Someone recently asked on Facebook, “What is the Easter Vigil for?” The person asking is from a Christian tradition that does not usually celebrate baptisms at the Vigil. If you’re old enough, you will remember when that was true for Roman Catholics. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults was issued shortly after Vatican II, …
What does baptism do? A mystagogy on the sacramental act of washing
We recently asked folks what their experience is with baptized candidates in their formation processes. About 400 people responded, and here are the results: What is the current timeframe of your catechumenate process? Almost 45% of those who responded said they have a year-round process. I was happily surprised by that number. It could be …
What’s happening with baptized RCIA candidates? A survey report
Jess Panlener is on the Discipleship Team at St. Charles in Hartland, WI, outside of Milwaukee, where she is the RCIA (Becoming Fully Catholic) director, baptism coordinator, and adult and family minister. She holds a master’s degree in historical theology from Marquette University, but she is a Wisconsin Badger through and through. Jess and her …
Jesus’s timing is perfect—one parish’s experience of year-round RCIA
Q: Is there a possibility that a seeker would come to faith before the Easter Vigil… and how do you proceed with that scenario? A: This is a great question. The answer is a bit complicated, but if we dig a little deeper into the question, the answer becomes simpler. There is a caveat however. …
Can RCIA seekers celebrate their sacraments outside of the Easter Vigil?
Most parishes in the United States, Canada, and Australia will be celebrating the sacraments of initiation with the elect in the coming weeks or months. Since this celebration is happening outside of the Easter Vigil, there is some confusion as to what ritual to use for initiation. The normative rite to use would be the …
What is the correct RCIA rite to use for baptizing the elect outside the Easter Vigil?
Did you miss the April 21 TeamRCIA Community Chat on how to schedule the initiation rites outside of Easter? No worries! We’ve got you covered. Here’s the recording. Please share it with your colleagues in ministry. We had over 900 people signed up, and over 600 people from all around the world attended the one-hour …
Fr. John Farley, a priest in the San Diego diocese, commented on our video, “RCIA, the Triduum, and Coronavirus.” Based on the guidelines in the Ceremonial of Bishops and in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, he proposed a possible schedule for celebrating the rites of initiation at a time later this year. In …
An RCIA calendar for celebrating the initiation rites outside the usual times
Many parishes organize their catechumenate ministry on a school-year model. While this is not the vision of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, it is nevertheless a reality in many communities. However, the isolation and distancing requirements of the coronavirus outbreak have disrupted that model. And now, we’re feeling a little panicked. What in …
What do RCIA teams do with the elect now that baptisms are postponed?
The suspension of Triduum liturgies, especially the Easter Vigil, have left some RCIA teams foundering and wondering what to do with the elect during the period of mystagogy. If we look at the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults in the section on mystagogy, we will discover or rediscover a few key points. First, the …
The introduction to the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults lists a litany of principles that undergird the initiation process that a seeker and an initiating community will follow (for example, see RCIA 4-5). One of the most earthshaking of these is, “The rite of initiation is suited to a spiritual journey of adults….” (5). …
