Adult Education Classes

     Come to the Parish Hall on Sunday morning.

R.C.I.A.

     "Once upon a time, in the not too distance past, adults who wanted to join the Catholic Church went through six weeks of 'convert instructions' and were baptized quietly on a Sunday afternoon in a dark church with a few relatives present, two of whom probably also served as godparents. A short time later, perhaps the following Sunday, the new converts received their First Communion, but probably with little attention to the fact that they were joining the community at the Table of the Lord. Confirmation was left until the next visit by the bishop."

     The RCIA makes four essential changes in the scenario.

     First, it restores the original order of the Sacraments of Initiation, which is Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. The three sacraments are celebrated as one Sacrament of Christian Initiation at the Easter Vigil.

     Second, the RCIA stresses the need for a living experience of the Church, and not just knowledge about the Church. Although the RCIA includes instruction in the facts of the faith, it is but one part of a much larger experience of "living the faith" with members of the Church.

     Third, the RCIA puts an end to the quiet, dark, almost secretive Baptism of adults and makes the welcoming of new Christians a public community event.

     Fourth, the RCIA stresses that conversion is begun by the Holy Spirit, and is an extended process. The desire that a person exhibits for becoming a Christian is a response to what the Spirit has already begun and is seen in the context of a journey to faith that is most often much longer than six week of 'convert instructions'."

     The initiation of adults is for the life of the whole Church, not just for converts. The presence of catechumens journeying toward initial conversion in our parishes models for us the deeper conversion to which we are all called. We all experience God's call to tum around, change our lives, and improve our relationship with the Lord."

(From The RCIA: The Art of Making New Catholics by Sandra DeGidio, O.S.M.)