Reflection on RCIA Classes

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glendab,

We haven’t begun the dismissal portion of RCIA yet. The leaders of RCIA didn’t go to mass this Sunday, and the leaders and Deacon did not go to mass last Sunday (neither Sat Vigil nor Sun, or so they said), so there was no requirement to attend that particular mass, and certainly not 15 minutes or more after it had begun.

Yes, my obedience muscle is going to get a real workout if I’m required to profess to believe things that are contrary to church teaching. Where does obedience to my RCIA leader end and obedience to, say, my priest or the CCC or the Pope begin? If one contradicts the other, who should I believe? I’m rather sickened that those are, as you suggest, deliberate and expected obstacles to joining the Church. It seems kind of cruel to trick people that way, telling them that gay marriage will be accepted church teaching as soon as all states make it legal, telling them the Bible is not theologically accurate and inspired by God, but is instead a compilation of pagan myths made up over the course of history to fit into this Catholic belief system, teaching pantheism as truth, etc. When do we get to the part of RCIA where they say, “Gotcha!” All of that is wrong and now let us teach you the real stuff?"

At least I have a strong theological background and have studies Catholicism. I really feel sorry for those in my class who don’t know what actual church teaching is.

I do not object to being told which things are optional. I do object to being told optional beliefs are required.
 
Joannm said:
Are you already a baptized Christian? If so WHY are that making you wait so long to be received into the Church…
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If I’m not mistaken, the advice you offered really is only useful as long as the local parish is adequately prepared (or of a mind) to do things in the way that you suggest.

For example, I go to a Dominican parish that is served by five priests, all of whom are solid and orthodox and absolutely on fire for the faith. Nonetheless, for practical reasons, our candidates for Confirmation are being asked to go through the entirety of the RCIA process; and I am almost sure the same rule holds for baptized, non-Catholic Christians.

As for the main topic: I can only sympathize with the OP, and offer my apologies for the experience thus far. Frankly, it makes me rather angry when I hear stories of individuals leading these RCIA sessions who, by all appearances, are extremely lacking in faith and in obedience to doctrine.

If they have an axe to grind, fine, that’s between them and God. But stop trying to take away from others to RIGHT to be faithful Catholics and the RIGHT to know what the Church teaches and the RIGHT to worship God in a Liturgy that His Church has approved. They have no business sowing confusion into hearts that God is preparing, and no right whatsoever to attempt to snuff out faith in others.

If I found my RCIA experience to be lacking in the truth department, I would certainly make an attempt to look around my area to see if there was anything else that available. Moreover, even if I didn’t want to debate doctrine with the facilitators, I would at least make a point of walking out if necessary. Pushing agendas is one thing, but blasphemy is quite another, and I could not stand for that.

Of course, perhaps a person has no access to any RCIA sessions that aren’t horrible, and in this situation there is naturally a need to persevere. I’m not sure what sort of advice I would have with regard to that, but I can certainly offer prayers.
 
I am taking a class for being a DRE and how to lead the RCIA. The books we study clearly state that the program should be customized to meet the needs of each person. People come into the RCIA at all levels of spiritual development, so you can’t have a cookie cutter curriculum.
Nevertheless, those coming into the Church benefit from forming a community in the RCIA because the Catholic Church is a family. One can always learn more about prayer. No matter where you are on the spiritual path, you can always learn more. At times, we need to revisit topics to deepen our understanding of them. RCIA only scratches the surface of the richness of the Catholic faith.
The first step is the initial conversion. The second is catechesis. The third is theology. RCIA main goal is the first step and hopefully a lot of the second. You can get catechesis from reading the Catechism. The instructors should answer your questions about the CCC.
I helped lead the RCIA for 10 years. This is the way it was done in our parish. BTW, I have a Masters in Theology. Our RCIA leaders sometimes irritated me when they said wrong things, but I challenged them, then read from the catechism to set the record straight.
 
bettyg51 said:
I am taking a class for being a DRE and how to lead the RCIA. The books we study clearly state that the program should be customized to meet the needs of each person. People come into the RCIA at all levels of spiritual development, so you can’t have a cookie cutter curriculum.
Nevertheless, those coming into the Church benefit from forming a community in the RCIA because the Catholic Church is a family. One can always learn more about prayer. No matter where you are on the spiritual path, you can always learn more. At times, we need to revisit topics to deepen our understanding of them. RCIA only scratches the surface of the richness of the Catholic faith.
The first step is the initial conversion. The second is catechesis. The third is theology. RCIA main goal is the first step and hopefully a lot of the second. You can get catechesis from reading the Catechism. The instructors should answer your questions about the CCC.
I helped lead the RCIA for 10 years. This is the way it was done in our parish. BTW, I have a Masters in Theology. Our RCIA leaders sometimes irritated me when they said wrong things, but I challenged them, then read from the catechism to set the record straight.
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Very good post. RCIA is a gateway. We are not there to teach them everything about Catholicism in the short time we have them (and that should be more than September to April). Most of all we are there to help them to grow in their relationship with Christ and His Church.

I have two criticisms in what you wrote. Please do not call RCIA a “program.” A program denotes a beginning and an end. RCIA, like all faith formation, is a process. It is ongoing. The formal period of mystagogy might end at Pentecost or perhaps a year later (as the Rite states), but it really needs to go on for the rest of our lives.

Second, I would say that the second step is developing a relationship with Christ through the liturgy and the scriptures The liturgy is of course the “summit and source” of our lives as Catholic Christians. I guess this would overlap with catechesis, but celebrations of the Word, the minor rites, and other liturgical experiences can be transformative for our catechumens.

You are also right that RCIA leaders and catechists should be teaching authentic Church doctrine. I always tell my catechists that we are representing the Church when we come together for our catechetical sessions with inquiers and catechumens. A catechist might disagree with something the Church teaches, or in her own mind would want to water it down (hopefully not), but when they are in their role as catechist, they are to teach what the Church teaches.
 
Hello Joann.
Joannm said:
Very good post. RCIA is a gateway…
You are also right that RCIA leaders and catechists should be teaching authentic Church doctrine. I always tell my catechists that we are representing the Church when we come together for our catechetical sessions with inquiers and catechumens. A catechist might disagree with something the Church teaches, or in her own mind would want to water it down (hopefully not), but when they are in their role as catechist, they are to teach what the Church teaches.
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This is a good reply however, it is obvious from the OP’s troubles that they aren’t teaching what the Church teaches. That is why he or she is distressed and rightly so. Just because they’ve been given the position of RCIA leader and catechist doesn’t mean they are faithful. Unfortunately history proves that teaching positions are prized by those who strive to hand on what they believe and want the Church to teach rather than authentic Church teaching. It is one way they hope to hand on their falsehood. If they can claim all the teaching positions in a given area and only teach what they believe, the reality is those innocents who think they are getting told the Truth, will trust the message they are given rather than question it and error will spread. That is how whole regions fell into heresy and error before and it takes work, real work to root it out when it happens. History proves this happens and it will continue to do so as long as the problem is ignored or white washed away by false charity.

We all need to help preserve the treasure we have been given in the Church of Jesus Christ. We are all guardians of the faith and we should speak up when we see error being handed off as if it is the Truth. The OP did come to the Church in good faith and he does have a right to receive that which Jesus Christ died to give him whole and entire in the manner in which He meant it to be given him. When this fails to happen we need to address it appropriately and that means a real response, even removing those who teach error willingly and for a reason. This is nothing new, it is simply new to the experiential knowledge of the OP.

Glenda
 
Joannm said:
Are you already a baptized Christian? If so WHY are that making you wait so long to be received into the Church. The RCIA for baptized candidates should be no longer than necessary. I interviewed a Lutheran woman this past week. Based on her background, her knowledge of Catholicism, and the fact that she attends daily Mass, we are bringing her into the Church before Christmas (what a Christmas gift!). She will be attending only about two months of sessions. Candidates for Full Profession can be brought into the Church at any time. In fact, the Easter Vigil is really only supposed to be for the unbaptized. The United States received a dispensation to allow for combined rites at the Vigil.
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Well, as far as I know, yes, I was baptized. At least that’s what my mom always told me growing up! However, I was unable to provide any documentation for it. If it did happen, it happened a *long *time ago and there is no one left now who could attest to my baptism or provide any other proof. The DRE and Deacon running RCIA at my Parish are quite strict on things so that being the case, I had to go into RCIA as “unbaptized.” I will be getting a conditional baptism before confirmation.

I’m fine with it and I’m having a great time with the whole experience. I’ll be confirmed very soon now. 👍
 
My experience has been really good so far, very peaceful though as I am the only one attending! It’s great to learn about Catholicism and I look forward to the Easter Vigil:thumbsup:
 
I did my RCIA through the catholic college I was attending as an undergrad. I’ve heard that these classes can be fun (especially for college-aged youth) but unfortunately i only had 2 other people in my RCIA class…and two awesome facilitators. Anyway, it was a good experience and we consistently met on Sunday evenings for about an hour and a half. I also attended mass there afterwards, so I feel like I learned a lot about communion, reading liturgy, etc.
 
ArchAngeles said:
Well, as far as I know, yes, I was baptized. At least that’s what my mom always told me growing up! However, I was unable to provide any documentation for it. If it did happen, it happened a *long *time ago and there is no one left now who could attest to my baptism or provide any other proof. The DRE and Deacon running RCIA at my Parish are quite strict on things so that being the case, I had to go into RCIA as “unbaptized.” I will be getting a conditional baptism before confirmation.

I’m fine with it and I’m having a great time with the whole experience. I’ll be confirmed very soon now. 👍
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I had a similar situation. I was baptized as a child in a non-denominational Christian church. They kept no type of documentation regarding the baptisms they performed, ever. So I was stuck. I ended up being “received” into the church at Easter vigil and it was great. It was really special.
 
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