St. Joseph Catholic Church welcomes you to RCIA. To enable you to understand more about this process, please take some time to read through this information pamphlet. Santos Jones, Director of R.C.I.A., will be glad to visit with you about RCIA or any other question. Just email or call: srjones@stjosephbeeville.org, (361) 358-3239.
What is RCIA?
RCIA stands for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. The RCIA is a process of gradual steps by which a person discerns whether or not to become a member of the Catholic Church. Each step is punctuated by a Rite – a formal ceremony celebrated in the Church community.
The three major Rites of RCIA are:
Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens (for those not yet baptized) and the Rite of Welcoming Candidates for Full Communion (for those already baptized in other Christian communions).
Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion.
Celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation.
The process of RCIA should fulfill three main purposes:
You should receive a basic adult-level overview of all the teaching of the Catholic Church. This includes an opportunity to ask any questions that you may have about the Catholic Faith, as well as a systematic overview of doctrine.
You should learn how we pray and worship as Catholics. You will learn the parts and prayers of the Mass, which is at the center of Catholic prayer. You will also be exposed to various Catholic devotional prayers that assist us in growing closer to Christ.
You should be gradually introduced into the community life of the Catholic Church here in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, but also the world-wide community of Catholics.
The most important aspect of RCIA is prayer, deepening your relationship with Christ. Whether you are just beginning to follow Christ, whether you have been a Christian for many years, or are somewhere in-between, through RCIA you should have the opportunity to grow closer to Jesus and to discover more about His plan for your life. The Church’s goal in offering RCIA is not to simply gain new members, or to convert you to our way of thinking. Rather, we want to present our Faith to you as an invitation – if you sense God leading you to join us in our life of prayer and worship of God, we welcome you. If you do not hear that call, we want RCIA to be a positive opportunity to hear and follow whatever God may be leading you to do.
Who should go through RCIA?
According to the Church’s guidelines for RCIA, it is “designed for adults who, after hearing the mystery of Christ proclaimed, consciously and freely seek the living God and enter the way of faith and conversion as the Holy Spirit opens their hearts.” The Rites – the steps outlined above – specifically address three groups of people:
Adults who have not received Christian baptism, and are inquiring about being baptized in the Catholic Church.
Adults who have been baptized in other Christian communities, and are seeking full communion with the Catholic Church.
Adults who have received Baptism in the Catholic Church, but need the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion.
What is required?
In order to see that the RCIA process is accomplishing its goals, those who desire to receive any of the Sacraments of Initiation are asked to do the following:
Faithfully attend the RCIA classes. Of course, situations such as illness, unusual demands on your schedule, or other unexpected circumstances will occasionally interfere, and no one is going to be denied the opportunity to become a part of our community for such reasons. If you miss a class, talk to the RCIA Director and appropriate arrangements will be made to get you the material you missed.
Attend the major Rites of RCIA on various Sundays throughout the year. Dates will be provided at the beginning of each semester.
After the Rite of Acceptance and Welcoming, attending Mass on Sunday should become a regular practice.
Certain circumstances, such as cohabitation (living together without the Sacrament of Marriage) or divorce and re-marriage, need to be discussed early in the RCIA process for those who wish to enter the Catholic Church. In order to be initiated into the Catholic Church, these situations need to be resolved ahead of time, and the process can sometimes be lengthy. To avoid any undue delay of your initiation, please see the Pastor as soon as possible if you have a situation to address.
