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RCIA - Rite of
Christian Initiation of Adults -
Interested in Catholicism?"It is good that we are here." St. Peter said these words to Jesus in the Gospel of St. Matthew, and we say them to you now. It is good that you are here. Whatever you are looking for, whatever your heart longs for, the Catholic Church is here to help you live life to the fullest.
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The RCIA Team Welcomes You!
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Each year on Holy Saturday during the Easter Vigil, thousands are baptized into the Catholic Church across the United States. Parishes welcome through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)...
- Those who have never been baptized.
- Those baptized in another Christian faith tradition who may be interested in becoming a Catholic.
- Catholics who were baptized but have not celebrated all of their Sacraments.
- Perhaps you are engaged or married to a Catholic and want to know more about your partner's religion. Maybe your children are being raised as Catholics and you want to better understand the faith tradition they are learning. Or, perhaps you have attended church with a Catholic friend and would like to know more.
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Welcome Home!
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Discover the history, spirituality, beauty, and accomplishments of the Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ more than 2,000 years ago. We are Catholic!
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Becoming CatholicRCIA is a formation process for adults and children over the age of 7 years who desire to learn about the Catholic faith and who are considering joining the Catholic Church.
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Thinking about becoming Catholic?
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Maybe you have thought about joining the Catholic Church, but are feeling a little lost? You have come to the right place! Here you will find some detailed, Christ-centered guidance on faith development and the process for becoming Catholic.
Where do you begin?
Well, you just begin from where you are now!
Many adults entering the Catholic Church, or those just thinking about it, follow a process known as the RCIA – the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Children age 7 and older who have never been baptized follow the same RCIA process. We refer to their plan as RCIY – the Rite of Christian Initiation of Youth.
The RCIA process has several distinct stages. These Catholic RCIA stages are a good model of faith development itself.
- Inquiry: The initial period before you decide to enter the Catholic Church. You’re asking questions and checking it out, but may not yet be ready to commit.
- Catechumenate: Those who decide to enter the Church and are being trained for a life in Christ are called catechumens, an ancient name from the early Church. In this stage, you are developing your faith and are being “catechized” – learning catechism, or the basic points about Catholic faith and life.
- Purification and Enlightenment: The Church will help you focus and intensify your faith as you prepare to commit your life to Christ and be received into the Church.
- Initiation itself, the culmination of the whole process! You are received into the Church during the Easter Vigil Mass, where you will receive the sacraments of initiation: baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist. (If you have already been baptized in a Christian faith, you won’t be baptized again.)
- Mystagogy: After reception into the Church at Easter, this period lets you reflect and learn more about the mysteries of the Mass and the Sacraments that you now participate in fully. It is also a time to reflect on how your spiritual gifts can best be shared to connect with the community.
Read more about the Catholic RCIA stages below... to give you a good overview to think about. When you're ready to move forward and talk about entering the RCIA at St. Thomas More, complete the inquiry form on this page!! We would love to have you join us!
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The RCIA Stages
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In the inquiry stage, you are beginning to find out about Jesus, Christianity, and the Catholic Church. Your main task here is to develop your faith a little bit. Get to know Christ, prayer, the Catholic Church, and how we as Christians live. That’s the only way you can make an informed decision about entering the Catholic Church.
Some typical questions you’ll consider in this period include:- Does God exist?
- If God is real, how will I respond?
- Why do I exist? Does life have meaning? If so, what is it?
- Who is Jesus? What do I think of Him?
- Can I really have a personal relationship with Jesus?
- Is Christ the only way?
- Why call God “Father”?
- What is the Catholic Church, and why should I enter it?
- Why do I keep doing things I know to be wrong?
- How should I live?
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As a catechumenate, your faith has begun to develop and you will need to learn and grow more. You focus on catechesis in this stage: learning about the faith, how to live as a Christian, and developing your interior life. Your job now is to come into closer contact with the Living God and learn more about the Catholic Faith.
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This period of purification and enlightenment is the final stage before receiving the Sacraments of Initiation into the Church at the Easter Vigil Mqss: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. (Those already baptized with a valid baptism in another Christian church are not baptized again.) This stage of serious reflection calls you to deeper conversion in preparation for your renewal at Easter. This is what the season of Lent is for, but it has a special intensity for you as you are entering the Church and receiving the Sacraments of Initiation.
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This stage of mystagogy during Easter is for continued reflection on the sacraments you have received when you were received into the Church, especially the Eucharist. It is also a time to investigate your spiritual gifts and how to continue to connect with your community. The Mass and the Eucharist are the “source and summit” of the Christian life in the Catholic Church, and this period is designed to help you understand, appreciate, and live more deeply this center of Catholicism.
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Listed Here are Some Questions and Answers about Initiation. . .
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Prior to beginning the RCIA process, an individual comes to some knowledge of Jesus Christ, considers his or her relationship with Jesus Christ and is usually attracted in some way to the Catholic Church. This period is known as the Period of Evangelization and Precatechumenate. For some, this process involves a long period of searching; for others, a shorter time. Often, contact with people of faith and a personal faith experience lead people to inquire about the Catholic Church. After a conversation with a priest, or RCIA director, the person, known as an "inquirer," may seek acceptance into the Order of Catechumens, through the Rite of Acceptance. During this Rite, the inquirer stands amidst the parish community and states that he or she wants to become a baptized member of the Catholic Church. The parish assembly affirms this desire and the inquirer becomes a Catechumen.
The Period of the Catechumenate can last for as long as several years or for a shorter time. It depends on how the person is growing in faith, what questions they encounter along the way, and how God leads them on this journey. During this time, the Catechumens consider what God is saying to them in the Scriptures, what changes in their life they need to make to respond to God's inspiration, and what Baptism in the Catholic Church means. When a Catechumen and the priest and the parish team working with him or her believes the person is ready to make a faith commitment to Jesus in the Catholic Church, the next step is the request for baptism and the celebration of the Rite of Election. Even before the Catechumens are baptized, they have a special relationship to the Church.
The Rite of Election includes the enrollment of names of all the Catechumens seeking baptism at the coming Easter Vigil. Typically, on the first Sunday of Lent, the Catechumens, their sponsors and families gather at the cathedral church. The Catechumens publicly express their desire for baptism to the diocesan bishop. Their names are recorded in a book and they are called the Elect.
The days of Lent are the final Period of Purification and Enlightenment leading up to the Easter Vigil. Lent is a period of preparation marked by prayer, study, and spiritual direction for the Elect, and prayers for them by the parish communities. The Celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation takes place during the Easter Vigil Liturgy on Holy Saturday when the Elect receives the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist. Now the person is fully initiated into the Catholic Church.
As a newly initiated Catholic, they continue their formation and education continue in the Period of the Post Baptismal Catechesis, which is also called Mystagogy. This period continues at least until Pentecost. During the period the newly baptized members reflect on their experiences at the Easter Vigil and continue to learn more about the Scriptures, the Sacraments, and the teachings of the Catholic Church. In addition they reflect on how they will serve Christ and help in the Church's mission and outreach activities.
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Coming into full communion with the Catholic Church describes the process for entrance into the Catholic Church for already baptized Christians. In most cases, these individuals make a profession of faith but are not baptized again. To prepare for this reception, the people, who are called Candidates, usually participate in a formation program to help them understand and experience the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. Although some preparation may be with Catechumens preparing for baptism, the preparation for Candidates is different since they have already been baptized and committed to Jesus Christ, and many have also been active members of other Christian communities. The Candidates may be received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil or at another Sunday during the year depending on pastoral circumstances and readiness of the Candidate.
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The Easter Vigil takes place on Holy Saturday, the evening before Easter Sunday. This is the night that "shall be as bright as day" as proclaimed by the Exsultet, an ancient church hymn as we joyfully anticipate Christ's Resurrection The Holy Saturday Liturgy begins with the Service of Light, which includes the blessing of the new fire and the Paschal candle which symbolizes Jesus, the Light of the World. The second part consists of the Liturgy of the Word with a series of Scripture readings. After the Liturgy of the Word, the Catechumens are presented to the parish community, who pray for them with the Litany of the Saints. Next, the priest blesses the water, placing the Easter or Paschal candle into the baptismal water. Those seeking Baptism then renounce sin and profess their faith after which they are baptized with the priest pronouncing the words, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
After the Baptism the newly baptized are dressed in white garments and presented with a candle lighted from the Paschal Candle. They are then Confirmed by the priest or bishop who lays hands on their heads, and invokes the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He then anoints them with the oil called Sacred Chrism. The Mass continues with the newly baptized participating in the general intercessions and in bringing gifts to the altar. At Communion, the newly baptized receive the Eucharist, Christ's Body and Blood, for the first time.
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What does the white robe symbolize?
The newly baptized are dressed in a white garment after baptism to symbolize that they are washed clean of sin and that they are called to continue to walk in this newness of life.
What does the candle symbolize?
A small candle is lit from the Easter candle and given to the newly baptized as a reminder to them always to walk as children of the Light and to be the light of Christ to the world.What does the Sacred Chrism symbolize?
The Sacred Chrism, or oil, is a sign of the gift of the Holy Spirit being given to the newly baptized. It is also a sign of the close link between the mission of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, who comes to the recipient with the Father in Baptism.
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It was restored in the Church to highlight the fact that the newly baptized are received into a community of faith, which is challenged to realize that they too have become different because of this new life in the community. For adults today, the Church, after the Second Vatican Council, has restored the order of the Catechumenate in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It outlines the steps for the formation of catechumens, bringing their conversion to the faith to a greater maturity. It helps them respond more deeply to God's gracious initiative in their lives and prepares them for union with the Church community. This process is meant to form them into the fullness of the Christian life and to become disciples of Jesus, their teacher (from United States Catholic Catechism for Adults).
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For Catholics who have been Baptized, Confirmed and made First Communion but then drifted from the faith, the way they return is through the Sacrament of Penance. Catholics who were baptized but never received Confirmation and/or Eucharist also participate in a period of formation. This process of formation is completed with the reception of the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion often at the Easter Vigil or during the Easter Season.
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Prior to the Rite of Election, the Catechumen may choose a godparent / sponsor, who will accompany them on the day of Election, at the celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation, and during the Period of Mystagogy. Godparents are called to show the Catechumens good example of the Christian life, sustain them in moments of hesitancy and anxiety, bear witness, and guide their progress in the baptismal life.
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SOURCE FOR THIS Q&A: USCCB.org/beliefs-and-teachings/who-we-teach/rite-of-christian-initiation-of-adults/
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