"Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly."
RCIA, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, is for those interested in joining the Catholic church, those people who have never been baptized in any church are considered "catechumens." Those who have been baptized (with a valid Christian Baptism) are called "candidates." Together they meet to learn the fundamentals of living as a Catholic Christian. Catechumens and Candidates are fully initiated during the Easter Vigil Service.
RCIA is the Church's ritual process for calling adults to conversion and preparing them for Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. The process involves five stages: a period of inquiry, when inquirers learn answers to basic questions about the Church, its beliefs and practices; a period of catechumenate, when the inquirers experience the Church as community with the help of a sponsor; the period of purification and enlightenment, when those preparing for initiation into the Church experience their final preparation for the Sacraments; the actual reception of the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist; and a period of mystagogy, or 50 days of unfolding the Easter mystery and considering how to share in the mission of the Church.
Please contact Mrs. Vicky Quiray at the parish office for more information.
The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life. The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus receive in increasing measure the treasures of the divine life and advance toward the perfection of charity.