Tag Archives: Catholic

FATHER RON – RCIA v.2

I had set every clock in the house to remind me of my appointment with Father Ron. Arriving fifteen minutes early, waiting in the church office, I wondered about the very real possibility of being Catholic before Christmas.

In short order, Fr. Ron appeared at the hall entrance and led me back into a comfortable meeting room with windows looking out to a garden atrium. Settled into chairs, and following his lead, I gave a five minute synopsis of my coming to faith and then coming to the door of the Catholic Church by following the lead of other Catholics on EWTN and attending mass this past year in my own parish. “I called my parish, and I asked if there was any other way to enter the church before next Easter. They said that their RCIA program was the only option.”

“My husband has finally come to peace with my decision to become Catholic. He won’t join me, and I don’t expect that he ever will. Now, looking ahead, I am willing to learn, to grow, to study. It’s not that I want to skip RCIA. But I can’t wait twelve months to be baptized.”

At the mention of baptism, Fr. Ron’s attention focused more intently on me. “RCIA is not a one-size-fits-all program. There are other options available. We can personalize the program for people. Tell me about your baptism.” So I did.

“RCIA is not for everyone,” he reassured me. “We can take time to talk and set out a reading plan. Then we can get together to discuss your reading and understanding.” At that moment, a young man came into the room. Fr. Ron looked up. “Let me introduce you to Jason. He is the director of our RCIA program, and I invited him to be a part of this.”

We all did the hi-hello-good-to-meet-you civilities…and returned to the conversation Fr. Ron and I were having…that is, sort of returned to it. Jason was full of youthful enthusiasm and shared his plans for the coming RCIA program. He told me he would make certain I got a free copy of the book they were using for RCIA. Fr. Ron finished the meeting, “You can start working with Jason and then keep in touch with me.”

Following Fr. Ron through the hallways and back out to the lobby, I stepped outside of the office into the parking lot…instantly blinded by the afternoon sun. I had the unsettled feeling that something significant had transpired but that I had no idea what that significant something might be.

Instead of a program of study, another appointment with Fr. Ron and a target date for getting baptized…I had…well?

Putting the keys in the ignition, I calculated that the book from Jason should arrive by Friday.

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*All names have been changed.

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NEXT: RCIA v.2

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THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

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A storm is any disturbed state of an environment or astronomical body’s atmosphere especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), heavy precipitation (snowstorm, rainstorm), heavy freezing rain (ice storm), strong winds (tropical cyclone, windstorm), or wind transporting some substance through the atmosphere as in a dust storm, blizzard, sandstorm, etc. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm]

Living in the desert all my life, I have been spared the hardships of blizzards, avalanches, hurricanes and tornadoes. In the Phoenix metropolitan area, we are lucky if we experience our average annual rainfall of ten inches.

With so few “weather events” to look forward to in the Arizona desert, we learn to recognize the signs of any approaching storm. The calm. The red sky. The eerie quiet. Put them together on any one day, and they are a dead giveaway. Tie down the house. A desert storm is on its way.

If only it were that easy when it comes to the storms of life.

In the past year, I had weathered the disappointments of RCIA. I had surveyed the landscape, counted the months and laid out the options. Like a traveler mapping out a ten month trip through Europe, I had marked the key points up ahead on my journey into the Catholic Church, calculated the time to finish, and set about gathering provisions.

But none of my plans took into account getting caught in a desert storm.

Easter had come and gone, new Catholics welcomed into the church. On the outside, I remained a protestant. Our garden was blooming. At home, my husband and I enjoyed eating outside on the patio and listening to the fountain. Looking ahead, we planned trips to visit our children on both the western and eastern seaboards of the country.

Spring, with its beautiful weather and flowers, is a generous season. Without any forewarning, one spring day, Vic and I ended up talking about churches, the Lutheran that we attended together and the Catholic that I sought. And what had seemed years away beyond the horizon suddenly lay at my feet. With equanimity and generosity, Vic said it was time. I should enter the Catholic Church. He was at peace.

I should enter the church? It was now April, after Easter. RCIA would begin again in September – six months away. Six months until the enrollment date for RCIA added to the six months to attend RCIA…this meant that I could enter the Catholic Church twelve months from now.

Twelve months. It wasn’t a lifetime. But it sure seemed like it. I figured I could hunker down and make it…except for one thing. Baptism. One year to wait for baptism?

One year?

As if God could read my mind, before the end of the week, He sent Melissa into my life. Leaving work one night, she noted my crucifix. She was a Catholic and assumed I was, too. Unable to restrain the torrent of words bubbling up from my heart, I led her through my story right up to the point of perplexity. One year. Did I really have to wait an entire year to be baptized, to become Catholic?

Melissa laughed. “Oh, no. I know a priest who worked with me on the college campus years ago. Students who came to the Newman Center wanted to become Catholic, and they didn’t have to wait. He will help you. Call Father Ron.”

In the anticipation of being baptized…of being Catholic…the signs of the coming storm never caught my eye.

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*All names have been changed.

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NEXT: FATHER RON – RCIA v.2

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THE GIFT OF FAITH

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As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. [John 17:21-23]

The gift of faith…so amazing…is given to us through the Holy Spirit, from God the Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ. But we each have our role to play. We can either invite people in…or push them away.

The language of division in the Christian faith is sure to build clouds of rain from the tears of God in heaven. Division is not divine. It resides in the condition of human beings, born of sin. Adam divided from God through disobedience. Adam and Eve divided from each other through temptation and blame. Cain and Able were divided through jealousy. In heaven, was not God weeping?

Loving us beyond our comprehension, Jesus gave his life to bring us together, both together as humans, and together with our Father. His suffering and his death on the cross, the supreme gifts making the resurrection possible…built a bridge home to the divine. And for our security on earth, He left us his Word, his apostles and his Church. Still…we are human. Born into sin.

It is tempting to blame our modern divisions on Luther and Popes, but the schism of the Reformation is only one break of many others beginning in the first days of Christian history. Mary and Martha divided over how to serve Christ and their guests. The disciples divided from the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive alabaster oil. [Mark 14:3-9] The disciples divided from the sons of Zebedee over who had the right to sit next to Jesus in heaven. [Mat 20:20-28] Peter divided from, even separated from Christ, denying him three times. And he wept bitterly.

Originally, Luther and his followers only imagined one division, a separation from the Catholic Church by those who were “not Catholic.” What Luther never envisioned was the scope and variety of beliefs and practices that would explode out of being “NOT”. Many claim there are more than 30,000 different protestant denominations. But who is to know? After all, if you are not Catholic, you are entitled to be anything…even your own denomination of one…yourself.

In its variety of denominations, protestants are generally open to banding together under the Christian tent. However, the tent is seldom large enough to include the Catholic Church. For her part, the Catholic Church has played a role in division with her claim to exclusivity in beliefs, sacraments, rituals, authority and salvation. In all of this, can we not see Jesus in heaven weeping?

Thus, few changes in church affiliation are as difficult as those for people entering the Catholic Church. The general impression is that the person is moving out of Christianity into Catholicism. Sadly, it can become the source of even more division, separating the convert from family, friends and, tragically, spouses.

Gratefully, as I moved toward the Catholic Church, my husband accepted this change with charity. I knew he would not follow me. Neither would he deny me.

Still, in the little changes of our Sunday routine, I sensed his apprehension. Even as I left the house early to go separately to mass, I committed to attending our Lutheran church as well so that we would have common experiences in our faith lives. Yet, in the finality of my eventual conversion, we would no longer share the sacrament of communion (the Eucharist).

Choosing the Catholic Church had put us on different sides of all the wrangling that takes place among Christians and Catholics. Who is right? Who is wrong? Who is closer to Jesus…who gets to sit at his right and at his left? It was easy to see that my choice could be taken as a rejection of my husband’s church and his Christian faith. He continued to push me forward on the road to Rome, but I felt a quiet hurt that doesn’t escape a wife’s attention after sharing forty years of life together.

Talking briefly, I assured him our marriage is too important for it to be undermined by Christian divisions. And I vowed to my husband that I would not make any change until he was confident that his faith would not become “less” for the sake of my faith becoming different. I would wait…weeks, months or years. For now, we would continue to worship Christ together.

This made it easy to walk away from the past September’s RCIA program. I had already mentally programmed myself for years of waiting. The following year, on March 31, Easter arrived, and the catechumens joined the Catholic Church right on schedule. Vic and I shared Easter at our Lutheran church. And having full confidence in God’s timing, I reset my RCIA clock for the coming year.

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NEXT: SLIPPAGE IN THE TRANSMISSION

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THE ECHO CHAMBER

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When you shout into a well, the sound of your shout travels down the well and is reflected (echoes) off the surface of the water at the bottom of the well. If you measure the time it takes for the echo to return and if you know the speed of sound, you can calculate the depth of the well fairly accurately.

[See: DEAR DEBORAH, Page 2 – RCIA v1.2]

HOW DEEP IS THE WELL?

Echo is something you have experienced many times. In nature, if you shout into a well or a canyon, the echo comes back a moment later. But if you have not had the joy of hearing your voice come back to you across the hills, you most certainly have had the pleasure of hearing the voices of others enhanced by echos.

In music, the use of acoustic echo and reverberation effects dates back many hundreds of years. An echo chamber, a hollow enclosure used to produce reverberated sounds, is used regularly in modern recording studios. Medieval and Renaissance sacred music relied heavily on the composers’ extensive understanding and use of the complex natural reverberation and echoes inside churches and cathedrals.

One of the most unexpected echo chambers was created in the construction of the Hamilton Mausoleum.

The interior has one of the longest-lasting echos of any building in the world, a phenomenon dramatically demonstrated to visitors by slamming the entrance doors.

Another curiosity of the interior architecture is the “Whispering Wa‘s” or walls. Two people can stand at either end of one of the curved interior walls, facing away from each other into the niche of the wall, and hold a whispered conversation. The remarkable acoustics of the walls project the sound to the listener at the other side.

Echos from mountaintops and from inside cathedrals are delightful surprises.

Echos in music studios are required mechanics.

Echos in human relationships – well…they are either delightful or painful, depending on who sends the echo back to you.

And then there are the times when the well has no bottom and the echo never comes back.

My letter to Deborah was one of many attempts at shouting from the hilltop.

My first thought was to reach out to the experts of evangelization on EWTN’s program, The Journey Home. Calling their ministry, I reached one of their key people who quickly responded to my first complaint. “That’s unconscionable, charging money for the class. In my parish, we actually make gifts to class members…a Bible and rosary beads. We bring catechisms to class for them to use.” Encouraged, I asked him what I could do about it…who would set things right in my parish.

My hopes were quickly dashed. “RCIA is designed in each parish,” he said, “and it’s not the church’s responsibility to tell them how to run their program. Wait a couple of years until you are inside the church and then see what you can do in your own parish to bring about change for the parish. Or you can go to another parish.” Not the echo I had hoped for.

I called the U.S. Council of Bishops, asking for the office that deals with RCIA curricula. “That is handled in each parish. Talk to your priest. We don’t handle that here.” An echo of disengagement.

I called the parish class leader of RCIA to ask about the fee of $60 for the class. She said the fee was already part of the RCIA program when she came to the parish and had agreed to lead the class. An uninformed echo.

I called the education office for the Diocese and asked for the priest I had heard on our local radio station. The receptionist said he would love to speak to me because they had been discussing improvements in educational programs. I left a message. Anticipation of an echo.

The priest at the Diocese called me back. “That’s not my role to tell parishes how to run their programs.” No, he didn’t want to speak to me. An echo of sour notes.

I let it rest…except for the letter sent to Deborah…and another short e-mail asking help from a University Professor host on EWTN who had recently been appointed by the Vatican to help direct efforts in the New Evangelization. At least, neither Deborah nor the Professor sent me a disappointing echo.

They sent no echo at all. My efforts had gone down a well with no bottom.

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*Names have been changed.

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NEXT: TAKING A DEEP BREATH

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DEAR DEBORAH, Page 2 — RCIA v.1.2

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[See DEAR DEBORAH, Page 1]

Thanks, Deborah,

Thanks for your notes about RCIA. I do think it is great to let parishes customize their programs. The people leading the program I attended are well-intentioned. But the bottom line is that their program is full of barriers for people just coming to faith in general or specifically exploring the Roman Catholic [RC] faith. The largest number of attendees that night had a vested interest in becoming Catholic…principally in joining their spouse in the Catholic faith or coming back to the church with confession and reconciliation.

Hopefully, a full picture of the first class is conveyed from this list:

The RCIA class series (September to April) costs $60. People were told they can pay all at one time or break it down in payments of $20 or so.
We were told we were required to purchase the Catholic Bible and the simplified United States Catholic Catechism for Adults [red cover], offered together by the church bookstore at $25 for both.
One woman inquired about the cost of the books: could she use her King James Bible? [KJV] She clearly didn’t have the money.
The leader did not accept the King James Bible and offered no guidance in helping the woman access the Deuterocanonical books from some other source to use in conjunction with her KJV.
No options were given [book cart or loaner for class reference] for people to use Bibles and Catechisms on loan for the RCIA program.
The RCIA program was outlined in a well-done syllabus. But the syllabus and RCIA program were presented as you might expect for a military induction class or freshman college class Intro to Faith. Emphasis was on meeting all the requirements so that you will be allowed to receive the sacraments seven months from now. Leader pointed out that people from the previous class had “failed” and did not get to receive the sacraments.
The list of “requirements” was interesting. Certainly, there were good ideas on the list. But, again, the presentation focused on the requirements. Example: “You are required to choose a saint. We’ll be talking about them later. There are some books about saints. You will have time to get familiar with a few of them in our classes.” Many in the class expressed anxiety about this, not having a familiarity with the saints or who they might want to choose.
Again, similar anxiety was expressed when we were told we were “required” to have a sponsor for entry into the church. The instructor moved on quickly, stating, “We’ll talk more about this later in the classes.”
One requirement is a 3-day Crusillo retreat on the schedule for a weekend in November. The implication is that if you do not attend the retreat, you will have “failed” to “pass” the RCIA program. There is an additional charge for the retreat.
The attendee questionnaire emphasized proof of baptism and marital history. In class, our leader said that you must be married in the RC church in order to receive sacraments at Easter. She was speaking quickly and might have been able to more fully explain this. But as she left it, that would tell me (if I didn’t know better) that I would not be able to enter the church.

In general, as an example of The New Evangelization, this RCIA class would not encourage any fledgling Christian who needs more understanding of the RC faith. Instead, it would reinforce every negative stereotype about Catholics…rules…regulations…fences and walls…buying our entry into the sacraments with class fees and “works”.

I know too many agnostics, atheists and lukewarm Protestants who would not come back to RCIA if this was their introduction to the Catholic faith.

My key question? What options exist in the Roman Catholic Church structure for constructing RCIA instruction, helping well-intentioned lay people who lead these classes to effectively meet and come alongside seekers and Protestants who are willing to explore the Catholic Church?

Hopefully, this suffices to lay out my most pressing questions. I was hoping that you, as a former Protestant, seminary graduate, and classroom teacher, might resonate with my concerns. My heart aches for people who need the RCIA program to lead/instruct them as Paul taught…as babes able only to drink milk.

Meanwhile, Catholic leaders speak of the need for all Christians to live a life of ongoing renewed conversion. What is the boundary between the introduction to learning the Catholic faith and that of the lifelong learning and ongoing conversion we all need to embrace Catholic doctrines?

Finally…RCIA, 7 months, and “requirements”…all of this before one is “permitted” to receive the sacraments…how does this comport with Acts 2:40-41:

⁴⁰With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” ⁴¹Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

The first Pope preached one day and baptized 3000. If he was able to sufficiently catechize them in 24 hours…what are we hoping to accomplish in effectively “withholding” the sacraments for seven months?

I say this all of this with the greatest love and respect for the Catholic Church and its people. Hopefully, it is clearly communicated, even if you are not in agreement with my concerns.

I will welcome any words you offer.

Sincerely,
Jane

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NEXT: THE ECHO CHAMBER

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