August 31, 2012

RCIA v. 1 – 2012 – The first RCIA class was more than a year back in my rear view window, and as of Easter, 2013, its class members were all now full members of the Catholic Church.

       March 31, 2013 – Easter

April 30, 2013 – My husband and I agreed that we were both ready for my entrance into the Catholic Church.

May 31, 2013 – Melissa had directed me to Fr. Ron who would be open to a modified RCIA path for me into the Catholic Church.

June 30, 2013 – I met with Fr. Ron and Jason to discuss the possibility of entering the church before Easter – with the emphasis on my getting baptized.

******************

Tick-tock – time was passing…something which is most particularly noticeable after one passes the age of 60.  One month gone after meeting with Fr. Ron, and I was still waiting to receive the promised book for Jason’s RCIA class.

Anxious to get going with life, I contacted Jason for the title.  On Amazon I ordered Peter Kreeft’s Catholic Christianity: A Complete Catechism of Catholic Church Beliefs Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  

It arrived…$20…and another book about Catholicism on my shelves.  Three books on the catechism of the church…and I was still waiting for RCIA to begin.

——– ORIGINAL MESSAGE ——–
Subject: Kreeft Book Arrived
From: JANE JIMENEZ
Date: Mon, July 21, 2014

Hi, Jason,
Peter Kreeft’s book arrived Saturday.  My husband Vic and I leave Friday for a week with our son and family in Maryland…returning August 1.  Do you have an RCIA plan for the book that I can start with?
~~ Thanks!  Jane Jimenez

——– Message ——–
To: Jane Jimenez
Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2014

Good to hear from you.  I’m almost done with the curriculum.  As soon as I finish, I’ll let you know the sequence we’re following.  Have you given any more thought to doing it with the group?  Community is the best context.
~~ Jason

——– Message ——–
Subject: Kreeft Book Arrived
From: JANE JIMENEZ
Date: Tue, July 22, 2014

Jason,

What is your time frame for the RCIA group?  Time frame for my entering the church?
~~ Jane

——– Message ——–

To: Jane Jimenez
Subject: Kreeft Book Arrived
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2014

Some, when ready, enter on Easter, but like Fr. Ron said, we can’t have a blanket time frame because it’s all about someone’s personal readiness.  I hope that makes sense.  At any rate, you’ll discover and experience more from the group than you will from just me, so I hope you’ll consider attending.  Takes place on Tuesday evenings, beginning Sept 16.
~~Jason

——– Message ——–

To: Jason
RE: Kreeft Book Arrived
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2014

Thanks, Jason.  We leave tomorrow 6 a.m. for a week and return August 1.  I will check back with you the first week of August.
~~Jane

******************

Thankfully, regular life intervened and gave some amount of respite from my anxieties about RCIA.

Our trip to Maryland for a visit with kids and grand kids was a wonderful time away from the daily details of life.  By the time we returned, I anticipated that Jason would have his lessons plans completed, and he could give me some reading assignments.  I was more than ready.

At home and settled in from our trip, I gave Jason a call.

“Hi, Jason, this is Jane.  I’m back from our trip and wondered if you had a plan for me to get started.”

“Our RCIA class is starting next month.  It’s not that far away.  Why don’t you sign up and attend the class?”

“If I did that, what would be the schedule for me to be baptized and enter the church?”

“Well, we have classes until Easter, and everyone enters at Easter Vigil Mass.  It’s a wonderful experience, and you really bond and develop good relationships with other people going through the RCIA program with you.”

“I guess I’m a bit confused, Jason.  Fr. Ron had mentioned an option that would allow me to be baptized prior to Easter.  I understood that there was an option for me that would permit me to do that and to enter the Church sooner than Easter…which is eight months from now.”

“Why don’t you want to be a part of RCIA?”

“I’m happy to learn, to study and to take classes.  But I want to be baptized.”

“You know the Church allows you to wait until Easter.  As a catechumen, if something were to happen to you before Easter, you would be treated as if you had been baptized.  You don’t have to be baptized before Easter.”

“Maybe not…but I want to be baptized.  I don’t want to wait.  Fr. Ron said that was possible.  It seems like you are saying that it’s not.  Are you saying that the only option for me is to go through the regular RCIA program?”

“Well…ah…I…uh…I’m confused myself.  I don’t really know what I am supposed to do.  And I don’t have the authority to make a decision like that.  I don’t really see what the problem is and why you don’t want to take the RCIA program.  As a catechumen, the church lets you wait and get baptized at Easter.”

“Well…ah…I understand your situation Jason.  Maybe the best way to understand this is to let Fr. Ron clarify it for us.  Thanks, Jason.”

By now…I felt like I was the last person in line at a party where we were playing the telephone game.  I had begun with Fr. Ron 45 days ago.  If I could trust my memory, I had been told that he would consider an optional form of RCIA for me that would permit me to be baptized and even enter the church prior to Easter, hopefully before Christmas.  Two months had passed since that meeting, and I felt like I was back in the batter’s box warming up.

******************

——– ORIGINAL MESSAGE ——–
From: JANE JIMENEZ
Date: Wed, August 06, 2014 8:27 pm

Good evening Father Ron and Jason,

I am somewhat confused at this point.  Is it possible to speak by phone with Father Ron?  I find back-and-forth dialogue easier in one brief phone conversation than in using e-mail?

I am available at Father’s convenience on my cell phone.  If you prefer to set a date/time for the call, just let me know what works.  I am also more than happy to come in.  I just want to conserve your time in your busy schedule.

Thank you,
Jane Jimenez

 

******************

 NEXT:  DEACON DAVE, RCIA v.3

RETURN to the COMING HOME Contents.

 Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.