When to Start RCIA?

[AKDee]

I just went through RCIA last year and was baptized and confirmed Easter 2015. I’d say start whenever you feel curious and want to learn more. There is no commitment, and no shaming if you decide it’s not for you. And although I was rather convinced prior to even beginning RCIA due to my own personal journey, RCIA helped answer some nagging questions and cemented my desire to join the Church.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

It’s not so much that it be a priest but that you don’t get one of these liberals who think the Church should be a democracy and when Christ’s teachings are too hard we should soften them.

So the choices are a priest or someone who isn’t really Catholic.

Thanks a bunch.

It’s getting to a point where I wonder why I bother responding to RCIA threads. They always turn into attacks on horrible lay people like me who want to help others on their way into the Church.

Perhaps it would be better if we lay people sat it out. The lone priest in the parish who is already overburdened can certainly take on my job as well. And I guess if he can’t…well…too bad for those who were interested in Catholicism.

I’m gone.

 

[AKDee]

So the choices are a priest or someone who isn’t really Catholic.

Thanks a bunch.

It’s getting to a point where I wonder why I bother responding to RCIA threads. They always turn into attacks on horrible lay people like me who want to help others on their way into the Church.

Perhaps it would be better if we lay people sat it out. The lone priest in the parish who is already overburdened can certainly take on my job as well. And I guess if he can’t…well…too bad for those who were interested in Catholicism.

I’m gone.

Wow. That’s not at all how I interpreted the comment you are responding to.

In my RCIA class, every catechist was a layperson. I was incredibly grateful to them, and pray for them to this day.

I think the point is that catechists should be orthodox in their beliefs. Otherwise you confuse the people taking the class.

 

[DavidFilmer]

Thanks, David. They accepted you in spite of these doubts?

Yeah. Doubts are not sinful and not an impediment provided they are not willful. If you want to believe but find that you cannot then you do not sin (it’s impossible to sin without any free-will commitment).

You cannot be complacent in your disbelief - you must make an ongoing effort to correct it. But you are not required to actually succeed. It’s possible for doubts to be lifelong without incurring sin. There’s no time limit.

Heck, it took me years to come to terms with Immaculate Conception.

 

[CalCatholic]

Well, that would have to be a really tiny parish or one with many priests.
Most RCIA programs are run by Lay people or Deacons.
And they do just fine, thanks
Please don’t let the fear of not “possible” bad instruction keep you from classes.
Plenty of time to become jaded…

Seriously, do your homework. Find a program that is good by speaking to people around the Diocese. Call the Chancery. Make inquiries. Everything good takes some research.

Good luck!

 

[Magdalen2013]

Contact your local parish NOW. I had Inquiry sessions with the Sister running the RCIA program once a week for about a month before the formal RCIA sessions started.

Oh – and if you are baptized, you’ll need to get a copy of your Certificate of Baptism to give to the RCIA director at your parish.

 

[ArchAngeles]

Should I join RCIA in order to get these questions answered and make my decision, or should I have already decided I’m going to join the Church when I start RCIA?

Either way is fine. Even simple curiosity is OK.

I’m now on the RCIA team at my Parish. We accept people into RCIA year round. In summer we are on a bi-monthly meeting schedule. In the fall we will go weekly. Most confirmations happen on Easter (there may be exceptions to that where you are, ask your Priest). Check with your local Parish RCIA team or religious ed director or Priest as to timing for everything. Also ask about any required paperwork or documents up front. This can save you a lot of headaches later.

Look for an *orthodox *RCIA program. Luckily that’s what I found at my Parish when I started. We have had people come to our program (even when they had another one closer to them) specifically because we have a very traditional program of instruction.

Good luck with your journey!

 

[exnihilo]

I come from a lifelong Southern Baptist background and have been studying Catholicism for several years. I have already found the answers to a lot of my questions. I would like to move forward, but I still have a few lingering questions.

Should I join RCIA in order to get these questions answered and make my decision, or should I have already decided I’m going to join the Church when I start RCIA?

Your situation would be much like mine. I was studying Catholicism for a several years before I decided to attend RCIA. When I did attend I attended just to learn more. I was not in any way committed to converting. As Easter approached I was not ready to convert. It wasn’t really that I had any intellectual problems. My issues were my willingness and with my wife.

When I first started exploring Catholicism my wife thought I was crazy. She didn’t attend RCIA with me. But after years of me demonstrating problems in Protestantism and explaining Catholic teaching, as best I understood, she finally became willing to consider Catholicism. So after a year of RCIA I didn’t convert but ended up going through RCIA a second time with my wife the next year. Actually the second time it ended up being private instruction because the parish is small and no one else took the class. We just converted this year.

So I would say definitely join RCIA just to get questions answered and make a decision. It is important to actually experience the faith and be around other Catholics. In many ways I was converted to the Catholic faith before I even took RCIA. But actually converting, actually making the commitment, was more than just an intellectual assent to the Faith. It took some time to reach the point that I was willing to do that.