Sharings

Elected to serve

Michael Mansfield’s article on the rite of election (Choreographing the Catechumenate, ML 26:1) starts out with a good observation about rites being for the community. He quickly gets off-track, however, by claiming that the rite of election is about the community electing to be part of the Christian vision. Wrong. The one who does the electing in the rite of election is God, in whose name the Church acts (see RCIA 119). The rite of election is about divine election. I argue this in my book On the Rite of Election (Liturgy Training Publications, 1994). Once Mansfield makes this mistake, the rest of his ritual suggestions reinforce the motif of human decision-making and lead the reader astray.

The people of God discern in the elect signs of God’s call, and they witness to that in the rite of election. They take part in a wonderful unfolding of God’s plan in this way. Their prayer for the elect, and their support to them, is their ministry in the rite of election. The rite is not a commitment ceremony for the assembly.

Mansfield’s actual suggestions about staging the rite seem gimmicky tome and drawn from a schoolroom perspective quite alien to adult initiation (raising your hand if you are ready, spelling the names if they are difficult). Why the elect should not sign their own names is another puzzling question. More confusing still is his suggestion that we bless everyone with water at the end of the rite. The elect are unbaptized; a ritual recalling baptism is inappropriate for them. Furthermore, in Lent, the usual sprinkling rite at Mass is suppressed, and many parishes even remove the water from their fonts and holy water stoops. The desert theme so evident in the readings for the First Sunday of Lent makes his suggestion even more incongruous. Last of all, having the assembly seated for the intercessions is inappropriate.

All this having been said, however, Mansfield has raised a good concern. I would put it this way: Do we really understand from within what it means to be God’s chosen people and, from that lived reality, do we exercise our ministry to those on the journey to font and table? Do we understand the mission for which we are elected? These are important pastoral questions and deserve consideration.

Rita Ferrone
Easton, Pa.

ML

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