I remember well arriving Sunday after Sunday at my new “home church”—where the pastor was my husband—thus I was arriving alone. Many people would greet me, but few made an effort to engage me in meaningful conversation or draw me into the orbit of their family or friends mingling in the narthex. Feeling lonely and […]
Written at the request of a deacon from Carthage, Augustine “undertakes the task of teaching the art of catechizing …” in this treatise of thirty-some pages in the print edition (quotation from introduction of the Benedictine edition, quoted in the Schaff edition). As catechetical teaching resumes in parishes, whether for children, youth, or adults, some […]
Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 315-ca. 387)Students of early church liturgy and sacraments appreciate the catechetical lectures (sermons) of Cyril for the wealth of information he provides on the shape of the catechumenate in 4th century Jerusalem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built by Emperor Constantine. Preached to “the Enlightened,” those who had been […]
In the last two chapters of Your Parish is the Curriculum Diana Macalintal explores the shape of teaching or catechesis in faith formation. At its essence the catechesis is all about the experience of being with Christ Jesus through Word and Sacraments in the Christian community and reflection upon that experience. It is catechesis that […]
Throughout her book Your Parish is the Curriculum Diana Macalintal has emphasized that formation of the catechumens through the catechumenate happens in the life of the parish. In chapter 3 she discussed the ways that the assembly is involved in the rites of the catechumenate. In chapters 4 and 5 she turns toward the “The […]
The title for this week’s blog is admittedly unusual. Going outside the doors where and for what reason? In chapter 3 of Your Parish Is the Curriculum, Diana Macalintal tells the story of Jeff, an inquirer/seeker who was preparing to enter the catechumenate. Her story is not so much about Jeff but about the RCIA […]
As we saw in our last post, Diana Macalintal in Your Parish is the Curriculum explores the optimal ways in which the Roman Catholic catechumenate—Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)—functions. That entails the Christian community serving as God’s premier agent of fostering conversion and incorporating new Christians into the community’s life together. In chapters […]
That’s the title of a book by Diana Macalintal published by Liturgical Press in Collegeville, Minnesota. Macalintal is one of the founders, along with her husband Nick, of TeamRCIA.com, A Roman Catholic group promoting best practices in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults or RCIA. The RCIA, for those who may be unfamiliar, is […]