On the RCIA, by Jessica D'Souza

Here's a lovely bit of sharing about the RCIA by Jessica D'Souza, a former Don Bosco parishioner:

When we migrated from India to Canada, going to Church was still one of our main priorities. One Sunday after mass the lay pastoral associate went up & talked about the RCIA. That’s an adult interested in becoming Catholic should sign up for the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults)

To us it was all so new & abstract. After a couple of times we understood, that even an adult could get into our Catholic faith by being baptized, receiving the Eucharist, and being confirmed.

After a couple of years, Sudhir & I were approached by the Deacon of the parish to sponsor some Candidates. The role of a Sponsor is to be a companion, guide, representative of the community & a witness.

Initially we thought it was not meant for us, or that we were not worthy to be called by the Holy Spirit. So the Deacon said we could go home & pray over it. Since Sudhir is involved in our Little Man (Shane’s) extracurricular activities, I thought it would be the best thing for me, to be able to give something back to the church & the community.

The RCIA is a faith journey for adults, wishing to either get into the Catholic Church or get back into their faith, something they've not being practicing for years.

Classes are held every Tuesday night & we have 3 retreats to go for. It’s a process from September right up to after Easter, which is a period of Mystagogy.

The church in the western world makes this process so accessible, & it's amazing to see the numbers growing. This year we have a class of 11 elect & candidates.

It’s amazing to experience the faith these adults come with & by the time they're done... Honestly, some of them have such a thirst for knowledge & their belief in God & the Holy Spirit is unbelievable. They tell us their story of encountering the Holy Spirit & how their lives have changed. They come from different walks of life.

For me too, being a cradle catholic, having learnt Catholicism when young, I barely knew anything. Learning as an adult & my faith journey with my candidate has increased my knowledge and faith multifold.

I've learnt many lessons in life as well. Now for me, I know for sure that the Holy Spirit is my real teacher, God is in charge & that Prayer is a very important tool. Becoming Christ like is my goal.

RCIA - Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults

Years ago, when I was a deacon and doing ministry in Ahmednagar, I was asked to do an adult baptism. To my great horror, the only rite available was the rite of infant baptism. With my kaccha Marathi, I had to somehow go through the sacrament, trying to make adjustments.

Very few people - and that includes, strangely, also priests - know that there is a Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults. It is this rite that should be used for adult baptisms. The infant baptism rite is meant for the infant who cannot answer for himself or herself. The adult can very well answer for himself/herself.

You might wonder why this RCIA is not called Rite of Baptism of Adults. There is a good reason: it is because, once anyone is given baptism, s/he has a right also to Confirmation and the Eucharist. The infant cannot be given these conveniently, so they are postponed. But there is absolutely no reason for postponing these sacraments for the adult. So the RCIA involves baptism, confirmation and eucharist all in one beautiful rite.

Dreadfully, some parish priests even make the catechumens make their confession BEFORE BAPTISM. This is, as I have said, simply dreadful. There is no sacrament of confession before baptism; and baptism is the washing away of all sins, the complete cleansing of our hearts.... The sacrament of reconciliation should be given neither before nor immediately after adult baptism. It is certainly needed, but later; it is not to be given during the rite or immediately after. To do such things betrays the most distressing incomprehension of the rite of baptism, a complete devaluation of baptism, an absolute failure to understand what baptism is about.

Jessica D'Souza, who used to be in our parish, and is now in Canada, helps in her parish preparing adults for Christian Initiation. I have asked her to share something with us about the process. It would be wonderful to hear about these experiences.