Tuesday, January 27, 2015

RCIA is not School

Courtesy of Team RCIA

Many of our RCIA process are run like schools. We speak of holding classes and teaching a curriculum. We schedule topics and make lesson plans. But if you think back to your high school and college days, how many of those classes you took are having a direct impact on your life today?

Contrast that with some of the disciplines you learned when you were younger. My grandmother taught me to bake bread, which I still do today. Some people spent hundreds of hours learning a musical instrument that they still play. Former high school athletes pass on their well-honed skills to their children and grandchildren. None of these or similar disciplines were learned in classrooms. They were learned, and mastered, by mixing some flour and water and yeast and kneading the dough and failing and trying again, and again, and again until it was right.

In another document, the bishops of the world (not just the U.S.) described the “fundamental characteristics of initiatory catechesis” (RCIA catechesis). They said:

This comprehensive formation includes more than instructing: it is an apprenticeship of the entire Christian life. (General Directory for Catechesis, 67)

No comments: