone who helps out with RCIA. People do things from teaching classes, helping with records, and just helping out with whatever. Start by finding who is in charge of RCIA in your parish and express you interest and offer your help. 👍
 
everytime I see this thread title I think of an RCIA mastercard

my rewards are seeing entire families enriched by the grace of the sacraments received through one member. As a teen is initiated the parents have the marriage convalidated, baptize a newborn and younger siblings are brought to the sacraments as well, the family becomes active in parish minsitries and activities, they reach out to other family and friends and the circle widens. to me RCIA is always about families even when only one individual is participating directly. Even someone who has no close family connections is brought into the parish family.

welcome home to all.
 
This sounds really interesting and rewarding. What sort of skills would you need to help out with RCIA? Would you need to be a good speaker or be well studied in the Church?
 
Thyme said:
This sounds really interesting and rewarding. What sort of skills would you need to help out with RCIA? Would you need to be a good speaker or be well studied in the Church?
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The basic quality necessary is a willingness to actively help bring new members into the Church and the Christian faith. Different parishes may have different requirements, but at mine you don’t need to be a good speaker or have a doctorate in theology to be on the RCIA team, you just have to be willing to devote your time and efforts.
 
kmbeck said:
The basic quality necessary is a willingness to actively help bring new members into the Church and the Christian faith. Different parishes may have different requirements, but at mine you don’t need to be a good speaker or have a doctorate in theology to be on the RCIA team, you just have to be willing to devote your time and efforts.
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Thank you. I am really interested in this, but am not a very good speaker. I’ll keep looking in the newsletter for requests for helpers.
 
Thyme said:
Thank you. I am really interested in this, but am not a very good speaker. I’ll keep looking in the newsletter for requests for helpers.
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You don’t really need to be a good speaker or teacher. I teach one session, and I am far from being a professional teacher or speaker, but everyone is so kind and encouraging. You may not have to teach anything. One thing it has done for me is that it has motivated me to study my faith because when some of the Catechumens or Candidates ask questions, I want to be able to answer them, or at least get back to them. And I have learned new things every year from just being at the sessions. The main function of a team is to support the candidates in their faith journey. In our RCIA most of the teaching is done by the Deacons or Priests, but there are some sessions some of the team members teach.

You might want to volunteer to be a sponsor first. That is how some have joined our team.
 
Thyme said:
Thank you. I am really interested in this, but am not a very good speaker. I’ll keep looking in the newsletter for requests for helpers.
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I’m not a good public speaker either. One of the things that I always make sure to add when we’re doing our introductions at the beginning of the RCIA process is that God gave me an interest in teaching, and we’ll see if He gave me the skill to go along with the interest.
 
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