2008 RCIA Schedule for Catechumens & Candidates

The Schedule for January-May 2008 is shown in the posts below.

Unless otherwise noted:

Dismissal will meet at the 11:30 a.m. Mass in the Conservatory of the rectory.

Catechumenate will meet from 7-9 p.m. in the North Conference Room.

January 2008 (Cat/Cand. Sched.)

JANUARY

Weds 9: Catechumenate: Confirmation as Mission;USCCA 16

Sun. 13: Dismissal:

Weds16: Catechumenate: Baptism; USCCA 15
Sponsor Meeting to prep for Discernment Retreat (During Catechumenate)

Sat. 19: Discernment Retreat: National Shrine, 10:00 a.m.-6:15 pm., including Mass

Sun. 20: Dismissal—11:30 Mass for those not on Retreat the day before:

Weds 23: Catechumenate: RCIA Service Day (Tentative)
Catechumens, candidates, sponsors and team members will visit local outreach facilities, such as L’Arche and Catholic Worker House

Sun. 27: Alternate Discernment Retreat National Shrine, 9:15 a.m.-5:30 p.m., including Mass
Dismissal—11:30 Mass for those not on Retreat:

Tues 29: Deadline for Sponsor letters of recommendation and Cat./Cand. Letters of intent

Weds 30: Catechumenate: Evening over Letters
Sponsors must be available for consultation at Catechumenate session

February 2008 (Cat/Cand. Sched.)

FEBRUARY

Sun. 3 Dismissal

Weds 6 Catechumenate Ash Wednesday/Repentance 18

Sun. 10 Dismissal

Weds 13 Catechumenate Created in the Image of God 6

Sun. 17 Rite of Sending 11:30 Mass
Dismissal
Lunch @ Penang
12:30 Rite of Election
3:00 Mass at the Shrine

Weds 20 Elect/Candidates Prep for First Scrutiny

Sun. 24 Dismissal/Scrutiny

Weds 27 Presentation of the Creed (5:30 Mass)
Elect/Candidates (7-9 p.m.) Prep for Second Scrutiny

March 2008 (Cat/Cand. Sched.)

MARCH

Sun. 2 Dismissal/Scrutiny

Weds 5 Elect/Candidates Prep for Third Scrutiny

Sun. 9 Dismissal/Scrutiny

Weds 12 Presentation of the Lord’s Prayer (5:30 Mass)
Elect/Candidates (7-9 p.m.) Reflection on the Raising of Lazarus

Sat.15 Initiation Retreat 9-4 pm

Sun. 16 Palm Sunday 10:00 Mass (9:45 Blessing of Palms)

Mon. 17 Chrism Mass 7:00 p.m.

Tues 18 Communal Penance Service 12:10 p.m.

Weds 19 Tenebrae 7:30 p.m.

Thurs. 20 Holy Thursday 5:30 p.m.

Fri. 21 Good Friday Reflections on the Seven Last Words 12:00 p.m.
Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion 1 p.m.
Stations of the Cross 7:30 p.m.

Sat. 22 Vigil Rehearsal 12-3 pm Cathedral
Recitation of the Creed included in Rehearsal
Return to Cathedral 7:30 pm Cathedral
Easter Vigil 8 p.m., followed by a reception for newly baptized/received and their guests

Sun.23 No Meeting Easter Sunday

Weds 26 First Mystagogy Meeting
Potluck Reflection on the Easter Vigil

April/May (Catechumenate Sched.)

APRIL

Weds 16 Second Mystagogy Meeting
Potluck Reflection on the Eucharist through a Mystagogical Lens

Mon. 21 Service Day for Neophytes—St. Matthew’s Homeless Ministry

MAY

Thurs. 1 Service Day for Neophytes—Catholic Worker House (serving sandwiches in LaFayette (?) Park

Weds. 7 Third Mystagogy Meeting

Potluck Reflection on Social Justice Action

Sat. 10 Closing Mass and Picnic for Easter Initiates Location TBD

Please contribute Thoughts on Using a Blog for RCIA

We would love to hear back from you about the idea of using this blog to have discussions online and to share reflections on our experience. Similarly, we are interested in seeing who responds and finding out how easy you find the process of reading and posting comments. Please take a moment to read a bit about the initial concept of this blog and then post a comment by clicking on the link shown at the bottom of this post or section. (See previous post below if you are confused as to what a blog is)

As you can see below this blog has already served as a way to make our Catholic Reading List more accessible. But originally, Phil envisioned the blog as being a way to give others an insight into the experience of being involved in RCIA at St.Matthews. This thought came as a result of discussions about making a pamphlet for placement at the back of the Church. His original idea was to have the Blog referenced as a single line in the pamphlet as a place where those interested can look into the matter more closely and find as much information as we members of the RCIA program choose to post. This can include testimonials, reflections, pictures... whatever.

Another use of the blog can easily be to have facilitated discussions in which one person would start a topic by posting it on the blog. This can include links to documents online, reflections, suggested reading for weekly sessions or anything you can put in print and images. Others could then respond to the topic either by making more posts or, usually better for keeping things navigable, by posting comments on the original topic.
Some important aspects of the blog that are worth knowing:

• We can define who reads the blog, who posts to the blog and who posts comments
• We can probably make the blog also send automatic emails to those wanting the information but not likely to use the blog
• Each of us can also have the blog notify us when there is a new post, a new comment or both.
• Each of us can also utilize a tool known as a blog reader that will summarize what's new that we haven't read yet on the blog.

Of the four bullets above, the first is definitely the most important since the privacy we build into the blog will definitely affect the nature of what we are willing to put on the blog. Note also that we can make a public and a private version of the blog without much trouble.

What's a Blog?

For those of you not familiar with blogs, they are a type of website that is specifically designed to make updating easy. Basically, the process is no different from composing an email message. Unlike email, however, recipients do not need to store the email on their computers or accounts and the blog automatically makes a very useful type of map of the posts. Blogs are typically used by individuals but are now very commonly used at universities to enable class discussions. In this way they are similar to discussion groups like yahooGroups, but the resulting product is far easier to read and follow and navigate.
Learning to use a blog is very easy and we can definitely arrange to help anyone interested in participating in this blog.

RCIA: A Catholic Reading List

The posts below (though posted earlier in time) give the sections of a list recently compiled for the RCIA participants and team. Enjoy, and feel free to post comments in the relevant sections!

Bibles (Reading List)

New American Bible. (NAB)
Translation used during Mass in the United States. Regarded as an easier to read, yet dignified translation. The most popular translation for Catholics.

New Revised Standard Version. (NRSV)
Dignified translation, but a more scholarly tone than the New American Bible. Translates closely to the Hebrew and Greek and approximates sentence structure of the ancient languages. Popular in university level bible courses.

Revised Standard Version. (RSV)
Earlier version of the NRSV. Keeps some less common words and uses “thee” and “thou” for the Psalms.

Jerusalem Bible
Prepared by Roman Catholic scholars in Britain (including J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the Lord of the Rings). Translated directly from the original Hebrew and Greek sources.

Catechisms (Reading List)

Catechism of the Council of Trent (Roman Catechism)
Prepared in the 1500s, this Catechism addressed many of the issues facing the Church during the Reformation. Protestant leaders were invited to the preparatory meetings. This Catechism was not written for laypeople, but as a resource for priests and bishops.

Baltimore Catechism
Catechism designed for laypeople and used in the United States from the mid-1800s through the 1960s. Comprised of questions and answers, a format that is easy to remember for people who have limited literacy skills or are illiterate. Typically, the Baltimore Catechism was learned by rote – the questions and answers were often easily recalled by lapsed Catholics decades after they had memorized the booklets.

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) oversaw the creation of this new Catechism – the first since the Council of Trent. Released in the 1990s, it is designed to be used as a reference for writing national level Catechisms in local languages. Beautifully written and a storehouse of quotes from the saints and church fathers.

Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Released in 2006, the Compendium is the CCC reformatted in the style of the Baltimore Catechism with almost 600 questions and answers.

United States Catholic Catechism for Adults
Based on the CCC, the U.S. Catechism is formatted as a study text with reflection questions and is localized to the United States.

Church History (Reading List)

Thomas Bokenkotter. A Concise History of the Catholic Church.
Popular history of the Church, focuses on the lives of the major players in Church History.

Jose Orlandis. Short History of the Catholic Church. (2nd Edition)
Excellent concise history, formatted in numbered paragraphs. Gives insightful context to the major events.

C.H. Lawrence. Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages
Brilliant historical study. Monastic orders were at the cutting edge of progress in agricultural and iron smelting technologies – all in addition to serving the poor, providing hospital care and giving shelter to travelers.

Theology (Reading List)

Benedict XVI. Jesus of Nazareth.
Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, is a recognized theologian. In his first book written as Pope, he asks the question, “Who is Jesus?”

Hans Urs von Balthasar. The Glory of the Lord
Regarded as one of the leading 20^th century theologians, von Balthasar wrote prolifically over a wide range of topics. The Glory of the Lord is the first of his three books of systematic theology.

Etienne Gilson. The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy.
Gilson was a specialist in the history of medieval philosophy. His books are widely read.

John Paul II. Love and Responsibility.
Pope John Paul II wrote this book in his earlier years to examine issues of human sexuality and marriage.

Spiritual Classics (Reading List)

Augustine of Hippo. Confessions.
The greatest of the Church fathers, Augustine, traces his life from living with a concubine to faith in Christ.

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. The Practice of the Presence of God.
How to remain recollected or “mindful” during day-to-day work.

Jean-Pierre de Caussade. Abandonment to Divine Providence.
Classic on how to “let go and let God.”

Francis de Sales. Introduction to the Devout Life.
Basics on how to live life as a layperson

John of the Cross. Complete Works.
Poetry and writings from the most important mystic in the Church. John of the Cross was hired by Theresa of Avila to help her reform their monastic order.

Thomas Kempis. Imitation of Christ.
Perhaps a bit heavy going today, the book has been extremely popular since it was first published in 1418.
John Henry Newman. Apologia Pro Vita Sua.
A famous English convert to Catholicism, Cardinal Newman, tells his life story – in exquisite Victorian prose.

Teresa of Avila. The Way of Perfection.
Teresa was a major reformer of the Carmelite order and is a Doctor of the Church. She is also one of the Church’s most prominent mystics. In this more accessible book, Teresa gives advice to her nuns on prayer.

Therese of Lisieux. Story of a Soul.
Therese, a young woman from a bourgeois French family, attains perfection in ordinary circumstances. Enormously popular since it was published in the 19^th century.

John XXIII. Journal of a Soul.
Pope John XXIII tells his story of growing up in a poor Italian family and his road to perfection. May be a bit dry at times, but shows a glimpse of the style and rigor of his spiritual practice.

William Thomas Walsh. Our Lady of Fatima.
Supposedly one of the best books on Fatima. While belief in apparitions of Mary is not required by the Church, Fatima and Lourdes along with other sites have a major impact on devotion.

C.S Lewis. Mere Christianity.
Lewis was on the faculty at Oxford University and an Anglican layman. He is perennially popular with both Catholics and Protestants.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Meditations from a Simple Path.
Nice overview of Mother Teresa’s approach to spirituality and the poor.

Catholic Literature (Reading List)

Dante Alighieri. The Divine Comedy.
Of the three parts of this Epic Italian poem, the “Inferno” is probably the easiest to read. Dante walks through hell meeting old friends, famous politicians and even a few Popes.

Bernanos, George. Diary of a Country Priest.
Touching French novel about the daily life of a parish priest.

Annie Dillard. For the Time Being.
Exceptional contemporary Catholic American author, with a wide range of subject matter. At core, her writings address theological questions about God, life and death.

Shusaku Endo. Silence.
Brilliant contemporary novel of Jesuit activity in medieval Japan by a renowned Japanese writer. Very stark portrayal of the Daimyo’s suppression of the growing Christian cult.

Flannery O'Connor. Complete Stories.
Probably the most highly regarded American Catholic author.

J.R.R Tolkien. Lord of the Rings.
Enormously popular novel. Catholic images and ideas are embedded in the story of Frodo and the Ring.

Sigrid Undset. Kristen Lavransdatter.
Undset, a Norwegian convert to Catholicism, won the Nobel Prize for this trilogy of the life of a woman in the middle ages.

Evelyn Waugh. Brideshead Revisited.
Waugh, a British convert to Catholicism, commented that his novel is about the “unmerited and unilateral act of love by which God continually calls souls to Himself.” In the novel, a young, non-believing, Oxford student forms a friendship with the son of a wealthy Catholic family – an experience which transforms him.

Biography (Reading List)

Dorothy Day. The Long Loneliness.
Dorothy Day was a devout Catholic and a leader in pacifist and labor rights issues. Her book traces her personal journey and the founding of the Catholic Worker movement.

Thomas Merton. Seven Story Mountain.
Worldwide best seller when it was released in the 1950s. Thomas Merton’s road to joining one of the most rigorous monastic orders.

Fr. Daniel Mode. The Grunt Padre.
Account of the life of Fr. Vincent Capodanno, a Navy chaplain who died in Vietnam while he was ministering to his men on the battlefield

Gerard B. Wegemer, Thomas More: A Portrait of Courage.
Sir Thomas More, an important thinker in his own right, refused to go along with Henry VIII in severing England from Rome. More was executed for his decision.

Contemporary Spirituality (Reading List) [end]

James Martin, SJ. My Life with the Saints.
Fr. Martin's book provides a good introduction to some of the most well-known saints and other holy people within the Catholic Church, as well as some insight into how one Catholic (the author) encounters and relates to the saints in his daily life. Very readable and enjoyable.

Ronald Rolheiser. The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality.
Fr. Rolheiser discusses contemporary Christian spirituality with references to Mother Theresa and Princess Diana in this popular book.

Alberto Cutie. Real Life, Real Love.
A bestseller in the Spanish language book market, Real Life, Real Love gives practical advice on building good relationships based on faith in Christ. Padre Alberto is a highly popular Cuban-born priest.

Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island.
Merton, a Trappist monk, speaks profoundly about God and love.

Welcome

Maybe this a way to give a human dimension to inquirers and give our current participants a way to share their thoughts!