I looked over the 8th grade book they use to teach Catechism and … well, it was so basic that I found myself loathing it for its one-dimensional nature! A deacon even told me that he felt that, upon receiving my mother’s approval, I could be instantly Confirmed. I liked this idea … but … it felt like cheating. Besides that, I STILL haven’t gotten her approval. I want to go through *some *kind of instruction process, but it all seems so elementry at this point that I don’t really know what to do … I don’t mean to sound proud, and I’m not trying make so bold an assertion that I could not get anything out of the class, it’s just … I don’t know.
You don’t say what your age is (unless I missed it), and if you’re an older teen or adult, normally you would have to go through RCIA just like everyone else, unless you have some extenuating circumstance. You
should “go through someting before being received into the Church.”
To be honest, while you may understand a few things about the Faith, you are exhibiting some mixed signals about the requirements to receive the Sacraments. Also, you should not be too proud to go through the paces with other people who you think are not as advanced in knowledge as you…most adults who begin RCIA have some sort of discernment process that they’ve already begun as well. Anyway, RCIA is not about accumulating as many facts about the Church as possible; rather, it’s about deepening your relationship with God by being accepted in the Church. You are making a conscious decision to walk with God in the Catholic Christian tradition. Additionally, part of being Catholic also includes submitting to the authority of the Church’s tenets. To be a good Catholic, you have to be humble enough to follow the rules.
Remember that Jesus was never all that impressed with people who could spout Scripture and Jewish law without love. In fact, I would encourage you to read through the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) to see what Jesus’ values are really all about. Sometimes being accompanied on the journey with simple, unassuming people is the best lesson you could ever learn. Simple people are often given an abundant blessing of love without pretense! They have so much to teach us! Jesus wants humility and a heart full of love from us, not a brain full of facts.
As Paul says to the Corinthians: “…And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.” (I Corinthians 13:2)
Why not bring your mother along to the RCIA classes? Or why not have her speak to a deacon or priest about her misgivings about the Faith? If you can put this in terms of the similarities between Baptists and Catholics (normally an oxymoron, I know!), then perhaps she will feel better about it.
Last year, when I was teaching RCIA, we used the new Catechism developed by the US Council of Bishops. It’s very readable, and I would even suggest that you give it to your mother to answer any questions you have about the process. You can get it here:
usccbpublishing.org/productdetails.cfm?sku=5-450
I pray that you will not have to come to an impasse with your mother, but as Jesus told us in last Sunday’s Gospel, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple,” and also "In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:25-33).
What He says to us is that sometimes we have to make some really serious decisions when it comes to following Him. He is not suggesting that you actually hate your mother; rather, he is saying that in order to follow him you will need to make what seem to be rash decisions and possibly even have to shake off your mother’s immediate protection.
I will pray for you!
