Withholding Sacraments

[Brother Adam]

Also, the rites for catechumens take place at different times in different parishes. St. Isadore's, Teresa's parish has already completed the rite of acceptance.

[StMichael]

[quote name='Mrs. Bro. Adam' date='Oct 5 2004, 03:56 PM'] Yes, I've been baptized in the faith.


What do these rites have to do with receiving the sacrament of reconciliation? [/quote]
Are you Catholic? Are you a Catechumen?

A Catechumen has a many steps to go through before they can participate in the sacraments and be fully accepted into the Church.

Every step is important, but to give a short over-view,

The Rite Of Election (2/13/05) is the Enrollment of Names and the Presentation to the Bishop.

It is at this point where you are accepted into the Church to then go through the Scrutiny's.

Holy Saturday will bring your first confession.

The process here, Brooklyn Archdiocese (NY), begins in September and doesn't end until June 2005.

Again, your diocese may have a longer process or a shorter one, so ask your RCIA team leader.

[Brother Adam]

Are you deaf?

[Mrs. Bro. Adam]

Am I a Catholic? Yes. Am I in full communion with the Church? No, but I am working on it, and this sacramanent is being withheld from me.

[StMichael]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Oct 5 2004, 04:24 PM'] Are you deaf? [/quote]
Are you kidding?

[mulls]

geez

[StMichael]

[quote name='Mrs. Bro. Adam' date='Oct 5 2004, 04:34 PM'] Am I a Catholic? Yes. Am I in full communion with the Church? No, but I am working on it, and this sacramanent is being withheld from me. [/quote]
Apparently there is a bunch of confusion here and this whole "I am being denied a sacrament" is way too alarmist.

There are steps to go through whether you are a Catechumen or a CANDIDATE.

Depending on your diocese, you will then go through the Rite of Welcoming, but you will still have to go through steps in order to receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

The period is called MYSTAGOGIA after you have partaken in the RCIA program into the lenten period.

You can NOT receive any sacraments until you fulfill the above.

[Mrs. Bro. Adam]

That's not entirely true.

[StMichael]

[quote name='Mrs. Bro. Adam' date='Oct 5 2004, 05:01 PM'] That's not entirely true. [/quote]
As a team leader in the Brooklyn Archdiocese, yes it is.

You must go through the steps as the Bishops mandated some 10 years ago (RCIA is almost 30 years old).

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The RCIA: A Step-by-Step Look

New life in Christ is a gradual journey of many steps and stages. The four steps of the RCIA are: pre-catechumenate, catechumenate, Lenten purification and mystagogia. Along the way are key rites of acceptance, election and initiation.


1: The pre-catechumenate


The RCIA officially begins when a person calls the parish office and says something like, “I want to be baptized,” or, “I’d like to know more about the Catholic Church.” When such a person begins the process of initiation, she or he is in the first stage or period of initiation, called the period of evangelization and pre-catechumenate. It’s also known as the inquiry period.


This inquiry period has usually begun long before anyone calls the parish office. It begins when the person is first evangelized. That’s when they first hear the good news of Jesus Christ from a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor, a spouse, a parent, a stranger. Someone or something has drawn them to the parish and they want to find out more. During this first period of the process the parish helps the inquirer to discover just what it is he or she is seeking.


Rite of Acceptance. Once the inquirers have experienced an initial conversion to Jesus Christ, they celebrate the first major liturgical ritual of the initiation process. This first ritual is the Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens. During this rite of acceptance, which is usually celebrated during Sunday Mass, the candidates for initiation are publicly welcomed for the first time. They “declare their intention to the Church and the Church in turn...accepts them as persons who intend to become its members” (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, no. 41).


The Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens completes the first stage or period of the initiation process and opens the door to the second period of the process, the period of the catechumenate.


2: Catechumenate


This second stage of the initiation process is the extended period of time when those to be initiated receive their more formal training in the Christian way of life. There are two groups. The catechumens are those who are unbaptized. Other candidates for initiation are those who are already baptized, either in a Catholic or Protestant Church, but who are not fully initiated.


During the catechumenate stage, those to be initiated learn more about the sacred Scriptures and the doctrines  of the Church. They meet weekly at Mass to hear the Word of God proclaimed. In many parishes, the catechumens and candidates (those in the period of the catechumenate who are already baptized) are dismissed after the homily. That is, they are invited to leave the main body of the Church and meet with a catechist to discuss the Scriptures they heard proclaimed at Mass. This study and reflection on the Scriptures is an important part of their formation and helps them prepare for the day when they will receive the Body and Blood of Christ.


In addition to the study of the Scriptures, the candidates participate in sessions that help them to understand the doctrinal teachings of the Church. The candidates also learn about the prayer and worship life of the Church. They learn how to live and serve others in apostolic witness. And they develop their relationship with the Catholic Christian community.


When they have experienced a true conversion to the Christian way of life (which the Church says is at least one year for the unbaptized), they celebrate the second major ritual in the process of initiation.


Rite of Election. The second major ritual of the RCIA usually occurs on the First Sunday of Lent. The catechumens have been elected (chosen) by God to receive the sacraments of initiation. The Church gives voice to God’s election and calls each one of the catechumens by name to sign the Book of the Elect. This is a diocesan celebration and the presiding celebrant is the diocesan bishop. Often the celebration takes place at the diocesan cathedral, though in many dioceses there are multiple celebrations and sometimes at multiple locations. Generally, the local parish celebrates a Rite of Sending as a way of celebrating the candidates’ upcoming election and sending them on to the bishop for their admission to the final period of preparation for the sacraments.


3: Period of purification


This final period of preparation is one of intense, spiritual recollection that usually coincides with Lent. It is a period of purification and enlightenment. It is a time for reflection and prayer more than teaching. The candidates, now called the elect, purify their minds and hearts by celebrating several rituals. The three purifying rituals, known as the Scrutinies, strengthen the elect and help to complete their conversion. The Presentation of the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer enlighten the minds of the elect in the final weeks of their preparation for the sacraments.


Lent ends when the sacred Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter begins, at sunset Thursday of Holy Week. Finally, some preparatory rites on Holy Saturday morning serve as the elect’s immediate preparation for the Sacraments of Initiation, which will be celebrated that night at the Easter Vigil.


Sacraments of Initiation.At the Easter Vigil after sunset on Holy Saturday, the elect and possibly some previously baptized candidates celebrate the Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism (for the unbaptized), Confirmation and Eucharist. The elect are plunged into the waters of new birth and come out of those waters reborn in Christ. They are then configured to be more like Christ through the sacred chrism of Confirmation. Finally, the culmination of their initiation happens when they taste the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. So, too, some of the baptized candidates may make a profession of faith, be confirmed and receive the Eucharist in this most holy of all the Church’s liturgies.


4: Period of mystagogy


The process of initiation continues even after the Easter celebration, during the Eastertide period of mystagogia. The word comes from an ancient Greek word signifying a deepening understanding of the mysteries of our faith. During the Easter season, the neophytes (newly initiated) gather each week to deepen their grasp of the great paschal mystery into which they have just been incorporated. These new Christians have received the Body of Christ and have indeed become part of the Body of Christ through their Baptism. The Church uses the period of mystagogy to help the neophytes understand and live out their new lives as part of the Body of Christ.


Furthermore, mystagogy is about mission. The new Christians, now part of Christ’s body, must now go forth with us to continue the mission of Jesus Christ.


That’s where the whole parish, indeed the entire Church, comes in again. We celebrate the three sacraments of initiation to make us more like Christ and “to enable us to carry out the mission of the entire people of God in the Church and in the world” (Rite, General Intro, 2). Through the RCIA our parishes participate in the mission of the Church. We make new disciples and we renew the old, faithful ones. When we commit ourselves, our energy and our resources to the RCIA, we commit our parishes to continuing the mission of Jesus in the Church and in the world.

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So speak to your RCIA team leader and you will see that nothing is being "withheld."

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='StMichael' date='Oct 5 2004, 05:59 PM'] Apparently there is a bunch of confusion here and this whole "I am being denied a sacrament" is way too alarmist.

There are steps to go through whether you are a Catechumen or a CANDIDATE.

Depending on your diocese, you will then go through the Rite of Welcoming, but you will still have to go through steps in order to receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

The period is called MYSTAGOGIA after you have partaken in the RCIA program into the lenten period.

You can NOT receive any sacraments until you fulfill the above. [/quote]
Yes, I'm completely serious.

And this isn't entirely true. The law is never above the intent, and exceptions are regularly made for those who are ready and see the strong need to be reconciled before formal process. Myself as a shining example. Except for confirmation, which I am waiting for next Easter at my own option, I have gone from being fully Baptist to being fully Catholic in a matter of a couple of months.

While often preferable for most catechumen and canidates to go through an entire RCIA process, which takes any length of time, usually ending at Easter Vigil and the weeks thereafter, sometimes exceptions are made.

Something I ask you to keep in mind.

[Brother Adam]

[quote]As a [b]team leader [/b]in the Brooklyn Archdiocese[/quote]

That would have been my guess.

[quote]
So speak to your RCIA team leader and you will see that nothing is being "withheld."[/quote]

Perhaps there is more going on then your aware of. For instance, you wouldn't have known that the RCIA director is gone for 10 weeks and is not answering phone calls or emails so he can teach a college class.

Then again, as laymen, the decision is not in your or my hands. It is in the hands of the parish priest and then the Bishop.

[StMichael]

[quote name='Mrs. Bro. Adam' date='Oct 5 2004, 03:32 PM'] On my behalf:



Here's what confuses me:


1st I'm told to go to RCIA because I need to go through the process to learn about the church and her teachings.

2nd, I'm told that since I am more advanced in my studies, that they don't want me to be in the program to learn about the church and her teachings, because I already know and undestand the basics of what would've been taught if I had stayed in, but to learn what Catholic community is.



My question is, if I'm only supposed to be in RCIA to learn about Catholic community, and nothing else, then why would they withhold any sacrament which I desire and am ready for? [/quote]
The first part makes sense, the second doesn't.

Who told you not to partake in the program?

There are valuable lessons you must partake in, regardless of your advanced knowledge.

Your involvement is needed each week in RCIA, so I would revisit this with whomever told you otherwise.

Then be there every week or however your diocese is doing it.

But understand that no one is denying you anything as you have NOT gone through the process of RCIA.

It is only then that you can receive the Holy Sacraments.

As for Bro. Adam doing so, that is the mistake here if he is at the same stage as you.

[Mrs. Bro. Adam]

The RCIA leader, when finding out that I already had the knowledge of what would have been given in this program, I was asked to stay in for the purpose of Catholic community only. To experience Catholic Community and then when I'm ready for the next steps, to let them know.


Perhaps you do not understand this situation well enough to comprehend that the sacramant [b]was/is[/b] withheld from me.

It is preferable for Canidates to go through the same rites as the Catechumens, but it is not required.

[StMichael]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Oct 5 2004, 05:12 PM']
That would have been my guess.



Perhaps there is more going on then your aware of. For instance, you wouldn't have known that the RCIA director is gone for 10 weeks and is not answering phone calls or emails so he can teach a college class.

Then again, as laymen, the decision is not in your or my hands. It is in the hands of the parish priest and then the Bishop. [/quote]
This is not MY decision, these are the rules established by the Bishops, not your Pastor or Priest.

Regardless, I do not see how you have RCIA each week if your team leader is away for 10 weeks at a time and would raise that issue immediately.

But a candidate at this point in the process can NOT receive the sacrament of reconcilation.

[cappie]

This whole discussion is quite exraordinary.

If someone is baptised as a Catholic but is brought up is another denomination but seeks to complete their initiation in the Catholic Church, then after some general teaching tailored to the maturity and overall knowledge of the person, then that persons completion of the sacraments of iniation should not be delayed. At least that is the position in my diocese in Australia.

I am still amazed that whilst the RCIA is an excellent resource and should be followed where possible in my opinion as a priest who has made use of it extensively over the past 21 years it is not the 10 Commandments nor is it infallible