Little Mary;
Sorry, that was meant to be funny. I’m speaking from the standpoint of both a convert and an RCIA Inquiry facilitator.
Apparently I’m “tough” (according to my students) because I assign an hour a week of homework, and I insist on a minimum of 85% attendance.
Our team leader won’t let them continue if they don’t show up for the Rites, and I think our Catechist is at least as “tough” on attendance as I am. ('I’ve heard him say that if they miss three in a row, they have to come back down to my class, although I haven’t seen that happen, yet.)
Finding sponsors is hard for them - I don’t know why - well, in part, I do know why - they come into the Church and join RCIA right away without first getting to know anyone in the parish, so they don’t know anyone.
So, part of their Inquiry homework is to attend social events at the parish and get to know people, so that they can ask someone to be their sponsor. They have to have a sponsor (among other tasks also to be completed during this period) before they are allowed to “graduate” from Inquiry and go to RCIA Catechesis.
These seem like minimum standards to us, and it’s funny when we’re told how “tough” we are. But I guess compared to other denominations, where all you do is sign a card and that’s it, you’re a member (as I related above, when I accidentally became an Evangelical one time) we really
are pretty tough.
But as you point out, to someone who is committed to the process and keen on becoming Catholic, these steps are as natural as breathing -
of course you get to know people; you’re planning to be here for the rest of your life. And
of course you read up on the teachings of the Church for at least one hour a week - every waking moment you are thinking about it, and every time you have a chance to sit down, you are devouring everything you can find on the subject.
Not everyone who comes to RCIA is such a keener, though.
I had one poor fellow show up to Inquirer several weeks ago, and he said, “So, how long is RCIA? Four weeks? Six weeks?” I said, “Typically, it takes about two years. Some people can get it done in as little as six months, but that’s extremely rare. A lot of people take longer than that, depending on their situation at home - there are a great many factors involved in the process, and sometimes it can take years to get everything sorted out.”
He gave me one of these looks,
, excused himself to use the washroom, and I haven’t seen him since.
He may be back, since the process doesn’t get any shorter by not starting it, but he certainly has a lot to think about, right now - just how badly does he want to become Catholic, and is this really the right thing for him, and that sort of thing.
