The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is a learning and loving process of becoming and belonging in which the conversion of the heart brings one to Jesus Christ who is our Lord and Savior and does so through instruction in the Catholic Faith Tradition. Every year adults (and children over the age of seven) are welcomed into the Catholic  Community through RCIA.

This Sunday (11:00 a.m. Mass) we celebrate a formal welcoming and acceptance of those from our local linked parish communities who are in preparation of becoming a member of the Catholic Family. This weekend, we celebrate those in the process of formation which includes those in the Catechumenate and those in Study for Entrance in Full Communion.

Today, we welcome formally those individuals in our midst and celebrate their decision to continue the process of becoming a member of the Catholic Church through process of instruction to receive Baptism and the additional Sacraments of Initiation (Eucharist and Confirmation (Catechumens). Specifically, a Catechumen, in the early Church, was the name applied to one who had not yet been initiated into the sacred mysteries (the Sacraments}, but was undergoing a course of preparation for that purpose. The word occurs in Galatians 6:6: "Let the [one] that is instructed in the word, (ho katechoumenos,  is qui catechizatur) communicate to the believer that instructs the believer katechounti, ei qui catechizat) in all good things (www.newadvent.org).
 
The RCIA also includes the adapted instruction of those adults and children of catechetical age who were baptized in another Christian Tradition or were baptized Catholic as a child but were not catechized in the Faith and are now seeking Full Communion with the Catholic Church through the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Eucharist. (Candidates).

You are invited to come to the Rite of Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion. The Rite of Election will be celebrated on Sunday, February 26, 2023 at 3 PM at Saint Joseph Cathedral for the Catechumens pictured in the bulletin. Please note that this event is not a Mass, but a Liturgy of the Word, using the Scriptures for the First Sunday of Lent.         

Welcome and Blessings to all,
Fr. John