Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, March 1, 2001
the Diocese
The Southern Cross, Page 7
RCIA assesses readiness of church, catechumens to continue journey of faith
By Jordan McMorrough
Columbia, SC
D iscerning God’s presence in the
community and the catechu
men’s response to it was just one
many issues regarding the Rite of
Election that was dealt with in a
February 2 workshop, “Celebrating
the Rites of Christian Initiation,”
sponsored by the Charleston dioce
san Office for Evangelization,
Catechesis and Christian Initiation.
Presenter for the conference,
which drew attendance from across
South Carolina as well as the Dio
cese of Savannah, was Father Mi
chael Clay, director of vocations for
the Diocese of Raleigh, North Caro
lina. Since 1987, Father Clay has
spoken as a team member on various
institutes sponsored by the North
American Forum on the Catechu-
menate. Flis doctoral degree is from
Catholic University in Liturgical
Studies with an emphasis on the Rite
of Christian Initiation for Adults in
rural and small town settings.
Father Clay, in giving some back
ground information about himself,
said his Protestant father, at age 65,
went through the conversion
process. “You get a whole different
perspective in what this is all about,”
he began.
He prefaced his presentation by
saying, “You can’t understand the
rites unless you know about every
thing else going on around it, and
you can’t understand everything else
going on around it unless you know
about the rites.”
Father Clay had another oft repeat
ed mantra, lex orandi, lex credendi,
meaning “the law of praying shapes
the law of believing,” which he kept
coming back to throughout the day.
He also stressed the importance of
tying liturgy and catechesis together.
“If the foundation blocks are not in
place, the vision does not come
together.”
The workshop started with the
shape of the Rite of Acceptance into
the Order of Catechumens. It is the
separation from the old to the new,
and inquirers are apart from the body
of the faithful. To foster a sense of
Cardinals
(Continued from page I)
and of an even greater communion
with the See of Peter.”
“Receive the ring from the hand of
Peter and know that your love for the
church is reinforced with the love of
the Prince of the Apostles,” the pope
said as he placed the ring on a finger
on each cardinal’s right hand.
The February 21-22 ceremonies
marked the induction of the largest
group of cardinals ever named,
bringing total membership in the
College of Cardinals to 183. Of
i i i T
Ann Pinckney, Diocesan Director of Religious Education,
Sister Elisa Bonano, pastoral assistant at Saint Paul’s in
Douglas, Father Michael Clay, and Sister Suzanne Susany,
pastoral assistant at Saint William’s in Fitzgerald, talk dur
ing a break at the recent RCIA workshop.
hospitality, some members of the
parish go to the inquirers and speak
in a friendly maimer. “In the perfect
church the whole community would
come out, but we have to deal with
pastoral realities such as space, Mass
schedules, etc.,” said Father Clay.
The liturgy director discussed flex
ibility for questions when the inquir
er promises to undertake the faith
journey and the assembly makes the
promise to support the catechumen.
“It’s fabulous theology, but some
what abstract,” Father Clay said.
“Speak a language that people can
hear. Try to capture people’s imagi
nations. The prayer is like the prayer
of ordination. It seals the deal (and
makes them a catechumen).”
Father Clay again brought up the
issue of time in regards to signing
parts of the body signifying the sens
es. He said at a minimum the fore
heads are signed, and if it’s a large
group, the presider does a general
blessing while the sponsor does the
actual signing. “The sign of the cross
is our symbol. That’s why we keep
using it over and over again,” he
said.
these, 135 were below age 80 and
therefore eligible to vote in a papal
conclave.
The newcomers included two
prelates whom the pope named cardi
nals secretly, or in pectore, in 1998,
revealing their names only in Janu
ary. One was an old personal friend
of the Polish-bom pontiff, Cardinal
Marian Jaworski, the Latin-rite arch
bishop of Lviv in Ukraine. The other
was Cardinal Janis Pujats of Riga,
Latvia.
For the presentation of the cross to
the catechumens, Father Clay said he
prefers a simple, rustic one, and as
for the presentation of the Bible, “In
the Bible Belt it’s an important thing
to do.”
When it comes time for dismissal
of the participants there are lots of
options, according to the priest from
Raleigh. If this rite is celebrated in
the eucharistic liturgy, catechumens
are normally dismissed. “Why?”
Father Clay asked, then answered,
“Because they can’t receive the
Eucharist.” When dismissed, the cat
echumens do not disperse. Rather
they “unpack” what they just cele
brated.
During the inquiry period, the pre
catechumens are to become
acquainted with the symbols they
will encounter during the Rite of
Acceptance. However, said Father
Clay, “the biggest mistake we make
is to presume that evangelization has
occurred. The rite presumes that
community has been addressed,
because being a Catholic irrevocably
ties you to a community. How is the
parish involved in the precatechume-
nate period? Community has a role
in all of this.”
Also, he asked, “Are you integrat
ing the Word of God into your cate
chetical session? Are you praying
regularly at the catechetical session
with your inquirers?”
In addition, Father Clay said every
cathechetical session should have a
doctrinal component as well as a
designated period of time to talk
about doctrine the church believes.
In addressing some areas of pas
toral sensitivity, Father Clay said
that people awaiting annulments can
take part in all formation activities
up to but not including the Rite of
Election.
He emphasized that is it “impor
tant to get the annulment process
started as early as possible,” but he
said there was flexibility to have
these people initiated at times other
than the Easter Vigil.
For the rite of sending, Father
Clay said testimony becomes impor
tant, especially the Godparents’ tes
timony. But while citing its impor
tance, he said it is something that the
whole church doesn’t have to be
exposed to.
“ft is not obligatory for candidates
to go through this,” he said, adding
that all rites for candidates, as dis
tinct from catechumens, are optional.
In the response portion, the person in
the parish catechumenate affirms
that evangelization has taken place
and they tell what they are doing in
response to that.
Father Clay reminded that audi
ence that Godparents and sponsors
applies only to unbaptized. Sponsors
are people selected by catechumens
and candidates, while Godparents
come in at Rite of Election and are
there until the Easter Vigil.
Sponsors from the Rite of Election
on can be one in the same, and are
so 98 percent of the time, said the
North Carolina cleric. He said they
should be objective, and he discour
aged boyfriends and girlfriends,
spouses, sisters and brothers from
being sponsors to each other.
Father Clay then led an overview
of the Rite of Scrutiny. “Scrutinies
are meant to uncover all that is
unhealthy and then strengthen that
which is healthy and good,” he said.
These rites should complete the con
version of the elect, and the ritual
focus is on intercessions and the
prayer of exorcism, which the voca
tions director said “is very important
and could be helped by the laying on
of hands.” The scmtinies can be cele
brated on the third, fourth or fifth
Sundays of Lent.
Father Clay said that all three scm
tinies should be celebrated, although
one or two may be dispensed by the
bishop, according to canon law. “It is
a time of spiritual preparation when
petitions focus on personal sin and
intentions may be adapted to fit indi
vidual circumstances,” he said.
Ann Pinckney, Savannah Diocesan
Director of Religious Education said
that the workshop’s major value was
“that it demonstrated the beauty of
the different rites and showed how
they catechize the whole community
if done well.”
Jordan McMorrough is editor
of the Charleston New Catholic
Miscellany. Reprinted with
permission.
4