Rite of Welcoming

  • Thread starter Thread starter Wkane
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
W

Wkane

Guest
Hard to believe, RCIA started in September and now it’s time for this Rite. I am grateful but amazed . Good RCIA team and sessions for the most part. Like to hear from fellow Candidates/ Catechumens.
 
Wkane said:
Hard to believe, RCIA started in September and now it’s time for this Rite. I am grateful but amazed . Good RCIA team and sessions for the most part. Like to hear from fellow Candidates/ Catechumens.
Click to expand...
When was this rite invented? I have never heard of it until about a year ago, and only on this website.

Disclaimer: my parish does not have RCIA.
 
I felt a little overwhelmed by the Rite. First it required going to a different Mass than the one I usually go to. Then, we all had to sit upfront and go up in front of everyone. Plus, the whole finding a sponsor thing is a hard one for me because I just don’t now anyone locally to do it for me. One of the RCIA team members said she’ll do it. During the Mass she even said to me, “You really are in this all alone, aren’t you?”
 
Our parish just had this Rite the past Saturday evening. It was beautiful. This is the way the candidates are presented to the Church and the Church welcome them and pray for them. Each of them were given a Holy Bible. Our RCIA director helps the candidates to find their sponsors, and we do not call them sponsors, but Godparents.

God bless all who are in RCIA.
 
Our parish is still trying to find enough sponsors for the candidates. Apparently, there are a lot more people in RCIA than they expected. We scheduled to do the Rite of Welcoming the first Sunday in Advent…if we have enough sponsors.
 
Reborn2013 said:
When was this rite invented? I have never heard of it until about a year ago, and only on this website.

Disclaimer: my parish does not have RCIA.
Click to expand...
It’s the first Rite of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, for adults baptized but who have not received any other Sacraments in the Catholic Church.
 
jmcrae said:
It’s the first Rite of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, for adults baptized but who have not received any other Sacraments in the Catholic Church.
Click to expand...
I figured that was the case. Cradle Catholic here who attended the NO for 25 years and consider myself a knowledgeable person, but never heard of the Rite of Welcoming. I checked out the Wiki page and it did not say when this began, and thought it must have been a relatively new thing.
 
Hello Wkane,

We seem to be in the same boat. Judging by your username alone I think we have something else in common too (hint: notice that there are a lot of "k"s in my username).

I have been away from the Church since I was around 5 years old, nearly 5 decades ago. I’m now in RCIA classes and trying hard to learn the things I should have learned as a child. When I decided to return to the Church my Baptist husband introduced me to the only Catholic couple he knew, his former boss and his wife, the ex-boss is also my RCIA teacher.

I’m not sure about this Rite of Welcoming that you are talking about, but a quick search tells me that it’s very much like what I will be going through this coming Sunday, what our teacher called our first Scrutiny. Basically he handed out these crucifixes during class last Sunday and told us we have to wear them this week because we would have our first Scrutiny. There’s only three catechumens in our class and we all freaked when he dropped this bombshell on us. Once the teacher explained I felt a better, but with my shyness I’m still a tad bit apprehensive about getting up in front of the whole congregation.

So much to learn, huh?
 
Magdalen2013 said:
Our parish is still trying to find enough sponsors for the candidates. Apparently, there are a lot more people in RCIA than they expected. We scheduled to do the Rite of Welcoming the first Sunday in Advent…if we have enough sponsors.
Click to expand...
Hopefully the pastor or RCIA facilitator can find some folks willing to step forward. I have helped with RCIA the last few years and this year our priest asked me to sponsor a young woman who has no family in the immediate area. It’s not exactly my comfort zone, but he asked and I said yes.
\Someone will step forward.
 
Reborn2013 said:
When was this rite invented? I have never heard of it until about a year ago, and only on this website.

Disclaimer: my parish does not have RCIA.
Click to expand...
Without exhaustively doing research…RCIA is an ancient process of initiation for Christians, not an invention. I know Augustine speaks of it, and I’m not sure who else, but RCIA is an ancient tradition of conversion and entering into the Church.
 
Hi, everyone, great feedback. Since I am baptized (Protestant) and am seeking entrance into the Catholic Church I am a Candidate. We have a couple of responses during the Opening Dialogue.
 
Where and when does this Rite of Welcoming happen, during a regular Mass? a special Mass? Since I came into our RCIA class late (by the 3rd class) I was not fortunate enough to be privy to such information. Our meeting with the priest was postponed yet again (trying in earnest since last Spring) this is our 3rd parish to try and talk to a priest. Our class is simply taking a hiatus for Advent and Christmas and then we resume in Jan. Should I ask for help at the church office? help in finding a sponsor, etc.
 
I would talk to the person leading RCIA. For us, the Rite of Welcoming happens during one of our scheduled masses the first Sunday of Advent. We just had one on one meetings scheduled this week with the RCIA leader to talk over the rite and what to expect. Count me in as someone who isn’t quite comfortable getting up in front of 1500 people for this. :eek:

Since I’m struggling with finding an in town sponsor, the person leading our class said he would step in, or his wife, or he could find me someone from the parish who had gone through the process to be my buddy. 🙂 So it seems like if you don’t have someone local to guide you, the church can help you with that.
 
Casilda said:
Where and when does this Rite of Welcoming happen, during a regular Mass? a special Mass? Since I came into our RCIA class late (by the 3rd class) I was not fortunate enough to be privy to such information. Our meeting with the priest was postponed yet again (trying in earnest since last Spring) this is our 3rd parish to try and talk to a priest. Our class is simply taking a hiatus for Advent and Christmas and then we resume in Jan. Should I ask for help at the church office? help in finding a sponsor, etc.
Click to expand...
My Rite of Welcoming was weeks ago and done during our regular Mass time. We knew we’d participate in a rite of some sort, but it was not explained fully until about a week beforehand. Our RCIA group consists of myself, my DH, my daughter, and three other teenagers. My DH didn’t need to be welcomed as he was raised Catholic and is already Baptized and had First Holy Communion. Our class is between the 8:30 am Mass and the 10:30 am Mass, so we all attend the 10:30 am Mass. Maybe it would have been done at a different Mass time if the group were larger and most attended the earlier Mass. Who knows?

We chose our Sponsors if we knew someone or were Sponsored by a member of the RCIA teaching team. My daughter asked the one parishioner we chit chat with before I could ask her, so I ended up being Sponsored by a member of the staff.

Ours was done at the beginning of Mass and was very simple. A couple of questions to answer, a few signs of the cross on our heads, lips, ears, shoulders, heart, hands and feet, and done!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top