Christian Initiation of Adults: a Process of Conversion

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: A Process of Conversion

A TREATISE

Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Ministry

Linda L. Monitello, D.Min.

Washington, D.C.

2020

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: A Process of Conversion

Linda L. Monitello, D.Min.

Director: Margaret Schreiber, O.P., S.T.D.

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (R.C.I.A.) consists of a series of rituals that celebrate and make present a person’s spiritual journey of conversion toward God within the context of a worshipping community. Connecting the vision of the R.C.I.A. process and its pastoral implementation has been a challenge since its promulgation in 1988.

According to surveys conducted by CARA in the United States in 2000 and 2014, the majority of parishes are not celebrating the R.C.I.A. according to its principles. For many parishes, the R.C.I.A. is a school-year program, running from September to April each year, indicating a lack of focus on a gradual response to God. Mass attendance of newly-baptized adults (neophytes) declines in the first three years after full initiation, indicating a need to more fully integrate them into the community’s ongoing journey of conversion and worship.

These surveys indicate that there is limited diocesan training for R.C.I.A. teams, who are to be agents and companions of conversion. Training will better prepare teams to implement the rites according to their intended purpose. Without renewal, the R.C.I.A. is in jeopardy of losing its intended vision as a model of conversion toward God.

The D.Min. project provides needed training that connects the R.C.I.A. vision with its pastoral implementation, focusing on the conversion of both those seeking baptism and the community. The D.Min. project design follows Thomas O’Meara’s theology of ministry that recognizes the unity and diversity of all involved, the principles of adult experiential faith formation, the pedagogy of God and a theology of conversion. The D.Min. project, consisting of four sessions, utilizes divine revelation (scripture and apostolic tradition) and liturgical catechesis (experience of ritual and mystagogical reflection) to lead the participants to recognize initial and ongoing conversion in themselves and others. The sessions enable the team to re- evaluate their parish R.C.I.A. process in the context of conversion and community.

This treatise by Linda L. Monitello, M.A. fulfills the treatise requirement for the doctoral degree in Ministry approved by Margaret Schreiber, O.P., S.T.D., as Director, and by Jason McFarland, Ph.D., as Reader.

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Margaret Schreiber, O.P., S.T.D., Director

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Jason McFarland, Ph.D., Reader

ii Contents

Chapter 1. General Introduction...... 1

Part I. Background and Rationale ...... 6

Chapter 2. A Historical Foundation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults...... 6

Chapter 3. The Role of the Community in the R.C.I.A. Process...... 42

Chapter 4. Initial and On-Going Conversion...... 63

Chapter 5. Pastoral Implementation of the R.C.I.A...... 79

Part II. Design and Implementation of the D.Min. Project ...... 91

Chapter 6. Principles of Design...... 91

Chapter 7. Design and Implementation of the D.Min. Project...... 99

Part III. Evaluation of the D.Min. Project...... 112

Chapter 8. Evaluation of the D.Min. Project...... 112

Chapter 9. General Conclusions of the D.Min. Project ...... 117

Appendices...... 124

Appendix A. Detailed Session Plans...... 124

Appendix B. Session Materials ...... 141

Appendix C. Pre-Session and Post-Session Questionnaire Results ...... 204

Appendix D. “Rite of Acceptance” Mystagogical Reflection ...... 213

Bibliography...... 216

iii

Chapter 1 – General Introduction

The purpose of this D. Min. project treatise is to provide teams responsible for the

implementation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (R.C.I.A.) with a renewed vision of

their role and purpose as they lead others toward Christ. This vision respects the past yet focuses

on the future of bringing individuals to Christ today. The goal of this project is not to advocate

for a return to ancient practices of preparing those seeking baptism, but to honor and put forward

the principles of the restored catechumenate published in 1972 and promulgated in the United

States in 1988 as a relevant initiatory process of conversion for our times.

Catechumens are those people over the age of reason who are seeking baptism in the

Catholic Church. The restored catechumenate states that the R.C.I.A. is a “gradual process” of

conversion leading to the reception of the sacraments of initiation.1 These sacraments are a

participation in the mystery of God.2 The role of the R.C.I.A. team is to lead catechumens into

this mystery, which is rooted in a relationship with Christ. The R.C.I.A. team has a unique

opportunity to fulfill God’s mission in making “disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the

name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I

have commanded you.”3

How R.C.I.A. team members connect catechumens with Christ as they initiate new

members into the Church is important because their efforts will affect how inquirers4 perceive

1. R.C.I.A. 4, International Commission on English in the Liturgy and Bishop’s Committee on the Liturgy, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: Study Edition (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1988) [hereafter R.C.I.A.], 2. 2. Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994) 1075. 3. Matthew 28:19-20, New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE). 4. Inquirers, sometimes referred to as seekers, are unbaptized persons who are drawn to the Christian way of life, and are seeking basic information about Catholicism or Christianity. Such persons may or may not eventually join the Church. 1 2

God and how these potentially new Catholics will worship and serve God. R.C.I.A. team members should be companions to those seeking Christ, assisting them to respond to God’s call in their lives. The team should incorporate catechumens into the community of the faithful early in the process, allowing community members to experience conversion toward Christ as well as fulfill their mission in leading others to Christ. The R.C.I.A. ritual text (Introduction, rubrics, and prayers) provides instructions on how to implement the rite. It is important to study the R.C.I.A. ritual text and use it as a guide to assist both catechumens5 and the lay faithful on their spiritual journeys.

Across the United States, R.C.I.A. teams structure their programs in myriad ways.

According to surveys conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) in the United States in 2000 and 2014, the majority of parishes are not celebrating the R.C.I.A. according to the principles and structures of the rite or the “National Statutes for the

Catechumenate” (see Chapter 4).6 For example, many parishes implement the R.C.I.A. in nine months, which includes the periods of precatechumenate, catechumenate, purification and enlightenment, and the initiation sacraments at the Easter Vigil. Few have a full-year catechumenate as called for by the National Statutes.7 The observance of the period of postbaptismal catechesis or mystagogy often does not comply with the National Statutes which extends to the first anniversary of their Christian initiation.8

5. A catechumen is an unbaptized person who is formally preparing for full initiation into the Catholic Church, and has already celebrated the Rite of Acceptance. 6. The “National Statutes for the Catechumenate” were approved by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops on 11 November 1986, and confirmed by the Congregation of Divine Worship on 26 June 1988 (Prot. 1191/86). 7. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, “National Statutes for the Catechumenate” 6, in Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: Study Edition (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1988), 364. 8. “National Statutes for the Catechumenate” 24.

Shortening the R.C.I.A. timeframe does not respect the gradual nature of the catechumenal process as a response to God’s invitation to relationship. According to the CARA surveys, Mass attendance of the newly-baptized (neophytes)9 declines in the first three years after their full initiation.10 While neophyte attendance is much higher than that of average

Catholics, this decline indicates a problem with fully integrating the neophytes into the worshipping community’s ongoing journey of conversion and worship.

The 2014 CARA survey on the R.C.I.A. indicates that there are currently limited diocesan opportunities for the training of R.C.I.A. teams, who are not merely to teach doctrine but to be agents and companions of conversion. The R.C.I.A. team members need training that refocuses their attention on the fundamental goal of the restored catechumenate, which is conversion to Christ, and need to be prepared in their roles as pastoral leaders in the community’s journey of faith. As a result of such training, the R.C.I.A. team will be able to implement the rites according to their intended purpose and will better fulfill the mission of the

Church to bring all things into relationship with Christ. Without this renewed vision, the R.C.I.A. is in jeopardy of losing its intended vision as a model of the ongoing journey of conversion toward God.

The purpose of this D.Min. project was to produce a series of facilitated sessions for

R.C.I.A. teams that addresses the deficiencies noted in the CARA surveys. To be effective, these

9. A neophyte (R.C.I.A. 25, 244-251) is a newly baptized person. Those who are fully initiated into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil are considered neophytes for a full year after they receive the sacraments of initiation. 10. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life: A Report on the Implementation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults in the United States (Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 7.

4 sessions did not lecture the participants on the CARA survey statistics but instead allowed the

R.C.I.A. team members to rediscover the primary focus of the R.C.I.A., which emphasizes conversion of both the catechumens and the community in the R.C.I.A. process. The D.Min. project helped R.C.I.A. teams view themselves as companions and agents of conversion who guide the entire community to Christ through the celebration of the rites. The community is important to the R.C.I.A. process as catechumens are initiated into a particular community, who joins them on their journey of faith. As a result of participating in the project, the team began to evaluate their current R.C.I.A. processes through the lens of conversion.

In order to create a workshop series that can be useful to R.C.I.A. teams to re-discover their purpose and inspire them continually to improve their parish R.C.I.A. ministry, the D.Min. candidate researched background information on the history and theology of the R.C.I.A. This theological research lays the foundation for the catechesis of the R.C.I.A. team. Part I of the treatise is the “Background and Rationale” of the project. Chapter 2 of the treatise reviews the history of the revision of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and the liturgical reforms that influence these revisions. This historical analysis reveals the theological underpinnings of the

R.C.I.A. Chapter 3 explores the role of the community in the R.C.I.A. process as prescribed in liturgical documents related to Vatican II, in the work of the Coetus XXII study group that restored the catechumenate, and in the R.C.I.A. text. Chapter 4 investigates the nature of both initial and ongoing conversion as it relates to catechumens and the community, respectively.

Chapter 5 addresses the pastoral implementation of the R.C.I.A., and includes an analysis of the results of the 2000 and 2014 CARA surveys on the R.C.I.A. in the United States.

Part II of the treatise is the “Design and Implementation of the D.Min. Project.” Chapter

6 contains an explanation of the D.Min. project’s principles of design related to community and conversion catechesis. As a result of this research, a series of facilitated sessions for R.C.I.A. teams take shape utilizing the lessons learned in these areas of inquiry. Chapter 7 reviews the design and implementation of the project. This chapter contains details about each of the facilitated sessions and examines the means of assessment and evaluation used to measure the success of the project. Part III of the treatise is the “Evaluation of the D.Min. Project.” Chapter 8 examines the measurements collected before and after the facilitated sessions to determine the effectiveness of the project. General conclusions on the D.Min. project are found in Chapter 9, including pastoral observations and reflections on the project.

God reaches out to each person, desiring a relationship with each one. Each person must freely respond to this invitation by God, returning the love that God pours upon each human being. This is the core of the R.C.I.A. process. Love of God leads all to desire to follow in God’s ways, to learn more about the Church’s teachings on how to grow in and stay in relationship with

God. A big part of forming and sustaining this relationship is community. No one is an island;

Christians journey on the road to the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom together. All Christians must love one another and lead each other to Christ. This treatise will assist many in this endeavor.

Part I

Background and Rationale

Chapter 2 – A Historical Foundation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults

Introduction

In order to understand more fully the meanings and intentions behind the Rite of

Christian Initiation of Adults (R.C.I.A.)1 and the importance of providing training for R.C.I.A teams, this treatise reviews select documents and historical events to set a context for the proper implementation of the R.C.I.A. The rite currently in use in the United States is the result of a study of the ancient catechumenate and adaptation of it in a contemporary cultural context.2 A

Vatican II study group called Coetus XXII of the Consilium ad Exsequendum Constitutionem de Sacra Liturgia (Consilium)3 worked to restore the catechumenate as part of the ongoing work of liturgical reform that resulted from the deliberations of the Council. Their work, which began in 1964, focused on select paragraphs in Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) related to Christian initiation.4 In looking to the past, the study group utilized the work of Louis Duchesne (1843-

1. The treatise uses the 1988 edition of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, referred to hereafter as R.C.I.A. throughout the treatise. 2. Ancient catechumenal documents often studied for contemporary implications include the works of Justin Martyr, Origen's Contra Celsum, the "Catechetical Lectures" of Cyril of Jerusalem, Augustine's De catechizandis rudibus, the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, and the Didache, all of which are accessible in English translation. See the works of Louis Duchesne, Christian Worship, Its Origin and Evolution: A Study of the Latin Liturgy Up to the Time of Charlemagne (London: SPCK Publishing, 1931); Gregory Dix, ed., The Treatise on the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus of Rome (London: SPCK Publishing, 1968); Bernard Botte, Hippolyte de Rome: La Tradition apostolique, Sources chrétiennes 11 (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1946); Alois Stenzel, Die Taufe: Ein genetische Erlarung der Taufliturgie (Innsbruck: Verlang Felizian Rauch, 1957) and Xavier Seumois, L’Adaptation dans le Culte, C.I.P.A. 1957 nn. 2-4 (Rome: Tipografia Operaia Romana, 1957). 3. Coetus study groups were post-conciliar commissions formed at the request of Pope Paul VI to produce documents that would bring into practical effect some of the decisions of the Second Vatican Council. 4. Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy)[hereafter SC] 59, 64-66, 71, and 109 in The Liturgy Documents: Foundational Documents on the Origins and Implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Volume Three (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2013), 289-290, 297. The English translations of the documents included in this book are those found in Documents on the Liturgy, 1963-1979: Conciliar, Papal and 6 7

1922), a French priest who studied the origins of the catechumenate and concluded that the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist are so closely linked that they are three sacramental parts of a unified rite of Christian initiation. The group also looked to the fruit of the

Liturgical Movement of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and studied ancient texts such as the sermons of Cyril of Jerusalem and Augustine, the descriptive testimony of Egeria, the writings of pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, the Milanese catechumenate at the time of

Ambrose, the conversion of Constantine, and a church order, the Apostolic Tradition, thought at the time to have been written by Hippolytus.5 The study group did not have many ancient rituals and texts available for their study but they did have indispensable descriptions of initiation from ancient Church writers. Early ritual prayer (certainly prior to mid-second century) was spontaneous in nature, but followed particular formats that changed to reflect changes in historical context and the needs of the Church at prayer. Generally, the preservation of universal prayer texts was not common until the Council of Trent (1545-1563).6 From Trent until Vatican

II these prayer texts were used for both infant and adult baptism.7 Although there were few

Curial Texts (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1982), translated by Thomas C. O’Brien of the International Committee on English in the Liturgy Secretariat in Washington, D.C. 5. David Andrew Pitt, “Revising the Rite of Adult Initiation: The Structural Reform of the Ordo Initiationis Christianae Adultorum, Ordo Catechumenatus Per Gradus Dispositus, 1964-1972,” Volume I (PhD diss., University of Notre Dame, 2007), 27, 61. 6. Cf. Maxwell Johnson, The Rites of Christian Initiation: Their Evolution and Interpretation, Revised and Expanded Edition (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2007), 366. “Just as, in response to the Protestant Reformers, the Council of Trent did nothing more than defend the shape and theological interpretation of the rites of Christian initiation as they had developed in the medieval West, so the ‘new’ liturgical books called for by that Council tended simply to codify and standardize in official Roman books the late medieval liturgical texts and rubrics for the celebration of those rites.” 7. Cf. Maxwell Johnson, The Rites of Christian Initiation, 367. “While it is certainly clear that the dominant candidate for baptism in the minds of the Fathers of the Council of Trent remained that of an infant, the Catechism did refer to the possibility of adult baptism.”

8 official changes were made to the rites during this time, there were developments in pastoral practice and theology that eventually led to liturgical reform.8

The influence of the many liturgical reforms promulgated in the twentieth century is important to consider when studying the R.C.I.A., as the present rite is a product of the Liturgical

Movement that re-evaluated liturgical practices to increase the active participation of the laity, and by extension, give instruction on the implementation of the R.C.I.A. An analysis of the details of the Liturgical Movement prior to Vatican II is necessary in order to gain a better understanding of the R.C.I.A. text. Examining the work of the Second Vatican Council fathers similarly reveals the intentions of the R.C.I.A. authors.

This chapter explores the history of the R.C.I.A. within the context of the many liturgical changes that took place during the twentieth century. This exploration is thematic rather than chronological. This study begins with an overview of the historical foundation of the R.C.I.A. and the underlying themes that the rite inherited from various liturgical documents, beginning with the theme of active participation in the liturgy and its connection to the pivotal restoration of the Easter Vigil. As a result of this study, critical themes surface and contribute to the creation of new formation materials for R.C.I.A. teams, which is the purpose of this treatise.

8. Cf. Maxwell Johnson, The Rites of Christian Initiation, 381. “At the risk of drastic oversimplification, it can be said generally that from the publication and promulgation of the Tridentine liturgical books in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to those brought about by the Second Vatican Council in the late 1960s and early 1970s, very little actually happened to the shape, liturgical texts, structure, or theological interpretation of the rites of Christian initiation within the Roman Catholic Church… There were, however, a number of changes in pastoral practice and theology during these years that were to have long-lasting effects both on the process of Christian initiation and its perception.”

A Historical Foundation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults

To create new formation materials for an R.C.I.A team, a study of the rite, its history and purpose follow. To begin, after the study group, Coetus XXII,9 completed its work, the

Congregation for Divine Worship promulgated the editio typica, Ordo initiationis christianae adultorum, in 1972.10 Nine years later, the International Commission on English in the Liturgy completed the English translation, which the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

(USCCB) approved in 1986, and the Congregation for Divine Worship confirmed in 1987. The

USCCB mandated the rite in 1988 for all parishes in the United States forming adults for

Christian initiation. Since a great deal of time had passed since Vatican II, it may not have been obvious that this rite was the direct result of the work of the Council. However, the rite is the result of the work of the Council fathers and reflects the spirit of Vatican II as both a return to authoritative sources and a renewal of these sources in a modern context (ressourcement and aggiornamento, respectively). Implementation of this rite continues even to this day.

Important aspects of the rite include its call for adaptations to local traditions and its assertion that the rite is for adults seeking baptism. The call for adaptation comes from a decree from the Second Vatican Council, Cum, nostra aetate, (27 January 1966).11 This document

9. The members of Coetus XXII on the Sacraments, established by the Second Vatican Council to fulfill Sacrosanctum Concilium 64, were Balthasar Fischer (Relator), Xavier Seumois (Secretary), Jacques Cellier (additional Relator), Louis Ligier (additional Secretary), Emil Lengeling, Frederick McManus, Boniface Luykx, Alois Stenzel, Joseph Lécuyer, and Jean-Baptiste Molin. The work of Coetus XXII spans from 1964 to 1971. Information on their proceedings can be found in Annibale Bugnini, The Reform of the Liturgy: 1948-1975, Matthew J. O’Connell, tr. (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1990). 10. International Commission on English in the Liturgy and Bishop’s Committee on the Liturgy, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: Study Edition, xiii. 11. R.C.I.A. decree, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: Study Edition, v.

10 instructs the Church to act in ways that suit the contemporary missionary activity in all regions.12

This means that the implementation of the rite cannot be uniform in details but universal in purpose and intention. According to the R.C.I.A “Introduction,” the rite is “designed for adults who, after hearing the mystery of Christ proclaimed, consciously and freely seek the living God and enter the way of faith and conversion as the Holy Spirit opens their hearts.”13 The process toward adult initiation is a spiritual journey within a historical and cultural context. Teams implementing the R.C.I.A must trust that God will strengthen the inquirer or seeker of baptism spiritually and with God’s help they will receive the sacraments fruitfully at the proper time.14

The contemporary rite arises from research and reflects a return to an ancient form of the catechumenate known in the fourth and fifth centuries. By the sixth century, the ancient catechumenate for initiating adults into Christian faith was no longer needed because infant baptism was the norm. With the end of the catechumenate, adults asking for sacramental instruction often met privately with a priest. Infant baptism and private adult preparation remained the general practice until the USCCB mandated use for the R.C.I.A. in 1988, which brought a radical shift from private baptism of both adults and children to a communal process of initiation.

Today, the rite includes both the celebration of the sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist) and also threshold rites belonging to the periods of the

12. According to Cum, nostra aetate (“De editionibus librorum liturgicorum” in Acta Apostolicae Sedis (http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-58-1966-ocr.pdf), vernacular typical editions of liturgical books can be printed with the local ordinary’s attestation so that “popular liturgical books can be used everywhere” while guaranteeing “their dignity and beauty.” Also see CIC, c. 826§2. 13. R.C.I.A. 1. 14. Cf. R.C.I.A. 1.

11 precatechumenate, the catechumenate, purification and enlightenment, and postbaptismal catechesis (including the liturgical celebrations of the Rite of Acceptance, The Rite of Election, the scrutinies, and various minor rites, and initiation at the Easter Vigil). These stages and threshold rites are detailed below. As the catechumens gradually progress in this journey of faith, they do so within a community of the faithful, who join them “in reflecting on the value of the paschal mystery and by renewing their own conversion.”15 Together, both catechumens and the baptized community journey deeper into relationship with Christ. This journey, marked with liturgical celebrations mentioned above, signifies and actualizes the divine mysteries that they represent. The Second Vatican Council’s 1965 Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church,

Ad Gentes (AG), describes this participation in God’s life through the catechumenal process.

For, by the workings of divine grace, the new convert sets out on a spiritual journey, by means of which, already sharing through faith in the mystery of Christ's Death and Resurrection, he passes from the old man to the new one, perfected in Christ (cf. Col. 3:5- 10; Eph. 4:20-24). This bringing with it a progressive change of outlook and morals, must become evident with its social consequences, and must be gradually developed during the time of the catechumenate. Since the Lord he believes in is a sign of contradiction (cf. Luke 2:34; Matt. 10:34-39), the convert often experiences an abrupt breaking off of human ties, but he also tastes the joy which God gives without measure.16

The liturgical documents of the Liturgical Movement and Vatican II reveal the theological underpinnings for the renewal of the rite of Christian initiation. These theological underpinnings, which this treatise chapter analyzes, include the call of the laity to active participation in the liturgy in the true Christian spirit, the renewed link between liturgy and conversion, the re-emphasis of the concept of liturgical catechesis, the relationship between the

15. R.C.I.A. 4. 16. Vatican II, Ad Gentes (Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity)[hereafter AG] 13, accessed March 12, 2019, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651207_ad- gentes_en.html.

R.C.I.A. and the liturgical year, and the role of the assembly in evangelization and sanctification.

This treatise explores the theological underpinnings of the R.C.I.A. by first reviewing the implications of the restoration of the Easter Vigil, and then by investigating these underpinning as found in the various liturgical documents of the twentieth century. This study is thematic rather than chronological in nature.

These theological underpinnings, as recorded in many of the documents of Vatican II, encourage a renewed vigor for Christian faith. Without a renewed vigor, the foundational principles of Vatican II will not meet their full potential. Without a renewed vigor, all forms of catechetical activity, particularly the implementation of the R.C.I.A., will not fulfill their intended function.

The current rite and its contemporary implementation did not arise in a vacuum, nor was it simply copied uncritically from ancient texts. Historical studies17 drew attention to the ancient church’s concern for conversion and the liturgical year in preparing adults for baptism. The

R.C.I.A. is a product of both historical study and adaptations18 suited to the current time and needs. This treatise identifies the need for evangelization that brings one to conversion in the context of the liturgical year. The R.C.I.A serves as an effective means of evangelization to bring people to Christ. The journey to initiation is not meant to be rushed, but is intended to take as long as is needed for an individual to move through the thresholds (periods) of conversion. In the

United States, the catechumenate is to last at least one liturgical year (First Sunday of Advent to

17. See footnote 2, referring to the works of Louis Duchesne, Gregory Dix, Bernard Botte, Alois Stenzel and Xavier Seumois. 18. See footnote 8. These adaptations from historical practice result from the development of pastoral practice and theology, some of which developed as a result of missionary activity in the Church. See Maxwell Johnson, The Rites of Christian Initiation, 381-391.

13 the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe) so that the individual can experience the life of Christ through a fulsome proclamation of the scriptures and come to an initial conversion. The process is to involve the entire community of the faithful, who also listen anew to the scriptures and respond to the call of ongoing conversion. According to the National

Directory for Catechesis, the various aspects of the catechumenate “lead people to a life of faith in Christ, hope in his promise, and charity toward those in need. This life of faith, hope, and charity is nourished through communion with Jesus in the Liturgy, above all in Eucharist.”19 The

R.C.I.A. affects the spiritual conversion of both the catechumens and the community as they share in liturgical experiences.

Active Participation in the Liturgy

The first theological underpinning of the R.C.I.A. to consider is active participation in the liturgy. Authentic liturgical participation is deeply related to conversion of heart toward God.

The centrality of initial conversion in the R.C.I.A. is rooted in the ongoing conversion of the

Body of Christ. It is the Body of Christ, the Church, who incorporate the catechumens into their life of ongoing conversion. This ongoing conversion is the result of the internal and external participation of the liturgical assembly, a key objective of the liturgical changes resulting from

Vatican II.20 The R.C.I.A. team leads the neophytes into this actively worshipping assembly. By truly hearing the Word and participating in the prayers, participants recognize the presence of

19. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Directory for Catechesis [hereafter NDC] 3 (Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2005), 10. 20. “The Church earnestly desires that all the faithful be led to that fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations called for by the very nature of the liturgy.” SC 14.

God in their lives and, in response to God’s great love and providential care, grow in their desire to be different. Out of love, participants desire to transform further into God’s image and likeness by adopting a different view of their own moral behavior and of the world. Such transformative participation is at the heart of the liturgical reform movement and gives the

R.C.I.A team direction.

The theme of active liturgical participation comes from the Liturgical Movement. During the early nineteenth century, scholars in France, even earlier than Louis Duchesne mentioned above, were proposing liturgical reforms but they were not, at first, approved by Rome. Dom

Prosper Guéranger (1805-1875) was a French Benedictine monk and known as the father of the liturgical reform movement.21 He first used the phrase “Liturgical Movement” to describe the revival of liturgical studies and the growing interest in understanding and improving participation in the liturgy. A principle theme of his work is “the centrality of liturgical piety (or spirituality) in the Christian life.”22 The Liturgical Movement brought to consciousness that the primary place of encounter with God is the liturgy. In the liturgy all present participate in the redemptive work of God and participate in the sacrificial offering of the Mass. Guéranger wrote about the importance of renewing the liturgy, “Progress in Liturgy must be an enrichment by the acquisition of new forms rather than by the violent loss of the ancient ones.”23 Embracing the

21. Alcuin Reid, The Organic Development of the Liturgy: The Principles of Liturgical Reform and Their Relation to the Twentieth-Century Liturgical Movement Prior to the Second Vatican Council, Second Edition (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005), 56. Also see Dom Prosper Guéranger, The Liturgical Year – Volumes 1-15, accessed February 5, 2020, http://www.liturgialatina.org/lityear/. 22. Reid, Organic Development of the Liturgy, 56. 23. Reid, Organic Development of the Liturgy, 60.

15 liturgy as informative for faith is not only important for catechumens but also important for the community and the R.C.I.A. team, who pass on and share their faith with others.

During the Liturgical Movement, the lay faithful raised questions about liturgical participation.24 Being present at Mass was important, but what type of participation was required by the assembly in order to enter more fully into this redemptive offering? What changes to the liturgy would enhance that participation? The idea that the faithful actively participate in liturgy would affect their own transformative change, a conversion, which began to work its way into

Church documents.25 The first significant step toward the renewal of the R.C.I.A. linked the questions of participation to the restoration of the Easter Vigil in 1951.

The Significance of the Restoration of the Easter Vigil

One of the most significant liturgical reforms of the twentieth century was the restoration of the Easter Vigil in 1951. This change began with the faithful26 asking that the Easter Vigil,

24. According to Bernard Botte, the contemporary liturgical movement started by “an appeal made at a meeting by both lay and ordained Catholics.” He cites the Malines Catholic Congress of 1909. “The Congress was a national gathering for reflection and planning about all facets of Catholic life, and at it Dom Lambert Beauduin, also a monk of Mont Cesar, issued a manifesto calling for ‘the active participation of the faithful in the liturgy of the church’ through ‘understanding the liturgical texts and singing together by the faithful.’” Bernard Botte, From Silence to Participation: An Insider’s View of Liturgical Renewal, John Sullivan, tr. (Pastoral Press: Washington D.C., 1973, 1988), 9. 25. The documents that address active participation in the liturgy include Tre la sollecitudini (1903), Divini cultus sanctitatem (1928), Mediator Dei (1947), De solemni vigilia paschal instauranda (1951), Liturgicus hebdomadae sanctae Ordo instauratur (1955), Circa Ordinem hebdomadae sanctae instauratum (1957), Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963), Lumen Gentium (1964), and Dei Verbum (1965). 26. When the services of Holy Week were moved to the mornings, “most of the faithful no longer had the freedom to participate in the morning liturgies of the Triduum…Here again, the presence and the understanding of the faithful are prime motivators in the restoration of Holy Week.” Particularly, liturgist Pius Parsch claimed some credit for the restoration of the Vigil as a result of the Liturgical Movement. Corinna Laughlin, “An Overview of the Decrees on the Renewal of Holy Week,” in The Liturgy Documents: Foundational Documents on the Origins and Implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Volume Three (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2013), 159- 160.

16 which for centuries took place on Holy Saturday morning, move to an evening liturgy so they could participate. The Decree Restoring Easter Vigil (De solemni vigilia paschal instauranda, hereafter DSV) states:

Since early times the Church solemnly celebrates the Easter Vigil, which St. Augustine calls “the mother of all the holy vigils.” This vigil was celebrated during the early hours of the morning preceding the Resurrection of Our Lord. But, in the course of centuries and for various reasons, the celebration was put ahead, first to the early evening, then to the afternoon, and finally to the morning of Holy Saturday…[T]here is added a special motive of pastoral order: that of facilitating the presence of numerous faithful.27

Although this change did not yet include the restoration of the rites of Christian initiation, the renewed Easter Vigil did include a renewal of baptismal vows by the assembly. This addition changed the baptismal focus from one of original sin to a stronger connection between baptism and the paschal mystery.28 Restored to the vigil was the lighting of candles by the assembly, as well as the participation of the lay faithful in the procession following the Easter candle. The Old

Testament readings were reduced from twelve to four (later to be increased to seven), and the local bishop could decide if the vernacular would be used instead of Latin.29

The purpose of these liturgical changes to the Easter Vigil was to increase the participation of the people.30 Aidan Kavanaugh (1929–2006), a Benedictine monk and liturgical scholar, says the reforms are “a high-water mark of the modern liturgical movement.”31 The restoration of the Easter Vigil, the work of a committee of lay scholars gathered by Pope Pius

27. Sacred Congregation of Rites, De solemni vigilia paschal instauranda [hereafter DSV], in The Liturgy Documents: Foundational Documents on the Origins and Implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Volume Three (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2013), 165. 28. Aidan Kavanagh, The Shape of Baptism: The Rite of Christian Initiation (New York: Pueblo, 1978), 386. 29. DSV 165. 30. Cf. DSV 165. 31. Kavanagh, The Shape of Baptism, 91.

XII,32 initiated further reform. Shortly thereafter, the committee restored the ancient Holy Week

Order, moving the celebration of Holy Thursday (Mass of the Lord’s Supper) to “not before five

o’clock or after eight o’clock,” and Good Friday service to “approximately three o’clock…but

not later than six o’clock.”33 Many of the same members of this committee were later part of the

Second Vatican Council Preparatory Commission in 1960.34 Holy Week and the Easter Vigil are

significant liturgies of ongoing conversion of the laity and became the context for celebrating the

initial conversion of the Elect.35 Shifting the time of the liturgies made participation possible for

more of the faithful and paved a way for acceptance of the forthcoming R.C.I.A.

As noted above, the restoration of Easter Vigil began a series of liturgical reforms aimed

to continue to engage the laity in the liturgy in a meaningful way. Several important themes of

these liturgical reforms, besides the restoration of the Easter Vigil, directly influenced the

restoration of the catechumenate. These themes, as noted above, include the call to active

participation in the true Christian spirit of the laity, the renewed link between liturgy and

conversion, the re-emphasis of the concept of liturgical catechesis and its influence on the

catechumenate, the relationship between the R.C.I.A. and the liturgical year, as well as the role

32. “The decrees were prepared by a special commission of scholars assembled by Pope Pius XII in 1948, and chaired by the head of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, Cardinal Clemente Micara, until 1953, and thereafter by Cardinal Gaetano Cicognani, who replaced him. The commission was discontinued on July 8, 1960, to be replaced, three days later, with the Preparatory Commission of the Second Vatican Council, which included many of the same members.” Corinna Laughlin, “An Overview of the Decrees on the Renewal of Holy Week,” in The Liturgy Documents: Foundational Documents on the Origins and Implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Volume Three (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2013), 158. 33. DSV 7-8. 34. Laughlin, “An Overview of the Decrees on the Renewal of Holy Week,” 158. 35. The Elect is a name given to catechumens chosen by God and affirmed by the Church as ready to celebrate baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist at the next Easter Vigil. They are catechumens who have gone through the Rite of Election on the first Sunday of Lent, and are those who are involved in immediate preparation for initiation at the upcoming Easter Vigil.

18 of evangelization and sanctification of the assembly. An exploration of the evolution of each of these R.C.I.A. themes follows.

Active Participation in the True Christian Spirit

The first theological underpinning of the R.C.I.A. addressed, active participation in the liturgy, includes a qualification that this participation be in the true Christian spirit. This theme is found in liturgical documents beginning in the twentieth century. Pius X’s motu proprio on the restoration of church music, Tre la sollecitudini (1903), contains an early reference to the restoration of the laity’s active participation in the liturgy. Those involved in liturgical reform often quote the following section from this document.36

It being our ardent desire to see the true Christian spirit restored in every aspect and be preserved by all the faithful, we deem it necessary to provide before anything else for the sanctity and dignity of the temple, in which the faithful assemble for the object of acquiring this spirit from its foremost and indispensable font, which is the active participation in the holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church.37

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy adopted two phrases from this document: “true Christian spirit” as the true goal of liturgy and sacraments,38 and “active participation.” The liturgy is the font for obtaining this transformative Christian spirit. As such, liturgical music must aim toward this purpose. This Christian spirit is pertinent to all elements of liturgical celebrations, particularly the rites of Christian initiation which are ordered toward the achievement of the true

36. “The entire twentieth century Liturgical Movement based its efforts for active participation in TLS, and so the motu proprio can be considered the founding document of the Liturgical Movement.” Anthony Ruff, “An Overview of Tre la sollecitudini,” in The Liturgy Documents: Foundational Documents on the Origins and Implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Volume Three (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2013), 22. 37. Pius X, Tre la sollecitudini (Motu Proprio of Pope Pius X on the Restoration of Church Music)[hereafter TLS], in The Liturgy Documents: Foundational Documents on the Origins and Implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Volume Three (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2013), 26. 38. SC 14.

Christian spirit.39 The principles in Tre la sollecitudini had a significant influence on the

deliberations at the Second Vatican Council and the development of the R.C.I.A. process.

An R.C.I.A. team needs to understand that sacred music is prayer and promotes devotion,

thus it has a place in the R.C.I.A. Tre la sollecitudini infers this use of sacred music.

[T]o clothe with befitting melody the liturgical text proposed for the understanding of the faithful, its proper end is to add greater efficacy to the text, in order that by means of it the faithful may be the more easily moved to devotion and better disposed to receive the fruits of grace associated with the celebration of the most holy mysteries.40

Further clarification regarding the extent of participation of the faithful in order to more fully

dispose them to the “fruits of grace”41 belonging to the celebrated mysteries comes at the twenty-

fifth commemoration of Tre la sollecitudini. For this commemoration, Pius XI wrote the

apostolic constitution, Divini cultus sanctitatem, in 1928.42 While this document primarily relates

to the use of Gregorian chant and sacred music in the liturgy, the principles presented promote

the piety and active participation of the faithful and by extension is formative for the

catechumens. At the time of its writing, secular music and theatrical influences made their way

into the liturgy.43 As the Liturgical Movement continued to influence liturgical celebrations, it

became important to determine what type of participation would be beneficial to the conversion

39. Cf. General Introduction 3, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: Study Edition, xiv. “The Church believes that it is its most basic and necessary duty to inspire all, catechumens, parents of children still to be baptized, and godparents, to that true and living faith by which they hold fast to Christ and enter into or confirm their commitment to the New Covenant. In order to enliven such faith, the Church prescribes the pastoral instruction of catechumens, the preparation of the children’s parents, the celebration of God’s word, and the profession of faith at the celebration of baptism.” 40. TLS 1. 41. TLS 1. 42. Judith Kubicki, “An Overview of Divini Cultus Sanctitatem,” in The Liturgy Documents: Foundational Documents on the Origins and Implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Volume Three (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2013), 44. 43. Cf. Ruff, “An Overview of Tre la sollecitudini,” in The Liturgy Documents: Volume Three, 20.

of those present. The document notes the tension that at the time existed between traditional and

new music, and questioned what identifies music as secular or sacred. The document advocates

for Gregorian chant “in order that the faithful may more actively participate in divine worship.”44

What is particularly important about this document is its advocacy for an interior attentiveness,

which affects a “deep sense of beauty of the liturgy”45 lifting the minds and hearts of the faithful

(and catechumens) to God. This link between participation and conversion was included in the

deliberations leading to and as part of the Second Vatican Council.46 The principles of Tre la

sollecitudini continue to instruct the faithful, including R.C.I.A. teams, on the importance of

beauty and interior formation when forming people in the Christian Tradition.

These underlying principles of Tre la sollecitudini appear in the documents of Vatican II.

In terms of the weight of liturgical documents, The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy

(Sacrosanctum Concilium, SC, 1963) ranks the highest, since it is a constitution of an

Ecumenical Council. The document begins stating the Council’s aim:

to impart an ever increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful; to adapt more suitably to the needs of our own times those institutions which are subject to change; to foster whatever can promote union among all who believe in Christ; and to strengthen whatever can help to call the whole of [human]kind into the household of the Church.47

The reform and promotion of the liturgy was to be of primary concern, since in the

liturgy the “work of our redemption”48 becomes a present reality. Liturgy is the outstanding

44. Divini Cultus Sanctitatem [hereafter DCS] 9, in The Liturgy Documents: Foundational Documents on the Origins and Implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Volume Three (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2013), 51. 45. DCS 9. 46. Cf. Gerald O’Collins, Living Vatican II: The 21st Council for the 21st Century (New York: Paulist Press, 2006), 25, 64, 66. 47. SC 1. 48. SC 2.

21 means by which the faithful express and manifest the mystery of Christ and the nature of the

Church, building up the participants into a holy dwelling place for the Lord and to the “mature measure of the fullness of Christ.”49 This reality forms catechumens. Sacrosanctum Concilium describes the liturgy as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ, performed by the Body of Christ as the head and its members, in the work of human sanctification.50 Both the faithful and catechumens need to understand what it means to accept and then participate in the priestly office of Jesus Christ.

Those present at liturgy must actively engage in this sanctifying activity. Sacrosanctum

Concilium discusses the nature of this participation and says that, “full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else.”51 Participation is both external and internal. Internally, active participation is a habit of interior presence and assent of being open to conversion and allowing God’s action in the liturgy through Word and sacrament to lead participants to change. External participation includes verbal participation, actions, gestures, postures, and silence.52 Since the human person is embodied, physical action affects interior disposition, and vice versa. However, participation is not an end in itself. Conversion of mind and heart leads to a transformation in thinking that affects one’s everyday life.53 This renewed participation in the world brings about the Kingdom of God on earth, as is revealed in the liturgy.

The R.C.I.A. follows the norms drawn from the hierarchic and communal nature of the liturgy as discussed in SC (see Chapter 3 for further explanation). With clarity on this internal and external

49. SC 2. 50. SC 7. 51. SC 14. 52. See SC 19, 30, 48-50, 113. 53. SC 9-11.

22 participation, the R.C.I.A. team must lead catechumens to recognize their need for conversion and participation in realizing the kingdom of God.

Reminiscent of the 1903 document, Tre la sollecitudini, the objective of full, conscious, and active participation surfaces in SC as “the primary and indispensable source by which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit,”54 which is the ultimate goal of the liturgy and sacraments. This spirit is no less than transformation of the world, so that “all may be one, as you, Father, are one in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.”55 As such, liturgy and sacraments are not private affairs, but communal celebrations.56 Pastors are to instruct others on the importance of their participation in these celebrations.57 In accord with the 1955 instructions to the restoration of the order of Holy Week, this instruction must come from the pastors and by extension catechists who assist the pastors in their work, who themselves must be “thoroughly imbued with the spirit and power of the liturgy.”58 In addition, everyone involved in the celebration of liturgy – servers, readers, commentators, choir members – exercise a true liturgical function and must not only be trained to perform their ministry well but must also be “imbued with the spirit of the liturgy.”59 This is also true for R.C.I.A team preparation. This is because the best form of catechesis for both the faithful and the catechumens is liturgy done well. The Second Vatican Council’s argument and decision for the use of the vernacular in liturgical celebrations comes from the importance of the

54. SC 14. 55. John 17:21, NABRE. 56. SC 27. 57. Cf. SC 17. 58. SC 14. 59. SC 29.

participation of everyone present at liturgy. For the faithful to participate actively in liturgy they

must engage in liturgical catechesis that not only informs them of Christian faith but also moves

them to ongoing conversion. The same liturgical catechesis needs to lead catechumens to initial

conversion.

The Link between Liturgy and Conversion

A second theme that surfaced in the liturgical reform that becomes a theological

underpinning of the R.C.I.A. is the identification of a link between liturgy and conversion. By

1947, the Liturgical Movement had been underway for about a century. Much was happening in

liturgical practice that required reflection and order. This contextual and historical reality was the

purpose of Pius XII’s encyclical, Mediator Dei (MD). Several points made in this document

directly affect the development and promulgation of the R.C.I.A. that was to occur twenty-five

years later.

Pius XII clarifies the nature of participation in liturgical celebrations: “the worship

rendered by the Church to God must be, in its entirety, interior as well as exterior…because the

nature of man as a composite of body and soul requires it to be so.”60 The reference to interior

and exterior participation echoes Pius XI’s work and finds a home in SC. In his document, Pius

XII quotes the preface from the Christmas liturgy, using the Incarnation to demonstrate the need

to worship with one’s whole self, because “while we recognize God visibly, we may be drawn by

60. Pius XII, Mediator Dei (Encyclical of Pope Pius XII on the Sacred Liturgy)[hereafter MD] 23 in The Liturgy Documents: Foundational Documents on the Origins and Implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Volume Three (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2013), 113.

Him to love of things unseen."61 Pius also connects liturgical worship with conversion: according to Pius XII, “God cannot be honored worthily unless the mind and heart turn to Him in quest of the perfect life, and that the worship rendered to God by the Church in union with her divine

Head is the most efficacious means of achieving sanctity.”62 While exterior worship “reveals and emphasizes the unity of the mystical body” and “rouses the heart to veneration of the sacred realities,”63 Pius considers the chief element of divine worship to be interior, because worship is much more than an outward observance or appearance.

Mediator Dei warns that this link between liturgy and conversion should not be sought through novel or obsolete liturgical practices. In the document, Pius states that historical studies require proper perspective. Because the Church is a living organism, “she grows, matures, develops, adapts and accommodates herself to temporal needs and circumstances, provided only that the integrity of her doctrine be safeguarded.”64 Therefore, liturgical planning needs to avoid novel liturgical practices as well as the revival of obsolete rites. Also, ancient rites and ceremonies should not be restored indiscriminately or viewed to be more esteemed than more recent liturgical rites because historical and cultural contexts inform liturgical celebrations.

However, it is a “wise and most laudable thing to return in spirit and affection to the sources of the sacred liturgy.”65 Certainly, the ongoing restoration of the catechumenate falls into this kind of process for implementation.

61. MD 23. 62. MD 26. 63. MD 23. 64. MD 59. 65. MD 62.

The structure of the R.C.I.A. facilitates conversion.66 During the precatechumenate, the inquirer reaches the point of initial conversion and discovers a call to become Christian.67 This discovery reveals itself as a “first faith,”68 that changes their life and prompts a desire to enter into relationship with Christ. When “first faith” shows itself, the inquirer experiences the first stirrings of repentance, begins a practice of prayer, and acknowledges a sense of the Church and experience of community. Once this “first faith” arises and an evaluation of the inquirer’s motives and dispositions by the R.C.I.A team, sponsors, catechists, religious and others involved in the process indicate their readiness, the inquirer may be made a Christian. The first step in this process is admission to the Order of Catechumens through the celebration of the “Rite of

Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens”. This rite is to be offered two or three times during the year,69 implying a year-round availability to move into this period based on one’s readiness.

The R.C.I.A. team must work collaboratively not only to prepare inquirers to be Christian but also to discern an inquirer’s readiness for the threshold rite whenever that “first faith” arises.

The period of the catechumenate involves four fundamental tasks of catechesis that primarily relate to conversion and relationship with God and the community: kerygma, koinonia, leiturgia, and diakonia. Kerygma, the proclamation of the Word, fosters a relationship with God through scripture. Relationship comes not only as “an acquaintance with dogmas and precepts” but also “a profound sense of the mystery of salvation in which [catechumens] desire to participate.”70 This first task of proclamation of the Word intersects with the remaining three:

66. For a chart depicting the structure of the R.C.I.A., see Appendix B, Session 3 slides on page 179. 67. R.C.I.A. 6. 68. R.C.I.A. 42. 69. R.C.I.A. 18. 70. R.C.I.A. 75.

26 koinonia, a sharing in the life and the witness of Catholic Christians; leiturgia, a regular participation in the Church’s worship through the Sunday dismissal for breaking open the Word and exposure to devotions and diakonia, an active involvement in the Church’s mission, including a connection to the service of the community. This longest period of the R.C.I.A. is a time for conversion of life and spiritual growth, in a similar manner to the faith formation displayed in catechumenates that Ambrose and Cyril of Jerusalem describe in “On the

Mysteries” and the “Catechetical Lectures,” respectively. These and other fourth-century mystagogues left the Church descriptions of the early catechumenate that demonstrate a process of formation that happens in the context of the liturgy with the ecclesial community, listening together to the proclamation of the Word, and living a life of service to those in need. These descriptions significantly influenced the development of the R.C.I.A. and brought an understanding that the catechumens learn through participation in liturgy and observation of the faithful’s behaviors. The role of the sponsor in the early church and now is critical to this progression, as they serve as role models and directors of conversion.

The celebration of the Word of God proclaimed (kerygma) is to be foremost in the catechumenal period.71 Additional rites, such as minor exorcisms and blessings, foster initial conversion. The conversion of the person that is required is one of the whole person, not primarily an intellectual formation. According to R.C.I.A. paragraph 76, “The time spent in the catechumenate should be long enough – several years if necessary – for the conversion and faith of the catechumen to become strong.”72 The decision to become an elect of the Church is made

71. R.C.I.A. 79. 72. R.C.I.A. 76.

27 by God and is recognized by the catechumen, judged by the priest, catechists and other team members, publicly affirmed first by godparents (sponsors), and the assembly, and then publicly acknowledged by the bishop.

The period of purification and enlightenment is likewise about conversion. This period begins with the “Rite of Election” that typically takes place on the First Sunday of Lent in the diocesan cathedral. It continues at the local parish as a time when, through the celebration of the scrutinies, the elect uncover what is weak and seek to heal and strengthen themselves in the face of temptation.73 During this period, they complete their initial conversion and deepen their resolve to hold fast to Christ.74 In a very real sense, the community is to become united to those seeking initiation since both groups, those seeking initial conversion and those engaged in an ongoing conversion, move closer to baptism or prepare themselves to renew their baptismal promises during the Easter Vigil. Furthermore, the Lenten season is a time for instruction, echoing the instruction found in SC regarding the two Lenten themes of baptism and penance.

Such education on the virtue of penance helps the elect see more clearly their own life of sin or their attachment to sin, and to conceive a true contrition. This is not as much a catechetical program as a time of retreat to deepen faith.

The presentations of the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer are important during this period because they symbolize the elect’s conversion of heart and represent their reliance on the faith of the Church, which would in turn allow for an encounter with the Word of God in general, and the

73. R.C.I.A. 54, First Scrutiny: “Grant that these catechumens…may turn to the Lord as they hear his word and acknowledge the sins and weaknesses that weigh them down. Protect them from vain reliance on self and defend them from the power of Satan.” 74. R.C.I.A. 141.

28 prayer of Christ specifically. If an elect is from a predominantly non-Christian country, the giving of a new Christian name takes place and signifies an interior conversion and membership into the family of God. The R.C.I.A. team needs to know how to approach an elect about a new name and offer solid instruction on its purpose with care and cultural sensitivity.

The Role of Liturgical Catechesis in R.C.I.A.

A third theological underpinning of the R.C.I.A. is the concept of liturgical catechesis.

The liturgical documents of Holy Week demonstrate this concept. The 1955 decree, Liturgicus

Hebdomadae Sanctae Ordo Instauratur (The Restoration of the Holy Week Order) has practical instruction for the correct use of the restored ordo of Holy Week. The first section emphasizes the duty of the bishops to provide instructions to the priests not only in how to celebrate the Holy

Week liturgies but also how to understand its liturgical meaning and pastoral purpose. This is so the priests can help the faithful properly understand the rituals and thus participate “both mentally and spiritually.”75 It recognizes that liturgy, and most especially the Holy Week order, has the power to transform and to teach; transformation through liturgy is liturgical catechesis.

This concept of liturgical catechesis is fundamental to the R.C.I.A., which is a process of turning toward Christ punctuated by liturgical rites that both celebrate and make present the conversion of heart that each stage of the process represents.

75. Sacred Congregation of Rites, Liturgicus Hebdomadae Sanctae Ordo Instauratur (The Restoration of the Holy Week Order) 1, in The Liturgy Documents: Foundational Documents on the Origins and Implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, Volume Three (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2013), 168.

According to the General Directory for Catechesis,76 liturgical catechesis is the manner of preparing others for the sacraments by “promoting a deeper understanding and experience of the liturgy.”77 Regarded as an “eminent kind of catechesis,”78 liturgical catechesis “explains the contents of the prayers, the meanings of the signs and gestures, educates to active participation, contemplation and silence.”79 The Church desires that the faithful fully participate in liturgical life, as “communion with Jesus leads to the celebration of his salvific presence in the sacraments.”80

Sacrosanctum Concilium, chapter III, mandates the restoration of the adult catechumenate. This restoration intends that “this time of the catechumenate, which is intended as a period of suitable instruction, may be sanctified by the celebration of sacred rites at successive intervals of time,81 noted above. The introduction sets the context for this mandate:

The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the body of Christ, and, finally, to give worship to God; because they are signs they also instruct. They not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen, and express it; that is why they are called "sacraments of faith.” They do indeed impart grace, but, in addition, the very act of celebrating them most effectively disposes the faithful to receive this grace in a fruitful manner, to worship God duly, and to practice charity. It is therefore of the highest importance that the faithful should easily understand the sacramental signs, and should frequent with great eagerness those sacraments which were instituted to nourish the Christian life.82

76. “The Catechetical Directory, for its part, carries that authority normally vested by the Holy See in instruments of orientation by approving them and confirming them. It is an official aid for the transmission of the Gospel message and for the whole of catechetical activity” (paragraph 120). 77. Congregation for the Clergy, General Directory for Catechesis [hereafter GDC] 71 (Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1997), 63. 78. John Paul II, Catechesi Tradendae (On Catechesis in Our Time)[hereafter CT] 23, in The Catechetical Documents: A Parish Resource (Chicago, IL: Liturgy Training Publications, 1996), 386. 79. GDC 71. 80. GDC 85. 81. SC 64. 82. SC 59.

In other words, the celebration of the sacraments not only imparts grace but “disposes the faithful” to their reception, leading them to that conversion of heart through liturgical catechesis.

More than intellectual instruction, this is what is at the heart of the phrase, lex orandi, lex credendi (originally ut legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi, “that the law of praying establishes the law of believing”).83 This fifth-century maxim attributed to Prosper of Aquitaine, states the belief that the Church’s teaching is articulated and manifest in the celebration of liturgy and prayer. While SC does not quote this maxim, it is certainly an underlying factor in the thoughts of the Council fathers. This too is an important part of the R.C.I.A, and is the reason for the importance of the period of mystagogy, which follows the reception of the sacraments, in order to unpack the experience of participation in the sacraments and to unfold the neophyte’s transformation actualized through prayer and belief. R.C.I.A. team members need training in methods of liturgical catechesis so that they avoid imparting abstract intellectual knowledge.

They need to lead inquirers/ catechumens/ elect/ neophytes in integrating and connecting knowledge and life experiences so that faith becomes a living faith in them.

83. According to Msgr. Kevin Irwin, this axiom predates Proper of Aquitaine, tracing back to Hippolytus, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian and Augustine. The axiom articulates that “the way the Church enacted the liturgy clearly influenced how the Church articulated and described its beliefs.” Documents from this period teach, “liturgy is not marked by textual or ritual fixity; rather, …it was capable of change, evolution and development.” This concept clearly influenced Church liturgical pronouncements prior to and resulting from Vatican II, including the restoration of the R.C.I.A. The axiom is specifically mentioned in documents issued by both Pius XI and Pius XII, including Mediator Dei. Paul VI cites this axiom in several of his addresses as critical to the effects of the liturgical reform. The axiom reflects a living theology, where liturgy is both an impetus and response to Christian living. Kevin Irwin, Context and Text: Method in Liturgical Theology, Revised Edition (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2018), 3-4, 8-9, 12, 46-7, 51-2.

The R.C.I.A. and the Liturgical Year

The fourth theological underpinning of the R.C.I.A. is the importance of the liturgical year. Foundational to the development of the R.C.I.A. is the revision and emphasis on the proper celebration of the liturgical year, during which “the Church unfolds the whole mystery of Christ, from his incarnation and birth until his ascension, the day of Pentecost, and the expectation of blessed hope and of the Lord’s return.”84 It is through participation in this liturgical cycle and the related proclamation of the Word that the catechumens experience and learn to participate in the life of Christ with the rest of the community. “Recalling thus the mysteries of redemption, the

Church opens to the faithful the riches of her Lord's powers and merits, so that these are in some way made present for all time, and the faithful are enabled to lay hold upon them and become filled with saving grace.”85 This cycle includes the honoring of Mary and devotion to the memory of the martyrs and other saints as examples of drawing near to Christ. Also critical is an awareness of the liturgical seasons and accordingly its traditional discipline, whereby “the

Church completes the formation of the faithful by means of pious practices for soul and body, by instruction, prayer, and works of penance and of mercy.”86 According to SC,

the liturgical year is to be revised so that the traditional customs and discipline of the sacred seasons shall be preserved or restored to suit the conditions of modern times; their specific character is to be retained, so that they duly nourish the piety of the faithful who celebrate the mysteries of Christian redemption, and above all the paschal mystery.87

84. SC 102. 85. SC 102. 86. SC 105. 87. SC 107.

Local communities, according to SC, make liturgical adaptations based on local needs.88

In general, however, the R.C.I.A. witnesses to the importance of the liturgical cycle, particularly in its prescription for the period of purification and enlightenment to take place during Lent and the sacraments celebrated at the Easter Vigil or during the Easter season. The R.C.I.A. benefits from attention to the liturgical cycle, which the Christian initiation process utilizes to prepare catechumens to enter into the sacred mysteries. It is therefore critical that the catechumens experience at least one full liturgical cycle in the period of the catechumenate in order to fully experience the life of Christ as revealed in the Word and liturgical prayers. The project treatise appropriately includes a discussion on the importance of the liturgical calendar in the R.C.I.A. process.

As noted above, SC calls for the renewal of the season of Lent to emphasize its twofold character: recalling or preparing for baptism and repentance.89 The emphasis on preparing for baptism is an important consideration when determining if baptized Christians should be received into the Church and confirmed at the Easter Vigil using an adaptation of the R.C.I.A. If the Lenten season and Easter Sunday are about baptism, then parishes should rethink the use of the Easter Vigil for the baptized asking for reception into the Catholic faith. Acknowledgement of the dignity of valid Christian baptism is very important. Candidates for reception into the

Catholic Church have an initial conversion to Christ through Christian baptism and, as soon as they are ready, the Church receives them and confirms them in the same ceremony, usually at

Sunday Mass. The Easter Vigil is primarily for adult baptism, those experiencing initial

88. Cf. SC 38-40, 44. 89. SC 109.

33 conversion to Christ. According to SC, Lent is a season for works of penance that are “not only inward and individual, but also outward and social”90 with the purpose of preparing for both baptism and the renewal of baptismal promises.

The R.C.I.A. team needs clarity about the distinction between a catechumen and the elect for baptism and a Christian candidate asking for reception into the Catholic Church, as this distinction affects when during the liturgical year that they are prepared and received. The distinction between the two is more than vocabulary; it is also an important consideration for their formation for baptism or reception into the Catholic Church. Preparation for those who have already been baptized in another Church or ecclesial community is individualized and dependent on the extent that they have led a Christian life within a faith community and the extent of their catechesis.91 According to the “National Statutes for the Catechumenate,” “Those baptized persons who have lived as Christians and need only instruction in the Catholic tradition and a degree of probation within the Catholic community should not be asked to undergo a full program parallel to the catechumenate,” and should ordinarily be received at the Sunday

Eucharist of the parish community at any time during the liturgical year.92

An important catechetical document, the General Catechetical Directory (1971), reworked in 1997 and renamed the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC), makes some important statements regarding the nature of the R.C.I.A. and catechesis in general. The GDC states that the object of catechesis is to promote communion with Jesus Christ, and that catechesis is intrinsically bound to every liturgical and sacramental action. However, the

90. SC 110. 91. “National Statutes for the Catechumenate” 30-31. 92. “National Statutes for the Catechumenate” 32-33.

34 document is critical of the practice of a catechetics that “testifies to a weak and fragmentary link with the liturgy: limited attention to liturgical symbols and rites, scant use of the liturgical fonts, catechetical courses with little or no connection with the liturgical year, and the marginalization of liturgical celebrations in catechetical programs.”93 These problems surrounding catechesis are also the problems surrounding the implementation of the R.C.I.A., which the GDC holds as a model of catechesis.94 The catechumenate is a model of catechesis precisely because its purpose is for conversion to Christ by slow stages of evangelization. Evangelization and catechesis need

Christian witness, dialogue and presence of charity, especially through the proclamation of the

Gospel.95 The R.C.I.A. team members are evangelizers and catechists and catalysts for conversion and must learn and practice their roles.

The Role of Evangelization and Sanctification in R.C.I.A.

A fifth theological underpinning of the R.C.I.A. is the importance of evangelization and sanctification. The “General Introduction” to the R.C.I.A. states its purpose.

In the sacraments of Christian initiation we are freed from the power of darkness and joined to Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. We receive the Spirit of filial adoption and are part of the entire people of God in the celebration of the memorial of the Lord’s death and resurrection…Thus the three sacraments of Christian initiation closely combine to bring us, the faithful of Christ, to his full stature and to enable us to carry out the mission of the entire people of God in the Church and in the world.”96

The purpose of Christian initiation is incorporation into Christ’s paschal mystery and mission.

The theological emphasis on liturgy in SC is found in other Vatican II documents. For example,

93. GDC 30. 94. GDC 59. 95. GDC 47, 50. 96. GDC 47, 50.

35 the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium (1964), emphasizes the interrelationship between sacraments and the building up of the body of Christ. The document describes the Church as a sacrament that reveals Christ to the world and brings all people to fuller unity with him.97 God calls all people, remolded as a new creation through the paschal mystery, to be part of Christ’s mystical Body. Lumen Gentium states, “All the members ought to be molded in the likeness of Him, until Christ be formed in them. For this reason we, who have been made to conform with Him, who have died with Him and risen with Him, are taken up into the mysteries of His life, until we will reign together with Him.”98 Baptism, a ritual experience of the paschal mystery, is critical to this incorporation:

The baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, in order that through all those works which are those of the Christian man they may offer spiritual sacrifices and proclaim the power of Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. Therefore all the disciples of Christ, persevering in prayer and praising God, should present themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Everywhere on earth they must bear witness to Christ and give an answer to those who seek an account of that hope of eternal life which is in them.99

Another document important to this study is Apostolicam Actuositatem, the Decree on the

Apostolate of the Laity (1965), in which the council reiterates the role of all of the laity in the apostolate of the mission of the Church. This Second Vatican Council document carries authoritative weight, below the level of a Constitution but significant nonetheless as a Decree.

While the Church has a diversity of ministries, it has one common mission of evangelization and

97. Vatican II, Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church)[hereafter LG], accessed March 6, 2019, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen- gentium_en.html. 98. LG 7. 99. LG 10.

36 sanctification. All of the activities of the laity must be “directed to the evangelization and sanctification of [all] and to the penetrating and perfecting of the temporal order through the spirit of the Gospel.”100

Another Vatican II document that influenced the restoration of the R.C.I.A. through its theological underpinnings is Dei Verbum, the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation

(1965). This document emphasizes the role of scripture in this process of evangelization and sanctification.

The church receives and offers the faithful the bread of life from both the table of God’s Word and the table of Christ’s Body. She has always maintained them (the scriptures), and continues to do so, together with sacred tradition, as the supreme rule of faith, since, as inspired by God and committed once and for all to writing, they impart the word of God Himself without change, and make the voice of the Holy Spirit resound in the words of the prophets and Apostles. … The force and power in the word of God is so great that it stands as the support and energy of the Church, the strength of faith for her sons, the food of the soul, the pure and everlasting source of spiritual life.101

The Word of God is central to the celebration of all liturgies, and as a result of the Vatican II reforms is now included in every liturgical celebration. The Word, which is Christ himself who moves hearts and will, is central to all activity of the R.C.I.A.

Sacrosanctum Concilium reinforces the notion of disposition. It states,

for well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event in their lives; they are given access to the stream of divine grace which flows from the paschal mystery of the passion, death, the resurrection of Christ, the font from which all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is hardly any proper use of material things which cannot thus be directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God.102

100. Vatican II, Apostolicam Actuositatem (the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity) 2, accessed March 6, 2019, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii-decree_19651118_ apostolicam-actuositatem_en.html. 101. Vatican II, Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation)[hereafter DV] 21, accessed March 6, 2019, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_ dei-verbum_en.html. 102. SC 61.

Before the Second Vatican Council, the disposition of the faithful for the reception of sacraments was articulated in practical terms. For example, the Baltimore Catechism stated that the right dispositions for the reception of Eucharist are threefold. First, one must know what the

Holy Eucharist is. Second, one must be in a state of grace. Third, to receive Holy Communion one must fast from food, even water, from midnight until after receiving Communion, except in special cases of sickness.103 Sacrosanctum Concilium envisions a much deeper reflection on the importance of proper disposition. To develop a proper disposition requires clarification of liturgical rites so that the faithful can better comprehend the nature of sacraments and sacramentals.104 Participants obtain the proper disposition through participation in the rite, which is important in a proper implementation of the R.C.I.A.

At the heart of the R.C.I.A. is the renewed call from the Council fathers to continue the work of evangelization, to spread the good news of the Gospel and to baptize all nations.105 Ad

Gentes (AG) is important to this study because it addresses evangelization, a key component of the work of the Council that was influential to the development of the R.C.I.A. At the Council, the Council fathers grappled with the question of defining the people of God and their relationship to the Church hierarchy. A duty to evangelize, according to AG, “is to be fulfilled by the order of bishops, under the successor of Peter and with the prayers and help of the whole

Church, is one and the same everywhere and in every condition, even though it may be carried out differently according to circumstances.”106 The purpose of missionary activity is to convert

103. Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, Baltimore Catechism #3 Question 607, accessed November 22, 2019, http://www.baltimore- catechism.com/. 104. SC 62. 105. Mt 28:19-20, NABRE. 106. AG 6.

38 all things to God,107 an activity directed not just to third world nations but to all towns and villages.108 The R.C.I.A. process actively depicts the Church as fulfilling the evangelization mission entrusted to her by Jesus.

Ad Gentes directly addresses the catechumenal process, stating that the journey of a new convert is a spiritual one of perfection in Christ. “This bringing with it a progressive change of outlook and morals, must become evident with its social consequences, and must be gradually developed during the time of the catechumenate.”109 This evangelization journey to conversion is

not only by catechists or priests, but by the entire community of the faithful, so that right from the outset the catechumens may feel that they belong to the people of God. And since the life of the Church is an apostolic one, the catechumens also should learn to cooperate wholeheartedly, by the witness of their lives and by the profession of their faith, in the spread of the Gospel and in the building up of the Church.110

This entails more for the catechumenate than just lectures and intellectual learning; it requires a participation in the very missionary life of the Church.

Conclusion: The Restoration of the Catechumenate is the R.C.I.A.

Equipped with the liturgical research of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a pathway to the restoration of the catechumenate opened. This research led to the Liturgical

Movement and the promulgation of many liturgical documents before Vatican II and as a result of the Council. A study of these liturgical documents reveals several theological underpinnings for the restoration of the R.C.I.A. This treatise chapter analyzes these underpinnings, which

107. AG 7. 108. AG 12. 109. AG 13. 110. AG 14.

39 include the call of the laity to active participation in the liturgy in the true Christian spirit, the renewed link between liturgy and conversion, the re-emphasis of the concept of liturgical catechesis, the relationship between the R.C.I.A. and the liturgical year, and the role of the assembly in evangelization and sanctification. These underpinnings become critical to the development of the treatise project.

According to the introduction to the period of the catechumenate, the rite instructs that suitable pastoral formation and guidance takes place that aims at “training them in the Christian life.” As stated earlier in the section on the theological underpinning of the relationship between liturgy and conversion, four ways guide this training of R.C.I.A. leaders who are agents and companions of conversion for others. First, “a suitable catechesis” accompanies the liturgical year and is “solidly supported by celebrations of the word” (kerygma). Second, to become familiar with the Christian way of life, the catechumens have sponsors, godparents, and a

Christian community (koinonia) who participate in their formation. Third, the Church supports the spiritual journey by means of suitable liturgical rites, which purify and strengthen the catechumens (leiturgia). Lastly, the catechumens learn how to participate in the apostolic mission of the Church to spread the Gospel and build up the Church by the witness of their lives and profession of faith (diakonia).111

The word “catechesis” as used in the rite does not refer to dogmatic theology obtained through a classroom model of imparting abstract knowledge, which is a common application of the word. Rather, the term is Greek (κατηχητικός) meaning “to make resound, as with an echo,”

111. R.C.I.A. 75.

and was originally used to describe oral instruction by a teacher to a student.112 The aim of

catechesis is to lead the catechumens “not only to an appropriate acquaintance with dogmas and

precepts but also to a profound sense of the mystery of salvation in which they desire to

participate.”113 This catechesis is rooted in the liturgical year, supported by celebrations of the

Word, and helped by means of liturgical rites prescribed by the rite. Catechesis comes from God

by means of Word and sacrament. Liturgical catechesis is a divine pedagogy for the transmission

of the deposit of faith.114 The CCC states, “Liturgical catechesis aims to initiate people into the

mystery of Christ (it is ‘mystagogy’) by proceeding from the visible to the invisible, from the

sign to the thing signified, from the ‘sacraments’ to the ‘mysteries.’” 115 Catechesis is rooted in

the Incarnation, where the visible reveals the invisible presence of God. This is the principle

behind the sacraments and all liturgical celebrations.116

The restored catechumenal rite achieved by the study group reflects a renewed focus on

journey and conversion. The group’s foundational work was to review ancient texts and interpret

the work of the ressourcement. Concerns arose from the Council’s work. One of the concerns

centered on identity and relationship: who are the people of God and how do they relate to one

another, particularly in terms of sacramental baptism? Post-Vatican II documents address these

questions of identity and relationship and their connection to conversion.

112. New World Encyclopedia, “Catechism,” accessed June 10, 2019, Newworldencyclopedia. com/entry/Catechism. 113. R.C.I.A. 75. 114. NDC 28. 115. Catechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994)[hereafter CCC] 1075. 116. CCC 1115: “Jesus' words and actions during his hidden life and public ministry were already salvific, for they anticipated the power of his Paschal mystery. They announced and prepared what he was going to give the Church when all was accomplished. The mysteries of Christ's life are the foundations of what he would henceforth dispense in the sacraments, through the ministers of his Church, for ‘what was visible in our Savior has passed over into his mysteries.’”

Conversion underlies the theological underpinnings of liturgical documents explored in this chapter. Conversion, primarily initial conversion to Christ, has always been the focus of the catechumenate, ancient and contemporary. More recently, the Church calls the faithful to ongoing conversion. Initial conversion relates to catechumens who first discover Christ, and ongoing conversion relates to the continued need of the faithful to turn back toward God.

Conversion is a continual process of falling away and returning to God through Christ’s salvific, redemptive action. Entry into the catechumenate is an initial acceptance to God’s invitation of relationship, a response acknowledging that one is open to beginning this conversion process of dying and rising and continuing to become one’s true and often new identity. Ultimately, the goal is to develop a relationship with Christ that changes one’s vision of the world so as to bring about the Kingdom of God. Hearing the Gospel proclaimed reveals a vision of the Kingdom of

God and brings one to conversion, and conversion brings one to a new identity and restores and deepens one’s relationship with God and other. Thus, conversion is the primary purpose of the

R.C.I.A. Through intentional evangelization, catechesis, and catechumenal rites, Christian initiation celebrates conversion. Because of the centrality of conversion to the R.C.I.A., conversion is the primary theme of this treatise.

Chapter 3 – The Role of Community in the R.C.I.A. Process

Introduction

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (R.C.I.A) has a series of rituals that celebrate and guide a person’s spiritual journey of conversion toward God within the context of a worshipping community. The General Introduction’s instructions supplied in the various rites of the R.C.I.A. include important theological explanations and directives for the involvement of the community, who are important to the R.C.I.A. process. The community initiates the catechumen and joins them on their journey of faith. R.C.I.A. team members, as well as the parish community, are companions and agents of conversion who guide catechumens to Christ through the celebration of the catechumenal rites and other catechetical endeavors.

This chapter explores the role of the community in the R.C.I.A. process. Both the members of the R.C.I.A. team and the parish play distinct roles in this process. The post-Vatican

II work of the Coetus XXII study group that restored the catechumenate, which is explored later in this chapter, highlighted the role for the community, which they derived from the liturgical reform movement. The instructions and prayers of the rite prescribe the role of the community.

Communal involvement is fundamental to the R.C.I.A. because conversion is a social process, a principle that this chapter further examines. This involvement is not passive but active, and includes both direct and indirect interaction between the parish community and those asking for initiation.

42 43

The Role of Community in the R.C.I.A. Process

According to the notes of the Coetus study group, the R.C.I.A. would incorporate the liturgical principles articulated in Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC).1 According to the constitution, the primary concern of the reform of the liturgy is the promotion of the “full, conscious, and active participation” of all the people in the liturgy so as to “derive the true Christian spirit.”2

This participation is to be both internal and external, a movement of the soul toward unity with

God through an increased practice of virtue and a relinquishment of vice that comes with the aid of God’s grace. The Second Vatican Council noted that, “before people can come to the liturgy they must be called to faith and to conversion,” proclaiming the message of salvation, faith and repentance to non-believers and believers alike so that all may turn their faces toward God and

“change their ways.”3

The R.C.I.A. follows the norms drawn from the hierarchic and communal nature of the liturgy. According to SC,

Liturgical services are not private functions but are celebrations of the church which is “the sacrament of unity,” namely, the holy people united and organized under their bishops. Therefore, liturgical services have to do with the whole body, the church. They make it visible and have effects on it… It must be emphasized that rites which are meant to be celebrated in common, with the faithful present and actively participating, should as far as possible be celebrated in that way rather than by an individual and quasi-privately.4

Sacrosanctum Concilium also emphasized that the liturgy is instructive with the power to transform through liturgical catechesis, which is fundamental to the R.C.I.A. As SC states:

Although the sacred liturgy is principally the worship of the divine majesty it likewise contains much instruction for the faithful. For in the liturgy God speaks to his people,

1. David Andrew Pitt, “Revising the Rite of Adult Initiation,” 52-54. 2. SC 14. 3. SC 9. 4. SC 26-7.

Christ is still proclaiming his gospel, and the people respond to God both in song and in prayer. Moreover, the prayers addressed to God by the priest who, in the person of Christ, presides over the assembly, are said in the name of the entire holy people and of all present. And the visible signs which the sacred liturgy uses to signify invisible divine things have been chosen by Christ or by the church. Thus not only when things are read “which were written for our instruction” (Romans 15:4), but also when the church prays or sings or acts, the faith of those taking part is nourished, and their minds are raised to God so that they may offer him their spiritual homage and receive his grace more abundantly.5

Catechumens are immersed in the instructive power of liturgy in multiple ways. The catechumens belong to the worshipping community after the “Rite of Acceptance into the

Catechumenate” but do not participate in the Liturgy of the Eucharist until their full initiation.

According to the R.C.I.A. paragraph 75, “Celebrations of the word of God are arranged for [the catechumens’] benefit, and at Mass they may also take part with the faithful in the liturgy of the word, thus better preparing themselves for their eventual participation in the liturgy of the eucharist.”6 The major rites of the catechumenate are celebrated in the context of Mass with the parish community, including the rite of acceptance, the scrutinies, and the Easter Vigil. They also participate with the diocesan community with the bishop at the “Rite of Election.”

R.C.I.A., the Community, and the Liturgical Year

Liturgical reforms, emphasizing the active participation and instruction of the community in the liturgy, included the reform of the liturgical year. The purpose of the revision of the liturgical year is the conversion and formation of the faithful – it is “nothing other than that through faith, hope, and charity the faithful may share more deeply in ‘the whole mystery of

5. SC 33. 6. R.C.I.A. 75.3.

Christ, unfolded through the cycle of the year.’”7 The R.C.I.A. fits into the revised liturgical calendar, utilizing the natures of the seasonal and sanctoral cycles to prepare both the catechumens and the assembly to make progress on their journeys to the Easter water of baptism.

The liturgical calendar emphasizes that Sunday is the center of the week as the commemoration of the Lord’s resurrection and our salvation.

By a tradition handed down from the apostles which took its origin from the very day of Christ's resurrection, the Church celebrates the paschal mystery every eighth day; with good reason this, then, bears the name of the Lord's day or Sunday. For on this day Christ's faithful are bound to come together into one place so that, by hearing the word of God and taking part in the eucharist, they may call to mind the passion, the resurrection and the glorification of the Lord Jesus, and may thank God who "has begotten them again, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto a living hope" (1 Pet. 1:3). Hence the Lord's day is the original feast day, and it should be proposed to the piety of the faithful and taught to them so that it may become in fact a day of joy and of freedom from work. Other celebrations, unless they be truly of greatest importance, shall not have precedence over the Sunday which is the foundation and kernel of the whole liturgical year.8

From the beginning of the catechumenate, the catechumens should be taught to “keep holy the Lord’s Day.”9 Sunday is an important time for catechumens to join the community in prayer, to listen to the liturgy of the Word, and to gather for the dismissal rite. The Presidential

Prayers (including the Collect, Prayer over the Offerings, and Prayer after Communion), other texts of the Mass proper, and the scriptures compiled in the Lectionary “help to express more clearly the mysteries of the Lord throughout the year and are the primary means of the liturgical

‘education of the faithful.’”10 The catechumens have liturgical education by participating in the

7. Jason McFarland, “An Overview of Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar,” in The Liturgy Documents: Essential Documents for Parish Worship, Volume One, fifth edition (Chicago, IL: Liturgy Training Publications, 2012), 202. 8. SC 106. 9. R.C.I.A. 83. 10. McFarland, “An Overview of Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar”, 205. “During the different periods of the liturgical year, in accord with traditional discipline, the Church

Liturgy of the Word each Sunday and experiencing the mystery of Christ unfolding throughout the liturgical calendar.

In the course of the year, moreover, [the church] unfolds the whole mystery of Christ from the incarnation and nativity to the ascension, to Pentecost and the expectation of the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord. Thus recalling the mysteries of the redemption, it opens up to the faithful the riches of the Lord’s powers and merits, so that these are in some way made present at all times; the faithful lay hold of them and are filled with saving grace.11

In addition to celebrating this “annual cycle of the mysteries of Christ,”12 the Church honors Mary, who is “inseparably linked with her Son’s saving work.”13 The Church also

“proclaims the paschal mystery in the saints who have suffered and have been glorified with

Christ”14 who serve as models to the faithful. The purpose of various seasonal and sanctoral celebrations is for the Church to “complete the formation of the faithful by means of pious practices for soul and body, by instruction, prayer, and works of penance and mercy.”15 In this way, the Church “nourishes the piety of the faithful as they celebrate the mysteries of the

Christian redemption and, above all, the paschal mystery.”16 This formation of the faithful is also part of the formation of the catechumens, who learn how to be followers of Christ by connecting with the examples of Mary and the saints and by joining the practices of their fellow community members, following their example as well. To pass on this tradition of Mary and the saints, the

completes the education of the faithful by means of both spiritual and bodily devotional practices, instruction, prayer, works of penance, and works of mercy.” Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar [hereafter UNLY] 1, The Liturgy Documents: Essential Documents for Parish Worship, Volume One, fifth edition (Chicago, IL: Liturgy Training Publications, 2012), 209. 11. SC 102. 12. SC 102. 13. SC 103. 14. SC 104. 15. SC 105. 16. SC 107.

R.C.I.A. team must be prepared to encourage and guide catechumens throughout the annual cycle of feasts of Mary and the saints.

The season of Lent provides another example of how the seasonal celebrations support the spiritual development of both the catechumens and the community of the faithful. Lent, the time of purification and enlightenment, is the final preparation of the elect for their baptism. This period before Easter originated as a time of preparation for adult baptism and was a time of prayer and fasting.17 The time period ranged from two days to weeks and then to forty days.

Before the eleventh century, public penance was the common preparation of the whole Christian community for Easter. The Benedictine liturgical scholar, Anscar Chupungco (1939-2013), suggests that as public penance disappeared, a priest distributed ashes during a penitential liturgy on the Wednesday before the First Sunday of Lent.18 The Vatican II revision of the liturgical year restored the baptismal and penitential nature of Lent: “the two elements which are especially characteristic of Lent – the recalling of baptism or the preparation for it, and Penance

– should be given greater emphasis in the liturgy. It is by means of them that the Church prepares the faithful for the celebration of Easter.”19 Catechumens need catechesis on penitential practices that are internal and individual as well as external and social. Then during this period, the elect experience the scrutinies, which intend to uncover and then heal the elect in the midst of the worshipping assembly.

17. Cf. Johnson, The Rites of Christian Initiation, 201. 18. Anscar Chupungco, ed. Handbook for Liturgical Studies, Volume V: Liturgical Time and Space. (Yonkers: Pueblo Publishing, 2000), 185. 19. SC 109.

In accordance with the liturgical year, the period of purification and enlightenment coincides with Lent and the period of post-baptismal catechesis (mystagogy) coincides with the

Easter season. The whole catechumenal process, like the liturgical year, is marked with a paschal character and thus the R.C.I.A. process must have a paschal character, too.20

The purpose of the changes to the liturgical year was to unfold, in a cohesive way, the paschal mystery experienced throughout the course of a year. The year is now one great Sunday whose mystery is unpacked through a Christocentric examination of how we participate in God’s life by identifying Christ’s life with ours. The liturgical cycle has many layers that divulge this mystery: Sundays, weekdays, seasons, solemnities, feasts and memorials. Mary and the lives of the saints further reveal our movement as a people toward this perfection. By actively participating in liturgy, not only in the ritual itself but also by properly preparing internally through ascetic practices and by reflecting on experiences of liturgy and the challenges it presents, the faithful engage in continued conversion into Christ’s image and likeness by means of the liturgy. This conversion of the faithful into Christ is the sacramental and liturgical principle that underlies the work of the Second Vatican Council, and it is the same principle that guided the revision of the R.C.I.A., which is based on experiences of community and ritual throughout the liturgical year. The R.C.I.A. team utilizes the liturgical calendar to execute the requirements of the catechumenal rites. The liturgical year is the context of the communal nature of the R.C.I.A. process.

20. R.C.I.A. 8.

The Communal Vision of the Coetus Study Group

According to the notes of Coetus XXII, the overall sense of the rite of adult initiation is fundamentally oriented toward the community. “The re-establishment of the catechumenate was not primarily for the catechumen, but, rather, for the entire community of faith that surrounded it

– ‘the catechumenal community.’ As it was ideally communal, the catechumenate is composed of liturgical rites that are celebrated with the worshiping community.”21 The revision of the

R.C.I.A. is based upon the principles of the reform of the sacred liturgy found in SC: investigation of “theological, historical, and pastoral”22 investigations, a preference for

“communal celebration,”23 and the promotion of “active participation”24 of the people.25

The study group considered sponsors important to the R.C.I.A. process. In the ancient church, the period of preparation for a catechumen was typically three years. Sponsors “followed

[the catechumen’s] work during the three years of instruction, so that they could serve as guarantors in the examination of candidates before baptism.26 In the fourth century, the words

“sponsor” and “godparent” were used interchangeably.27 The sponsor had a significant role, teaching the catechumen to recite the Creed,28 providing constant attention during the daily fasts, instructions, and prayers29 as “spiritual fathers.”30 In the present R.C.I.A., these roles are

21. Pitt, Revising the Rite of Adult Initiation, 90. 22. SC 23. 23. SC 27. 24. SC 30. 25. SC 30. 26. Pitt, Revising the Rite of Adult Initiation, 154. 27. Edward Yarnold, The Awe-Inspiring Rites of Initiation: The Origins of the R.C.I.A., second edition (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1971,1994), 13, 260. The interchangeability of the words “sponsor” and “godparent” is seen in Cyril’s Lenten Catecheses and Ambrose’s sermons to candidates. 28. Yarnold, The Awe-Inspiring Rites of Initiation, 13. 29. Yarnold, The Awe-Inspiring Rites of Initiation, 59. 30. Yarnold, The Awe-Inspiring Rites of Initiation, 158.

50 separated. The parish chooses a sponsor for an inquirer. “A sponsor accompanies any candidate seeking admission as a catechumen,” and is a witness to the candidate’s moral character during the period of the catechumenate.31 The sponsor leads the seeker to the Church. Godparents, who may also be the sponsor, “accompany the candidates on the day of election, at the celebration of the sacraments of initiation, and during the period of mystagogy.”32 Chosen by the candidate, godparents “show the candidates how to practice the gospel in personal and social life, …sustain the candidates in moments of hesitancy and anxiety, …bear witness, and …guide the candidates’ progress in the baptismal life.”33 Sponsors and godparents, as representatives of the community, serve a critical function. According to David Pitt, “Sponsors are at the center of the catechumenate, and explain its genesis, rather than the other way around. More than simply voices for those with no voice of their own, sponsors were role models and directors of conversion, finding their primary role in the formation of their godchildren, rather than in the ritual.”34

The study group did not design the period of the catechumenate, other than stating that it needs to remain flexible and of sufficient length based on the readiness of the catechumen and the number of minor rites prescribed (see quote below). The catechumenal period incorporates the catechumens into the life of the community and adds the prayers of the catechumens to the community’s prayers. David Pitt explains:

The purpose of this stage was “to not only catechize the catechumens, but to introduce them, progressively, into the life of the people of God.” This would be done through experiencing the life of the community – especially the liturgical actions. They would

31. R.C.I.A. 10. 32. R.C.I.A. 11. 33. R.C.I.A. 11. 34. Pitt, Revising the Rite of Adult Initiation, 154.

also discover the essence of Christian charity and the apostolate. Thus the catechesis will find support in the life of the people of God, and in the experience of the catechumens.

The sub-committee was clear in its intent. This period of the catechumenate was intended for conversion of life and spiritual growth, in a similar manner to the moral formation displayed in the Milanese catechumenate at the time of Ambrose. The teaching of rules and regulations was not appropriate instructional material. Instead, catechumens would learn through participation and observation. They would be introduced to hearing the Word of God and to the community’s method of prayer, though they, themselves, would not be able to “add their own vocal expressions to the community’s prayer, but would instead, pray within their hearts.”35

During the catechumenal period, any number of minor exorcisms could be celebrated

“during the liturgy of the Word after the homily, during catechetical sessions, or even privately” in special circumstances to assist in the conversion of the catechumens.36 Also, the rite includes three traditiones (liturgical blessing, anointing, and presentations) as optional rites to be celebrated when the catechumens demonstrate spiritual readiness. These were to be “seen as elements in the progression of faith, and never as constituting a catechetical program.”37 These minor rites take place in the presence of some of the faithful. The R.C.I.A. team determines when and if catechumens would benefit from their celebration.

According to the Coetus, the third stage or station of the catechumenal process is to include the “Rite of Election,” the scrutinies, and the “Rites of Immediate Preparation on Holy

Saturday.” The committee envisioned the season of Lent as a time of reflection and retreat when the community unites with the catechumens through the themes of baptism and repentance.

The third stage … indicated that the proper time for initiation was to be consistent with the practice of the early Church, thus taking place at Easter. Consequently, intensive catechumenal formation would occur during Lent through conversion and instruction. Lent was a time where all of the faithful, through acts of penitence and prayer, might be

35. Pitt, Revising the Rite of Adult Initiation, 121. 36. Pitt, Revising the Rite of Adult Initiation, 122. 37. Pitt, Revising the Rite of Adult Initiation, 122.

purified from sin, and become, themselves, as future neophytes in the heavenly liturgy, more perfect worshippers. In a very real sense, therefore, the community became united to those seeking admission as both groups, seeking conversion, moved “closer to the sense of their baptism, and prepared themselves to renew their baptismal promises during the course of the Paschal Vigil.” Furthermore, the Lenten season was envisioned as a time for instruction. Echoing the instruction found in SC that the two Lenten themes are baptism and penance, the Instructiones argued that education on the virtue of penance would help catechumens “to clearly see that which in their own life is sin or attached to sin, and to conceive of true contrition.”38

Analysis of the Coetus study group’s work discloses their intention to make the R.C.I.A. process an experience of the entire parish community. Those who experimented with the provisional text from 1965 to 1969 both applauded and criticized the results. Some criticized

“the contradiction of saying the community should be involved when the rites gave them so little to do.”39 The ritual instructions which had not yet been written would clarify the importance of the role of the community. The instructions indicate that the R.C.I.A. rituals are celebrated with the members of the parish, who pray with and for those seeking baptism. Members of the

R.C.I.A. team should be informed of the communal intentions of the Coetus study group and renew their efforts to make the R.C.I.A. process a communal process.

The Role of Community in the Rite

As noted in Chapter 2, the General Directory for Catechesis identifies the R.C.I.A. as a model for all catechesis.40 “The catechesis given in the catechumenate is closely linked with the

Christian community” because the Church surrounds the catechumens with her affection and

38. Pitt, Revising the Rite of Adult Initiation, 123-4; Instructiones 3:31. 39. Paul Turner, The Hallelujah Highway: A History of the Catechumenate (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2000), 158. 40. GDC 59, 256.

53 care as the catechumens are “already her children and joined to her.”41 As catechumens gradually make progress on their journey of faith, they do so within the community of the faithful, who join them “in reflecting on the value of the paschal mystery and by renewing their own conversion.”42 In other words, the worshipping community joins the catechumens on their journey toward baptism; catechumens and the faithful journey together. The Christian community joins the Lenten journey of ongoing conversion in preparation for the renewal of their baptismal promises at Easter. Through participation in the entire liturgical year, believers enter more deeply into the life of Christ and seek to join into this life, and so the catechumenate is to last at least one full liturgical year.

The words of the introduction to the rite reflect the role of the community that was anticipated by the Coetus study group. It also gives an overview of the rite and its purpose and structure:

The rite of Christian initiation …is designed for adults who, after hearing the mystery of Christ proclaimed, consciously and freely seek the living God and enter the way of faith and conversion as the Holy Spirit opens their hearts. By God’s help they will be strengthened spiritually during their preparation and at the proper time will receive the sacraments fruitfully.43

In addition, the introduction describes the R.C.I.A. as a “gradual process” that takes place

“within the community of the faithful.” The faithful “join the catechumens in reflecting on the value of the paschal mystery and by renewing their own conversion.” The community, by their witness and guidance, “helps the catechumens to obey the Holy Spirit more generously.”44

41. R.C.I.A. 256. 42. R.C.I.A. 4. 43. R.C.I.A. 1. 44. R.C.I.A. 4.

The faithful play an active role in accompanying seekers on their journey. According to the rite, the faithful “are to show themselves ready to give the candidates evidence of the spirit of the Christian community and to welcome them into their homes, into personal conversation, and into community gatherings.”45 As previously noted, sponsors and godparents accompany the catechumens and attest to their moral character, faith, and intention.46

The Christian community has a significant role in each of the R.C.I.A. stages. The first period of the process, the period of evangelization and precatechumenate, has no fixed duration or structure. It is a time for the community to explain the Gospel message and for inquirers to cooperate with God’s grace. According to the instructions to the rite, “opportunities should be provided for [inquirers] to meet families and other groups of Christians”47 that can further and deepen their discernment of faith. If the community observes a “first faith,” of an “initial conversion and inquirers’ intention to change their lives and to enter into a relationship with God in Christ,” then the community accepts the inquirers to participate in the rite of entrance into the order of catechumens.48 Because the sponsor and the assembly, not just the R.C.I.A. team, affirm that they will assist the candidates to “find and follow Christ,”49 the rite takes place in the context of the Sunday assembly.

The “Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens” calls for the dismissal of the catechumens after they have heard the Word of God and the homily. A member of the R.C.I.A. team leaves the Sunday assembly to lead the breaking open of the Word. After their acceptance

45. R.C.I.A. 9. 46. R.C.I.A. 10. 47. R.C.I.A. 38. 48. R.C.I.A. 42. 49. R.C.I.A. 53.

55 into the catechumenate, catechumens participate weekly in the Sunday Liturgy of the Word and the Dismissal rite which follows the homily.50 All during the catechumenate, these dismissals use the formularies from the “Rite of Acceptance,” which tell the catechumens to “go forth to reflect more deeply on the Word of God which you have shared with us today.”51 This ritual formula suggests that catechumens receive catechetical instruction that flows from the Liturgy of the

Word. Many R.C.I.A. teams include catechists who guide the dismissal reflection by breaking open the Word with the catechumens as well as potentially providing catechesis on the Word at another time during the week. Since the R.C.I.A. is in direct relationship with the liturgical year, the Sunday readings become the agenda for both the dismissal and any weekly catechesis. This method of reflection and catechesis is a lectionary-based one. Because the Word is central to the catechumenal period, catechumens experience celebrations of the Word outside of the Sunday liturgy, typically as part of the catechesis time, as prescribe in the rite.

The instruction on the period of the catechumenate states that the community provide

“suitable pastoral formation and guidance” aimed at “training them in the Christian life.”52 The community accomplishes this formation and guidance in four ways. First, “suitable catechesis” is provided that is “gradual and complete,” “accommodated to the liturgical year, and solidly supported by celebrations of the Word.”53 The word “catechesis,” as used here, is not lecture- based or workbook-based activity. It is “to acquaint the catechumens with dogmas and precepts”

50. R.C.I.A. 82-3. 51. R.C.I.A. 67. 52. R.C.I.A. 75. 53. R.C.I.A. 75.

56 but also, and primarily, bring them “to a profound sense of the mystery of salvation in which they are to participate.”54

Second, catechesis is an interactive process between someone who proclaims the Word of

God, someone who receives the message, and the Holy Spirit. "Catechesis is nothing other than the process of transmitting the Gospel, as the Christian community has received it, understands it, celebrates it, lives it and communicates it in many ways."55 John Paul II, in his Catechesi tradendae states, “the name of catechesis was given to the whole of the efforts within the Church to make disciples, to help people to believe that Jesus is the Son of God … and to educate and instruct them in this life and thus build up the Body of Christ.”56 The study group had this more ancient understanding of catechesis in mind when developing the rites. A contemporary understanding of catechesis, in general, defines it as a life-long process of initial conversion, formation, education, and ongoing conversion that transmits the Gospel message.57

Understanding catechesis is important to the treatise project because the R.C.I.A. team must comprehend this intended definition of catechesis as they plan the activities for the catechumens and the community during the catechumenal period.

Third, the period of the catechumenate is to be communal as the sponsors, godparents, and the entire Christian community guide the catechumens in becoming familiar with the Christian way of life. They do this by their example and support.58 This period includes celebrated rites to purify and strengthen the catechumens, who participate in celebrations of the Word and

54. R.C.I.A. 75.1. 55. GDC 105. 56. CT 1. 57. Cf. GDC 63. 58. R.C.I.A. 75.2.

57 participate with the faithful at Mass in the Liturgy of the Word.59 The primary (“foremost”) rite belonging to the period of the catechumenate is the celebration of the Word,60 again emphasizing the importance of liturgical catechesis and the importance of the liturgical calendar to the formation of the catechumens and to the faithful as divine revelation.

Finally, their formation is apostolic as they “learn how to work actively with others to spread the Gospel.”61 The R.C.I.A. team should include all of these elements in their planning for the catechumens under their care as they lead others toward Christ.

The R.C.I.A. instructions state clearly that, “the catechumenate is an extended period.”62

However, the rite is not clear about a timeline: “the time spent in the catechumenate should be long enough – several years if necessary – for the conversion and faith of the catechumens to become strong.”63 The local bishop may determine the duration and nature of the catechumenate, and the conference of bishops may provide specific guidelines.64 In fact, in the United States, the bishop’s conference mandates that

the period of the catechumenate … should extend for at least one year of formation, instruction, and probation. Ordinarily this period should go from at least the Easter season of one year until the next; preferably it should begin before Lent in one year and extend until Easter of the following year.65

This directive is important and often unheeded. Too often, R.C.I.A. teams lose focus on readiness, which is Spirit-led, and push catechumens to the Easter Vigil unmindful of their

59. Cf. R.C.I.A. 75.3. 60. R.C.I.A. 79. 61. R.C.I.A. 75.4. 62. R.C.I.A. 75. 63. R.C.I.A. 76. 64. R.C.I.A. 77. 65. “National Statutes for the Catechumenate” 6.

58 readiness. This is particularly problematic when the R.C.I.A. is a nine-month program based on the academic year: from September to Easter Vigil.

When catechumens are deemed ready to conclude the catechumenate period, they transition to a period of proximate preparation for the sacraments. This transition is celebrated with a liturgical rite called both “Rite of Election” and “Enrollment of Names.” The parish celebrates the “Rite of Sending Catechumens for Election by the Bishop” preferably during Mass to ensure the participation of the community. The parish then sends the catechumens with their godparents to the “Rite of Election,” which is usually held at the cathedral church. Both the rite of sending and the rite of election occur on the First Sunday of Lent. According to the instructions of the rite, “before the rite of election the bishop, priests, deacons, catechists, godparents, and the entire community, in accord with their respective responsibilities, …arrive at a judgement about the catechumens’ state of formation and progress.”66 The Church makes its

“election,” founded on the election by God, to admit catechumens with the proper disposition to the sacraments of initiation.67 Godparents and the assembly publicly affirm this election during the “Rite of Sending Catechumens for Election by the Bishop” as part of the ritual. After the election, the community “surround[s] the elect with prayer, so that the entire Church will accompany and lead them to encounter Christ.”68 The faithful “give good example to the elect and along with the elect …prepare themselves for the Easter solemnities.”69

66. R.C.I.A. 121. 67. R.C.I.A. 119. 68. R.C.I.A. 121. 69. R.C.I.A. 125.

As previously noted, the period of purification and enlightenment purposefully joins the community with those seeking baptism in a spirit of penance in preparation for Easter. The

Lenten themes of baptism and repentance found in the liturgy “renew the entire community along with those being prepared to celebrate the paschal mystery.”70 Spiritual and interior preparation intensifies to purify the minds and hearts of the elect. Other rites belonging to this period include the scrutinies, which are prayed as part of the Universal Prayers during the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent. The Gospel readings for these Sundays instruct about the mystery of sin “from which the whole world and every person longs to be delivered and thus saved.”71 According to the instruction of the rite, “the priest or deacon who is the presiding celebrant should carry out the celebration in such a way that the faithful in the assembly will also derive benefit from the scrutinies and join in the intercessions for the elect.”72 These intercessions include prayers for the whole community to “seek a change in heart, give

[themselves] to prayer, and persevere in … good works.”73

During this preparatory period of Lent, the Church entrusts the Creed and the Lord’s

Prayer to the elect. The elect recite the Creed prior to the Easter Vigil74 in order to “return” it to

70. R.C.I.A. 138. 71. R.C.I.A. 143. 72. R.C.I.A. 145. 73. R.C.I.A. 153. 74. A profession of faith by the elect prior to the Easter Vigil traces to the third century. Paul Bradshaw suggests that “this profession has more to do with the conclusion of ethical formation or apprenticeship in discipleship before moving on to specific doctrinal teaching. Hence, this profession …may signify the ‘change of ownership’ that is taking place in the overall conversion of the candidate.” Johnson, The Rites of Christian Initiation, 54.

60 the Church.75 The elect likewise pray the Lord’s Prayer prior to the Easter Vigil, when after their baptism and first celebration of the Eucharist they “join the rest of the faithful” in its recitation.76

At the Easter Vigil, the faithful join the elect in prayer as they celebrate the sacraments of initiation. On this night the Church receives its new members with great joy, adding to the numbers of the faithful followers of Christ. The period of postbaptismal catechesis or mystagogy follows the celebration of the sacraments. The activities during this period mirror the pastoral formation and guidance that the rite prescribes for the period of the catechumenate,77 leading the newly baptized to live out their grasp of the paschal mystery with the community.

This is a time for the community and the neophytes together to grow in deepening their grasp of the paschal mystery and in making it part of their lives through meditation on the Gospel, sharing in the eucharist, and doing the works of charity. To strengthen the neophytes as they begin to walk in the newness of life, the community of the faithful, their godparents, and their parish priests (pastors) should give them thoughtful and friendly help.78

This period is significant for both the neophytes and the community. Interaction between the neophytes and the faithful should naturally increase. “The neophytes… should experience a full and joyful welcome into the community and enter into closer ties with the other faithful. The faithful, in turn, should derive from it a renewal of inspiration and of outlook.”79 The newly baptized gather with the community and share the mysteries at the Sunday Masses of the Easter season. In the United States, “the program for the neophytes should extend until the anniversary of Christian initiation, with at least monthly assemblies of the neophytes for their deeper

75. R.C.I.A. 185. 76. R.C.I.A. 149. 77. See R.C.I.A. 75. 78. R.C.I.A. 244. 79. R.C.I.A. 246.

Christian formation and incorporation into the full life of the Christian community.”80 The treatise project reinforces the necessity of the post-baptismal period. No R.C.I.A. team should neglect this important period of reflection after the Easter Vigil.

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults reflects the work of the Coetus study group that produced it. The words of the introductions and rites confirm that the R.C.I.A. is a process that is experienced by the entire parish community. The community not only observes the rites but also participates in the formation of the catechumens through their experience of the rites and their interactions with the catechumens for whom they model the Christian life. The R.C.I.A. team is responsible for ensuring that this participation between the community and the catechumens takes place and is fruitful.

Conclusion

The community plays a significant role in the R.C.I.A. process. The instructions and prayers of the rite reveal that the entire parish community is to experience the R.C.I.A. process.

Throughout the rite, community members are involved in the formation of the catechumens, experiencing spiritual growth with the catechumens throughout the process. Individuals serve as catechists, godparents, sponsors, and many other roles as representatives of the faithful. The community participates in the rites with those seeking baptism, praying with them and experiencing their own conversions of heart toward God.

80. “National Statutes for the Catechumenate” 24.

The R.C.I.A. texts, which include the “General Introduction,” introductions to the rites, and the rites themselves, reveal that the R.C.I.A. is a journey of initial conversion into the paschal mystery. Mystery is an experience that is unveiled through a process that engages the

Word of God. The Trinitarian God reveals God’s self in the seasons, fasts, and celebrations of the liturgical calendar. The heart and summation of God’s revelation is the Sunday celebration.

The role of the R.C.I.A. team is to connect catechumens to the worship and the expressed lives of the parish community of the faithful. Team members must see themselves as agents or companions of conversion who not only accompany the catechumens on their journey into God but also incorporate the catechumens into the faith life of the community. Catechesis of catechumens happens by experiencing the lives of other Christians. Catechumens discern their call to Christian life and discover if they can assent to it. The community in turn assimilates the catechumens into the life of the parish. The R.C.I.A. team attends to the needs of both the community and the catechumens in its efforts to worthily plan and celebrate the rites of the catechumenal process.

Chapter 4 – Initial and Ongoing Conversion

Introduction

The objective of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (R.C.I.A.) is to assist an interested unbaptized adult to make a spiritual journey of conversion toward God within the context of a worshipping community. The culmination of this journey is baptism into the life of

Christ and his Church. The R.C.I.A. directs the catechumen toward initial conversion. The first paragraph of the rite states:

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is designed for adults who, after hearing the mystery of Christ proclaimed, consciously and freely seek the living God and enter the way of faith and conversion [emphasis added] as the Holy Spirit opens their hearts. By God’s help they will be strengthened spiritually during their preparation and at the proper time will receive the sacraments fruitfully.1

The rite is also for the worshipping community, who journey with the catechumens and renew their own baptismal promises at Easter. The community members renew their own conversion as they accompany the catechumens on the way of faith:

The initiation of catechumens is a gradual process that takes place within the community of the faithful. By joining the catechumens in reflecting on the value of the paschal mystery and by renewing their own conversion [emphasis added], the faithful provide an example that will help the catechumens to obey the Holy Spirit more generously.2

The terms “initial conversion” and “ongoing conversion” are used often to describe the changes that occur in the catechumens and the community, respectively, as a result of the

R.C.I.A. process. Conversion is the goal of the Christian life.3 The R.C.I.A. team needs to understand these terms in order to grasp more fully the goal of the R.C.I.A. process. The purpose

1. R.C.I.A. 1. 2. R.C.I.A. 4. 3. Cf. GDC 53. 63 64 of this chapter is to explore the nature of conversion so that the R.C.I.A. team and the worshipping community understand their responsibilities.

The Nature of Conversion

A common definition of conversion is “to convert” as “to change” or “to turn.”4 In the context of theology, the word refers to a person or a person’s action of changing their religious faith or beliefs.5 Conversion is turning back toward God and away from sin using one’s free will.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Jesus calls us to conversion and we respond to this call. This call and response is essential to the proclamation of the kingdom. The Gospel of

Mark reveals, “Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: ‘This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’”6 Turning toward

God is not just a human work – it is the movement of a “contrite heart, drawn and moved by grace to respond to the merciful love of God who loved us first.”7

For Christians, God’s call to conversion and the response of the faithful is a life-long process. For adults seeking baptism, this turning toward God is initial conversion that precedes baptism. However, as Mark’s gospel reveals, the whole Church is called to ongoing conversion through repentance in the context of their community. “This second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole Church who, ‘clasping sinners to her bosom, [is] at once holy

4. “Merriam-Webster Convert,” Merriam-Webster.com, last modified 2019, http://merriam- webster.com/dictionary/convert. 5. “Conversion,” Newadvent.org, last modified 2017, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04347a.htm. 6. Mark 1:14-15, NABRE. 7. CCC 1428.

65 and always in need of purification, [and] follows constantly the path of penance and renewal.’”8

According to Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC), conversion, both initial and ongoing, has two parts: turning away from sin (metanoia/repentance) and turning toward God (return/enlightenment) through charity, piety, the apostolate, and participation in the liturgy.

The sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church. Before men can come to the liturgy they must be called to faith and to conversion: "How then are they to call upon him in whom they have not yet believed? But how are they to believe him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear if no one preaches? And how are men to preach unless they be sent?" (Rom. 10:14-15). Therefore the Church announces the good tidings of salvation to those who do not believe, so that all men may know the true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, and may be converted from their ways, doing penance. To believers also the Church must ever preach faith and penance, she must prepare them for the sacraments, teach them to observe all that Christ has commanded, and invite them to all the works of charity, piety, and the apostolate. For all these works make it clear that Christ's faithful, though not of this world, are to be the light of the world and to glorify the Father before men.9

It is important that the R.C.I.A. team be able to distinguish between initial conversion and ongoing conversion in order to be agents and companions of conversion for others. An examination and comparison of these two types of conversion follows.

Initial Conversion

Initial conversion is that first calling toward baptism into Christ’s life, which includes his death and resurrection. According to author David O’Rourke, “Conversion is not a magic moment. It is a human process … with moments and characteristics we can understand. The

8. CCC 1428. 9. SC 9.

66 process may occur quickly … [or] it may occur over a long period of time.”10 Often there are incidents or experiences that spark this turning toward God.

This thinking corresponds with the social science work of Donald Gelpi, who advanced the work of Bernard Lonergan (1904-1984). Lonergan advocated the self-appropriation of theology through personal discovery. Building on the traditional definition of conversion, he argued that religious conversion need not occur in a solely religious context but through different kinds of secular conversion.11 Gelpi was especially interested in initial conversion as a social process, and found ways this process interacts with the R.C.I.A. process. He came to believe that conversion occurs in the context of larger social and institutions, particularly the Church. He wrote that typically a personal crisis precipitates conversion, giving rise to a religious quest. A key moment in this quest comes when the seeker has a personal encounter with a believer, who is an advocate of their religious tradition. This person, through words and actions, provides the impetus for the seeker to interact with the religious community of the person whom they have encountered. The seeker desires to follow in the example and personal faith witness of this other person. The seeker, called to turn from their old way of life to a new life, responds by expressing a commitment to this new community.

Gelpi particularly noted the importance of ritual in the expression of this commitment.

He describes the R.C.I.A process as follows: God calls individuals to seek him, and because of some crisis or experience in their life, the person awakens to that call. Any number of significant life experiences could trigger the conversion process that leads to baptism. What will make that

10. David O’Rourke, A Process Called Conversion (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1985), 16. 11. Donald Gelpi, The Conversion Experience: A Reflective Process for RCIA Participants and Others (New York: Paulist Press, 1998), 24-5.

67 conversion permanent is not just the support of a friend or spouse but the support of and interaction with an entire community of the faithful.

According to Gelpi, initial conversion is a personal transformation during which a convert turns from something to something. He states, “Catholic theology traditionally interprets that transformation as ontological, as real, and not merely as extrinsically imputed. Conversion results from the action of divine grace, which not only heals and sanctifies converts but perfects their natural powers of operation by creating within them the capacity to act supernaturally.”12

Gelpi describes initial conversion as having multiple dimensions. He writes, “Besides moral and ecclesial consequences, initial religious conversion entails affective, intellectual, and sociopolitical consequences as well.”13 Gelpi articulates a description of these dimensions. He describes affective conversion as “the decision to turn from an irresponsible resistance to facing one’s disordered affectivity to the responsible cultivation of a healthy, balanced, aesthetically sensitive emotional life.”14 Intellectual conversion is “the decision to turn from an irresponsible and supine acquiescence in accepted beliefs to a commitment to validating one’s personal beliefs within adequate frames of reference and in ongoing dialogue with other truth seekers.”15 He defines moral conversion as “the decision to turn from irresponsible selfishness to a commitment to measure the motives and consequences of personal choices against ethical norms and ideals that both lure the conscience to selfless choices and judge its relapses into irresponsible

12. Donald Gelpi, Committed Worship: A Sacramental Theology for Converting Christians, Volume I Adult Conversion and Initiation (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1993), 9. 13. Gelpi, Committed Worship, Volume I, 17. 14. Gelpi, Committed Worship, Volume I, 17. 15. Gelpi, Committed Worship, Volume I, 17.

68 selfishness.”16 Sociopolitical conversion is “the decision to turn from unreflective acceptance of the institutional violations of human rights to a commitment to collaborate with others in the reform of unjust social, economic, and political structures. Sociopolitical converts seek to empower the oppressed to demand and to obtain their rights from their oppressors.”17 Finally, he describes religious conversion as follows:

Religious conversion: the decision to turn from either ignorance of or opposition to God to acceptance in faith of some historical, revelatory self-communication of God and its consequences. Christian conversion exemplifies a particular normative form of religious conversion. In Christian conversion, converts turn from ignorance of and opposition to God to adult faith in the God definitively and normatively revealed in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God the Father, and in the Holy Breath whom they send into the world. Christian converts also accept the consequences of that decision.18

Gelpi advocates that these five kinds of initial conversion are not experienced in a linear fashion. Using the work of Lonergan, Gelpi claims that one usually experiences the first type of conversion as a religious conversion. God discloses himself in some way and the person experiences an encounter with God. The only response to authentic religious conversion is faith.

This type of conversion is best facilitated by experiences of mystery (liturgy, prayer, etc.), which lead the person to fall in love with God.19

Religious conversion tends to lead to moral (or personal) conversion, which alters what the person values.20 The seeker changes their lifestyle in some way in order to respond to God’s love, usually in some small way initially. When a seeker demonstrates a desire for change,

16. Gelpi, Committed Worship, Volume I, 17. 17. Gelpi, Committed Worship, Volume I, 17. 18. Gelpi, Committed Worship, Volume I, 17-18. 19. Cf. Gelpi, Committed Worship, Volume I, 24. 20. Cf. Gelpi, The Conversion Experience, 29.

69 including one’s socio-political viewpoint, the seeker is ready for significant lifestyle changes.

The inquirer must show signs of initial conversion in order to move into the R.C.I.A. phase of the catechumenate.

Gelpi adds that the last and most difficult type of conversion is intellectual conversion, which changes the person’s entire outlook and what they know. This type of conversion changes the lens through which the person perceives the world. The person makes revelation meaningful in their life by considering how to live it out in their personal reality. Catechesis has a high impact on this type of conversion.21 What the person learns both intellectually and spiritually, now has a new lens. These different experiences of conversion as noted above lead to affective conversion, which is ongoing. Joy and peace are signs of affective conversion,22 which wraps around the others, becoming part of the person’s unconscious. The person is changed and is in a new space that allows further advancement in their conversion toward God. Repentance, for example, presupposes an initial affective conversion, allowing the person to face and renounce the feelings of fear, anger, and guilt that may separate them from God and others. Affective conversion touches on every form of social bigotry, and exposes areas in need of healing.23

Conversion must be authentic self-transcendence from one lifestyle to another. These multiple dimensions of conversion identified by Gelpi indicate the complexity of this process.

The R.C.I.A. team needs to become aware of these multiple dimensions of initial conversion in order to understand better what the seekers and catechumens experience so that the team can become for them more effective agents and companions of conversion.

21. Cf. Gelpi, Committed Worship, Volume I, 198. 22. Cf. Gelpi, The Conversion Experience, 34-7, 43. 23. Cf. Gelpi, The Conversion Experience, 34-7.

Ongoing Conversion

In contrast to initial conversion, ongoing conversion is one’s daily participation in the paschal mystery, dying and rising with Christ in the everyday moments of human experience.

Because Scripture and Tradition reveal God, both of these aspects of revelation are necessary to lead us to conversion of heart. As previously stated, ongoing conversion requires both repentance and return to God. This return or ongoing conversion mirrors the catechetical process found in the R.C.I.A. instructions for the period of the catechumenate in paragraph 75: proclamation of the Word (kerygma), sharing in the life and the witness of other Catholic Christians (koinonia), regular participation in the Church’s worship (leiturgia), and active involvement in the Church’s mission (diakonia).24

A model of ongoing conversion comes from the research of James Fowler (1940-2015) who served as the director of both the Center for Research on Faith and Moral Development and the Center for Ethics at Emory University He believed that faith is a developmental process with distinct stages.25 Fowler’s stages of faith development includes six stages. According to Fowler, the first stage is Intuitive or Projective Faith. This is the faith of a child in which meaning and trust are established through intuition and imitation. “The example of parents and adults influences faith development at this stage.”26 Next is the Mythic or Literal Stage. Children ages eight to twelve years old develop faith by joining the faith of one’s family or peer groups.27 From

24. Cf. R.C.I.A. 75. 25. James Fowler, Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning (New York: HarperCollins, 1981), xiii. 26. Thomas Ivory, Conversion and Community: A Catechumenal Model for Total Parish Formation (New York: Paulist Press, 1988), 28. 27. Cf. Ivory, Conversion and Community, 28.

71 this stage emerges Conventional or Synthetic Faith, where popular convention dictates a dependent kind of faith that is based on the expectations and judgments of others, especially authoritative figures. Eventually this dependent faith gives way to a Reflexive or Individuating

Stage. In this stage, faith is self-dependent and “one takes personal responsibility for commitments, life-style, belief and attitudes.”28 After mid-life, “one is able to reclaim the old truths in a new way, personally affirm the truths in them, and draw strength from them while refusing their limitations. In this stage, one shows empathy and active concern for all people and groups and not just one’s immediate community,” becoming dependent on others without losing one’s independence.29 This is called Conjunctive faith. The final stage is Universalizing Faith, when “the self ceases to be the centering reference point and instead the ultimate becomes the center.”30 Very few people achieve this stage, which can be found in the lives of the saints.

According to Fowler, faith development is an individual task that depends on communal engagement. Communal experience of encouragement and witness are critical for this ongoing process of transformation, as the worshipping community is essential to keeping on the right path. Celebrations of the sacraments ritualize ongoing conversion and transformation. Baptism and the other sacraments of initiation (confirmation and Eucharist) provide the basis for this ongoing process.

The first stage of adult initiation, baptism, commits Christians to the lifelong process of putting on the mind of Christ. The second stage, confirmation, commits one to lifelong openness to the divine Mother’s charismatic call, whatever form that may take. One cannot, then, ritually confirm a specific charism of service and respond to it in a

28. Ivory, Conversion and Community, 28. 29. Ivory, Conversion and Community, 28. 30. Ivory, Conversion and Community, 29.

Christlike manner without implicitly renewing one’s Christian covenant of initiation; for in so acting, one does what one promised to do on becoming a Christian.31

Sacraments of healing further the process of ongoing conversion, specifically in the sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick. Healing “lies at the heart of our sacraments, which are ordinary human relationships given a sacral and saving quality. It underlies our community life and is one of its chief purposes. It is in this light that we can see the convert looking to the

Christian life and the Christian community for healing.”32

The sacraments of community (matrimony and holy orders) ritualize the undertaking of new ecclesial responsibilities and of further ongoing conversion necessary for living into these new roles.

In matrimony, Christian couples reaffirm their covenant of initiation in the context of taking on the responsibilities of founding a family and transforming it under God into a realm of saving grace. Ordinands renew their covenant of initiation by accepting incorporation into the ranks of public Church leadership … Because both marriage and orders impose responsibilities that go beyond those assumed in the rites of initiation, responsible consent to either vocation demands a measure of ongoing conversion proportionate to the new responsibilities assumed.33

All the sacraments are celebrations of the paschal mystery and provide a perspective that the entirety of life requires healing. “And this view of life is transcendent, with eternity the ultimate measure.”34 Baptism is the “beginning of a lifelong process of being healed, and the presence of the sponsoring adults … will support [them] as the wounds common to all humankind are healed”35 during the life-long journey of conversion. The R.C.I.A. provides ritual experiences in

31. Donald Gelpi, Committed Worship: A Sacramental Theology for Converting Christians, Volume II The Sacraments of Ongoing Conversion (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1993), 135. 32. O’Rourke, A Process Called Conversion, 56. 33. Gelpi, Committed Worship Volume II, 135-6. 34. O’Rourke, A Process Called Conversion, 55. 35. O’Rourke, A Process Called Conversion, 55.

73 the context of Mass, which lead the catechumens to initial conversion and the entire community to renewed ongoing conversion. The community accompanies the seekers and catechumens along their journeys toward God. The R.C.I.A. team must see their efforts as crucial to this combined journey of conversion. The treatise project assists R.C.I.A. teams to become aware of this responsibility, encouraging teams to change the way they approach the process.

Initial vs. Ongoing Conversion

The initial conversion experienced by those seeking baptism has similarities but also differences with the ongoing conversion of those who are already baptized. Inquirers who are ready to become catechumens must indicate evidence of a first faith in Christ, while the baptized already have the grace to activate this faith even though it may be lost or set aside. Both the catechumens and baptized require catechesis, which is not solely an acquaintance with dogmas and precepts but also a profound sense of the mystery of salvation. According to the General

Directory for Catechesis, the function of catechesis is to promote and mature initial conversion, and then to educate in the faith and incorporate people into the Christian community.36

Candidates who are already baptized engage in ongoing conversion as they prepare to be fully initiated into the Church. Catechesis for catechumens should be different from the catechesis of the baptized because of the difference in the level of faith development achieved. Those who have lived the faith for a time can begin at a deeper level of faith than those on an initial conversion journey.

36. GDC 61.

Similarly, the pre-catechesis provided to seekers in the process of evangelization should be different from the post-baptismal catechesis made available to the worshipping community.

The initial proclamation of the Gospel for seekers is an important part of the R.C.I.A. process.

This initial proclamation is not the same as the proclamation of the Word required in the catechumenate or for those already baptized who have been catechized and open to receiving the

Word. Catechesi Tradendae places all catechesis as a moment under the umbrella of evangelization. Initiatory catechesis is the necessary link between missionary activity (which calls to faith) and pastoral activity (which continually nourishes the Christian community).37

Such pre-catechesis is the proclamation of the good news about Jesus Christ as attested in the

Gospel (kerygma)38, which is distinct from catechesis (didache). Too much emphasis placed on catechesis while ignoring the importance of the primary or initial proclamation, weakens one’s foundation of faith.

While initiatory catechesis provides the foundation for becoming a follower of Christ, the process of continuing conversion needs more than basic catechesis. The General Directory for

Catechesis states, “In order to encourage this process, it is necessary to have a Christian community which welcomes the initiated, sustains them and forms them in the faith.”39

Continuing education in the faith takes place in the context of the Christian community. The

R.C.I.A. team needs to ensure that the newly baptized have continuing catechesis available for them at their parish. The highest form of catechesis is in the celebration of the Mass, especially when it is celebrated well. There, they communally encounter the Word and sacrament. There,

37. CT 18. 38. CT 18. 39. GDC 69.

75 the formation and strengthening of people of God takes place. From there, the presider blesses, dismisses, and sends all on mission (liturgical catechesis).40 In general, liturgical catechesis is unknown and thus overlooked in catechizing the catechumens and faithful. Liturgical catechesis is an important topic for the treatise project. Celebrating the R.C.I.A. rituals well in the context of Mass should be important to the R.C.I.A. team because of its potential to further initial and ongoing conversion.

Both catechumens and the community of the faithful share the call to repentance of sin in order to turn toward Christ. This is most evident in the celebration of the scrutinies during Lent.

While the community prays for the elect who are nearing the Easter Vigil, the community also prays for itself, as they must also turn away from sin in order to re-affirm their own baptisms at the Easter celebration. The worthy celebration of the scrutinies is an important part of both initial and ongoing conversion of the faithful because it calls all to uncover all that needs healing.

The team should consider each person’s individual journey toward God when determining what types of catechetical activities are most appropriate for the baptized and unbaptized. Because conversion is the first goal of the catechetical process, the interior disposition of the unbaptized must be purified before training in the faith can be continued.41

Often, parishes open their R.C.I.A. classes to both the unbaptized and the baptized and do not consider the differences in their interior dispositions. The R.C.I.A. team must understand the distinction between the interior dispositions of the baptized and unbaptized in order to plan their approach to the catechumenal process. This requires getting to know each person seeking

40. For a more thorough discussion of liturgical catechesis, see Chapter 2, particularly the section, “The Role of Liturgical Catechesis in R.C.I.A.” 41. R.C.I.A. 43.

76 baptism on a personal level, understanding their current knowledge and beliefs about God,

Scripture, sacraments, traditions, and community in order to best help them to discern their journey of incorporation into the Church.

In both initial and ongoing conversion, “growth and maturity require interiorization.

Change that is manifested in … emotions and typified by much external activity must become rooted in attitudes and beliefs if it is to endure.”42 For example, after his initial conversion on the road to Damascus, St. Paul “withdrew to Syria, where he lived quietly for several years” before engaging in his apostolic work.43 Another example of interiorized conversion is the life of St.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430). Augustine experienced a profound personal crisis that led him to

Christianity through the influences of his mother St. Monica and his friend St. Ambrose. The lives of the saints provide many examples of profound, life-changing conversion that can assist the R.C.I.A. team to identify signs of conversion in their own lives and the lives of others.

As the change of conversion separates a person from the familiar, there can be both euphoria and a sense of loss.44 Members of the R.C.I.A. team are agents and companions of conversion to assist others with this transitional process. A relationship with Christ is the goal of religious conversion. This goal, kept in sight, will further the conversion journey towards Christ and not some other target.

42. O’Rourke, A Process Called Conversion, 36. 43. O’Rourke, A Process Called Conversion, 36. 44. O’Rourke, A Process Called Conversion, 41.

Conclusion

By understanding the similarities and differences between initial and ongoing conversion, the R.C.I.A. team can plan catechetical activities that respect the individual spiritual journeys of those they are leading toward Christ. This includes seekers, catechumens, and the community.

Sometimes pastoral leaders ask the team to work with baptized people who seek full communion into the Catholic Church. As previously noted, the catechesis provided to the baptized and the unbaptized is different because of the effect of the grace received at baptism, and because of the difference in the level of faith development achieved by the individuals involved.

Catechumens become full members of the larger worshipping community. The wider community of believers initiates catechumens into the universal Church. The community acts as a sacrament, as it is “the sacrament of Christ's action at work … through the mission of the Holy

Spirit.”45 The faith of the entire Body of Christ supports each believer’s quest into God. This journey is communal. When one person’s faith becomes weak, the community prays for and sustains that faith until a conversion leads the person back to God. Together a community of catechumens and faithful becomes a perfect oblation to God in and through Christ.

The restored catechumenate poses a challenge for the rest of the Church “for it confronts the community of the already baptized with the need to exhibit in their own lives at least that measure of conversion that the Church demands of neophytes.”46 According to Donald Gelpi,

“[T]he success or failure of the restored catechumenate rides upon the integral conversion and charismatic transformation of the Church as a whole.”47 Gelpi also states, “[T]he Church itself

45. CCC 1118. 46. Gelpi, Committed Worship Volume II, 250. 47. Gelpi, Committed Worship Volume I, 205.

78 must experience the kind of conversion and dedicated charismatic ministry that the restored catechumenate seeks to inculcate in neophytes.”48 The R.C.I.A. team must recognize the deep interconnection between the initial conversion of catechumens and the ongoing conversion of the community. This distinction of conversions must profoundly influence the team’s view of its ministerial responsibilities. This is an important objective of the treatise project.

48. Gelpi, Committed Worship Volume I, 206.

Chapter 5 – Pastoral Implementation of the R.C.I.A.

Introduction

Part Four of the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) addresses different methods of catechetical instruction by age group. Because each phase of life has different developmental considerations and challenges, catechists must evaluate these categorizations when planning and implementing catechetical programs. The first age group considered in the GDC is the catechesis of adults because catechesis at this stage of the journey of faith indicates the integration and harmonization of all of the various stages of faith. The GDC additionally states that the Rite of

Christian Initiation of Adults (R.C.I.A.), which is “designed for adults,”1 is the model for all catechesis:

The model for all catechesis is the baptismal catechumenate when, by specific formation, an adult converted to belief is brought to explicit profession of baptismal faith during the Paschal Vigil. This catechumenal formation should inspire the other forms of catechesis in both their objectives and in their dynamism.2

The GDC makes clear that the priority of every parish and any parish catechetical program should be modeled on the R.C.I.A. However, recent surveys indicate that this is not always the case. The results of these surveys indicate the issues that face R.C.I.A. teams and provide information for consideration when developing training solutions for those responsible for the

R.C.I.A. process.

1. R.C.I.A. 1. 2. GDC 59. 79 80

Pastoral Implementation of the R.C.I.A.

In 2000, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB)3 Office for

Evangelization, in collaboration with the Offices of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs,

Education, Liturgy, and Pastoral Practices, completed a three-year survey on the implementation of the R.C.I.A. in the United States. 4 This was the first study of the rite since the bishops mandated it in 1988. Several groups participated in the survey: persons initiated into the Church through the R.C.I.A. process, including those never baptized and those previously baptized as either Catholics or in another Christian community. Those collecting information conducted telephone interviews with people who began but did not complete the R.C.I.A. process. They also gathered information from diocesan and parish leaders and bishops.5 Although the study only had a 46% response rate,6 it did provide the bishops with insight into the implementation of the R.C.I.A. process at that time.

Of those initiated through the R.C.I.A., the evaluations were positive for the most part.

Those initiated noted that they experienced community and friendship in the group with which they met and studied.7 The survey did not ask questions regarding their participation with the larger community or their experiences of the various rites. Other results of the survey include information from diocesan and parish leaders, participation in mystagogy, Mass attendance, and engagement in parish ministries. According to the diocesan and parish leaders who responded to

3. On July 1, 2001 the NCCB and the United States Catholic Conference (USCC) were combined to form the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). 4. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life, 1. 5. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life, 2-3. 6. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life, 5. 7. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life, 9.

the survey, two-thirds of R.C.I.A. participants were already baptized,8 despite the fact that the

rites are meant for those who have not been baptized. Only 54% of those initiated met with

R.C.I.A. group members after Easter for mystagogy.9 The level of Mass attendance by the newly

initiated or received into the Catholic Church and involvement in parish ministries was “much

higher” than the Catholic average;10 however, the report did not give specific statistics. Given

that the respondents took the survey within one to three years of full initiation, one would expect

that their participation in Sunday Mass and in parish life would be higher than the average

Catholic. While the national Catholic average Mass attendance was not included in the report on

the survey, most estimate it was between 25-30% during the time-period of the survey.11

In addition, the survey revealed that about 46% of all parishes have a nine-month

R.C.I.A. process from the period of precatechumenate through the period of purification and

enlightenment.12 Such a practice follows an academic calendar rather than a process of

discernment for readiness for a sacrament. About 59% of all parishes that participated in the

survey reported that they begin the precatechumenate in September,13 and initiate their

participants at the next Easter Vigil. Only 15% of these parishes have a full-year R.C.I.A. for

adults,14 implying the use of a school-year model. Therefore, the number of parishes that do not

have a full-year catechumenate may be quite large, perhaps closer to 85%. According to the

survey results published in Journey to the Fullness of Life, “Perhaps one-half of parishes have a

8. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life, 12. 9. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life, 7. 10. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life, 7. 11. Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate [hereafter CARA], “Frequently Requested Church Statistics,” last updated 2019, http://cara.georgetown.edu/frequently-requested-church-statistics/. 12. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life, 28. 13. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life, 28. 14. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life, 28.

82 functioning mystagogia [period of postbaptismal catechesis or mystagogy], and few parishes have a mystagogia that extends into the full year after the initiation rite.”15

In 2014, The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Offices of Evangelization and

Catechesis and the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions (FDLC) engaged the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) to conduct another national survey related to the

R.C.I.A. CARA sent the survey to 10,000 parish-level personnel. Although only a fraction of those surveyed responded, giving unreliable results, the survey tells an important story about the pastoral implementation of the R.C.I.A. While the survey results are not published in detail, the

FDLC furnishes the results for academic use.16

From a liturgical perspective, the rites are not always celebrated and often only some are celebrated. Fifty-three percent of the parishes celebrated the preparation rites but then did not celebrate the rites prescribed for Lent and Easter.17 More importantly, only 64% of parishes provide the celebrations of the Word as part of catechesis with catechumens.18 While the survey did not learn if parishes have the rite of dismissal during Mass of the catechumens, the survey did ascertain that two out of three parishes do not offer Mass to those in the R.C.I.A. process.19

According to R.C.I.A. paragraph 75.3, the celebration of the Word, which includes the dismissal rite from Mass, is a primary method of pastoral formation and guidance in the R.C.I.A. process.

The lack of communal liturgical experiences for catechesis causes concern. Shared communal

15. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life, 15. 16. Rita Theron on behalf of the members of the Federal Diocesan Liturgical Commission [hereafter FDLC], Voices of Hope: Responses to the CARA Survey and the Consultation on the National Statutes. An Initial Report to the Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, November 9, 2014, from the FDLC National Meeting October 1-3, 2014, received from Rita Theron for academic use on May 27, 2015. 17. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 3. 18. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 3. 19. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 3.

83 liturgical experiences catechize both the catechumens and the assembly and are essential to the

R.C.I.A.

From a catechetical perspective, the survey also raises concerns. Seventy-five percent of parishes complete formation in nine months.20 This percentage is higher than the 46% reported in the survey completed in 2000, but closer to the recalculated rate of 85% from that survey.

Indeed, few parishes implement the R.C.I.A. as a yearlong process.21 The survey results imply that, when catechesis is not lectionary-based and coordinated with the liturgical year, parish

R.C.I.A. programming becomes more strongly based on doctrine and dogma.22 As previously noted, the liturgical catechesis called for by the R.C.I.A. incorporates the entire liturgical year.

Conversion to Christ is central to the R.C.I.A. process. A process that prioritizes doctrinal, classroom-based learning rather than formation in the faith is not in accordance with the vision of the Coetus study group or of R.C.I.A. paragraph 75.23 Such formation does not focus on conversion to Christ. Also, while the new survey indicates that 79% of parishes do some sort of mystagogy after Easter, only 5% of parishes regularly meet with the newly baptized for a full year as prescribed by the National Statutes.24

A number of formation concerns surface. Twenty-two percent of neophytes return the following year to participate in the R.C.I.A. and offer catechetical instruction.25 This statistic suggests that these parishes rely on volunteers and are not using trained catechists in their

20. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 5. 21. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 5. 22. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 5. 23. See R.C.I.A. 75. 24. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 6. 25. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 6.

84 formation programs. The 2000 survey indicates that only 71% of dioceses offered training for

R.C.I.A. leaders.26 The new survey indicates that there are limited formation opportunities for parish R.C.I.A. teams. The FDLC assumes from the survey results that the previously noted issues related to proper R.C.I.A. implementation result from the poor formation of clergy and lay leaders.27

2014 Survey Result Response

Members of the FDLC and the USCCB’s Committee on Divine Worship reviewed an initial report of the results of the 2014 R.C.I.A. study in October of that year. As a result of that presentation, a brainstorming session was held to discuss the findings and to propose a way forward to close the gap between the underlying principles of the R.C.I.A. instructions and rites and their implementation in pastoral practice.28 They suggest a number of practical responses.

The first is to issue a revision of the “National Statutes for the Catechumenate.” The recommended text strengthens the requirement by the U.S. bishops that parishes extend the period of the catechumenate to at least one full year following the “Rite of Acceptance” celebration.29 The group recommends giving reasons for the importance of this duration and explaining how it interacts with the fullness of the liturgical year. In addition, the group proposes wording that stresses a lectionary-based catechesis as the guiding principle of formation.30

Additional language highlights the R.C.I.A. as formation in the Christian way of life, and that

26. United States Catholic Conference, Journey to the Fullness of Life, 28. 27. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 7. 28. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 9-24. 29. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 11. 30. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 12.

85 formation is not just information.31 Proposed changes highlight conversion as a life-long process, and the R.C.I.A. as the journey of the catechumens with the community toward God.32 Also affirmed is the yearlong post-baptismal catechesis period.33 In general, the suggested edits emphasize the Christocentric nature of the process.34

These proposed affirmations to the National Statutes advance the training of clergy and

R.C.I.A. teams. The meeting attendees suggested that all seminarians and deaconate candidates take a class on the nature of the R.C.I.A. process and the proper celebration of its rites.35 In addition, they recommend that dioceses provide new training for R.C.I.A. teams that emphasizes using content “to build faith, change lives, and foster a mature spirituality.”36 Teams should be educated on how to change their approach from that of a school year, classroom-based model to one of a spiritual formation process that is attentive to the liturgical year in accordance with

R.C.I.A. 75.1 According to Fr. Paul Turner, lectionary-based catechesis assists the R.C.I.A. team to present the paschal mystery.

The liturgical year embraces elements in addition to the lectionary: for example, the calendar, presidential prayers, the Office of Readings, and seasonal devotions … Lectionary-based catechesis is not the only way to interpret paragraph 75.1, but it does provide an excellent way to present the teachings of the Church within the rich context of the paschal mystery; furthermore, it prepares catechumens to participate meaningfully in Sunday worship throughout the liturgical year for the rest of their lives. 37

31. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 12. 32. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 13. 33. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 18. 34. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 10. 35. FDLC, Voice of Hope, 23. 36. Ronald Lewinski, “Father Lewinski Offers a Pastoral Response to the CARA Report,” Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions Newsletter, Volume 41, No. 7, November 2014, 10. 37. Paul Turner, “MyRCIA: The Meaning of Adult Initiation in Post-Vatican II America,” Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions Newsletter, Volume 41, No. 8, December 2014, 7.

In November 2019, the U.S. Bishops approved the new English translation of the Rite of

Christian Initiation of Adults, to be titled the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. The new text is part of a larger initiative to retranslate Latin ritual texts more literally into vernacular languages. Over the next year or two, the U.S. bishops will rearrange the paragraphs and sections to correspond with the current edition of the R.C.I.A. Also, they will decide on adding or revising supplementary texts for use in the United States, including optional rites for the baptized, combined rites for those already baptized, and the National Statutes. Once this work is completed and approved, it will be submitted to the Vatican for confirmation38 and recognition.39

The recommendations made by the FDLC and USCCB’s Committee on Divine Worship related to the 2014 R.C.I.A. survey are part of this ongoing project.

Conclusion

The 2000 and 2014 surveys indicate that there is much work to do to educate R.C.I.A. teams about the rites and the vision of the process proposed by the Coetus study group. Many resources are already available for diocesan and parish leaders to assist their parish R.C.I.A. teams in developing their understanding of the R.C.I.A. Existing articles and books provide suggestions on how to engage catechumens during the liturgical year using a lectionary-based

38. Diana Macalintal, November 18, 2019, “Explainer: What is Happening with the RCIA?,” Pray Tell: Worship, Wit and Wisdom Blog, https://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2019/11/18/explainer-what-is-happening- with-the-rcia/. 39. Pope Francis’ 2017 document Magnum Principium is important to the Vatican confirmation and recognition of the new English translation of the R.C.I.A. text. The canonical authority for translations of liturgical texts shifts to the national and regional conferences of bishops as opposed to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. See http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papa- francesco-motu-proprio_20170903_magnum-principium.html. Also see Paul Turner, “With Motu Proprio, Discussions on Translation to Be More Local,” Pastoral Liturgy 49:2 (March - April 2018), 10-11.

87 approach and ways to involve the parish. Notable authors include Jerry Galipeau,40 Nick

Wagner,41 Barbara Morgan,42 and Mary Birmingham.43 These authors take the lectionary and propose catechetical topics that derive from each Sunday’s Liturgy of the Word that correspond to sections of the Catechism. All R.C.I.A. teams need to understand why they need these resources and know how to use them to lead the catechumens to conversion.

As previously noted, only 71% of dioceses offer R.C.I.A. training, and in some cases the training is only for pastors or their designate and not the full team. Also, some R.C.I.A. coordinators have only been to a training once, many years ago. In 1988, when the rite was mandated, many U.S. dioceses offered training for the required implementation of the rite. In those early years of implementation, the interpretation of the term “catechesis” differed from the original understanding. The word often meant classroom lectures of doctrine and dogma as opposed to its more ancient meaning of an echoing down from God.

According to Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord and the National Certification

Standards for Lay Ecclesial Ministers, laypersons who serve the parish in a ministerial leadership role, whether they are paid or unpaid, deserve adequate formation. This preparation is

40. See Galipeau’s works, including: Apprenticed to Christ: Activities for Practicing the Catholic Way of Life (Franklin Park, IL: World Library Publications, 2007); We Send You Forth: Dismissals for the RCIA (Franklin Park, IL: World Library Publications, 2005); and You Have Put on Christ: Cultivating a Baptismal Spirituality (Franklin Park, IL: World Library Publications, 2014). 41. See Wagner’s works, including: The Heart of Faith: A Field Guide for Catechumens and Candidates (New London, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2010, 2014); and The Way of Faith: A Field Guide for the RCIA Process (New London, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2008). 42. See Morgan’s works, including: RCIA Catechist’s Manual: On the Journey Series for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (Clinton, MD: The Association for Catechumenal Ministry, 2005); and RCIA Leader’s Manual: On the Journey Series for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (Clinton, MD: The Association for Catechumenal Ministry, 2006). 43. See Birmingham’s works, including: Formed in Faith: Sessions for Inquiry, Catechumenate, and Ongoing Faith Formation (Chicago: World Library Publications, 2012); Word and Worship Workbook for Year A, B, C: For Ministry in Initiation, Preaching, Religious Education and Formation (New York: Paulist Press, 1998, 1999, 2000); and Year-Round Catechumenate (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2003).

88 to include human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation.44 Those who serve as catechetical leaders should receive training for particular specialized competencies. The

R.C.I.A., as the model of all catechesis,45 requires trained catechetical leaders. The best team understands the vision of the rite, which is rooted in the mystery of God.46 Trained catechetical leaders ensure that the team fulfills its role as a facilitator in leading the catechumens, the candidates, and the entire assembly into deeper conversion.

Trained lay ecclesial ministers work together with R.C.I.A. volunteers and their pastors who are “the primary collaborators with the bishop,” in this work of “teaching, sanctifying, and guiding the community of disciples.”47 Pastors should be knowledgeable about the R.C.I.A. process and its intended vision. The priests, too, will need training, especially after revision of the National Statutes. The FDLC report on their October 2014 meeting indicates that they intend to recommend that all seminaries have a mandatory course on the R.C.I.A. for seminarians. The vision of the catechumenate is one that is difficult to implement because it involves signs of conversion and dependence on the lectionary. Planning lectures is easier than determining how to lead someone closer to God. Pastoral direction helps pastors, along with their teams, to re-vision their current R.C.I.A. practices.

In addition to formation of the priests and R.C.I.A. team members, the parish community also receives formation regarding their role in the conversion of the inquirers and catechumens,

44. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops [hereafter USCCB], Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord: A Resource for Guiding the Development of Lay Ecclesial Ministry (Washington D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2005), 33-34. 45. GDC 256. 46. Cf. R.C.I.A. 1. 47. USCCB, Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord, 23.

89 becoming more attentive to their own conversion toward God. Ongoing conversion of the entire community is a critical part of the R.C.I.A. Bulletin inserts and homilies assist with this goal.

However, an even better solution is the planned personal interaction of the inquirers and catechumens with as many members of the community as possible. The community members understand their role in the R.C.I.A. through their liturgical experience of the R.C.I.A. rites themselves. Every member of the community should see themselves as a teacher and role model for others in everything that they do, both inside the church building and outside of it. All of the baptized are evangelizers and potential pastoral leaders. Inquirers and catechumens should participate in all aspects of the life of the parish in order to see how its members express their faith through action – they should attend a men’s and women’s group meetings, go on service projects, visit the sick, and be invited to people’s homes with parishioners. Those discerning baptism experience what it is like to live a Catholic Christian life in order to determine if they are willing to assent to living this life.

For this vision of community involvement to come to fruition, the entire parish community needs to become knowledgeable about the nature of conversion and can recognize it in themselves. In this way, they are equipped to help someone to respond to God’s call by being able to articulate what this looks like. The parish community should also be able to recognize the relationship of liturgical worship and community experience in turning toward God, which is important for their own growth as well as their potential to help others understand the importance of liturgy and community in their relationship with God.

Parishioners can fill many roles when a parish executes a year-round catechumenate. For example, a trained inquiry coordinator (a volunteer) can help the pastor and the R.C.I.A. team by

90 talking with potential inquirers. During the inquiry phase, the R.C.I.A. team selects a trained sponsor for each individual who matches the lifestyle and personality of the inquirer. This sponsor walks with the person throughout their journey, meeting with them wherever and whenever they chose. The parish needs trained sponsors to serve those asking for initiation. A year-round catechumenate requires weekly dismissals of the Word with the catechumens, who would attend Sunday Mass together. Weekly catechetical sessions and all the rites need sponsors to be present to and participating with the inquirers and catechumens. These and other activities require many trained volunteers.

Everyone on the R.C.I.A. team is a valuable member. All the team members are equal in importance. Leaders of the R.C.I.A. require a vision to plan ministry activities. The team opens to many new members as they ask more people in the community to get involved in the R.C.I.A. process as sponsors, dismissal leaders, catechists, godparents, and inquiry team members. Both the R.C.I.A. team and the entire parish community should receive formation in their role as the baptized Body of Christ, who need to see their responsibility to continually convert toward

Christ, and to make this journey with the catechumens. The treatise project provides a first step for this necessary formation.

Part II

Design and Implementation of the D.Min. Project

Chapter 6 – Principles of Design

Introduction

Because the R.C.I.A. is the model for all catechesis, the practice of this ministry is of utmost concern. The project related to this treatise aims not only to provide knowledge but also to illustrate certain catechetical methods that the R.C.I.A. teams need. Several principles of design underlie the D.Min. project.

First, as examined in Chapter 2, the project advances the principles that are foundational to the restoration of the catechumenate. Central to the restoration of the R.C.I.A. is a focus on the full, conscious, active participation in Christian life, a principle gleaned from the Liturgical

Movement and emphasized at the Second Vatican Council. The restored catechumenate utilizes an ancient definition of conversion that provides a more robust understanding of catechesis that not only presents Catholic teaching in its entirety “but also enlightens faith, directs the heart toward God, fosters participation in the liturgy, inspires apostolic activity, and nurtures a life completely in accord with the spirit of Christ.”1

A second principle of design is a theology of community. Chapter 3 explored this principle, which is critical to the restored catechumenate. While faith is a personal act of response to God, it is not an isolated act. “It is the Church that believes first, and so bears, nourishes, and sustains (personal) faith.”2 Believing is an ecclesial act. It is the Church, the Body

1. R.C.I.A. 78. 2. CCC 168. 91 92 of Christ, who teaches the faith, handing on what it has been given. The entire community, of which the R.C.I.A. team is a part, is essentially part of the R.C.I.A. process. The General

Directory for Catechesis (GDC) makes this apparent.

Catechetical pedagogy will be effective to the extent that the Christian community becomes a point of concrete reference for the faith journey of individuals. This happens when the community is proposed as a source, locus and means of catechesis. Concretely, the community becomes a visible place of faith-witness. It provides for the formation of its members. It receives them as the family of God. It constitutes itself as the living and permanent environment for growth in the faith.”3

The Church community, responding to the Great Commissioning of Christ,4 is integral to handing on the faith to others. The person asking for baptism is initiated into this community, which is Christ’s body.5 The community “joins the catechumens in reflecting on the value of the paschal mystery and by renewing their own conversion.” 6 The catechumens and the community are on a journey of conversion together, a reality that underlies the R.C.I.A. process and its rites.

Third, a theology of conversion is key to the R.C.I.A. process and is a principle of design inherent in this D.Min. project. Christian faith is, above all, conversion to Christ.7 It is a

“personal encounter with Jesus Christ” and “a making of oneself a disciple of him.”8 Such faith involves a change of life, or “metanoia,” that causes the believer to live that conversion in every aspect of their life.9 The work of Donald Gelpi, referenced in Chapter 4, explores initial conversion. According to Gelpi, conversion is a social process that takes places within a larger

3. GDC 158. 4. Cf. Mt 28:16-20, NABRE. 5. Cf. 1 Cor 12:12-16, NABRE. 6. R.C.I.A. 4. 7. Cf. AG 13 8. GDC 53. 9. GDC 55.

93 community and in the context of institutional structures.10 Conversion typically precipitates from a personal crisis that gives rise to a religious quest. The seeker encounters an advocate of a religious tradition, who encourages the seeker to interact with their religious community. The seeker’s personal encounter with someone who exemplifies the Catholic faith is critical to his or her conversion journey. In addition, Gelpi states that expressions of commitment such as rituals are important to the process of conversion. In contrast, ongoing conversion is the daily conversion of the faithful, who experience the paschal mystery of Christ in the everyday, mundane experiences of life. The R.C.I.A. team needs to understand the similarities and differences between initial and ongoing conversion in order to plan catechetical activities that respect the individual spiritual journeys of the catechumens and the community. Finally, what follows is an important principle of design necessary for the pastoral implementation of the

D.Min. project reported in this treatise: a theology of ministry that respects adult learning principles and the role of God as the divine pedagogue.

Theology of Ministry

A theology of ministry recognizes both the unity and diversity of those involved in the

R.C.I.A. process. According to Thomas O’Meara (b.1935), the model of a parish today is different from a pre-Vatican II arrangement of a pastor with assistants and religious sisters who ran the school. Today the parish has circles of ministry around the pastor.11 This shift changes the dynamic of doing ministry. O’Meara spent many years as a priest and professor at several

10. Gelpi, The Conversion Experience, 11-13. 11. Thomas O’Meara, Theology of Ministry (New York: Paulist Press, 1983, revised edition 1999), 2.

94 universities, including the Aquinas Institute in Dubuque, Iowa and the University of Notre

Dame. He wrote about the change in parish dynamics that he witnessed after the Second Vatican

Council. His observations help explain the current dynamic of parish ministries such as the

R.C.I.A. team. Immediately after the Council, there were a few new ministries run by lay ministers. A second stage followed when parishes and dioceses recognized the vast needs of the people that the pastor could no longer handle on his own.12 These needs continue to abound as the cultural environment continues to shift. For O’Meara, the concept of the Body of Christ presented by St. Paul13 is a metaphor that gives theological reason for unity, not uniformity, in the midst of diversity among the faithful. The Body is the ministry of all believers who are co- workers in the vineyard.14 The R.C.I.A. leaders constitute one important ministry among others in service to the Kingdom of God. Their service communicates the realities of the Gospel to nourish and expand the Church, which is a diverse and organic unity.15 The R.C.I.A. team is not solely responsible for the formation of the catechumens, as this responsibility lies with the entire community and God’s grace. According to O’Meara, “Ministry is for each baptized person; it is charismatically given in a universality and particularity, and it should not disturb a ministerial harmony in the community.”16 In addition, the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to help lead the catechumens to God are not limited to the members of the R.C.I.A. team, but exist among the entire community who present a diversity of examples to living the Christian life. The R.C.I.A. team represents this diversity.

12. O’Meara, Theology of Ministry, 20. 13. Cf. 1 Cor 12:12-26, NABRE. 14. O’Meara, Theology of Ministry, 66, 71. 15. O’Meara, Theology of Ministry, 74-76. 16. O’Meara, Theology of Ministry, 76.

Adult Learning Principles

The diversity of the Body of Christ has varied learning styles. Adults learn differently than children, and the R.C.I.A. team must respect the learning preferences of adults. Personal experiences lead adult learning (andragogy) and bring focus to the conversion process, which involves the person’s whole life. Adult learning expert Malcolm Knowles quotes psychologist

Carl Rogers when he advocates that adult learning include the following principles:

• Personal Involvement: The whole person, including his or her feelings and cognitive aspects, is involved in the learning event; • Self-initiation: The sense of discovery, of reaching out, of grasping and comprehending comes from within; • Pervasiveness: Learning changes behavior, attitudes, even one’s personality; • Learner Evaluation: The learner knows when learning meets their personal need and whether it illuminates the darkness of ignorance that the person is experiencing; • Meaning: Meaning to the learner is built into the whole experience.17

Knowles adds to this list the work of Sidney Jourard, who advocates that independent learning is important to adults.18 Knowles also relies on the work of Eduard Lindeman, who notes that adults are motivated to learn through their experiences and interests, and that learning is life-centered, experiential, and self-directed.19 Together, these principles place the emphasis on the learner and their life experiences and not on the educator.20 These important learning principles were critical to the implementation of the D.Min. project because they apply to any type of adult learning and working with adults.

17. Malcolm Knowles, Elwood Holton III, and Richard Swanson, The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development. 8th ed. (New York: Routledge, 1973, 2015), 15. 18. Knowles, The Adult Learner, 15. 19. Knowles, The Adult Learner, 22. 20. Knowles, The Adult Learner, 17.

The Pedagogy of God

Another related ministerial principle important to this treatise is that faith, which is the goal of the R.C.I.A. process, is a gift from God, and humans make a free response to that gift at the promptings of the Holy Spirit.21 It is the pedagogy of God, beginning in the Old Testament and perfected in Jesus Christ, that determines the practice of teaching and handing on the faith.22

God cannot be contained or controlled.

The so-called itineraries of Christian initiation are not an end in themselves, but a means to an end, and for that reason they are relative. Neither the reality of the faith, nor the action of the Holy Spirit, the interior Master, nor the free response of a person to the Lord, can be enclosed in human categories. We are only to direct and facilitate the process of faith and its consolidation in those who are being initiated.23

R.C.I.A. team members must see themselves as agents or companions of conversion, not the primary means by which a person converts toward God.

Conclusion

According to the GDC, catechists generally lack an understanding of what catechesis really is.24 This lack of understanding causes catechists to focus more on content then on conversion to Christ. Providing the R.C.I.A. team with a proper definition of catechesis is helpful, but a different type of training may prompt catechists to re-evaluate their approach. First, the team must become knowledgeable about the foundational principles of the restored

21. GDC 55. 22. Paul Watson, “Introduction,” in Pedagogy of God: Its Centrality in Catechesis and Catechist Formation, ed. Caroline Farey et al (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2011), 1. 23. Manuel del Campo Guilarte, “Divine Pedagogy in Christian Initiation,” in Pedagogy of God: Its Centrality in Catechesis and Catechist Formation, ed. Caroline Farey et al (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2011), 108. 24. GDC 30.

97 catechumenate, including a definition of catechesis, a focus on conversion in the context of the worshipping community, as well as a deep familiarity with the introductions and rites of the

R.C.I.A. Second, a theology of community informs the team that they do not lead people to

Christ alone. Seekers discover and encounter Christ in the context of community. All of the faithful are responsible for leading others to Christ, and the R.C.I.A. team assists their community to recognize this role. Third, a theology of conversion assists ministers to recognize signs of conversion. Knowledge of the differences between initial and ongoing conversion is helpful for R.C.I.A. ministers as agents and companions of conversion. Lastly, a theology of ministry acknowledges and respects the unity through diversity of the all involved in the process.

Adult learning principles are important when working with adults rather than using child- centered pedagogical techniques. Finally, the R.C.I.A. team must remember that God is the divine teacher. God alone calls people to Godself. God uses the Body of Christ to advance the divine plan. The R.C.I.A. team cooperates with this plan instead of believing that they are solely responsible for converting people to Christianity.

These principles of design were critical for developing a D.Min. project that helps

R.C.I.A. teams renew their focus on conversion to Christ. Conversion of heart toward God is primary. The nature of conversion is conveyed through divine revelation (Scripture and

Apostolic Tradition). Scripture, prayer, and ritual allow God to speak to people’s hearts.

Mystagogical reflection guides participants to reflect on their experiences of God in these moments.

The project helps participants realize that they need to involve the entire community, and that the catechumens should be active in the community before their initiation. The catechumens

98 need role models demonstrating how to live as Catholic Christians in the world. The catechumens are Christian apprentices living among the faithful.

Adult learning principles are useful, both with catechumens and in facilitating sessions with R.C.I.A. team members. Lecturing adults is less effective than enabling them to link and integrate new ideas to what they already know.25 Catechumens and team members require help to self-discover these principles of ministry that will lead them to change. Breaking open the

Word is important to this, as is the proper celebration of the rites. Activities and conversations are the primary ways this D.Min. project employed adult learning principles. See Chapter 7,

Design and Implementation of the D.Min. Project, for details on the implementation of these principles.

25. Cf. Knowles, The Adult Learner, 194.

Chapter 7 – Design and Implementation of the D.Min. Project

Design of the D.Min. Project

Purpose/Vision

The purpose of this D.Min. project was to catechize parish teams responsible for implementing the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (R.C.I.A.). A primary task of the team is to bring both catechumens and the community of faithful to conversion. The aim of the D.Min. project was to lead R.C.I.A. teams to view themselves as companions to and agents of conversion who guide the entire community to Christ. The community is an important component of the D.Min. project since the community initiates the catechumens into the

Christian community. All R.C.I.A. teams minister in the context of a community and need to join the catechumens on their journey of faith. Participating in the D.Min. project guided the representatives from four R.C.I.A. teams to evaluate their current R.C.I.A. processes through the lens of conversion.

Participants

This D.Min. project was for both new and existing R.C.I.A. team members and designed to accommodate between 15 to 20 participants. Team members for this project included everyone who assists with the process at specific parishes. The participants included twelve

R.C.I.A. catechists and sponsors, one Director of Religious Education, and two Catechetical

Leaders, but its design did not exclude different ministers who might make up the R.C.I.A. team.

One pastor assisted with the planning and execution of the D.Min. project but did not attend all of the sessions. These types of participants are typical for an R.C.I.A. team training session.

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Overall Objectives for the D.Min. Project

The D.Min. project addressed many of the disconnects between the R.C.I.A. rites and their pastoral implementation related to the theological underpinnings of the R.C.I.A.: the call of the laity to active participation in the liturgy in the true Christian spirit, the renewed link between liturgy and conversion, the re-emphasis of the concept of liturgical catechesis, the relationship between the R.C.I.A. and the liturgical year, and the role of the assembly in evangelization and sanctification. The series of four sessions planned was not a comprehensive solution that attempted to solve all contemporary issues related to the R.C.I.A.; rather, the focus was on conversion. Because the R.C.I.A.is a spiritual journey of discovery for R.C.I.A. team members, the project invited the team members to explore their own paths of continuing conversion in order to better understand their catechumens’ relationships with God. In addition, the D.Min. candidate designed the project to inspire, rather than lecture R.C.I.A. team members. She did this by drawing them to contemplate how they can best accompany catechumens on their journey toward Christ. Such an approach will likely create continuing improvement in a parish R.C.I.A. process.

Logistics

Scheduling

The four sessions comprising the project occurred on four separate days. Each session was about two hours and thirty minutes in length. These sessions took place on four consecutive days (Monday through Thursday). The best time for the D.Min. project was on a Monday through Thursday in the evenings (6:00pm – 8:30pm) in order to accommodate work schedules.

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Environment

The sessions took place in a parish meeting room at a Catholic church in Brooklyn, Ohio.

The participants sat around a large conference table, which facilitated group discussion. The parish staff helped the D.Min. candidate set up the room. The D.Min. candidate provided hospitality (snacks and drinks). During the second session, the group met in the church for a

“Rite of Welcoming” enactment. Afterwards, the group returned to the meeting room for a mystagogical reflection on the experience.

Role of Facilitator

The D.Min. candidate served as the facilitator for the group discussion. She presented information and facilitated planned group discussions. See Appendix A for the Detailed Session

Plans for information on the presentations, group discussions, prayers, and other activities included in each session.

Implementation of the D.Min. Project

Participants

Individuals from the Cleveland area involved in the R.C.I.A. received an invitation to participate in the project. Presence at all four sessions was essential for the project to measure success, and participants knew in advance that this was the case. The material built upon the content of the preceding session(s) so attendance all four days was important.

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Physical Location

The D.Min. candidate worked with the pastor and the Director of Religious Education to ensure that the space met the requirements (one large table, sixteen chairs, projector and screen, and a flip chart) and that the “Rite of Acceptance” enactment was planned appropriately. The meeting room had a large conference table that enabled group discussions, and a screen with projector to display the PowerPoint slides used for each session. The D.Min. candidate used a flipchart with markers to record group discussions.

Goals and Outcomes

In developing the D.Min. project, the D.Min. candidate established goals and outcomes for each session. The desired outcome of Session 1, “The Nature of the Church,” is that the

R.C.I.A. team better understands the nature of conversion as it relates to the Church. The team demonstrates success of achieving this outcome when they recognize conversion in their own lives, distinguish between initial and ongoing conversion, and identify the role of conversion in the Catholic tradition, including the role of conversion in evangelization and in the lives of the saints.

During the second session, “The R.C.I.A. Liturgical Rites and Conversion,” the R.C.I.A. team members enact the “Rite of Acceptance” and use mystagogical techniques to reflect on their experience. The desired outcome of this session is that the R.C.I.A. team recognizes the emphasis on both personal and communal conversion in the liturgical rites of the R.C.I.A. process.

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The desired outcome of Session 3, “Individual and Communal Conversion and the

R.C.I.A.,” is that the R.C.I.A. team members identify the importance of conversion within the

R.C.I.A. process. The team demonstrates their mastery of this outcome when they successfully name the signs of conversion that are provided in the rite that are necessary for passage to the next phase, and when they recognize the signs of initial and ongoing conversion and the desire for such change as evidenced in the lives of a catechumen and members of the community during the R.C.I.A. process. The team further demonstrates that they achieve the desired outcome when they recognize how various aspects of the R.C.I.A. process assist catechumens and community members along their journey into relationship with God and others, and when they accurately define “catechesis” and identify ways in which catechesis occurs in the R.C.I.A. process of conversion.

The fourth session, titled, “Pastoral Leadership and the R.C.I.A.,” enables the R.C.I.A. team to identify their roles in assisting both catechumens and community members in the conversion process. A key measure indicating that the team meets this desired outcome is their ability to identify themselves as agents and companions of change for both catechumens and the community, and to articulate what that role means in practical terms. Other measures of success include the ability of the team members to engage in robust discussions about their roles as pastoral leaders in the parish as R.C.I.A. team members, the need for team formation and the nature of such formation (including both spiritual and informative aspects), and the necessity of continual team evaluation of the parish R.C.I.A. process in light of the overall goal of conversion to Christ for both catechumens and the community.

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Questionnaires

A pre- and post-questionnaire was used to measure the change of knowledge and understanding of each participant in terms of specific session goals and related outcomes. The questionnaires were used to indicate whether or not the project was a success. Before and after surveys are effective tools to evaluate the outcome of the treatise project. The questionnaires include open-ended written feedback in order to measure process outcomes.1

The D. Min. candidate informed the participants about the Pre-Session Questionnaire, which was completed on paper at the beginning of the project. The D.Min. candidate assured the participants that their answers would be kept anonymous. The purpose of the Pre-Session

Questionnaire was to gather data about the role, background, and R.C.I.A. experience of the participants, to inquire about the participants’ pre-existing knowledge of the project goals, and to determine the current state of their R.C.I.A. team via open-ended reflection questions. The objective was to gain a baseline assessment of their understanding of certain R.C.I.A. concepts that are important to this D.Min. project, including conversion, catechesis, and the role of the community. The Pre-Session Questionnaire is in Appendix B, and the complete results are in

Appendix C.

Participants completed a Post-Session Questionnaire on paper after the conclusion of the final session to assess changes in knowledge that took place as a result of participation in the

1. For more information on the effectiveness of surveys in evaluating research outcomes, see Evaluation Basics: A Practitioner’s Manual by Arlene Fink and Jacqueline Kosecoff (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1982) and Asking Questions by Seymour Sudman and Norman Bradburn (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishing, 1982).

105 project and to evaluate the D.Min. project as a whole in terms of the planned goals. The Post-

Session Questionnaire is in Appendix B, and the complete results are in Appendix C.

Structure, Materials, and Topics of the D.Min. Project

The D.Min. project structure allowed participants to learn information, and reflect upon and discuss the meaning of conversion and their role in the conversion process of the inquirers and catechumens who would discern membership in the Church. The D.Min. project also guided the participants to recognize the role of the community in the conversion process. Each session included about 15 minutes for prayer, 35 – 55 minutes of input on specific topics, and 35-55 minutes of discussion or activity. The distribution of time used in the sessions honors adult learning principles as discussed in Chapter 6 because a significant amount of time is spent discussing information presented or engaging in exercises that allow the participants to self- discover the materials presented. The experience of prayer before and after each session implements the concept of liturgical catechesis (see Chapter 2 for details).

The D.Min. candidate prepared binders with materials for each participant not only to assist them during the sessions, but also to serve as an aide for the team to continue the discussion after the conclusion of the sessions. Included in the binders were the materials for the entire project, including copies of the slides, questionnaires, and all handouts. Since the participants did not have copies of The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: Study Edition, the

D.Min. candidate gifted the participants with these books.

The opening prayers were intentionally lengthy, setting an example for the use of

Scripture and reflection by the teams implementing the R.C.I.A. The prayers helped to introduce

106 the participants to the discussion topics for the evening. The participants understood that they were cooperating with God, who is the one who leads hearts to conversion. The D.Min. candidate stressed that R.C.I.A. team members do not accomplish this work alone by their own efforts and must depend upon God’s grace at all times. To emphasize the importance of the liturgical rites, the second session included an enactment of the “Rite of Acceptance,” and a mystagogical reflection on the experience.

Some short lecturing on specific topics took place at each session. The topic of the first session was “The Nature of Conversion,” and included material defining catechesis, initial conversion, and ongoing conversion. The second session, “The R.C.I.A. Liturgical Rites and

Conversion,” focused on the “Rite of Acceptance” and included an enactment, and mystagogical reflection on the experience. The third session, “Individual and Communal Conversion and the

R.C.I.A.,” presented ways of recognizing signs of conversion in others, how the rites facilitate conversion, the definitions of catechesis and liturgical catechesis, and catechesis in the R.C.I.A. process. The fourth session, “Pastoral Leadership and the R.C.I.A.,” focused of the roles of the

R.C.I.A. team and the community in the R.C.I.A. process.

Overview of D.Min. Project Sessions

The Detailed Session Plans are in Appendix A. As previously noted, common elements of each session of the project included a gathering with refreshments, welcome, and opening and closing prayer, input on a topic, and time for discussion and activities. Each session except the first began with a summary of the previous session. Each session ended with a recap of that day’s session and a preview of the next session, except for the last session.

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At the beginning of the first session, the D.Min. candidate introduced herself and the project and then invited the participants to introduce each other. The participants were instructed to open the binder to the front cover to locate the Pre-Session Questionnaire. The D.Min. candidate stated that all answers would be kept anonymous, instructing the participants to put their completed questionnaires in a large envelope and to tell her when everyone was finished and the questionnaires were all placed in the envelope. She then left the room as the participants completed the Pre-Session Questionnaire. When she returned, the D.Min. candidate asked if the participants brought their Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults books, and none of them had because they did not have a copy.

The topic of the first session was the nature of conversion. The participants were asked about their definitions of conversion and a facilitated discussion ensued. Some history, detailed in Part I, and a definition from the Catechism of the Catholic Church provided information for discussion. Next, the participants learned the difference between initial conversion and ongoing conversion. The works of Fr. Bernard Lonergan, S.J. and Fr. Donald Gelpi, S.J., detailed in

Chapter 4, provided further insights into the conversion process and were an impetus for discussion. The session continued with story-telling about the conversions of St. Paul and St.

Augustine. St. Paul’s life illustrated that his conversion was a process and not a one-time event.

In his letter to the Galatians, he describes how he withdrew to Arabia and Damascus for three years to reflect on his experience of being called by God. Paul was then prepared to change his life and spend the rest of his life proclaiming Christ to the world. The life of St. Augustine of

Hippo was also discussed as a story of lifelong conversion. Augustine, influenced by the lives of his friend Victorinus and his mother Monica, slowly turned from a life of sin and unbelief to one

108 of repentance and conversion. His story is one of both initial and ongoing conversion. The participants reviewed a handout of Augustine’s life, reflecting upon and discussing where they saw the elements of conversion in the provided timeline of St. Augustine’s life. Participants then drew their own timeline of major events in their lives, and reflected upon where there were moments of conversion in their experiences based upon the definitions and examples provided.

Personal sharing with a table partner ensued. Finally, a brief presentation connected the role of the R.C.I.A. team with the role of conversion journey partner for both the catechumens and the community, using the story of the prodigal son and his brother from Luke Chapter 15.

The topic of the second session was the R.C.I.A. liturgical rites and conversion. The session consisted of an enactment of the “Rite of Acceptance” followed by a mystagogical reflection on the experience. Participants gathered with the D.Min. candidate to select roles for an enactment of the rite, which included two inquirers, two sponsors, a Director of Religious

Education, a reader, and members of the assembly. The parish pastor filled the role of the priest.

The D.Min. candidate met with the pastor in advance of the session to prepare for the enactment, ensuring that the rite was executed in accordance with its instructions. The rite took place in the church. The ritual began outside the church doors, where the inquirers were questioned before they entered the church. The sponsors performed the optional “Signing of the Others Senses” on the inquirers (new catechumens). The enactment concluded after the Liturgy of the Word, when the new catechumens were dismissed. A break followed for the participants to return to the parish meeting room. A Mystagogical Reflection handout assisted the D.Min. candidate to lead the participants in a mystagogical reflection of their experience of the ritual enactment – see

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Appendix B, Session 2 materials. The participants first completed the handout before engaging in a facilitated group discussion. The results are located in Appendix D.

The third session was about individual and communal conversion in relation to the

R.C.I.A. For each phase of the R.C.I.A. process (precatechumenate, catechumenate, purification and enlightenment, and mystagogy), the D.Min. candidate presented signs of conversion that indicate readiness to progress to the next phase. Discussion of these signs ensued. The excerpts pertaining to conversion found in the R.C.I.A. instructions were presented. Further discussion took place on how to facilitate and bring catechumens to conversion. Discussion arose regarding the revised R.C.I.A. rite in terms of Vatican II Constitutions, including Sacrosanctum Concilium,

Ad Gentes, and Lumen Gentium.

The subject of the fourth and final session was the role of the R.C.I.A. team in the conversion process. Since the R.C.I.A., as the model for catechesis, is under the umbrella of evangelization and pastoral leadership, the D.Min candidate planned a discussion around the idea that everyone involved in the R.C.I.A. process is an evangelizer and agent of and companion to conversion. Identifying the various roles for all members of the Christian community who are part of an R.C.I.A. team brought the participants to engage in a facilitated discussion regarding their own roles and how they can get more people involved in the R.C.I.A. process. The participants discussed the following question: “What have you learned that others should know about accompanying other people on their journey of conversion?” A discussion followed about continually challenging the way we do things, especially in the light of Christ’s mission of

110 evangelization and conversion. The D.Min. candidate presented R.C.I.A. 9, which calls for the entire community to help the candidates and catechumens throughout the process of initiation.

After the closing prayer, the participants were instructed to locate the Post-Session

Questionnaire in their binders. The questionnaire included questions that mirror the Pre-Session

Questionnaire, excluding the questions about participants’ backgrounds and R.C.I.A. experience.

The D.Min. candidate reiterated that all answers would be kept anonymous, instructing the participants to put their completed questionnaires in a large envelope and to tell her when everyone was finished and the questionnaires were all placed in the envelope. She then left the room as the participants completed the Post-Session Questionnaire. When she returned, the

D.Min. candidate thanked everyone for their participation.

Means of Assessment and Evaluation

The assessment of the project took place by means of pre- and post-questionnaire. The

Pre-Session Questionnaire contained the same questions as the Post-Session Questionnaire, in order to determine the learning and growth that took place as a result of the sessions. There was one exception: The Pre-Session Questionnaire included three questions asking about the participants’ R.C.I.A. team involvement and training prior to the sessions. Fourteen questions used a Likert scale (1-5) that inquired about the participants’ knowledge related to the project learning objects before the sessions. Two open-ended questions provided the participants an opportunity to reflect on what they feel their R.C.I.A. team does well, and in what ways the team could or should improve.

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At the end of the four sessions, the participants once again answered the same open- ended questions that appear on the Pre-Session Questionnaire, reflecting upon their current parish R.C.I.A. program, recognizing what the R.C.I.A. team does very well, and what ways the

R.C.I.A. team could or should improve. At the end of the final session, the R.C.I.A. team members thought about and discussed what they can do better to assist the inquirers and catechumens to convert their hearts toward Christ, which influenced a shift from their pre- session responses.

Part III

Evaluation of the D.Min. Project

Chapter 8 – Evaluation of the D.Min. Project

Effectiveness of the D.Min. Project

Overall, the participants responded positively to the D.Min. project. The responses of the participants for the numerically scored Pre- and Post-Session Questionnaire questions indicate a

26.6% improvement in understanding the R.C.I.A from before the session to after the session.

The first accomplishment of the D.Min. project was to provide each participant with a copy of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults – Study Edition. Each person involved in the

R.C.I.A. process should have a copy of the rite so that they can study it and better implement it.

Before the sessions began, all but two out of fifteen participants felt that they could describe “conversion.” Six responded that they Strongly Agree and seven replied that they

Agree. At the conclusion of the sessions, all of the participants responded that they could describe conversion, with eleven participants indicating that they Strongly Agree. This is an important outcome of the sessions, as the concept of conversion is essential to the R.C.I.A and central to the first session’s goals and objectives.

The participants responded that they could recognize moments of conversion toward God in their own lives. Before the sessions, all participants agreed that they could recognize conversion in their lives (six Strongly Agree and nine Agree). At the end of the sessions, eleven participants Strongly Agreed and four Agreed. This is another important successful outcome of the sessions, because the participants need to practically recognize the moments and signs of conversion in their own lives in order to recognize them in others. Another important measure of

112 113 the D.Min. project was to determine if the participants can give examples of the role of conversion in the Catholic tradition. One way the D.Min. project addressed this was to present conversion in the lives of the saints. Before the D.Min. project, four participants indicated that they could not provide such examples. After the D.Min. project, all the participants indicated that they could provide examples, with ten out of fifteen answering Strongly Agree to the question.

This is another important indicator of success for the D.Min. project, as team members need to be able to identify with and share these stories of conversion with inquirers and catechumens.

Interestingly, before the D.Min. project, only seven of the participants indicated that they believed that their parish R.C.I.A. does a good job in considering the spiritual progress of each person to be baptized. Seven of the participants indicated that they did not know. After the

D.Min. project, eleven participants indicated they think their R.C.I.A. program does a good job in this regard. Four still indicated that they were not sure. When asked what the parish R.C.I.A. team does well, the participants were generally positive in their responses, indicating the dedication and caring that the team members provide. When asked in an open-ended question how the team could or should improve, the responses were much more robust after the D.Min. project than before. The responses after the sessions reflected the need for more individual interaction with the catechumens and for finding more opportunities for the parish community to be involved. See Appendix C for the participants’ responses. This result indicates a successful outcome to the sessions, as the recognition of the need for more personal interaction with the catechumens and more involvement of the community in the process are specific goals of the sessions. The team members left the sessions with many ideas to discuss and implement before

114 the acceptance of more inquirers into their parish programs, which was the desired outcome of the D.Min. project.

When asked if they believed whether the experience of the R.C.I.A. rites (such as the

“Rite of Acceptance” and the “Rite of Election”) is important to the spiritual progress of each person to be baptized, the majority of the participants (fourteen of fifteen) noted that they Agree that this experience is important. This response greatly improved after the sessions. After the

D.Min. project, all of the participants agreed to this statement, with fourteen of fifteen stating that they Strongly Agree. This is another important outcome because the celebration of the rites is a general issue in the United States. Liturgical catechesis is a critical principle as it is a primary means by which the Second Vatican Council fathers envision that conversion of heart takes place. Liturgical catechesis is an important part of the rite of Christian initiation, and is the reason for the importance of the period of mystagogy following liturgical experience.

Mystagogical reflection, which was facilitated after the “Rite of Acceptance” enactment during the second session, helped the participants unfold how they and others are transformed through participation in liturgical celebrations.

The participants indicated that they improved their ability to identify signs of conversion that inquirers and catechumens should demonstrate before the “Rite of Acceptance” and the

“Rite of Election,” respectively. Before the D.Min. project, almost half (seven out of fifteen) of the participants responded that they could not identify these signs of readiness. After the D.Min. project, this number decreased to two participants who could not identify these signs. When asked if the participants could recognize signs of conversion in the parish community, the participants responded with similar results. Before the sessions, two participants indicated that

115 they Did Not Know if they could identify signs of conversion in the parish community. After the sessions, the number of participants who Strongly Agreed that they could recognize these signs increased from two to four, and the number of participants who Did Not Know reduced to zero.

However, after the sessions, there was one participant who responded that they could not identify signs of conversion in the community. It is important that the participants know the indicators and be able to identify these signs in the people with whom they are working. While there was significant improvement in this skill of the participants, more work needs to be done to ensure that everyone has these skills. Perhaps in future implementations the participants can be asked to answer these questions during the session, providing the facilitator the opportunity to repeat the information and discuss it in more detail until everyone has acquired the skill.

There was significant improvement in the ability of the participants to identify specific aspects of the R.C.I.A. process that assist the catechumens in growing in their relationship with

God. Eight of the participants either Disagreed or Did Not Know if they could identify such aspects of the R.C.I.A. before the sessions. After the D.Min. project, all of the participants indicated that they could make specific connections between the R.C.I.A. process and relationship with God. Similar results ensued when asked if the participants could indicate specific aspects of the R.C.I.A. process that assist the parish community in growing in their relationship with God. The pre-session results indicating an inability to connect specific aspects of the R.C.I.A. process with a growing a relationship with God were surprising as relationship with God is basic to the purpose of the R.C.I.A. process.

Another important outcome of the D.Min. project was that participants could define

“catechesis” in relationship to the R.C.I.A. On a scale of 1 (I Don’t Know) to 5 (Strongly Agree),

116 the average response improved from 3.5 before the D.Min. project to 4.53 after the D.Min. project. All of the participants indicated that they could define catechesis after the D.Min. project. This is important, because the D.Min. project materials include a definition of catechesis that is different from the experience of most team members. The group discussions corroborate this finding.

As a result of the D.Min. project, there was improvement in the feelings of responsibility of the participants for the spiritual progress of the catechumens and the entire parish community.

As baptized members of the Body of Christ, all of the participants admitted to this responsibility toward the catechumens, and all but one claimed responsibility for the entire parish community after the D.Min. project. The average response for feeling responsibility for assisting the catechumens in growing in their relationship with God improved from 4.14 before the D.Min. project to 4.8 after the D.Min. project. The average response improved from 4.21 to 4.73 for feeling responsibility for assisting the parish community in growing in their relationship with

God. The participants also recognized that those seeking baptism need to interact in a deep and meaningful way with the parish community, indicated by an increase from a 3.64 average response before the D.Min. project to an average response of 4.73 after the session.

Chapter 9 – General Conclusions of the D.Min. Project

General Conclusions of the D.Min. Project

Based upon the evaluation data, the D.Min. project effectively met the established goals planned before the sessions. The project successfully addressed many of the disconnects between the R.C.I.A. historical vision and its current pastoral implementation. The Pre-Session and Post-

Session Questionnaire results indicate noteworthy improvement in key indicators of success for the D.Min. project. The participants not only admitted to knowing factual materials, such as the definition of conversion, indicators of conversion, and the importance of the parish community in the R.C.I.A. process, but they also, with few exceptions, indicated that they could apply these ideas in a practical way. There were still two participants who indicated that they could not identify signs of conversion in the inquirers and catechumens indicating readiness for the next steps in the R.C.I.A. process, and one participant who indicated they could not identify signs of conversion in the parish community. The D.Min. project enabled the participants to continue the conversation by discussing their parish’s R.C.I.A. process and how it can be improved in light of their renewed focus on conversion and community.

This D.Min. project offered a pastoral approach, focusing the participants in a positive manner on the key principles of the R.C.I.A. and modeling appropriate adult catechesis. The participants self-discover how their R.C.I.A. process can be improved to better meet the R.C.I.A. principles and learn to engage in discussion using shared terminology. The D.Min. project used the R.C.I.A. text, which R.C.I.A. teams need to study. The D.Min. project does not require an expert to facilitate the sessions. The materials can be used by catechetical leaders at both the diocesan and parish levels with a minimum amount of preparation. Lecture is minimal, and the

117 118 majority of time is spent presenting concepts that are included on the slides and handouts and using prayer, Scripture, liturgical ritual, mystagogical reflection, and group discussion. See

Appendix B for the session materials.

The D.Min. project sessions appropriately focus the attendees on the fundamental initiatives inherent in the revision of the R.C.I.A. that resulted from the Second Vatican Council.

The primary concern of the reform of the liturgy, and of the R.C.I.A., is to promote full, conscious, and active participation in the liturgy in order to attain the true Christian spirit. Such an increase in the true Christian spirit requires conversion of heart toward God, necessitating an increase in virtue and a reduction in vice on behalf of the believer through God’s grace. Penance and repentance are therefore essential to both the celebration and renewal of baptism by the catechumens and the community, respectively.1 In order to bring this idea into focus, the sacrament of reconciliation can be offered as part of R.C.I.A. team training, which would model this necessity of repentance. Penance is also important for candidates seeking full initiation into the Church.

The renewed liturgical year has the same focus on conversion of heart toward God and the participation of the community as does the R.C.I.A. The R.C.I.A. fits into the revised calendar by design. Sunday is the center of the week as the commemoration of the Lord’s resurrection and our salvation. Jesus Christ is our savior and exemplar for living out our covenantal relationship with God, so the Word of God as divine revelation was an essential consideration to the changes made in the lectionary. Mary and the saints also serve as models to

1. For a discussion on the importance of penance in the R.C.I.A., refer to the theological underpinnings of liturgical catechesis and the liturgical year in Chapter 2.

119 the faithful, and their lives are emphasized in the liturgical year calendar. It is important to learn about their lives and to be inspired to strive for similar virtues in our own lives. Members of the community of the faithful serve as role models for one another and for the catechumens when they actively participate in these elements of the liturgical year. All of these elements of the liturgical year, crucial for the R.C.I.A. process, were part of the presentations and facilitated discussions that took place during the D.Min. project sessions. These elements can be further reinforced with a team experience of liturgy.

The purpose of the period of the catechumenate is not only to catechize but also to introduce catechumens into the life of the people of God progressively. This comes through experiencing the life of the community, especially its liturgical actions. Starting with the period of evangelization and precatechumenate, seekers should be given the opportunity to interact with families and other groups of Christians. Catechumens learn through participation and observation, and they should become apprentices to the faith community. The participants in the sessions came to recognize this need, which was a change from the manner in which they previously conducted the R.C.I.A. process.

These D.Min. project sessions are just the first step in continuously improving a parish’s

R.C.I.A. program. Ideally, attendance in this event assists team members to see themselves as agents and companions of conversion, and inspires them to incorporate more interactions between the inquirers, catechumens, and the parish community. As a result of the sessions, the attendees acquired skills that they can use in their parish programs. These skills are listed above under “Goals and Outcomes” and are found in Appendix A. The participants recognized the need for personal reflection on conversion, the importance of the proper celebration of the rites and

120 studying the ritual instructions, the primacy of Scripture and mystagogical reflection so as to recognize God working in everyone’s life experiences, and the importance of the worshipping community for the proper implementation of the R.C.I.A.

This type of facilitated session will be important as a new version of the R.C.I.A. is promulgated in the next few years. This new version of the R.C.I.A., which will likely include revised National Statutes, provides an opportunity for dioceses and parishes to offer training for priests, seminarians, and R.C.I.A. leaders and teams. Any training provided must include a pastoral approach towards the R.C.I.A. teams. As the results from the 2000 and 2014 CARA surveys indicate, many teams do not follow the principles and instructions of the R.C.I.A. text.

Personal Reflections, Observations

In general, the D.Min. project met its objectives. The materials revealed to the participants that the revised rite focuses not only on seekers to be baptized but on the entire community, and on conversion toward God through full, conscious, active participation in the true Christian spirit. The definitions of catechesis and liturgical catechesis presented during the project precipitated further discussion and a more complete understanding of these terms. A connection was made between the R.C.I.A. process, catechesis, and both individual and communal conversion. The participants appeared to take in this information, and seemed excited to implement what they learned at their parishes.

After the D.Min. project, two people indicated they still could not identify signs of conversion that an inquirer should demonstrate before celebrating the “Rite of Acceptance,” and one person indicated they still could not identify signs of conversion that a catechumen should

121 demonstrate before the “Rite of Election.” Before the session, seven participants indicated that they either Disagreed or Did Not Know if they could identify these signs. While the results were a significant improvement, the post-session responses were disappointing. The group had robust conversations about these signs of conversion and how to practically recognize them in others.

Much time was spent identifying signs of initial and ongoing conversion in the lives of saints, in themselves, and in others, and then linking these signs to the R.C.I.A. texts. Hopefully these participants will utilize the participant binder materials to review this material and grow in their confidence so that they can further develop these skills.

As previously noted, the R.C.I.A. teams need to see the importance of liturgical experience in the process of conversion. Hearing the Word of God proclaimed, participating in

Mass, experiencing forgiveness through the sacrament of Reconciliation, and reflecting on encounters with God are important for the R.C.I.A. team as role models and agents of conversion. Daily Mass was not included in the D.Min. project session schedule but it would be appropriate to add in future training, as would the opportunity to participate in the sacrament of reconciliation.

As previously stated, the scope of the D.Min. project did not include a discussion on how the R.C.I.A. teams can change their own parish programs. The D.Min. project enabled the participants to continue the conversation by discussing their parish’s R.C.I.A. process and how it can be improved in light of their renewed focus on conversion and community. Change can cause anxiety and apprehension. The teams should not feel that they need to change everything.

Members of the R.C.I.A. teams should be encouraged to make changes gradually, trying new ideas over a period of time and continually re-evaluating the outcomes. The D.Min. project

122 provided a pastoral means to suggest renewal and change in the parish R.C.I.A. process. While this next step of evaluating a parish’s R.C.I.A. program was out of the scope of this treatise, a good initial change to suggest to R.C.I.A. teams is to involve the inquirers and catechumens with the community in meaningful ways that will help lead them to conversion of heart.

The participants were very enthusiastic about the D.Min. project. Only two participants indicated that they had never attended R.C.I.A. training, although four out of fifteen also responded that they were self-trained. Despite being trained, eight of the participants responded before the sessions that they either Disagreed or Did Not Know how the R.C.I.A. process connects with a growing relationship with God. Also, none of the participants had an R.C.I.A. book, which was disappointing. Knowing the process is difficult without referring to the book and its contents. Our liturgical books must be used to understand and plan the liturgical rites.

These results are disconcerting, and indicate that a different type of training is needed. This

D.Min. project is different from other R.C.I.A. training programs because its aim is toward two specific objectives: conversion and community. The sessions were conversational and experiential. Prayer, scripture, ritual and mystagogical reflection were important parts of the sessions.

The reason that many R.C.I.A. training organizations, such as the North American Forum on the Catechumenate, have folded is that R.C.I.A. teams do not always recognize their need for training and renewal. These hard-working staff and volunteers have been reasonably successful in leading and preparing inquirers and catechumens for baptism. Continuing to implement methods that have been found to be successful is a natural inclination. However, the results indicate that R.C.I.A. teams need something different to get back to the basics of what the

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R.C.I.A. process is really about. Training needs to be inexpensive, readily available to parish

R.C.I.A. teams, and capable of being implemented without significant leader preparation or knowledge. While on-line training is the current popular solution to these requirements, the influential conversations and experiences that occurred during the D.Min. project sessions indicate the need for some physical group interaction, especially for the “Rite of Acceptance” enactment. The D.Min. project appears to be an appropriate shift in the right direction to meet these needs.

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Detailed Session Plans

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Goals, Objectives, Expected Outcomes Goals: Objectives: Expected Outcomes: 1. The R.C.I.A. team will better understand the 1. To teach an R.C.I.A. team 1. The R.C.I.A. team members will be able to nature of conversion as it relates to the Church. about conversion in a articulate what conversion is using knowledge- Team members will be able to: manner that leads to self- based definitions, personal experiential • Recognize conversion in their own lives; discovery and application, reflections, and examples in Church tradition. • Distinguish between initial and on-going both for themselves and in conversion; the way they view and • Identify the role of conversion in the Catholic interact in the lives of the tradition, including evangelization and the catechumens and the lives of the saints. community. 2. The R.C.I.A. team will be able to recognize 2. To lead the R.C.I.A. team to 2. The R.C.I.A. team will be able to identify the the emphasis on both personal and communal consider the importance link between the R.C.I.A. liturgical rites and conversion in the liturgical rites of the R.C.I.A. and impact of doing the conversion. process. R.C.I.A. liturgical rites well, emphasizing how the signs and symbols reveal God’s mystery. 3. The R.C.I.A. team will be able to identify the 3. To teach the R.C.I.A. team 3. a. The R.C.I.A. team will express an increase importance of conversion within the R.C.I.A. members how conversion is in their understanding of the importance of process. Team members will be able to: part of the R.C.I.A. by both individual and communal conversion to • Name the signs of conversion that are provided exploring what is called for the R.C.I.A. process. in the rite that are necessary for passage to the by the rite (both directly 3. b. The R.C.I.A. team will be able to name and next phase; and indirectly). recognize signs of conversion in others as part • Recognize the signs of initial and on-going of the R.C.I.A. process, a skill that will be conversion (and the desire for such change) as useful in planning and conducting the R.C.I.A. evidenced in the lives of a catechumen and process. members of the community during the 3. c. The R.C.I.A. team will increase in their R.C.I.A. process; understanding of the nature of catechesis as • Recognize how various aspects of the R.C.I.A. called for in the rite and its relationship to process assist catechumens and community conversion, a skill that will be useful in members along their journey into relationship planning and conducting the R.C.I.A. process. with God and others; • Define “catechesis” and identify ways in which catechesis occurs in the R.C.I.A. process of conversion. 4. The R.C.I.A. team will be able to identify 4.a.To assist the R.C.I.A. team 4. a. The R.C.I.A. team members will express an their roles in assisting both catechumens and to have a clearer vision increase in their recognition of themselves as community members in the conversion about their roles in the pastoral leaders, particularly process. They will be able to: R.C.I.A. process; agents/companions of change, for both • Identify themselves as agents/companions of 4. b. To lead the R.C.I.A. team catechumens and the community. change for both catechumens and the members to recognize the 4. b. The R.C.I.A. team members will increase in community, and articulate what that role importance of training to the their recognition of the importance of means in practical terms; process for everyone formation as R.C.I.A. leaders. • Discuss their roles as pastoral leaders in the involved; 4. c. The R.C.I.A. team members will increase in parish as R.C.I.A. team members; 4. c. To lead the R.C.I.A. team their recognition that their parish R.C.I.A. • Discuss the need for team formation and the members to recognize the process needs to be continually evaluated for nature of such formation (including both importance of continually its impact on the conversion to Christ of both spiritual and informative aspects); evaluating their parish the catechumens and the community. • Discuss the necessity of continual team R.C.I.A. process in terms of 4. d. The R.C.I.A. team members will place evaluation of their R.C.I.A. process in light of conversion for both the increased importance on involving more the overall goal of conversion to Christ for catechumens and the members of the parish community in the both catechumens and the community. community. R.C.I.A. process and in celebrating more rites publicly, and they will be able to identify ways in which more members of the community can be directly involved in the R.C.I.A. process.

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Session 1: The Nature of Conversion Session Goals: • The R.C.I.A. team will better understand the nature of conversion as it relates to the Church. Team members will be able to: - Recognize conversion in their own lives; - Distinguish between initial and on-going conversion; - Identify the role of conversion in the catholic tradition, including evangelization and the lives of the saints. Session Scope: • The session will be a conversation about conversion that will be useful in getting the R.C.I.A. team to think about the R.C.I.A. process and their roles in it. It is meant to help lead them to change their views of the R.C.I.A. from one of program-orientation to that of a process of growth in relationship with Christ. This change is not expected to immediately occur as a result of this session but is meant to lay a foundation for a change in focus.

Session Objectives: • To teach an R.C.I.A. team about conversion in a manner that leads to self-discovery and application, both for themselves and in the way they view and interact in the lives of the catechumens and the community.

Session Expected Outcomes: • The R.C.I.A. team will be able to articulate what conversion is using knowledge-based definitions, experiential reflections, and examples in Church tradition.

Session Details: • The session will lead the participants to be able to: - Define conversion and its stages (initial, on-going growth, and maturity); - Recognize conversion in their own lives through reflection; - Identify the role of conversion in the Catholic tradition, including evangelization and the lives of the saints.

Session Approach: • The Doctoral candidate will use story-telling and reflection time to facilitate a group discussion.

Potential Participants: • R.C.I.A. team members, which includes the R.C.I.A. catechists and sponsors, pastor, deacon, retired priests, and Director of Religious Education (approximately 15-20 participants).

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Logistics (Session location, date, time): • Church hall (meeting room) • A weeknight in the summer • 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Session Set-up Needs (e.g., space, seating, refreshments, electronic requirements, etc.): • Long tables set up in a rectangle-shape • Need screen and projector to display power-point slides • Coffee, water, and cookies to be provided at the beginning of the session • Prayer table with Bible open, R.C.I.A. candle, and bowl of water

Work Products Needed: • Pre-survey handouts (with pencils) • Opening Prayer handout (composed from the liturgical rites and scripture, modeled after a dismissal rite) • Power Point slides • Personal Conversion reflection prompts (handout) • Closing Prayer (incorporates session details)

Session Dependencies (dependent work products or previous sessions): • The participants need to agree to attend all four sessions, because missing a session will interrupt the project process.

Agenda: 6:00pm – 6:30pm Gathering and Refreshments 6:30pm – 6:35pm Welcome and Introduction 6:35pm – 6:50pm Pre-Survey Completion 6:50pm – 6:55pm Opening Prayer 6:55pm – 7:10pm The Nature of Conversion – Definitions 7:10pm – 7:15pm Initial vs. On-Going Conversion 7:15pm – 7:35pm Story-Telling: The Conversion of St. Augustine 7:35pm – 8:15pm Personal Experience of Conversion 8:15pm – 8:20pm R.C.I.A. and Conversion 8:20pm – 8:25pm Summary and Preview 8:25pm – 8:30pm Closing Prayer

Critical Success Factors: • The participants must be open to seeing the R.C.I.A. process from a different point of view. Knowledge of the Catholic faith is part of but not the same as developing a relationship with Christ and converting one’s heart and life to Christ. • The session cannot come across as being critical of the current R.C.I.A. program.

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Barriers and Enablers to Implementation of Learned Objectives: • The participants will likely believe that there is nothing wrong with the R.C.I.A. program that they are currently conducting. They will likely acknowledge that there are some who have been baptized who are no longer attending Mass or are active in the faith, which is unfortunately a typical outcome according to survey results. • The participants may wonder about the scope of the project, whether there will be any implication that they need to change their program or that they are “doing anything wrong.” The focus of this session is not to state or even imply that the process hasn’t been done well but to introduce a change in mindset that can be used to refocus and improve any R.C.I.A. process in a spirit of continuous improvement. • The Diocese of Cleveland has offered little to no R.C.I.A. team training in the past several years except for pastors, so no assumptions can be made regarding their knowledge of the rites.

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Session 2: The R.C.I.A. Liturgical Rites and Conversion Session Goals: • The R.C.I.A. team will be able to recognize the emphasis on both personal and communal conversion in the liturgical rites of the R.C.I.A. process.

Session Scope: • The session will use one of the R.C.I.A. liturgical rites (the “Rite of Acceptance”) to demonstrate how personal and communal conversion are incorporated into the rites.

Session Objectives: • To lead the R.C.I.A. team to consider the importance and impact of doing the R.C.I.A. liturgical rites well, emphasizing how the signs and symbols reveal God’s mystery.

Session Expected Outcomes: • The R.C.I.A. team will be able to identify the link between the R.C.I.A. liturgical rites and conversion.

Session Details: • A prayer experience of the rites (“Rite of Acceptance”) will be conducted as an example of the rites done well, including the utilization of strong symbolism, and lead an R.C.I.A. team in a mystagogical (mystery-based) reflection on their experience of conversion and community.

Session Approach: • Ritual prayer and reflection will be used in this session to demonstrate the centrality of personal and communal conversion.

Potential Participants: • The R.C.I.A. team, which includes the R.C.I.A. catechists and sponsors, pastor, deacon, retired priests, and Director of Religious Education) at St. Thomas More parish in Brooklyn, Ohio (approximately 15-20 participants). • These are the same people who attended Session 1.

Logistics (Session location, date, time): • In the Church • A weeknight in the summer, one week after Session 1 (alternatively, sessions can run back-to-back) • 6:30pm to 8:30pm

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Session Set-up Needs (e.g., space, seating, refreshments, electronic requirements, etc.): • The Church will need to be available, and prepared to enact the “Rite of Acceptance.” • There needs to be a prepared area for reflection after the enactment. Chairs will need to be set up in a circle in the worship space to facilitate the discussion. • Prayer table with Bible open, R.C.I.A. candle, and bowl of water

Work Products Needed: • “Rite of Acceptance” in a liturgical binder • The pastor practiced and prepared to conduct the rite in a manner that follows the ritual and emphasizes the signs and symbols (this will require pre-training). • Mystagogical Reflection questions handout and prepared reflection • Closing Prayer (incorporates session details)

Session Dependencies (dependent work products or previous sessions): • The pastor has to be willing to be pre-trained and prepared to do the rite in a manner with which he is not used to doing. • The participants need to be willing to take on roles of the inquirers and their sponsors.

Agenda: 6:30pm – 6:45pm Greeting and preparation of roles (inquirers, sponsors, assembly) 6:45pm – 7:15pm “Rite of Acceptance” enactment (preferably in the Church) 7:15pm – 7:30pm Break, return to Meeting Space 7:30pm – 8:20pm Mystagogical Reflection – Ritual, Conversion and Community 8:20pm – 8:25pm Summary of Session Outcomes, Reminder of Next Session Date/Time 8:25pm – 8:30pm Closing Prayer

Critical Success Factors: • The pastor needs to be willing to participate and change the manner in which he leads the rite.

Barriers and Enablers to Implementation of Learned Objectives: • The participants need to be open to experiencing the rite in a different way and not infer that this means that they have been “doing the rite incorrectly” or in an inferior manner.

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Session 3: Individual and Communal Conversion and the R.C.I.A. Session Goals: • The R.C.I.A. team will be able to identify the importance of conversion within the R.C.I.A. process. Team members will be able to: - Name the signs of conversion that are provided in the rite that are necessary for passage to the next phase; - Recognize the signs of initial and on-going conversion (and the desire for such change) as evidenced in the lives of a catechumen and members of the community during the R.C.I.A. process; - Recognize how various aspects of the R.C.I.A. process assist catechumens and community members along their journey into relationship with God and others; - Define “catechesis” and identify ways in which catechesis occurs in the R.C.I.A. process of conversion.

Session Scope: • The session will introduce participants to conversion within the R.C.I.A. and will not completely educate them on the rites.

Session Objectives: • To teach the R.C.I.A. team members how conversion is part of the R.C.I.A. by exploring what is called for by the rite (both directly and indirectly).

Session Expected Outcomes: • The R.C.I.A. team will express an increase in their understanding of the importance of both individual and communal conversion to the R.C.I.A. process; • The R.C.I.A. team will be able to name and recognize signs of conversion in others as part of the R.C.I.A. process, a skill that will be useful in planning and conducting the R.C.I.A. process; • The R.C.I.A. team will increase in their understanding of the nature of catechesis as called for in the rite and its relationship to conversion, a skill that will be useful in planning and conducting the R.C.I.A. process.

Session Details: • The session will lead the participants to be able to: - Name the signs of conversion that are provided in the rite that are necessary for passage to the next phase; - Recognize the signs of initial and on-going conversion (and the desire for such change) as evidenced in the lives of a catechumen and members of the community during the R.C.I.A. process; - Recognize how various aspects of the R.C.I.A. process assist catechumens and community members along their journey into relationship with God and others; - Define “catechesis” and identify ways in which catechesis is occurs in the R.C.I.A. process of conversion, including the difference between a program- focused approach and a process or conversion-focused approach. 131

Session Approach: • This session will be partially presentation and partially discussion.

Logistics (Session location, date, time): • Church hall (meeting room) • A weeknight in the summer, two weeks after Session 2 (alternatively, sessions can run back-to-back) • 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Work Products Needed: • Opening Prayer handout (composed from the liturgical rites and scripture, modeled after a dismissal rite) • Power Point slides • Closing Prayer (incorporates session details)

Session Dependencies (dependent work products or previous sessions): • The participants have to have attended both Sessions 1 and 2 and found value in them.

Agenda: 6:15pm – 6:30pm Gathering and refreshments 6:30pm – 6:40pm Opening Prayer 6:40pm – 6:45pm Recap of Sessions 1 and 2 6:45pm – 7:05pm Review of R.C.I.A.: Signs of Conversion that Indicate Readiness for Each Phase 7:05pm – 7:35pm Discussion: Conversion Signs of Readiness for Each Phase 7:35pm – 7:50pm Review of R.C.I.A.: How the Rites Facilitate Conversion 7:50pm – 8:05pm The Definition and Role of Catechesis 8:05pm – 8:20pm Discussion: The Rites, Catechesis, and Individual and Communal Conversion 8:20pm – 8:25pm Summary of Session Outcomes, Next Session Date/Time 8:25pm – 8:30pm Closing Prayer 132

Critical Success Factors: • The knowledge and experience of the R.C.I.A. team needs to be respected, that they can and have recognized the change in people’s relationships with God in the R.C.I.A. process.

Barriers and Enablers to Implementation of Learned Objectives: • The participants need to be open in order to see the rites from a new viewpoint, that the celebration of the rites both represent and impact the catechumen’s relationship with God. • The participants need to be open to breaking open the R.C.I.A. instructions and analyzing them. • The participants need to be willing to see catechesis as something more than just traditional teaching.

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Session 4: Pastoral Leadership and the R.C.I.A. Session Goals: • The R.C.I.A. team will be able to identify their roles in assisting both catechumens and community members in the conversion process. They will be able to: - Identify themselves as agents/companions of change for both catechumens and the community, and articulate what that role means in practical terms; - Discuss their roles as pastoral leaders in the parish as R.C.I.A. team members; - Discuss the need for team formation and the nature of such formation (including both spiritual and informative aspects); - Discuss the necessity of continual team evaluation of their R.C.I.A. process in light of the overall goal of conversion to Christ for both catechumens and the community.

Session Scope: • The session will lead the participants to see themselves and their roles in a different light. It will lead them to consider change in their R.C.I.A. process but this change is not part of the scope of these sessions.

Session Objectives: • To assist the R.C.I.A. team to have a clearer vision about their roles in the R.C.I.A. process; • To lead the R.C.I.A. team members to recognize the importance of training to the process for everyone involved; • To lead the R.C.I.A. team members to recognize the importance of continually evaluating their parish R.C.I.A. process in terms of conversion for both the catechumens and the community.

Session Expected Outcomes: • The R.C.I.A. team members will express an increase in their recognition of themselves as pastoral leaders, particularly agents/companions of change, for both catechumens and the community. • The R.C.I.A. team members will increase in their recognition of the importance of formation as R.C.I.A. leaders. • The R.C.I.A. team members will increase in their recognition that their parish R.C.I.A. process needs to be continually evaluated for its impact on the conversion to Christ of both the catechumens and the community. • The R.C.I.A. team members will place increased importance on involving more members of the parish community in the R.C.I.A. process and in celebrating more rites publicly, and they will be able to identify ways in which more members of the community can be directly involved in the R.C.I.A. process.

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Session Details: • The session will lead the participants to: - Explore the characteristics of R.C.I.A. pastoral leadership for both catechumens and the community; - Identify ways in which the team can develop the skills necessary to carry out their roles as pastoral leaders; - Discuss how to involve other community members in the R.C.I.A. process, including ways in which catechumens can participate in the life of the Church community.

Session Approach: • The session will lead the participants to see themselves differently without lecturing to them.

Logistics (Session location, date, time): • Church hall (meeting room) • A weeknight in the summer, one week after Session 3 (alternatively, sessions can run back-to-back) • 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Session Dependencies (dependent work products or previous sessions): • The participants have to have attended Sessions 1, 2 and 3 and found value in them.

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Agenda: 6:15pm – 6:30pm Gathering and refreshments 6:30pm – 6:40pm Opening Prayer 6:40pm – 6:45pm Recap of Sessions 1, 2 and 3 6:45pm – 7:00pm Pastoral Leadership in R.C.I.A. 7:00pm – 7:15pm Discussion: Pastoral Leadership in R.C.I.A. 7:15pm – 7:30pm Team Formation Discussion 7:30pm – 7:45pm Continual Evaluation of the R.C.I.A. Process 7:45pm – 8:00pm Involving the Community in the R.C.I.A. Process 8:00pm – 8:05pm Summary of the Doctoral Project 8:05pm – 8:10pm Closing Prayer 8:10pm – 8:30pm Post-project surveys

Critical Success Factors: • The knowledge and experience of the R.C.I.A. team needs to be respected.

Barriers and Enablers to Implementation of Learned Objectives: • The participants need to be open to seeing themselves as agents/companions to both the catechumens and the entire community. • The participants need to see the value in team R.C.I.A. training. • The participants need to be open to allowing other parishioners to have a role in the R.C.I.A. process, to train people and to invite non-team members to play active roles in the process.

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Session 1: The Nature of Conversion Topic Timing Objective Content Slides, (Minutes) Handouts, & Activities 1. Welcome and 5 • Introduce the presenter • Brief introduction Introduction 2. Pre-Survey completion 15 • Gather data for evaluation of the • Brief explanation of project • Handout – Pre- project • Scope limit – catechumens only, Survey not candidates • Complete pre-survey 3. Opening Prayer 5 • Set the tone by recognizing God • Prayer • Handout – in our midst Opening Prayer 4. The Nature of 15 • Articulate what conversion is • Ask participants what their • Flip chart – record Conversion - Definitions using knowledge-based understanding of conversion is participant ideas definitions • Present practical definitions from • Slides the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Lonergan and Gelpi 5. Initial vs. Ongoing 5 • Distinguish between initial and • Present and discuss the difference • Slides Conversion on-going conversion between initial and on-going conversion 6. Examples of 20 • Articulate what conversion is • Present the life of St. Augustine • Slides conversion in Church using examples in Church and his conversion story • Handout – St. tradition: The tradition • Connect the definitions of Augustine Conversion Story of St. conversion to the example of St. Timeline Augustine Augustine’s life • Handout – The Life of St. Augustine drawing 7. Personal experience of 40 • Articulate what conversion is • Ask the participants to reflect on • Handout – blank Conversion using personal experiential their own personal journey of paper and markers reflections conversion and to draw a picture • Slides representing the major moments in their journey with God • Ask the participants to reflect on their own journey and connect it with the definitions of conversion • Each participant is to share their picture with a partner and the link to the definition of conversion • Group sharing – what’s the one thing each person learned about themselves? About their partner? 8. R.C.I.A. and 5 • Begin to connect the R.C.I.A. team • Briefly present the connection • Slides Conversion member role to conversion: in the between the role of R.C.I.A. team lives of the catechumens, in the member and the role of journey lives of the community, and in partner, both for the catechumens their own lives. and the community • The Prodigal Son and his brother as examples 9. Summary and Preview 5 • Reflect on what was • Review of what the participants • Handout – “Rite of learned during the learned about conversion that they Acceptance” session didn’t know previously • Set the expectation for the next • Preview of next session – hand out session copies of the “Rite of Acceptance” and assign roles 10. Closing Prayer 5 • Praise and thank God for his • Prayer goodness

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Session 2: Personal and Communal Conversion in the R.C.I.A. Rites Topic Timing Objective Content Slides, (Minutes) Handouts, & Activities 1. Greeting and 15 • Prepare for the enactment of • Handout – “Rite of preparation of roles the “Rite of Acceptance” Acceptance” (inquirers, sponsors, assembly) 2. “Rite of Acceptance” 30 • Lead the R.C.I.A. team to • Conduct a prayer experience of • Handout – “Rite of enactment (preferably in consider the importance and the “Rite of Acceptance” Acceptance” the Church) impact of doing the R.C.I.A. preferably in the church that • Handout - Opening liturgical rites well, emphasizing follows the ritual and uses strong Song how the signs and symbols symbolism from the rite. • Handout - reveal God’s mystery. Readings 3. Break, return to 15 Meeting Space 4. Mystagogical 50 • Identify the link between the • Recall on the experience of the • Slides Reflection – Ritual, R.C.I.A. liturgical rites and “Rite of Acceptance” through the • Handout – Conversion and conversion. lens of conversion, liturgical Mystagogical Community catechesis and community by Reflection means of mystagogical (mystery- based) reflection.

5. Summary of Session 5 • Reflect on what was • Review of what the participants Outcomes, Reminder of learned during the learned about conversion that they Next Session Date/Time session didn’t know previously • Set the expectation for the next • Preview of next session session 6. Closing Prayer 5 • Praise and thank God for his • Prayer goodness

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Session 3: The Importance of Conversion within the R.C.I.A. Process Topic Timing Objective Content Slides, (Minutes) Handouts, & Activities 1. Opening Prayer 10 • Set the tone by recognizing God in • Prayer • Handout – Opening our midst Prayer 2. Recap of Sessions 1 5 • Recall the content of previous • Review content of previous • Slides and 2 sessions sessions 3. Review of R.C.I.A.: 20 • For each phase of the R.C.I.A., • Review content from the rite and • Slides Signs of Conversion that name the signs of conversion that what is called for by the rite, both Indicate Readiness for are provided in the rite that are directly and indirectly: Each Phase necessary for passage to the next Precatechumenate (R.C.I.A., 6, 18, phase 42-43); Catechumenate (R.C.I.A., • Recognize the signs of initial and 75, 76, 79); Purification and on-going conversion (and the Enlightenment (R.C.I.A., 141); desire for such change) as Mystagogy (R.C.I.A., 244-251) evidenced in the lives of a catechumen and members of the community during the R.C.I.A. process 4. Discussion: 30 • For each phase of the R.C.I.A., the • Discuss how we can facilitate • Flip chart – record Conversion Signs of R.C.I.A. team will increase in their conversion during the phase participant ideas Readiness for Each understanding of the nature of Phase catechesis as called for in the rite and be able to articulate their role in facilitating conversion to God during each phase 5. Review of R.C.I.A.: 15 • Know the history of the revised • Review content from Vatican II • Slides How the Rites Facilitate rite as it relates to Vatican II (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 9,14; Conversion Coetus XXII Revision Committee; Ad Gentes, 14; Lumen Gentium, 31) 6. The Definition and 15 • Define “catechesis” and “liturgical • Present the definitions from the • Slides Role of Catechesis catechesis” General Directory for Catechesis, 105 and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1075 7. Discussion: The 15 • Express an increase in • Discuss Sections of the rite related Flip chart – record Rites, Catechesis, and understanding of the nature of to conversion and community for participant ideas Individual and catechesis as called for in the rite meaning and pastoral Communal Conversion and its relationship to conversion implementation • Express an increase in understanding of the importance of both individual and communal conversion to the R.C.I.A. process • Recognize how various aspects of the R.C.I.A. process assist catechumens and community members along their journey into relationship with God and others • Identify ways in which catechesis occurs in the R.C.I.A. process of conversion. 8. Summary of Session 5 • Reflect on what was • Review of what the participants Outcomes, Reminder of learned during the learned about conversion that they Next Session Date/Time session didn’t know previously • Set the expectation for the next • Preview of next session session 9. Closing Prayer 5 • Praise and thank God for his • Prayer goodness

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Session 4: The Role of the R.C.I.A. Team in the Conversion Process Topic Timing Objective Content Slides, (Minutes) Handouts, & Activities 1. Opening Prayer 10 • Set the tone by recognizing God in • Prayer • Handout our midst 2. Recap of Sessions 1, 5 • Recall the content of previous • Content of previous sessions • Slides 2 and 3 sessions

3. Pastoral Leadership in 15 • Participants identify their roles in • Present content from the General • Slides R.C.I.A. assisting both catechumens and Directory for Catechesis, 4 (R.C.I.A. community members in the is the model of catechesis and is conversion process under the umbrella of evangelization) • Present the importance of a team approach and the variety of roles that can be utilized • Present the importance of the involvement of the members of the community given the variety of catechesis called for in R.C.I.A.,75, and that the catechumens are to be “trained in the Christian life” by interacting with the community of the faithful 4. Discussion: Pastoral 15 • Realize their roles as pastoral • Discuss the questions: “What’s my • Flip chart – record Leadership in R.C.I.A. leaders in the parish as R.C.I.A. role? How can we get more people participant ideas team members involved?” • Identify themselves as agents/companions of change for both catechumens and the community, and articulate what that role means in practical terms 5. Team Formation 15 • Recognize the need for team • Discuss the following questions: • Flip chart – record Discussion formation and the nature of such “What have you learned that participant ideas formation (including both spiritual others should know about and informative aspects) accompanying other people on their journey of conversion?” 6. Continual Evaluation 15 • Recognize the necessity of • Discuss the necessity of continual • Slides of the R.C.I.A. Process continual team evaluation of their team evaluation of their R.C.I.A. R.C.I.A. process in light of the process in light of the overall goal overall goal of conversion to of conversion to Christ for both Christ for both catechumens and catechumens and the community the community 7. Involving the 15 • Recognize the importance of • Discuss the importance of the • Slides Community in the involving more members of the community according to R.C.I.A.,4 R.C.I.A. Process parish community in the R.C.I.A. and R.C.I.A.,9 process • Identify ways in which more members of the community can be directly involved in the R.C.I.A. 8. Summary of the 5 • Help the participants to • Review of conclusions reached • Slides Doctoral Project understand the importance of the project 9. Closing Prayer 5 • Praise and thank God for his • Prayer goodness 10. Post-project surveys 20 • Gather data for evaluation of the • Complete post-survey • Handout – Post- project Survey

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Appendix B. Sessions Materials

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Session 1

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R.C.I.A. Team Project - Pre- Session Questionnaire

Please answer as honestly as possible. All answers will be kept anonymous. 1. About how long have you been a member of the R.C.I.A. team at this parish? (Circle one): a. New (less than 1 year) b. 1 to 3 years c. 4 to 6 years d. 7 to 9 years e. 10 to 15 years f. More than 15 years 2. What type of training have you had related to the R.C.I.A.? (Circle all that apply): a. Formal team training at the parish b. Informal training by team member(s) c. Diocesan training d. Workshop(s) outside the Diocese e. Self-trained (did your own research, read book(s), on-the-job experience, etc.) f. Other / not sure 3. What role did you play on the R.C.I.A. team this past year? (Circle all that apply): a. Assisted with Inquirers b. Taught catechesis session(s) c. Broke open the Word at Mass with catechumens (Dismissal Rite) d. Sponsor e. Coordinated liturgical rite(s) f. Lead mystagogy session(s) after Easter g. Other / not sure

Please circle the appropriate number. 5 4 3 2 1 Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly I don’t Agree Disagree know 4. I can describe what “conversion” (turning toward God) 5 4 3 2 1 is. 5. I can recognize moments of conversion toward God in 5 4 3 2 1 my own life.

6. I can give examples of the role of conversion in the 5 4 3 2 1 Catholic tradition.

7. Our R.C.I.A. program does a good job in considering the 5 4 3 2 1 spiritual progress of each person to be baptized.

8. I think that the experience of the R.C.I.A. rites (such as 5 4 3 2 1 the Rite of Acceptance and the Rite of Election) is important to the spiritual journey of the people who are seeking to be baptized.

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Please circle the appropriate number. 5 4 3 2 1 Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly I Agree Disagree don’t know 9. I can identify what signs of conversion an inquirer 5 4 3 2 1 should demonstrate before celebrating the Rite of Acceptance.

10. I can identify what signs of conversion a catechumen 5 4 3 2 1 should demonstrate before celebrating the Rite of Election.

11. I can recognize signs in the parish community that its 5 4 3 2 1 members are experiencing moments of conversion.

12. I can identify specific aspects of the R.C.I.A. process 5 4 3 2 1 that assist the catechumens in growing in their relationship with God.

13. I can identify specific aspects of the R.C.I.A. process 5 4 3 2 1 that assist the parish community in growing in their relationship with God.

14. I can define what “catechesis” means as part of the 5 4 3 2 1 R.C.I.A.

15. I feel a responsibility for the spiritual progress of the 5 4 3 2 1 people who are seeking to be baptized.

16. I feel a responsibility for the spiritual progress of the 5 4 3 2 1 entire parish community.

17. I feel that those who are seeking baptism need to 5 4 3 2 1 interact in a deep and meaningful way with members of the parish who are not part of the R.C.I.A. team.

18. What do you think your R.C.I.A. team does very well?

19. In what ways do you think your R.C.I.A. team could or should improve?

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The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: A Process of Conversion

Linda L. Monitello, MA, DMin Cand. Catholic University of America

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The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: A Process of Conversion Session 1: Opening Prayer

Opening Song – Hosea

1. Come back to me with all your heart. Don’t let fear keep us apart. Trees do bend, though straight and tall; so must we to others’ call. Long have I waited for your coming home to me and living deeply our new life.

2. The wilderness will lead you to your heart where I will speak. Integrity and justice with tenderness you shall know. Long have I waited for your coming home to me and living deeply our new life.

3. You shall sleep secure with peace; faithfulness will be your joy. Long have I waited for your coming home to me and living deeply our new life.

Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.

Leader: Let us reflect on the conversion of Saint Paul the apostle. He was transformed from being a persecutor of Christ into a vessel of his grace.

Reader: A reading from the Acts of the Apostles:

Paul addressed the people in these words: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison. Even the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify on my behalf. For from them I even received letters to the brothers and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment those there as well.

“On that journey as I drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’ My companions saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me. I asked, ‘What shall I do, sir?’ The Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything appointed for you to do.’ Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light, I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.

“A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law, and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me and stood there and said, ‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’ And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him. Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice; for you will be his witness before all to what you have seen and heard. Now, why delay? Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name.’”

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Quiet Reflection

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Leader: My brothers and sisters, we build on the foundation of the apostles. Let us pray to our almighty Father for his holy people and say: Be mindful of your Church, O Lord.

Father, you wanted your Son to be seen first by the apostles after the resurrection from the dead, we ask you to make us his witnesses to the farthest corners of the world. We pray to the Lord… Be mindful of your Church, O Lord.

You sent your Son to preach the good news to the poor, help us to preach this Gospel to every creature. We pray to the Lord… Be mindful of your Church, O Lord.

You sent your Son to sow the seed of unending life, grant that we who work at sowing the seed may share the joy of the harvest. We pray to the Lord… Be mindful of your Church, O Lord.

You sent your Son to reconcile all people to you through his blood, help us all to work toward achieving this reconciliation. We pray to the Lord… Be mindful of your Church, O Lord.

Your Son sits at your right hand in heaven, let the dead enter your kingdom of joy. We pray to the Lord… Be mindful of your Church, O Lord.

Leader: At our savior’s command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:

All: Our Father…

Leader: Let us pray. God our Father, you taught the gospel to all the world through the preaching of Paul your apostle. May we who celebrate his conversion to the faith follow him in bearing witness to your truth. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Liturgy of the Hours, prayer from the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle)

Image: The Conversion on the Way to Damascus | Caravaggio Source: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/SOD-0125-ConversionofSaintPaul-790x480.jpg 147

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Chronology of the Life of Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (A.D. 354-430)

Early Life

350 —Constantius II, an Arian who disputed the divinity of Christ, becomes sole Emperor of the Roman Empire.

354 —Aurelius Augustinus was born on November 13 in Thagaste, North Africa (today Souk Ahras in Algeria). His father Patricius was pagan, and mother Monica was a Berber Christian. The family, including two brothers and a sister, was respectable but poor.

354-365 —Patricius made great financial sacrifices to see that Augustine received a classical Latin education. Augustine loved Latin literature, but disliked the rote learning of arithmetic and Greek.

361 —Constantius II dies. Julian the Apostate ruled as Roman Emperor until 363, fostering the dominance of paganism even though freedom of worship for all religions had been proclaimed by Constantine in 313.

364 — Valentinian I succeeded Julian as emperor in the West until 378. He reestablished toleration for Christian practice. He was the last emperor to subscribe to Arianism.

366 — Augustine sent to Madaura to study rhetoric.

370 — Augustine returned home while Patricius saved money for his further education. A year of idleness led the adolescent student into acts of dissipation and sexual adventure, vividly recounted in Book II of The Confessions.

371 — Augustine left home again to study at Carthage, which he described as "a cauldron of illicit loves." He frequented the theater and had coarse friends ("the wreckers”). He entered into a long-term relationship with a woman whom he loved dearly (whose name we do not know).

372 — Augustine's unnamed lover bore him a son, Adeodatus, "God-given." Augustine's father died, baptized a Christian on his deathbed. At the time, Augustine blamed his father (who was unfaithful to his wife) for failing to guide him in self-discipline during his turbulent adolescence.

Augustine became a Manichaean "hearer." Manichaeism was a third century pseudo-Christian sect founded by Mani, who drew on elements of Babylonian, Judaic, and Christian sources. It was a gnostic religious system based on the duality of light and darkness – goodness (light) was manifested in knowledge, spirit, and soul, while evil (darkness) was connected to ignorance, matter, and body. was achieved through special, intuitive knowledge and through moral practices (including abstinence from meat, wine, and sex if fully initiated). Augustine was attracted to its dualistic concept of human nature because it allowed him to evade accepting full responsibility for his moral failures.

373 — On reading Cicero's Hortensius, a strong desire for true wisdom was awakened in Augustine. He abandoned his career as a lawyer in the imperial civil service to study philosophy. 161

The Hortensius counseled against the pursuit of sensual pleasure but he stayed with his lover and continued to be influenced by Manichaeism for the next nine years. He began to question deeply the meaning of evil and the power of sin.

Teaching Career

374 — Augustine returned home to Thagaste to teach grammar. Monica, appalled at his Manichee following, prayed unceasingly for his conversion to the Catholic Church.

376 — Augustine returned to Carthage following the death of a dear friend in Thagaste. In Carthage he opened a school of rhetoric. His rowdy students wore on his nerves. He persisted in teaching for eight years.

379 — Theodosius I became emperor until 395 - orthodox Christianity was established as the official state religion and Arianism was suppressed. All subjects were enjoined to accept the Nicene Creed, formulated at the Council of Nicaea in 325.

383 — Augustine left for Rome to teach rhetoric at the urging of several friends, including Alypius. He deceived Monica about his departure so that she could not follow him. He had a siege of illness upon arrival, and many students cheated him out of his fees. Symmachus, prefect of the city, chose Augustine for a post in Milan as professor of rhetoric.

Conversion

384 — Augustine moved to Milan and took up study of the Neoplatonists, especially Plotinus (A.D. 205- 270), who had taught that one is awakened to a sense of divine destiny through purification from carnal appetites. He became increasingly disillusioned with Manichaeism and the popular Greek teaching that there is no certainty in truth (relativism). He wrote Contra academicos in 387 to refute these ideas.

Augustine eventually decided to become a catechumen in the Catholic Church of Milan after being impressed by the sermons of Bishop Ambrose, who showed him how to appreciate the Bible in spiritual terms, and whose discourses were mystical, with Neoplatonic concepts of the soul. Augustine recognized clearly now that his carnal activity weakened his efforts at introspective contemplation.

385 — Monica arrived in Milan a year after Augustine and set about arranging a marriage for him with a Catholic woman of an appropriate rank and means to further his career. As a condition for the marriage, the woman's family insisted that Augustine be separated from his concubine for at least two years before the ceremony could take place. He had been faithful to his lover for some fourteen years, and this separation was emotionally wrenching for both of them. However, instead of accepting the period of celibacy, Augustine soon after replaced her with another woman to satisfy his needs. By now, Augustine's carnal appetites were in deep conflict with his spiritual desire to seek metaphysical truth.

386 — In late summer, Augustine and his companion Alypius entertained a visitor, Ponticianus, who spoke to them about St. Anthony and the desert monks of Egypt who had left all they had in the world to devote themselves to lives of asceticism and prayer. Augustine began to feel his heart burn with the 162 power that the call to a life of renunciation was exerting on him. He repaired to the garden of the house, where he wrestled with the demands of his flesh and wept with great, tormented sobs over his inability to accept the challenge of continence.

Hearing an unseen child say, "Pick up and read. Pick up and read," Augustine opened the book of St. Paul, which he had been studying, to Romans 13, where he read: "Not in riots and drunken parties, not in eroticism and indecencies, not in strife and rivalry, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in its lusts." At this moment, confidence and peace flooded into his heart. Paul's question, "Who will free me from this body of death?" became Augustine's question. Paul's answer, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" became precisely the truth he had long sought. Augustine reported all this to his mother, who rejoiced in God for His answer to her lifelong prayer for her son.

387 — That summer while in Ostia, Augustine and Monica, standing together as they looked out into a garden, shared a mystical vision as they talked about the utter silence in which God may be heard once the clamor of the flesh, the appeals of the world, and even the sounds of the heavens and soul are stilled.

A few days later, Monica fell ill with a fever and died, age fifty-six, leaving Augustine resigned to, though deeply aggrieved over, her death. Book IX of The Confessions ends here with the description of his mother's death and Augustine's prayer for both Monica and his father, Patricius. It brings to a close Augustine's account of his purgation from sin, the illumination of his conversion and baptism, and the complete surrender of himself in unity with God. In Book X, Augustine gives an account of his state of mind at the time when he was composing The Confessions. Books XI-XIII set forth his own theological position on Creation, time and eternity, and the destiny of man to know himself and to know God.

388 — Augustine remained for about a year in Rome, where he investigated several monastic communities. He then returned to Thagaste in Africa with Alypius and Adeodatus, settled his property, established his own monastic community, and began to live a contemplative life as a lay "servant of God."

390 — Augustine's tranquil life of prayer and study in community was soon shattered by the death of his gifted son, Adeodatus, at age seventeen, and of another dear friend, Nebridius.

Bishop of Hippo

391 — Grief made Augustine restless, and he visited Hippo to see about setting up another monastery there. While at Mass one day, when Bishop Valerius was describing the urgent needs of the Catholic minority, besieged and persecuted by heretical sects, the congregation turned to Augustine and importuned him to accept ordination. He was made a priest on the spot. Augustine remained in Hippo for the rest of his life.

393 — In December, the General Council of Hippo met, providing an occasion for the assembly of Catholic bishops to see and hear Augustine. The subject about which he spoke to them clearly and eloquently was "On the Faith and the Creed." It was highly unusual for an ordinary priest to preach to

163 bishops in this manner. During this period and through A.D. 405, Augustine wrote against the Manichaean heresy, which he now completely repudiated.

394 — For the next eight years, Augustine would combat the errors of the Donatist heresy, a schismatic group that considered itself the "pure" Church and insisted on rigorously observing ritual actions to the point of fanaticism. The Donatists turned away from the world to face inwardly toward their own static community, made up of an elite that vigorously and violently persecuted nonmembers. Augustine held that the Church must, on the contrary, be coextensive with society and function as a leaven in the world.

395 — Augustine was ordained coadjutor (assistant) bishop of Hippo. In less than two years he would be made bishop. During his episcopate, he drove out of Hippo the Donatists and other heretical Christian rivals. He led the community like a father heads a family, adjudicating disputes, intervening for prisoners to save them from torture and execution, advocating for the poor, buying freedom for badly treated slaves, and charging religious women with the care of abandoned and orphaned children. He preached abundantly and wrote On Christian Doctrine. By 410 Augustine had written thirty-three books.

395 — Arcadius became emperor in the Roman East until 408.

395 — Honorius, a devout Catholic, became emperor in the West until 423. He granted legal recognition to the orthodox Catholic Church in Africa. This gave Augustine political power in his struggle with the Donatists.

396 — Bishop Valerius died and Augustine succeeded him as bishop of Hippo. He remained in this office until his own death in 430.

397 — Augustine began to write The Confessions, which were completed in 400 or 401. This work details his personal sinfulness and the power he came to recognize as God's provident grace in every moment of his life. Today, it is considered an omni-biography, the story of every soul – sin, seek solace apart from God, eventually return to God.

399 — For twenty years Augustine labored over On the Trinity, his most profound theological treatise.

408 — The eastern German Visigoths besieged Rome, and in 410, Rome was sacked and parts of the city were burned.

410 — Pelagius, a British monk who taught an austere and reformed ideal of the Christian church in Rome, fled to Africa. Augustine engaged in a battle against Pelagianism, which taught that humans achieve salvation through their personal acts of will, denying original sin, grace, and Jesus’ act of salvation.

For Augustine, true freedom is achieved only through a long process by which the individual's knowledge and will are healed by grace. Pelagius ultimately moved to the Holy Land without ever meeting Augustine face-to-face. The bishop of Hippo fought with Pelagius on the basis of his written works.

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412 — An imperial decree was issued from Rome banning the Donatist church.

413 — For the next thirteen years, until 426, Augustine worked on his masterpiece, The City of God, a summation of his Christian philosophy of history. Accusations had been made that Rome’s sacking was the result of foresaking old pagan deities in favor of Christianity. Augustine refuted this charge in this work.

415 — The synod at Diospolis in Palestine pronounced the writings of Pelagius to be orthodox.

417 — The teachings of Pelagius were condemned in Italy. He and all of his supporters were forbidden to remain in Rome.

418 — The Council of Carthage, with over two hundred bishops under Augustine's leadership, pronounced Pelagianism heretical.

Final Years

423 — Valentinian III became emperor in the West. He ruled until 455.

426 — On September 26, Augustine nominated Eraclius to be his successor.

429 — Vandals, who were Arian Christians led by Genseric, invaded Africa from Spain.

430 — The North African coastal provinces of Mauretania and Numidia were ravaged by Vandals, who raped, tortured, and pillaged, burning Catholic churches along the way. Catholic bishops and refugees fled to Hippo, which was a fortified city.

On August 28, Augustine died after suffering a fever for several days. He had prayed with his frightened flock for the gift of perseverance in the faith by which the weak individual can come to share in the eternal stability of Christ. Bound as a father to his family, the bishop of Hippo stood firm until the end while all his world and life's work were destroyed in the violence around him. Though Hippo was partly burned, the library of Augustine was preserved, handed down to us as our priceless inheritance. It comprised some 100 books, 240 letters, and more than 500 sermons.

Source: Adapted from http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rdwallin/syl/GreatBooks/ 202.W99/Augustine/ AugustineChron.html

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Rite of Acceptance – Readings

Reading 1 GN 12:1-4A

A reading from the Book of Genesis:

The LORD said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.

“I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.”

Abram went as the LORD directed him.

The Word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm PS 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22

R/ (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. Upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full. R/ Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, To deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine. R/ Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you. R/ Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

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Verse Before the Gospel JOHN 1:41,17B

We have found the Messiah: Jesus Christ, who brings us truth and grace.

Gospel JOHN 1:35-42

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John:

John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God." The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" - which translated means Teacher -, "where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come, and you will see." So they went and saw where Jesus was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah" - which is translated Christ -. Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas" - which is translated Peter.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Rite of Acceptance - Mystagogical Reflection (Ritual, Conversion and Community)

3. How did your way of participation in the liturgy (as a candidate, as a sponsor, as the presider, as lectors, as members of the community) speak to you? How did it affect your experience?

4. What did the ritual reveal about the personal conversion journey of the inquirers/candidates (now catechumens)?

5. What was the role of the sponsor in the ritual? What was the role of the community in the ritual? What did the ritual reveal about the conversion journey of the entire community?

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Session 3

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The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: A Process of Conversion Session 3: Opening Prayer

Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.

Leader: Let us further reflect on the life of Saint Augustine as we listen to his own words as he reflects upon his conversion to the Lord:

Reader: A Reading from The Confessions of St. Augustine (Book 10, Chapter XXVII):

Urged to reflect upon myself, I entered under your guidance into the inmost depth of my soul. I was able to do so because you were my helper. On entering into myself I saw, as it were with the eye of the soul, what was beyond the eye of the soul, beyond my spirit: your immutable light. It was not the ordinary light perceptible to all flesh, nor was it merely something of greater magnitude but still essentially akin, shining more clearly and diffusing itself everywhere by its intensity. No, it was something entirely distinct, something altogether different from all these things; and it did not rest above my mind as oil on the surface of water, nor was it above me as heaven is above the earth. This light was above me because it had made me; I was below it because I was created by it. He who has come to know the truth knows this light.

O Eternal truth, true love and beloved eternity. You are my God. To you do I sigh day and night. When I first came to know you, you drew me to yourself so that I might see that there were things for me to see, but that I myself was not yet ready to see them. Meanwhile you overcame the weakness of my vision, sending forth most strongly the beams of your light, and I trembled at once with love and dread. I learned that I was in a region unlike yours and far distant from you, and I thought I heard your voice from on high: “I am the food of grown men; grow then, and you will feed on me. Nor will you change me into yourself like bodily food, but you will be changed into me.”

I sought a way to gain the strength which I needed to enjoy you. But I did not find it until I embraced the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who is above all, God blessed for ever. He was calling me and saying: I am the way of truth, I am the life. He was offering the food which I lacked the strength to take, the food he had mingled with our flesh. For the Word became flesh, that your wisdom, by which you created all things, might provide milk for us children.

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

Quiet Reflection

Leader: Father, you sent the Holy Spirit to enlighten the hearts of your people. Hear us as we pray: Enlighten your people, Lord.

For our Holy Father Pope Francis, our bishops and priests, that they may be faithful servants led by the Holy Spirit. Let us pray to the Lord: Enlighten your people, Lord. 175

That the Lord may raise up leaders who will work for life and for sound moral values in our world. Let us pray to the Lord: Enlighten your people, Lord.

That we may have a deeper appreciation of the great grace of our own baptism, and that the Holy Spirit help us to continually to turn to the Lord each day in loving trust. Let us pray to the Lord: Enlighten your people, Lord.

That Jesus may anoint us with power through the Holy Spirit to go about doing good in His name for the benefit of those who are seeking the Lord, for those who are suffering, and for those who are tempted to lose heart. Let us pray to the Lord: Enlighten your people, Lord.

For our faithful departed ones, that in Jesus they may be brought into the full light of heaven’s joy and glory. Let us pray to the Lord: Enlighten your people, Lord.

Leader: At our savior’s command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:

All: Our Father…

Leader: Together, let us pray the Absorbeat prayer:

May the power of your love, Lord Christ, fiery and sweet as honey, so absorb our hearts as to withdraw them from all that is under heaven. Grant that we may be ready to die for love of your love, as you died for love of our love. Amen.

The Ecstasy of St Teresa of Avila, 1647-1652, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome, Lazio.

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Session 4

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The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: A Process of Conversion Session 4: Opening Prayer

Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.

Leader: Let us reflect on the story of the conversion of Fr. Thomas Merton, Trappist monk, writer, theologian and mystic:

Reader: A series of readings from the book, The Seven Story Mountain, by Fr. Thomas Merton:

On the Sacraments and the Church “I did not even know who Christ was, that He was God. I had not the faintest idea that there existed such a thing as the Blessed Sacrament. I thought churches were simply places where people got together and sang a few hymns. And yet now I tell you, you who are now what I once was, unbelievers, it is that Sacrament, and that alone, the Christ living in our midst, and sacrificed by us, and for us and with us, in the clean and perpetual Sacrifice, it is He alone Who holds our world together, and keeps us all from being poured headlong and immediately into the pit of our eternal destruction. And I tell you there is a power that goes forth from that Sacrament, a power of light and truth, even into the hearts of those who have heard nothing of Him and seem to be incapable of belief.” (page 41)

On Ascending the Mountain "In spite of all my studying and all my reading and all my talking, I was still infinitely poor and wretched in my appreciation of what was about to take place within me. I was about to set foot on the shore at the foot of the high, seven-circled mountain of Purgatory, steeper and more arduous than I was able to imagine, and I was not at all aware of the climbing I was about to have to do." (page 242)

On Post-Baptismal Conversion “I made the terrible mistake of entering upon the Christian life as if it were merely the natural life invested with a kind of supernatural mode by grace. I thought that all I had to do was continue living as I had lived before, thinking and asking as I did before, with the one exception of avoiding mortal sin.

“It never occurred to me that if I continued to live as I had lived before, I would simply be incapable of avoiding mortal sin. For before my baptism I had lived for myself alone. I had lived for the satisfaction of my own desires and ambitions, for pleasure and comfort and reputation and success. Baptism had brought with it the obligation to reduce all my natural appetites to subordination to God’s will…

“…[In] actual fact, since my life after my baptism was pretty much what it had been before baptism, I was in the condition of those who despise God by loving the world and their own flesh rather than him. And because that was where my heart lay, I was bound to fall into mortal sin, because almost everything that I did tended, by virtue of my habitual intention to please myself before all else, to obstruct and deaden the work of grace in my soul.” (page 252)

Quiet Reflection Leader: Heavenly Father, help us in our struggle as we ascend closer to you throughout our life’s journey, in Jesus Christ and through the working of the Holy Spirit. Give us the grace to

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accompany others on this journey and to be your instruments of love, peace, and healing. For the good of the universal church, let us respond: Make us your instruments, O Lord.

For our holy leaders in the church, that they may have the grace of discernment to read into our hearts, and the wisdom and strength to guide us on our journeys of life. Let us pray to the Lord: Make us your instruments, O Lord.

That the grace of forgiveness may be active in nations where sin has caused deep wounds, and that you lead us to the peace that we ourselves cannot create alone. Let us pray to the Lord: Make us your instruments, O Lord.

For those discerning baptism, that we may help them to see the truth and believe in Jesus, who gives them their spiritual sight. Let us pray to the Lord: Make us your instruments, O Lord.

That we who are baptized may live as children of the light, producing in our lives every kind of goodness in righteousness and truth. Let us pray to the Lord: Make us your instruments, O Lord.

That Jesus may be the good and gentle shepherd of all who suffer and are passing through a dark valley, giving them courage with the anointing of joy and grace. Let us pray to the Lord: Make us your instruments, O Lord.

For our faithful departed ones, that Jesus, the light of the world, may raise them up to the realms of light and peace in heaven. Let us pray to the Lord: Make us your instruments, O Lord.

Leader: At our savior’s command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:

All: Our Father…

Leader: And let us pray together: My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen. (Fr. Thomas Merton) 192

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R.C.I.A. Team Project - Post- Session Questionnaire Please answer as honestly as possible. All answers will be kept anonymous.

Please circle the appropriate number. 5 4 3 2 1 Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly I don’t Agree Disagree know 1. I can describe what “conversion” (turning toward God) is. 5 4 3 2 1

2. I can recognize moments of conversion toward God in my 5 4 3 2 1 own life.

3. I can give examples of the role of conversion in the 5 4 3 2 1 Catholic tradition.

4. Our R.C.I.A. program does a good job in considering the 5 4 3 2 1 spiritual progress of each person to be baptized.

5. I think that the experience of the R.C.I.A. rites (such as the 5 4 3 2 1 Rite of Acceptance and the Rite of Election) is important to the spiritual journey of the people who are seeking to be baptized.

6. I can identify what signs of conversion an inquirer should 5 4 3 2 1 demonstrate before celebrating the Rite of Acceptance.

7. I can identify what signs of conversion a catechumen 5 4 3 2 1 should demonstrate before celebrating the Rite of Election.

8. I can recognize signs in the parish community that its 5 4 3 2 1 members are experiencing moments of conversion.

9. I can identify specific aspects of the R.C.I.A. process that 5 4 3 2 1 assist the catechumens in growing in their relationship with God.

10. I can identify specific aspects of the R.C.I.A. process that 5 4 3 2 1 assist the parish community in growing in their relationship with God.

11. I can define what “catechesis” means as part of the 5 4 3 2 1 R.C.I.A.

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Please circle the appropriate number. 5 4 3 2 1 Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly I don’t Agree Disagree know 12. I feel a responsibility for the spiritual progress of the 5 4 3 2 1 people who are seeking to be baptized.

13. I feel a responsibility for the spiritual progress of the entire 5 4 3 2 1 parish community.

14. I feel that those who are seeking baptism need to interact 5 4 3 2 1 in a deep and meaningful way with members of the parish who are not part of the R.C.I.A. team.

18. What do you think your R.C.I.A. team does very well?

19. In what ways do you think your R.C.I.A. team could or should improve?

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Appendix C. Pre-Session and Post-Session Questionnaire Results

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R.C.I.A. Team Project – Pre-Session Questionnaire 1. About how long have you been a member of the R.C.I.A. team at this parish (Circle one):

Answer Options Response Percent Response Count a. New (less than 1 year) 60.0% 9 b. 1 to 3 years 6.7% 1 c. 4 to 6 years 13.3% 2 d. 7 to 9 years 6.7% 1 e. 10 to 15 years 0.0% 0 f. More than 15 years 6.7% 1 No response 6.6% 1

2. What type of training have you had related to the R.C.I.A.? (Circle all that apply):

Answer Options Response Percent Response Count a. Formal team training at the parish 20.0% 3 b. Informal training by team member(s) 13.3% 2 c. Diocesan training 20.0% 3 d. Workshop(s) outside the Diocese 20.0% 3 e. Self-trained (did your own research, 26.7% 4 read book(s), on-the-job experience, etc.) g. Other / not sure 40.0% 6 (1 noted “Convert/went through R.C.I.A.”, 2 noted “No training”)

3. What role did you play on the R.C.I.A. team this past year? (Circle all that apply):

Answer Options Response Percent Response Count a. Assisted with Inquirers 26.7% 4 b. Taught catechesis session(s) 20.0% 3 c. Broke open the Word at Mass with 6.7% 1 catechumens (Dismissal Rite) d. Sponsor 13.3% 2 e. Coordinated liturgical rite(s) 6.7% 1 f. Lead mystagogy session(s) after Easter 6.7% 1 h. Other / not sure 46.6% 7 (1 noted “Prayer”, 3 noted (None of these”) 205

R.C.I.A. Team Project – Pre-Session and Post-Session Questionnaires 4. I can describe what “conversion” is.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 40.0% 6 73.3% 11 +33.3% 4 Agree 46.7% 7 26.7% 4 -20.0% 3 Disagree 13.3% 2 0.0% 0 -13.3% 2 Strongly Disagree 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- 1 I don’t know 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- Average -- 4.27 -- 4.73 +10.8%

5. I can recognize moments of conversion toward God in my own life.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 40.0% 6 73.3% 11 +33.3% 4 Agree 60.0% 9 26.7% 4 -33.3% 3 Disagree 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- 2 Strongly Disagree 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- 1 I don’t know 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- Average -- 4.4 -- 4.73 +7.5%

6. I can give examples of the role of conversion in the Catholic tradition.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 33.3% 5 66.7% 10 +33.4% 4 Agree 20.0% 3 33.3% 5 +13.3% 3 Disagree 26.7% 4 0.0% 0 -26.7% 2 Strongly Disagree 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- 1 I don’t know 20.0% 3 0.0% 0 -20.0% Average -- 3.47 -- 4.67 +34.6%

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7. Our R.C.I.A. program does a good job in considering the spiritual progress of each person to be baptized.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 20.0% 3 33.3% 5 +13.3% 4 Agree 26.7% 4 40.0% 6 +13.3% 3 Disagree 6.6% 1 0.0% 0 -6.6% 2 Strongly Disagree 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- 1 I don’t know 46.7% 7 26.7% 4 -20.0% Average -- 2.73 -- 3.53 +29.3%

8. I think that the experience of the R.C.I.A. rites (such as the Rite of Acceptance and the Rite of Election) is important to the spiritual journey of the people who are seeking to be baptized.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 46.7% 7 93.3% 14 +46.6% 4 Agree 46.7% 7 6.7% 1 -40.0% 3 Disagree 6.6% 1 % 0 -6.6% 2 Strongly Disagree 0.0% 0 % 0 -- 1 I don’t know 0.0% 0 % 0 -- Average -- 4.4 -- 4.93 +12.0%

Note: One participant did not complete the back page of the Pre-Session Questionnaire. For the remaining questions, there were only 14 responses to the Pre-Session questions instead of 15.

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9. I can identify what signs of conversion an inquirer should demonstrate before celebrating the Rite of Acceptance.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 14.3% 2 26.7% 4 +12.4% 4 Agree 35.7% 5 60.0% 9 +24.3% 3 Disagree 21.4% 3 13.3% 2 -8.1% 2 Strongly Disagree 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- 1 I don’t know 28.6% 4 0.0% 0 -28.6% Average -- 3.07 -- 4.13 +34.5%

10. I can identify what signs of conversion a catechumen should demonstrate before celebrating the Rite of Election.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 21.4% 3 33.3% 5 +11.9% 4 Agree 28.6% 4 60.0% 9 +31.4% 3 Disagree 21.4% 3 6.7% 1 -14.7% 2 Strongly Disagree 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- 1 I don’t know 28.6% 4 0.0% 0 -28.6% Average -- 3.14 -- 4.47 +42.4%

11. I can recognize signs in the parish community that its members are experiencing moments of conversion.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 14.3% 2 26.7% 4 +14.2% 4 Agree 71.4% 10 66.6% 10 -- 3 Disagree 0.0% 0 6.7% 1 +7.1% 2 Strongly Disagree 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- 1 I don’t know 14.3% 2 0.0% 0 -14.3% Average -- 3.71 -- 4.2 +13.2% 208

12. I can identify specific aspects of the R.C.I.A. process that assist the catechumens in growing in their relationship with God.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 28.5% 4 26.7% 4 -1.8% 4 Agree 14.3% 2 73.3% 11 +59.0% 3 Disagree 14.3% 2 % 0 -14.3% 2 Strongly Disagree 14.3% 2 % 0 -14.3% 1 I don’t know 28.6% 4 % 0 -28.6% Average -- 3.0 -- 4.27 +42.3%

13. I can identify specific aspects of the R.C.I.A. process that assist the parish community in growing in their relationship with God.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 21.4% 3 26.7% 4 +5.3% 4 Agree 7.1% 1 73.3% 11 +66.2% 3 Disagree 28.6% 4 0.0% 0 -28.6% 2 Strongly Disagree 7.2% 1 0.0% 0 -7.2% 1 I don’t know 35.7% 5 0.0% 0 -35.7% Average -- 2.71 -- 4.27 +57.6%

14. I can define what “catechesis” means as part of the R.C.I.A.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 28.6% 4 53.3% 8 +24.7% 4 Agree 28.6% 4 46.7% 7 +18.1% 3 Disagree 21.4% 3 0.0% 0 -21.4% 2 Strongly Disagree 7.1% 1 0.0% 0 -7.1% 1 I don’t know 14.3% 2 0.0% 0 -14.3% Average -- 3.5 -- 4.53 +29.4% 209

15. I feel responsibility for the spiritual progress of the people who are seeking to be baptized.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 28.6% 4 80.0% 12 +51.4% 4 Agree 57.1% 8 20.0% 3 -37.1% 3 Disagree 14.3% 2 0.0% 0 -- 2 Strongly Disagree 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- 1 I don’t know 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- Average -- 4.14 -- 4.8 +15.9%

16. I feel a responsibility for the spiritual progress of the entire parish community.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 35.7% 5 80.0% 12 +44.3% 4 Agree 50.0% 7 13.3% 2 -36.7% 3 Disagree 14.3% 2 6.7% 1 -7.6% 2 Strongly Disagree 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- 1 I don’t know 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- Average -- 4.21 -- 4.73 +12.4%

17. I feel that those who are seeking baptism need to interact in a deep and meaningful way with members of the parish who are not part of the R.C.I.A. team.

Answer Options Pre-Session Post-Session % Change Response Response Response Response Percent Count Percent Count 5 Strongly Agree 35.7% 5 73.3% 11 +37.6% 4 Agree 35.7% 5 26.7% 4 -9.0% 3 Disagree 7.2% 1 0.0% 0 -7.2% 2 Strongly Disagree 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 -- 1 I don’t know 21.4% 3 0.0% 0 -21.4% Average -- 3.64 -- 4.73 +29.9% 210

18. What do you think your R.C.I.A. team does very well? Pre-session Responses: - They have good teachers and are consistent in their teaching - Create a welcoming environment to set the stage for all that follows - Our inquiry is very meaningful. Our walking with our candidates and catechumens is spiritually motivated - Not directly involved - Interaction / discussion - Communicates; representation – lay, priest, pastoral minister - Journey with candidates - I saw “more” people than expected as converts - Parish finds those interested and offers encouragement - Planned regular program and fellowship - Give of their time and talents to bring a deeper understanding of the love that God has for them on their journey to heaven and becoming a full member of the Holy Church

Post-session Responses: - I don’t know - Team individual instruction with catechumens - Dedicated and caring and present with prayer and love - The team comes together to support the candidates - Everything – from testimony - N/A not active - Journeying and getting to know our candidates and catechumens. We flex and bend to receive each person individually and as a group. We help them to know they are witnesses to the whole church - They meet for instruction weekly from fall until Easter - I have now volunteered to become an inquiry member as a result of this course! - Developing a strong relationship with each catechumen - Only one Lent’s R.C.I.A. experience

19. In what ways do you think your R.C.I.A. team could or should improve? Pre-session Responses: - They should get the whole parish involved - More diversity: more MEN! - More participation from the parish at large; more participation from diverse presenters; more team growth; meeting all candidates and catechumens where they are - More up-to-date material

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- More involvement with the parish community; communicate what the R.C.I.A. is doing; invite others not committed as team to come to session when interested; publicize topics - More adoration, given prayers, to be prayed voluntarily that prevail much - Would have to become more active to give knowledgeable answer - Better screening of new people - Can’t think of a thing and Linda is fantastic

Post-session Responses: - It seems to me there are two main pillars of R.C.I.A.: the role of the catechist with respect to the catechumens, and the role of the community with respect to the catechumens. Both pillars must be emphasized equally. Being basically a loner my whole life, I have always preferred the first pillar – the one-on-one with the person who has interested me, to whom I have been drawn. Perhaps this is a point that can expressed more strongly: some people respond more to the one-on-one, others to community - Much more involvement with community, extend total time for program - Half or more who have gone through not going to Mass! Not sure what’s missing! No ongoing mystagogy after initiation! - Better screening of people who are not ready to make this commitment - More post-initiation support to help integrate the initiated into the parish community - No suggestions - Opportunities to involve the parish as a whole - We need a larger group to help our candidates and catechumens get a bigger picture of our Church – their Church - They should have a longer time of preparation and they should continue to meet for a longer time after Easter. They should get the whole parish involved. “Thanks” - By incorporating my enthusiasm into their team - Meet more often with them maybe go on a retreat or pilgrimage - More communal welcoming

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Appendix D. “Rite of Acceptance” Mystagogical Reflection

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Rite of Acceptance - Mystagogical Reflection (Ritual, Conversion and Community)

1. Reflect on the movements of the liturgy enactment (Candidate’s First Acceptance of the Gospel, Affirmation by the Sponsors and the Assembly, Signing of the Candidates with the Cross, Liturgy of the Word). Where in the liturgy did you encounter God? - Deeper and deeper, all along. First a stranger and then welcomed – it built up! Even the Rosary Group watched! - In the reading – “Come on, Simon, we found the Christ” - In the Signing – we thrive on touch – our senses will deteriorate. Someone is here with me – Sponsor represents he Church and we see them. We offend God with our senses – sin goes through them (take them, devil!). Here senses become an avenue to God. - In the Signing – it’s impossible to go around Christ’s cross

2. Think about the symbols of this liturgy: procession into the church, affirmation by sponsors and assembly, signing with the Cross, proclamation of Scripture, presentation of a Bible, dismissal, etc.). What spoke to you and why? - The priest made it sacred - The procession – solidarity, gathering, support - Faith and works for salvation - The Word - Outside the brick church, in the cold, wandering – threshold rituals

3. How did your way of participation in the liturgy (as a candidate, as a sponsor, as the presider, as lectors, as members of the community) speak to you? How did it affect your experience? - The role of the assembly was important - In a different role than normal - Candidate – how much I need Christ and the Church - Candidate – the feeling it gave me - I was in R.C.I.A. many years ago and only the priest was at this rite. There was no community! I like this better. - Prayers of the Faithful - Experience as part of it

4. What did the ritual reveal about the personal conversion journey of the inquirers/candidates (now catechumens)? - Serious commitment – scary! Gradual, now shoved! New phase! - Planning, choice, execution – begins the journey – we have choice, supported by all - Look back, now, part of the journey

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5. What was the role of the sponsor in the ritual? What was the role of the community in the ritual? What did the ritual reveal about the conversion journey of the entire community? - Greet and know catechumens! - Sponsor – pray with, bring you into the Body - Whole community responsible! - Direct support - Witness - Official welcome - Not alone - When rough spots, ask Sponsor

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