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Order of Christian Initiation of Adults: Prayers of the Second Scrutiny

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This week in our nerdy journey we take up the prayers of the Second Scrutiny rite in the OCIA/RCIA. As Rhoda indicated last week, “our goal is to set forth some principles for making sound theological and pastoral decisions when borrowing rites and prayers from a variety of sources. Our nerdiness is earnest and with good purpose.” Just like the catechumenate itself!

The Second Scrutiny, often on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, follows the Presentation of the Creed. As we saw with the First Scrutiny, the orientation and purpose of the scrutinies in the modern RCIA is for the elect to “renounce sin and evil and profess faith in the Triune God at their baptism” (Guide for Celebrating Christian Initiation with Adults, 58). The Second Scrutiny follows the same pattern as the first (see the first post in this series for that pattern). The gospel reading for the 4th Sunday in Lent is the account of Jesus’ healing of the man born blind, John 9:1-41. The Second Scrutiny in light of this gospel reading emphasizes to the elect the ways in which blindness might affect them and where they need the light of Christ “so that they might see the truth” (Guide, 60). Seeing the truth, who is the Light of the world, is central to the conversion experience facilitated through the catechumenate. It leads them toward enlivened faith in the Triune God throughout the catechumenate culminating in God’s enlightening them in the baptismal water of their Jordan. These prayers for enlightenment direct the Elect to see their liberation from sin, evil, and the power of Satan in Christ Jesus. How do these prayers facilitate the Elect’s participation in the story told in John 9 as those born unable to see the light who are now led into the kingdom of light?

Here are the texts of both. The first prayer is the lead collect and the second prayer is the actual prayer of exorcism. Major differences are highlighted in italicized bold.

Father of mercy, you led the man born blind to the kingdom of light through the gift of faith in your Son. Free these elect from the false values that surround and blind them. Set them firmly in your truth, children of the light forever. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Lord Jesus, you are the true light that enlightens the world. Through your Spirit of truth free those enslaved by the father of lies. Stir up the desire for good in these elect, whom you have chosen for your sacraments. Let them rejoice in your light, that they may see, and, like the man born blind whose sight you restored, let them prove to be staunch and fearless witnesses to the faith, for you are Lord for ever and ever (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, Liturgy Training Publications, 1988, 98-9).

Most merciful Father, who granted the man born blind to believe in your Son, and through this faith to come to the kingdom of your light, grant also that your elect here present may be freed from deceits that surround and blind them, so that firmly grounded in the truth, they may become children of light and remain so forever. Through Christ our Lord.

Lord Jesus, true light who enlightens all people, by the Spirit of truth free all who are oppressed beneath the yoke of the Father of lies, and stir up good will in those you have chosen for your Sacraments, that, delighting in the joy of your light, and, like the blind man you once restored to sight, they may prove to be staunch and fearless witnesses to the faith. Who live and reign forever and ever (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, The Liturgical Press, 2018, 132-133).

  1. Light and Blindness: The man born blind and his encounter with Jesus is the focus of the story. Earthly light is unable to penetrate his sight. But his more profound inability to see is that he cannot see the Light of the world, Jesus the Christ. And so it is for the Elect. They are entering the kingfom of light just as he did. While both the OCIA and RCIA texts communicate this, in the first prayer the OCIA does it in a very clunky mechanistic way: “Granted and come to” versus “Led.” There is a simplistic elegance in God the Father leading the catechumens to the Light. In the second prayer the change from “world” to “people” has both positive and negative repercussions. The conversion of humanity is at the forefront of Jesus’ mission. But ultimately it leads to the enlightenment of the whole world.
  2. Faith and Kingdom: Lutheran proclivities shine through with the juxtaposition of these images. Entrance into the kingdom of light is through the sight of faith. In the OCIA the language implies that faith is the beginning of that entry: “through this faith to come to the kingdom of your light.” The RCIA implies that entrance into the kingdom is purely and always by faith: “you led the man born blind to the kingdom of light through the gift of faith in your Son.”
  3. Freedom and Deceits: The implications of enlightenment that leads the catechumens into the kingdom of light is that they are free from bondage in the darkness of sin, evil, and Satan. That is the ritual intention of the scrutiny rites: to effect that deliverance. Here the OCIA better captures the nature of the bondage: “freed from deceits.” However, the RCIA captures better the nihilistic age in which we live: “from the false values.” Make your pick depending upon what you are trying to emphasize. In the second prayer the OCIA is simply much more cumbersome: “free all who are oppressed beneath the yoke of the father of lies.” The RCIA is much more direct: “free those who are enslaved by the father of lies.” There is a simple earnestness of the church on behalf of the catechumens in the RCIA version.
  4. Delighting in joy versus Rejoicing: Here it is apparent how the traditional collect form imposes a certain clumsiness on the language. The RCIA concludes prayer #2 with the words “Let them rejoice in your light.” A result of entering the kingdom of light is pure rejoicing, in very active terms. I am reminded of the redeemed in C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce. There is pure rejoicing at being IN the light that streams from the city of God. Because the OCIA prayer has to make this a subordinate clause, the direct sense of the active and intensive activity of rejoicing is lost: “that, delighting in the joy of your light.” Delighting in the light is certainly delightful, but it is not the same as full-throated rejoicing. Granted, both will be a result of the entrance of the catechumens into the kingdom of light and of all believers into the eternal kingdom of light.

Admittedly these assessments are subtle. But they matter because the rhetoric of faith matters in the ritual moment. And that ritual moment is that all of us might be set firmly in God’s truth, even Jesus Christ our Lord, and be “children of the light forever.”

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Christmas Greetings from Kent & Rhoda

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Christmas greetings to our subscribers from the Annual Meeting of the North American Academy of Liturgy (NAAL), which we both started attending in the late 1990s as graduate students. This year’s gathering is at our Alma Mater, Valparaiso University, where worship at the Chapel of the Resurrection fostered in both of us a love of graceful and grace-filled liturgy. Attending NAAL is a time for scholarly discussions with other academics and practitioners as well as a time to enjoy the fellowship of others who share our conviction that liturgy is not an end itself but the primary means through which the faithful encounter Jesus Christ in the proclamation of the Gospel (in preaching, liturgy, and song) and through participation in the sacraments.

Here we are at our Alma Mater! In between Kent and me is Noel Snyder from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. Noel and other staff at CICW have reviewed our book manuscript, so over dinner and adult beverages, we had a lovely chat about the long process of our research (funded by CICW) and the writing of our book, now in the hands of our publisher, Wipf & Stock. It will be part of a CICW series on Christian worship.

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Banner photo (by Rhoda Schuler, June 2024):
Adoration of the Magi, textile; back yoke section of a cope in the Cathedral Treasury, Cologne, Germany.

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The OCIA is Coming: What is this?

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It is not quite paramount to recent changes in the language of the Mass among Roman Catholics, but it is a significant shift: The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is being replaced by the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA). This change entails both the replacement of the ritual process for becoming a Catholic (the catechumenate) and the book that contains the rites. The OCIA books are the latest ritual books t be revised as a result of Pope John Paul II’s 2001 document Liturgiam authenticam on translation of the Latin rites into vernacular languages. The document initiated processes of revision that aimed to translate as closely as possible to the wording of the Latin. Previous revisions included the Mass and the Order of Penance.

While certainly specific language has been revised in the forthcoming version (appearing in print November 1, 2024), the most significant changes include the title of the process, the categorization of those who enter the process, and adaptation to different timelines for the process.

First the title: Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA). The new title is meant to emphasize that the catechumenate is an ongoing journey throughout human life, not just a one-time ritual event. It is a lifelong commitment that is informed by the various stages of progression in the catechumenate. And it is the Order as opposed to the Rite because there are a significant number of distinct, but connected rites that make up the one Order.  It is not one rite, but many rites that mark the journey toward becoming a Christian.

Second, the terminology used to identify the various people making the journey through the catechumenate was very confusing in the RCIA. All were identified by one term: candidate. The OCIA uses three terms to indicate the various stages people might be in at that moment: inquirer (first stage of discovery); catechumen (the second stage of learning); elect (the third stage of deep reflection period immediately before baptism). The final stage is that of continued learning and growing. In addition, the RCIA failed to clearly account for the different groups of people asking for full acceptance into the Roman Catholic Church. The four groups—with differently expressed ritual processes—will be: catechumens (unbaptized adults); unbaptized infants or young children; baptized non-Catholic Christians (who have not received any other Roman Catholic sacraments); and Baptized Roman Catholics seeking confirmation.

Third, all of these categories in theory follow a similar but slightly different ritual process for becoming Roman Catholic and the timelines differ. The OCIA more clearly lays out the different processes and timelines. But in no way is the OCIA an overhaul of the existing RCIA content. The OCIA will  look and sound nearly identical to the rites that have existed in the RCIA.

The new ritual books are available today on November 1. To see examples from one publisher, The Liturgical Press, go to Order of Christian Initiation of Adults.

Once we are able to obtain a copy we will provide a more thorough assessment of the new OCIA in this blog. Until then, the OCIA is coming soon!

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Christianity in Ethiopia: Ancient buildings, living congregations

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Last week’s blog featured the Church of St. George, part of the monolithic churches in Lalibela. Also of interest are the churches and monasteries on the islands and peninsula of Lake Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia and source of the Blue Nile River. The churches, said to be built on “earlier religious sites,” date from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries and introduce “a new church architecture … based [on] the designs of regular round houses with conical thatched roofs.” Today’s banner photo is an example of this architecture. The interiors of these churches have three parts: an “outer ambulatory,” which pilgrims may enter; an “inner ambulatory” where worshipers gather, and “the inner sanctuary,” which only priests may enter.

As one enters the outer ambulatory, the exterior side of the inner ambulatory walls are covered with Ethiopian iconography of biblical stories and the lives of the saints. The diptych is easily recognizable as Jesus praying in Gethsemane (top) and carrying his cross to Golgotha (bottom panel). Characteristic of Ethiopian Orthodox art is the contrast between those who are part of the household of faith, shown with full, frontal view of their faces (Jesus, the sleeping Peter, James, and John) in contrast to those outside the faith, shown in profile, as the Roman soldier is depicted in the lower panel.

If our guide shared the story of these two saints with a snake in the basket, I do not recall the details; but I can say with confidence that both are followers of Jesus by their full-on frontal faces.

For the past 25 years of traveling to Christian pilgrimage sites as a liturgy geek, I have rarely missed an opportunity to hop into ancient baptismal font for a photo. What struck me as posed in this font from Lalibela was the realization that this font is still being used by an active Christian community. Though we may have theological differences, I share with those baptized her a faith in Christ Jesus, whose death and resurrection raises us to new life and bring us into the household of the Triune God.

Sources consulted:
https://www.nationalparks-worldwide.com/eaf/ethiopia/lake-tana/lake-tana.html
https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6580
Photos by Rhoda Schuler, June 2024

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Christianity in Ethiopia

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The long history of Christianity in Ethiopia begins with the account of Philip and the Ethiopia eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). Ethiopian Orthodox Christians claim to be one of the earliest nations to embrace Christianity when King Ezana, leader of the Kingdom of Aksum (located in the northern part of the modern state of Ethiopia), embraced the Christian faith in the fourth century. The church was strengthened by the arrival of “the nine saints” from Syria (frequently depicted in churches’ iconography) in the 5th century.

Today’s banner photo is a baptismal font from Bete Amanuel (House or Church of Immanuel), one of numerous monolithic churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia, named for King Lalibela (r. ca. 1181-1221). According to legend, after a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, King Lalibela received a vision to build a “new Jerusalem,” and this complex of churches, carved out of mountains, was the work of the king with assistance of angels. While twenty-first-century Christians may approach this hagiography of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church with skepticism, one can say that King Lalibela’s decision to create these amazing structures indicts strong devotion to the Christian faith.

The most spectacular of the Lalibela churches is the Church of St. George, which, like the baptismal font, has a cruciform structure. Again, putting aside one’s skepticism about the story of their origins, the structures themselves communicate the core witness of the Christian faith—that Christ’s death on the cross has accomplished the salvation of the world, and a person is assured of that salvation by being joined to Christ’s death and resurrection in baptism (Romans 6).

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Sources used:
“Ethiopian Church” in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd edition
“Ethiopia” in Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity
“The Rock-hewn Churches of Lalibela,” https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lali/hd_lali.htm
Photos by Rhoda Schuler, June 2024

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Catechumenate Formation for Pastors and Deaconesses-to-Be: Experiential Pedagogy

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Two-thirds of the way through this half semester course—as students were preparing to make their presentations on various aspects of the catechumenate—the revelation popped into my head that I had used few experiential pedagogical elements in the course. What a sucker-punch self-critique of my pedagogy this was. Why? For at least two reasons, first because I strive to teach using a variety of pedagogies to attend to students’ different learning styles. Experiential learning is a critical style to attend to, especially among students of the post-modern generations. And here I had utterly failed to employ any experiential pedagogies. Second, because Dr. Schuler and I had included just such learning strategies throughout the workshops we had held both in person and on-line over the past four years. How had I forgotten about these extremely effective ways of learning about the catechumenate that we had employed in the past? In our next class period, I immediately began class by asking for forgiveness from my students for having failed them as a teacher in this regard. In next year’s version of the class, I will not make the same mistake.

               In our catechumenate workshops we have employed both ritual and catechetical, experiential pedagogies. [Our image for this post only hints at it, with the oil on the table below my posture.] We have had participants experience the rite of acceptance with anointing of the body and the rite of enrollment with the signing of the Book of the Elect. Catechetical experiences have included the African, the visualization, and the Luther Scripture study methods. All three involve reflective, personal consideration of the texts and questions that explore their meaning for the catechumens’ lives of faith in the Triune God. (We have explored these study methods in previous blog posts. If you’d like a copy of one of these posts, e-mail me at burresonk@csl.edu). Exposure to all of these experiential learning experiences will be a part of the course going forward.

               But you, the reader, are wondering what does Burreson’s pedagogical failure have to do with me? Well, primarily, learn from my error of judgement. Your catechumenate should include such opportunities for experiential learning throughout the catechumenate’s length. This will embed the learning and formation of the catechumenate in intentional ways that take hold of the catechumen. This is one of the reasons that ritual action is significant in faith formation. But the same thing applies to experiential forms of Scripture study and opportunities for service to the church and the community throughout the catechumenate. Engagement with these types of experiential learning also becomes important when introducing the catechumenate to a congregation. They need to experience the same things that the catechumens will experience. They need to be formed by the same vision of Christian life, into a similar experience of entering the Christian life. Hopefully, they are captivated and it renews their own faith.

               My students forgave me in early May for failing them pedagogically. Repentance and forgiveness lead by the Spirit’s power to new fruits of faith. Experiential pedagogy will be a constitutive part of the class from now on. I pray you don’t need to repent of such failures in your catechumenate; that it is already filled with an abundance of experiential learning.

Redeemer Post-Baptism Neophytes and Newly Confirmed 2019

Celebrating the Newly Baptized: The Rites of the Mystagogy Period

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How can one not love a word like Mystagogy! Prior to Lent we discussed key aspects of the Period of Enlightenment—Rituals, Prayer, Reflection, Catechesis. During Lent we will consider primary aspects of the least well known period of the catechumenate: The Period of Mystagogy. We will consider Rituals, Preaching, Catechesis, Service, and Formation and Vocation over the next five weeks.

Both the RCIA’s description of the Period of Mystagogy as well as that of Go Make Disciples provide a helpful vision of mystagogy. The RCIA describe the period as “a time for the community and the neophytes together to grow in deepening their grasp of the paschal mystery,  and in making it part of their lives through meditation on the Gospel, sharing in the Eucharist, and doing the works of charity” (Rite of Christian Initiation, Study Edition, 151). Go Make Disciples describes it in this way: “Mystagogical reflection is guided and sustained contemplation of the church’s worship, especially its sacraments, using biblical themes, images, and stories. . . . it draws Christians to reflect on their experience in worship as an encounter with God, and then to consider the implications for behavior in daily life that reflects faith and belonging to Christ” (Go Make Disciples, 131).

Mystagogy is for the entire assembly. The experience of the neophytes (newly planted baptized) serves as the impetus and source for the sustained (and lifelong) reflection of the assembly of its participation in the paschal mystery. Thus, since the neophytes are the primary symbol there are few formal rituals during this period. The weekly divine service and the Lord’s Supper itself serve as the primary ritual context for reflecting on faith and life in light of experiencing the paschal journey with Christ through baptism, Lord’s Supper, and anointing. At the end of the period, at Pentecost, there should be some celebration of this entire journey with the neophytes and the assembly. This also could include, especially on the Day of Pentecost, a rite of affirmation of vocation. Such a rite is provided in Welcome to Christ, 58-61). In addition, a celebration at the one year anniversary of their incorporation into the body of Christ would be appropriate. Other gatherings throughout the year after their initiations, and perhaps beyond the first year, are also encouraged as desired and feasible.

There are other ways to keep the newly baptized at the center of congregational mission, attention, and reflection. During the fifty days of Easter they could sit in their own area of the church and wear a special symbol denoting that they are newly baptized, such as a cross.  They should be included in the intercessions throughout the Easter season. Some may be asked voluntarily to offer witness/testimony to their experience of incorporation into Christ, whether during the divine service or in other forums in congregational life. Every divine service could begin with a rite of remembrance or thanksgiving for baptism, either in addition to or in place of the corporate rite of general confession and absolution. This remembrance of baptism could include the ritual act of sprinkling water upon the assembly as a tangible reminder of baptism (rite of aspersion). The sacramental symbols associated with Easter (font, paschal candle, white paraments and vestments, baptismal candles and robes, alleluia banners, etc…) should have prominence throughout the fifty days.

By means of these rites and ritual accents, as Timothy O’Malley says, “the period of mystagogy is a chance to celebrate the wondrous transformation that has taken place in Christ’s Body” (Divine Blessing, 127). It is a chance to celebrate the new birth in Christ, those newly born in Christ, and all of us who have been born anew in Him.

Redeemer Post-Baptism Neophytes and Newly Confirmed 2019

Prepare to Be Baptized: The Rituals of the Period of Enlightenment

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The season of Lent ushers in a period of intentional preparation [Intense Preparation (Go Make Disciples) or Purification and Enlightenment (RCIA)] for those who are going to be baptized (the Elect) and those being confirmed and reaffirming their faith at the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday. This period focuses them on spiritual preparation for baptism and incorporation into the body of Christ. For the next four weeks leading to the First Sunday in Lent we will examine four primary elements of this preparation: ritual, prayer, reflection, and catechesis.

It is a period that seeks to purify desires and enlighten the elect toward the shape of the life of faith. Catechetical instruction in this period is intended to feed and support spiritual preparation. As Ronald Lewinski indicates in An Introduction to the RCIA,

The catechumens reflect on their faith and religious experience in a more intense manner. They take all that they have heard and seen, learned, prayed and shared, and they ponder it all in the depths of their hearts. Lent supports this process of interiorizing, giving it shape and direction through the Scriptures, prayers, and traditional Lenten disciplines of fasting, performing works of mercy, charity, and penance [confession and absolution for a Lutheran], and being committed to personal sacrifice (53).

Central to this spiritual preparation are the questions of faith and, through it, entry into the rule and reign of God. These questions are at the heart of the baptismal liturgy:

  • Do you desire to be baptized?
  • Do you renounce the devil, all his works, and all his ways?
  • Do you believe in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

This period prepares the elect to answer these questions with clarity and conviction.

There are a number of liturgical rites (as outlined by the RCIA) that facilitate this spiritual self-examination (We examined these in greater detail in a blog post series entitled, A Ritual Journey, which we posted from February 25-May 7, 2022. These are still available in our blog on FormingLutherans.org). These rites include (noting the dates of the 2022 blog posts):

  • The Rite of Election on the First Sunday in Lent (March 4)
  • The Scrutiny Rites including Exorcisms on the Third through Fifth Sundays in Lent (March 18, April 4, April 7)
  • The Presentations of the Creed (March 29) and the Lord’s Prayer to the Elect (April 18), usually at weekday celebrations of the Word following the First and Third Scrutinies
  • Penitential Rites for those already baptized who are preparing for Confirmation or Affirmation of Faith
  • Preparatory Rites on Holy Saturday which may include The Recitation of the Creed, the Ephphetha Rite (Opening of the Ears and Mouth for hearing and confessing the Word), and the Choosing of a Baptismal Name (April 29 and May 6)

Through these rites, as Lewinski observes, the Elect serve as “the primary symbol for Lent. We see in them what we ought to see happening in ourselves: a conversion that leaves us with a hunger for Eucharist and a thirst for building God’s kingdom” (54). Through these rites the Elect and the entire assembly are prepared to receive the gift of new life in Christ that comes through baptism. We hope that by examining the ritual, prayer, reflection, and catechesis that shape the period of Enlightenment we can provide guidance toward facilitating this kind of experience for your Elect during Lent.

Easter Vigil 2019 (25)

A Ritual Journey: Formation in Enlightenment

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This post, focusing on formation in the Period of Enlightenment and Purification, will be the last in this series on the ritual journey through that period of the catechumenate. Formation in this period is in a pronounced way liturgical. That means that the liturgical experience through the various rites that we have discussed over the previous weeks is the primary context in which formation and catechesis toward a life of faith takes place. For the elect the shape and knowledge of the Christian life that is taking shape should flow from and be referenced to the liturgical and ritual experiences they encounter. This ritual formation leads the elect into the Word; walking with the Lord in the church through the liturgical year; into hearing and praying what the church believes (the Creed); into being formed by what the church prays; into the nature of living the Christian Way of life; into catechesis embedded in ritual; and into an apprenticeship into the church’s mission. Let me provide a brief description for each of these.

Formed by the Word

The proclaimed and written Word permeates the liturgical celebration. Many of the rites are ritual enactments of or encounters with the Word. The elect encounter Christ, the personal Word, as these Word-laden rituals strike them. And those liturgical encounters inform and guide their ongoing reflection upon the Word.

Walking with the Lord through the Liturgical Year

The encounter with the Word occurs in the context of the liturgical year. So the biblical narrative focused upon the revelation of the One sent from the Father full of grace and truth and who as Lord will pour out His Spirit on all living things surrounds the rites of the period. Each Sunday’s Word within the year’s arc provides the primary point for catechetical reflection on the Christian faith.

Creedal Formation (praying what we believe)

The texts of the rites throughout this period are intended to inform Christian faith and belief. They convey the basic narrative of the rule of faith/creedal story. The ritual texts and actions bear this narrative and shape the Christian to live by faith according to it.

Formed by the Church’s Prayer

Prayer permeates all the rites in this period. It is prayer that reflects the biblical narrative and that prays for the elect to confess and live under the lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives.

Living into the Body of Christ and the Christian Way of Life

The enlightenment journey leads the elect to experience the life of the Body of Christ and the reconciling way of Christian life. The rituals reveal Christian practices that are intended for daily Christian living and sharing in the church.

Catechesis embedded in Ritual

Catechesis doesn’t arise out of textbooks or curriculum. It springs forth from the liturgical experience within the gathered community. As Diana Macalintal says, “The Parish is the Curriculum.” The life of the parish ultimately forms the elect into living as disciples of the Lord Jesus.

Apprenticeship in the Church’s Mission

Finally, the liturgical journey of the elect apprentices them into the church’s mission. When shaped with intentionality and purpose the rites of the entire catechumenate mold the newly baptized into being witnesses to the Word and as those who pursue God’s justice in their vocations and relationships.

Redeemer Elevation

Being with Christ Jesus (That’s Catechesis)

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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 focuses on conversion, being brought to faith. This is what Aidan Kavanagh and others have referred to as primary theology. Faith seeking understanding, or secondary theology, follows upon the primary catechesis and is part of lifelong discipleship. All Christians are theologians because they are believers in God and they have journeyed through that primary catechesis at the catechumenate’s center. Macalintal has an effective description of baptized theologians as they serve to expose catechumens to the life of faith: they are translators. She says, they “stand on the boundary between our profound experience of the mystery of God and the real-life human situation in which we live. The theologian stands in the middle to ‘co-relate’ the border between the divine and all of humanity’s deepest questions” (98). All the baptized are mystagogues facilitating the catechumens reflections on the mysteries, that is, the experience of God’s self-revelation in promise, grace and mercy through His Son Jesus Christ by the Spirit. All the baptized encourage the catechumens’ reflection on what they have heard and seen, but especially the team (which she discusses in chapter two) involved in faith formation: sponsors, catechists, pastors, etc…

In this catechetical reflection, questions allow inquirers and catechumens to explore what they are hearing and seeing as God reveals himself in Christ in the church’s life. Questions such as: “How have you encountered Christ in the Word this week? In the liturgy this week? How has God been present in your life this week?” Questions such as these allow a deeper exploration of faith itself, or of coming to faith in God through Christ. Guiding these experiences and reflections is the proclaimed and written Word of God. Macalintal helpfully outlines a process of reflection for the catechumens with six parts: Encounter (participating in worship and the parish’s life); Recollection (recalling how one encountered Christ in that event); Reflection (How did the encounter make one feel? Think?); Catechesis (Catechists and sponsors bring the Word and theological reflection to bear on the experience); Connection (How does this experience foster reflection on what is going on in the world around us and shape our witness?); Conversion (In light of this experience and reflection, “How will I commit to living as a disciple of Christ this week in the world?” [104]). What Lutherans might traditionally consider the “meat” of the teaching is that catechetical section. But it is still milk! No solid theological foods yet. It is still reflection on faith itself and the implications of conversion to the life of faith for the catechumen. It is still a very initial encounter with the Word.

In chapter seven Macalintal turns toward the need for customizing catechesis to the individual catechumen. Sponsors and catechists play a primary role here because they know the individual catechumens best. One of the most helpful (among many) parts of the book comes at this point. Macalintal outlines two catechetical paths that are interdependent but distinct: the Ritual path and the Catechetical path. The Ritual path is the formation that happens through the crossing of the various ritual stages that the catechumen experiences. They focus on the gradual transition of the person in terms of their order/place within the Christian community: from inquirer to catechumen to neophyte. Formation happens through the Word and ritual action in the liturgies of the church. The second path she labels the Catechetical path. This path is less structured and attends to the level of faith instruction in the Word that the individual person has received. For example, those who have not been baptized are at the beginning of the Ritual path, but they may have extensive knowledge about the Christian faith and so would be further along the Catechetical path. On the other hand, another person may have been baptized and so has already moved through the entire Ritual path, but has little knowledge of the Christian faith and so is at a very elementary stage in the Catechetical path. Most often Lutheran congregations give strong attention to the Catechetical path, but fail to give sufficient attention to the Ritual path. In addition, it is vital on the Catechetical path to remember that that is still introductory Christian teaching (primary proclamation and initiatory catechesis), not the depth of formation (including Scripture study, theological/confessional study, spiritual formation, etc…) that will come after they are baptized. Because people are at various places on these two paths our faith formation practices need to shape their formation experience according to where they are at.

In conclusion Macalintal asks, “What if? What would happen if we made the RCIA a process that really took place within the community of the faithful?” (130) And so I put the same question to us Lutherans: What if we actually use the formation practices of the catechumenate? Perhaps, as Macalintal indicates, “We will find our way together to a door that can change everything” (131).