Encouraging Inquiry
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
(RCIA) is the church's way of incorporating non-Catholic men and
women into our Catholic Faith. This is the ancient
catechumenate process of the church. People join the process all year
long as the Spirit moves them. But we all know that nothing works
better than a personal invitation. Encourage the members of your
community to invite anyone they know who might be interested to
attend an “Inquiry Evening.” (You can have more than one during the
year.) This will be one way to give people information about the
catechumenate process and to start them off as inquirers.
One of the best ways to learn anything is to ask questions. This
applies to
Catholic adults who have never received their Confirmation or First
Eucharist, to Catholics who feel that they need to know more about
their faith, and to children and youth who have questions about
something they don't understand. Consider sponsoring an evening
entitled,
“What You Want to Know about the Mass.” During the weeks before the
scheduled
meeting, invite people, adults and children, to submit questions that
they have. Put a “Questions” box in the vestibule, or make it available
at the school office or during meetings or catechetical sessions. This
will allow time to look up the answers to any
esoteric questions before the meeting. Another approach is to answer
the questions in a brief session just before the final blessing at
Mass, or to publish the answers one at a time in the weekly bulletin.
You can be creative in engaging the participation of the community.
More on Arriving at Mass Late and Leaving
Early
This was contributed by Brenda Tibbits. I think the best part about
this idea is that they
invited the people to consider the problem and to generate ideas,
rather than just tell
them what they should do and why. It might be fun to try in your parish.
Brenda: I would
like to share with you something that we did to try to address the
coming late and leaving early issue. Our Worship Commission placed ads
in the weekly bulletin and made some verbal announcements asking for
the top ten reasons for coming to Mass on time. We asked that entries
be sent in by a given date and stated that a list would be compiled and
shared
with the parish at the monthly coffee and donuts. We would select a
winner, and the winner and their family would be announced at Mass and
in the bulletin. They would also receive free coffee and donuts. We
printed the compiled list in the
bulletin and made cardstock lists to put on the tables during
coffee and donuts. They were lighthearted (mostly) and generated a
great deal of conversation. A few months later, we did the same thing
with leaving Mass early. On both occasions, our priests used some of
the list in their homilies that day and it was both fun and made the
point. The first few weeks things were better, but I can’t say that it
really lasted. Still, it addressed the problem.
Attached are our ads and the final lists.
CONTEST
Now you have a chance to have your top reason for staying
through the end of Mass or for arriving on time printed in the
bulletin. Please call or email [name and contact info] at the Parish
Office with your top
reasons! The top ten of our collected reasons for staying through the
end of Mass will be printed in the bulletin and their entire families
will receive free donuts at our [date] Koffee Klatsch! Submissions must
be received by [date] to be eligible.
Here is a copy of a letter sent to the contest winners:
Dear [name],
Thank you so much for participating in the parish contest for the “Top
Ten Reasons to Stay until the End of Mass.” Below you will see the
final list that will be printed in the bulletin on [date]. A number of
the reasons were paraphrased from the form in which they were received,
and some reasons were rewritten to include elements of multiple
contributors. As you can see, we tried for some humor as well as some
real issues to help get the point across. Your involvement was much
appreciated!
As a small gift, you and your family are invited to the [date] Koffee
Klatsch without charge. Again, thank you!
1. You will avoid getting run over by the servers as you try to sneak
out just ahead of the procession.
2. You will receive the final blessing—and who among us doesn’t need
to be blessed?!
3. While you are waiting to get out of the parking lot, you have time
together as a family to talk about the question of the week.
4. Those sitting around you won't worry that you lost your way coming
back from communion when they notice your empty seat.
5. You can enjoy those final peaceful prayerful minutes of Mass before
the kids start their barrage of questions and requests during the car
ride home.
6. You won’t miss any important announcements.
7. The distraction of people leaving to those praying the Mass would be
eliminated.
8. You have the wonderful opportunity to bond with your fellow
parishioners after Mass.
9. The choir sings the best songs at the end of Mass.
10. Unlike a Bengals or Browns game, Mass isn't over at halftime!
Blessings and Peace,
A similar letter was sent regarding "Reasons to Get to Mass on Time"
with this list.
1. Avoid dirty looks from the Pastor and others!
2. Allow time for kids to use the bathroom before Mass.
3. You can do your shopping for Scrip, Fair Trade Coffee, Christmas
wreaths, etc. before Mass.
4. Make others feel welcome through your relaxed & generous spirit.
5. One of the ushers can ask you/your family to bring up the gifts.
6. Hear Ted play a newly composed piano prelude to set the tone for a
moment of prayerful meditation before Mass begins.
7. Have the chance to collect your thoughts and become aware of others
who are with you in this shared celebration of faith.
8. Improve your insurance rates; studies show people who get to church
early have 25% fewer parking lot accidents!
9. The first shall be last and the last shall be first only applies to
the Kingdom of God. All other circumstances just demonstrate poor time
management.
10. If you arrive early, you have a better shot at getting to sit in
the back pews.
This Month's Recommendation
 THE MINISTRY OF THE
LECTOR
Caroline M. Thomas
Paper, $6.95 (with
special bulk prices)
64 pages, 5½" × 8½"
ISBN 0-89390-689-1
Give your lectors some “homework” over the
summer so they can come back reinvigorated in their ministry next fall.
This book answers the following questions:
How do we bring the word of God to life for
our assembly at Mass?
What
makes the readings speak to each one personally?
How does lectoring
become proclaiming/storytelling?
This book tells how to do just that,
giving suggestions on how to prepare and describing actual techniques.
Examples of the various techniques are presented. The book establishes
the ministry of lector in relationship to the assembly and develops the
concept of proclaiming as a faith witness. Although the title
references the ministry of lector, the principles and techniques will
be helpful to deacons, presiders, catechists, and all who proclaim
God’s word.
The
regular price for this book is
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mentioning
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expires 7/31/10.
Liturgical Bits & Bytes for the
Bulletin and Beyond
If you have been getting the Liturgical Bits
& Bytes in this newsletter, but didn’t sign up at the
beginning,
you can subscribe to
all the archives online.
The new ones will be
added as they become available. It is easy to include them in the
bulletin or other parish media.
Week 1:
RCIA Community
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
isn’t just for those who
are planning to join the Catholic Church. The process is the
responsibility of the whole community. All the members of the parish
support the catechumens by prayer and example to assist
in gradually incorporating them into a whole new way of life in Christ.
Consider becoming a sponsor or at least a prayer partner to these
brothers and sisters who are responding to God’s invitation to grace.
Week 2:
Holy Water
Q: Each time we enter the church we bless
ourselves with holy water. That rite is meant to remind us of our
Baptism. Baptism is the way that we became part of the community of the
faithful. It was our entrance into church (the people of God). It was
the way that God made us God’s children, brothers and sister of Jesus
and
of one another. So each time we enter the church we make that sign of
our faith. The font or fonts at the entrance to the church contain
holy water. It is the water that we use to renew our faith and the
water we use to baptize. Those who use holy water as part of their
family prayer can request water to take home.
Week 3:
Liturgy, the Word
Liturgy is a word that comes from the Greek meaning “the work of the
people.” What makes our liturgy a “shared” work? We sing; we sit in
silence; we listen and speak; we stand, embrace, eat, and drink. In all
these actions (including formalized or ritualized communication) we
speak to one another and to God with our bodies and our voices, and we
“listen” not just with our hearing but with all our senses. The real
communication of the liturgy is the moments that it
offers us for being still in open and loving relationship
with God and one another. Liturgy is not something we do for God. It is
our opportunity to touch and enlarge our experience of God, to be with
God, to hear God, to know God. When it works, it changes who we are and
how we live.
Week 4:
Changes in the Mass
Q: Has the Mass always been the way it is
now?
A: The way we worship now has a long and complicated history. The most
recent changes that came from the Second Vatican Council are what most
adults talk about when they refer to “the changes.” While retaining the
basic purpose of the ritual, Mass has its deepest origins in the Jewish
“Sabbath Suppers.” Down through the years it has included many cultural
and ritual variations. We tend to think that the Mass is an action that
never changes. This is far from the truth. Just as one example, the
language of the Mass has changed from Hebrew to Greek to Latin to the
vernacular. The way we worship is not a museum piece but the living,
breathing, changing work of a people seeking to touch God through word
and gesture, song and prayer, sign and symbol. You may have heard that
there are more changes coming. This should reassure us that the church
is still living and growing.
Week 5:
The Celebrating Assembly
This concept has been discussed many times,
but it bears repetition. Mass is something we do together. It is not
something the priest does while we watch. We all have important tasks
to do. In days past people were brought up with the thinking that we
“attended” Mass in the same way you would go to a concert or a movie.
There are really four tasks or steps for an assembly. We gather. We
listen. We respond. We are sent. If we understand these steps as an
assembly, we will better understand what it means to say that Sunday
Mass is not a private act, but something we all do together. It is in
this sense that we say that we are all celebrants. A worshiping
community that begins to believe in itself and act as God's priestly
people will unleash tremendous power for life. It is through that faith
experience that God touches us and we touch God. If we actively work at
the task of being an assembly, then we will see what a difference that
can make.
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