The Business of RCIA

In Teaching as a Subversive Activity, Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner make some interesting observations that could very well apply to initiation catechists. For example:

The trouble is that most teachers have the idea that they are in some other sort of business. Some believe, for example, that they are in the “information dissemination” business....

There are some teachers who think they are in the “transmission of our cultural heritage” business....

Unless our schools can switch to the right business, their clientele will either go elsewhere (as many are doing) or go into a severe case of “future shock”....

What if the authors had been talking about catechists and churches instead of teachers and schools? Would their observations strike a chord? Do we believe we are transmitting information or a cultural heritage to the catechumens? If that's not the business we should be in, what is?

Our business
There is a number out there that bothers me. The number is 50. (And not just because this year will be my 50th birthday!) About 50 percent of those baptized at the Easter Vigil do not remain active in their parishes. On the one hand, that's good news. That's about 10 percent higher than cradle Catholics. On the other hand, in what other parts of our lives do we accept a 50 percent failure rate?

And we don't really accept the failure here either. We tend to say things like, we told them this was a lifelong commitment, and we told them community life was central to Catholicism, and we told them this was initiation not graduation.

Some do accept the failure and respond by saying things like, I guess we didn't tell them enough, or maybe we didn't tell them often enough, or maybe we didn't go into enough detail.

Either response is missing the point. We are not in the information business. We are in the conversion business. Our job is to convert hearts to Jesus. If the catechumens are not remaining committed, it is because their conversion we weak or non-existent.

Conversion never happens through the transmission of information or the transmission of a cultural heritage. Conversion happens when the Holy Spirit quickens the heart of a seeker and the Christian community surrounds that person with love. Conversion happens through relationship, not education.

We need to get down to business for the sake of the 50.

Handy handouts on RCIA

QI'm trying to find some sort of brochure or flyer to be able to hand out to anyone who's interested, to explain what RCIA is. Do you know where I could find something?

ASt. Anthony Messenger Press publishes a "Catholic Update" that is just the thing you are looking for. It is titled "An New Look at the RCIA," and it is written by Rita Burns Senseman. Rita is a terrific writer and knows just about everything there is to know about RCIA. Click here for more info.

For some handouts that are a little more in-depth, maybe for the team, you might want to check out the "Seek the Living God" series by J. Michael McMahon. You can see a sample here.

Also take a look at "How Does a Person Become Catholic" from Liturgy Training Publications.

Finally, check out this summary I wrote, posted here.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Teaching secrets from the ancient church

Love of God does not spring from study. It is not from others, after all, that we learn to enjoy the light, to yearn for life, and to love our parents and those who nourish us. Much less, then, does love of God arise from external teaching. Rather, as soon as people exist they have the germ of reason, and this contains the power and impulse to love. In the school of divine instruction, therefore, we but cultivate this power and wisely nourish it; thus, with God's help, it is brought to full development. For our part, we shall endeavor here, as far as the Holy Spirit enables us, to fan into flame this spark of love for God that is hidden within you.

From the Longer Rules by St. Basil the Great (as cited in Benedictine Daily Prayer, p. 521)