RCIA

[PJM]

=sgcecilia;10129153]Why do non-Catholics have to go through RCIA in order to join the Church, and thus receive importants sacraments? Shouldn’t they be allowed to join as soon as possible? How long does RCIA take? What does RCIA stand for?

GREAT QUESTION MY FRIEND!

RCIA= Rites of Christian Iniation for Adults

Each Bishop can determine for his diosease how long RCIA will be. Even the Pastor Can make this decision if permitted by his Bishop to do so, which too is common.

The national “norm” is Back to school to Easter but can vary. One previous faith formation could cause the pastor to make acomidations; but that is not the norm.

WHY?

Because there is Only One God there logically can be only One TRUE Faith; commanded, mandated by Christ and Gudied by the Holy Spirit and its truths on ALL Faith and Moral issues warranted personally By Jesus Himself.

ALL biblically provable

The CC is the Only Church and the only set of Faith believes that meet the above conditions. Because we are some 2,000 years Old [young actually] there is a GREAT deal to be learned about what we believe, Why we belive it and How we can prove it.

In order to enter the Only Church that Jesus Himself founded one must receive the Sacraments of Initiation.

Christian Baptism [if not already Baptized as a Christian in the HS w/ water]
Confession/ reconcillation
Eucharist
and Confirmation

EACH of these requires a clear understanding of the Sacrament; its form and its policies and conditions.

Confirmation causes a personal Covenant to be establised between the Confirmed and God Himself; **where you commit to KNOWING **what we believe; fully accepting all of our beliefs; Traditions; Doctrines and Dogma’s and agree with GOD to FULLY abide by them.

That friend is a very serious step and commitment and takes time.

A further commitment is to raise all children In the Catholic Faith; which can only be accomplised by fisrt knowing it well yourself.

I hope dear friend this adresses your concerns. PLASE ask if you have further questions?

God Bless you,

pat/PJM

 

[RedSparklyShoes]

Honestly, I first thought that too when I first entered RCIA. But as a cradle Anglican, I encourage you all to attend RCIA as a sponsor at some point. So many of the things that I observed or did in the mass, a lot of times I never really knew why except for “that’s how we always did it”. The first month of RCIA, I was bored. And I was praying about that. All of a sudden, after about a month, suddenly I had a deep yearning to learn more. Like the song “Tell me more! Tell me more!” In fact, last week, I was planning to ask my sponsor to teach me how to pray the Rosary. But she wasn’t there last week and I didn’t want to ask over the phone or email. She came over yesterday and handed me a Christmas present and I KNEW what it was from the size and the way it rattled. Then I told her what had been on my heart. If not for RCIA, I never would have met Paula, but I am so so thankful that I have. I prayed for nearly 2 years before making the decision to enter RCIA…and then it was another 6 months or so before the next one started. And it will be 9 months (6 more) until I reach the end of RCIA.

 

[Taunted_Octopi]

I don’t know if you still look at this thread, but maybe having someone who is going through the process will be of some help. RCIA is short for Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. This is the process in which a non-catholic, or has left the church becomes catholic, or returns to the church. Where as someone who is born into the church gets the spiritual education slowly over a period of on average eighteen years, an RCIA candidate receives this education over a much shorter period of time.

In my parish, you are evaluated by your teachers,mentors, and sponsors to determine if you are ready for the next step. My parish begins the process with a period of exploration. I had no idea I had already started mine when I did, but this is the time when the candidate works with a mentor or a spiritual director, in my case the latter, and receives a basic overview of the beliefs of the church. When the candidate exhibits an understanding, and a desire to follow, then the process begins. For me, I was told I could not officially begin RCIA until September of this year, but that does not mean I get to rest and wait for things to start. I meet with my spiritual director, who has already begun to teach the tenants to me. We both look at this time between as a chance for me to gain a better understanding than I would otherwise be able to attain.

I like the fact that it is not just a prayer and you’re in. Something about the majority of protestant faiths basically saying, “Sign the eternally binding spiritual contract, and then read it on your own.” just doesn’t seem right to me. The catholic church on the other hand says something more like, “Hold on a minute, let us go over every term and condition of said eternally binding spiritual contract and make sure you understand it. If you understand it, and you still want to sign…GREAT!! Welcome to the family!”

I look forward to posting my experiences here and you are always welcome to e-mail me my handle @yahoo and I hope we can be a source of help and encouragement to each other.

God bless

 

[PeanutButter26]

Hi I’ve just joined the site and wanted to say hi and get some opinions/support hopefully from some other rcia people and see what you thought of my experience.
I moved to a new city and decided as I’d been thinking about the catholic faith for some time, I’d make contact with the local priest (of a relatively poor area) for a chat.
I went to mass a few times to observe and approached the priest after and asked him if i could meet for a chat. I subsequently did and after meeting him and asking questions for an hour or so, he became curious about me and my background (obviously not used to people wanting to talk about the faith).
I did not feel as though i was obliged to disclose all my personal history to a priest i’d just met on a first enquiry and probably appeared a little sheepish on explaining my life the last few years. For the record, I was a former police officer who had left the job after becoming ill, moved to new area for a new career, become ill again and finally got myself back together again on a third attempt. I can see that perhaps I had nothing to fear from discussing this with the priest but old habits of remaining reserved and maintaining my own privacy to strangers still operated within me. The second time i went to go and the see the same priest, he said he wass busy and that was it, I never went back. A while later i heard about an rcia at another church not so far away from the first church and decided to attended.
Am still attending but am finding the experience quite stressful. Most of the other people in the group are there as their wives/girlfriends want them there and genuine expressions of faith/enquiry from my other group members seem to be limited. The people running the group dont seem to be bothered by this. Secondly, I am single have no children and never married and I almost feel as though the the people running the group suspect am gay. Iam not by the way. I had a girlfriend when i started the course but dont anymore but I have no desire to talk about her or explain to anyone else in the group. After all am attending rcia for me not for a girlfriend. I think they are suspicious of me and the whole thing is making me feel awkward. I read about how candidtates are supposed to deepen there involvement with the church so I asked if there was anythng more i should be doing. I felt as though by asking this the catechists thought i was trying toi score points not as i was genuinely interested in progressing my journey on the course. The whole thing is making me feel uncomfortable. Whenever i see the priest i feel nervous and self conscious and i dont know what to do.

Please help.

 

[Taunted_Octopi]

You got your first look at Catholics who don’t know their faith. Quite a surprise, no? There are LOTS of them. They need to be in RCIA, rather than some converts. Even better, they should have whole series of classes especially for them that they are required to attend, because most of them need it. Bad.

Thank you Angels!!!

At the risk of sounding like a baptist you’ve got a resounding AMEN! coming from this corner. In all love I really want to send him a copy of the Confirmed Catholic’s Companion, with a note that kindly reminds him that pride is one of “the heavy seven” as my spiritual director likes to call them. It was guys like that who pushed me away from the faith, luckily I made friends with some Catholics who showed me that he is the majority exception rather than the established rule. He really should have adopted my attitude, rather than thinking that I know too much to take an introductory course, I realize I need it because I know enough to be the biggest obstacle between me and true understanding.

In the end he his a Jonah, he took it, but didn’t get it, and has made no attempt to grow. He will probably sit in the desert sun of his pride long after the shade tree of his pretentiousness has died. It’s sad really, he is the personification of the scripture out of Isiah… can’t remember the chapter and verse, but the wording I’ve got… “My people are destroyed for a lack of understanding.”

Take care, and God bless,
Octi

 

[suzieq0976]

Hi,
I have just spoken to my local priest about becoming a Catholic and I’m waiting on him contacting me to discuss this further. Having read the threads it seems that the RCIA meeting/classes don’t start until Sep. Can anyone suggest any books that could possibly help?

Thank you

 

[Phemie]

Hi,
I have just spoken to my local priest about becoming a Catholic and I’m waiting on him contacting me to discuss this further. Having read the threads it seems that the RCIA meeting/classes don’t start until Sep. Can anyone suggest any books that could possibly help?

Thank you

Different parishes start RCIA at different times. You might be lucky and stumbled on a parish that has year round catechesis.

You don’t say how well catechized you are or if you are already baptized. My suggestions would be a Catholic Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. If you’re intimidated by the thick tome that is the CCC, get a copy of YOUCAT, the youth Catechism that the Holy Father offered to everyone who attended the last World Youth Day. It’s in a question and answer format; each answer is cross-referenced to the big Cathechism so that you can you read a more profound explanation if you wish.

 

[Sandy_dfw]

I was lucky and found a year round RCIA program.
Check with your local Parrish and see what they suggest. And if you have more then 1
church in your area check with all of them till you find a program that fits you.

Good luck,
Sandy

 

[IneedGod]

Hi,
I have just spoken to my local priest about becoming a Catholic and I’m waiting on him contacting me to discuss this further. Having read the threads it seems that the RCIA meeting/classes don’t start until Sep. Can anyone suggest any books that could possibly help?

Thank you

Hi,
I am in RCIA now, I highly recommend Rome Sweet Home by Scott Hahn and Catholosism for Dummies (not the idiots guide).
Also choose a topic and research online. There is a lot that can be learned here on the forums
You can usually get a guide to praying the Rosary at your parish.
God bless you