February 6, 2009
The Christian Journey
Holy Saturday for the RCIA: Is it ‘graduation’ or a leading into life?
BY FATHER JIM SAUER
Recap: The Message recently reported on the “Town Hall” meetings held last fall by Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger, the Strategic Task Force established to look at long-range diocesan plans, and a series of concerns to be written about in the Message.
The two captivating my interest were:
- the large percentage of Catholics in our diocese no longer “attending” Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, and
- the questions dealing with new members not remaining in the Church once they are received during the Easter Vigil or at other times of the year (for the already baptized).
The first question was the topic of my column last week. Following are my thoughts on the second question.
The second concern captivating my interest deals with new members not remaining in the Church once they are received during the Easter Vigil or at other times of the year (for the already baptized). If this is true, why is it happening in our parishes? There may be as many answers to this question as there are catechumens and candidates. Over the next few weeks, I would like to propose several ideas why this may be occurring and concrete steps we can undertake to minimize this. The prayer concluding the Litany of Saints during the Easter Vigil reminds us that “the work of our humble ministry may only be brought to perfection by God’s mighty power.” While we must strive to do whatever we can to strengthen the faith of our new members, we also need to remember that we are only God’s ministers. The final responsibility for fidelity to one’s baptismal commitment lies between our new members and God.
Steven Covey, in his book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” teaches that the second habit to becoming more effective is “Begin with the end in mind.” This habit may be used by any person for his or her ministry, career, personal goals, business or Church project. If we know a project’s “end,” then we can more easily map out the direction to attain that “end.” For example, if the RCIA’s “end” is only the teaching of Church doctrine, then we simply need to conduct a lecture series on Church doctrines and presto! we have our new Catholic(s).
Our life goals operate the same way, don’t they? If the “end” of our life is to make $10 million by the age of 30, then all we need do is map out a way of arriving there. This may give our consciences permission to walk over people, not to pay them a just wage, etc. The driving force is reaching our “end.” “Begin with the end in mind” is an important principle for anything we undertake.
What is the “end” of the RCIA? The Vatican II bishops spelled out very clearly in the Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, no. 14 that the RCIA is “not simply a presentation of teachings and precepts, but a formation in the whole of Christian life and a sufficiently prolonged period of training; by these means the disciples will become bound to Christ as their master. Catechumens should . . . be properly initiated into the practices of gospel living . . . they should be led gradually into the life of faith, liturgy and charity belonging to the people of God.”
So often, in our discussions we tend so to overemphasize the inspirational Holy Saturday celebration of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist that it’s possible that the celebration of these sacraments may be understood as the “end” of the RCIA. For some, once these have been “received,” then their goal may have been attained. We need to help our new members understand that the sacraments of initiation form a bridge into the life of the believing, loving and worshipping community of the Church. If not, we run the possible risk that Holy Saturday will not be initiation into the Christ and His Church, but rather will be understood as a “graduation ceremony.”
RCIA team members, is the “end” of the RCIA process in your parish in sync with the bishops of Vatican II, namely, to “lead the catechumens gradually into the life of faith, liturgy and charity belonging to the people of God?” If not, what changes do you need to make to “begin with this end in mind?”