Catechumenate Team

The RCIA Assembly

The RCIA participant is drawn into the life of Jesus Christ through the experience of the faith community, and so the community plays a central role in adult faith formation.

To understand the way in which the Holy Spirit works in and through all of us, there are five hallmarks of a Christian community:

1. Communion: through our communion with one another we are made one with Christ and thus are made one community.
2. Liturgy: as the work of the people, the liturgy requires all of us to actively and consciously participate in the mysteries as we gather to encounter God in the Word, the Eucharist, and one another.
3. Instruction:  the teaching of the Church, the means through which we come to a deeper understanding of the Paschal mystery. In order to be teachers we must enrich our lived experience of the faith with the understanding that comes from reflection on the Word of God, the wisdom of the Church Fathers, and the writings of contemporary teachers of the faith. As a community of believers, gathered each Sunday to worship our savior, and seeking to form ourselves in the teachings of the Church, we become disciples and do the work of Christ.
4. Work: to become the hands and feet of Christ by doing the work of the kingdom of heaven on earth. Christ says, "whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40).
5. Witness: the proclamation of our faith. We must not be afraid to bear witness to Christ and the transformative power of his love. When others see in us a community that witnesses to our faith as much in public as in the church, then they are drawn with us into a more intimate relationship with the life of Christ.
   
   The community should act as an example of Christian living: a genuine concern for and interest in the catechumens, a commitment to surrounding the catechumens with prayer, a desire to lead them by example into the practice of Christian living, an openness and welcoming into the heart of the community; into the homes of community members and into the numerous ways in which the community gathers. The community needs to display a seriousness and quality in its form of worship. The community needs to be committed to social action and gospel responsibility. The community will, finally, make available and provide the appropriate formation for those who will minister in various capacities in the whole process of the journey of initiation. Through our baptism we are invited to constantly be reborn in fellowship with Christ and one another through worship, teaching, service, and prophetic witness.

Sponsors

Sponsors are the primary catechists for catechumens and candidates. Sponsors are like teachers, passing along the living tradition of the Church. This does not mean that they need to know everything or be the perfect Catholic. Rather, a sponsor is someone who gives life to what a Catholic is, does, and says. They also serve as a bridge between the community and the catechumens and candidates. Each sponsor is expected to form a relationship with a catechumen or candidate, remaining with them not only through all parts of their journey of conversion guided by the RCIA, but ideally as a lifelong partner in ongoing and mutual faith development. Representing the Church as a witness, companion, and model is a great responsibility, but one that most sponsors find deeply and personally rewarding, in addition to often learning a great deal about their own faith. Sponsors pray for and with, listen to, and gently guide catechumens and candidates. Sponsors should be active members of the St. Matthew community and need not have any relationship with the catechumen or candidate before this time. However, many sponsors are those people who initially brought a catechumen or candidate to the Church.
 
Guidance for those interested in becoming a sponsor is provided by the Coordinator of RCIA,  Elizabeth Edens. Sponsors will be paired up with catechumens and candidates as needed.
 

Catechists

The catechists lead different parts of the sessions for all of the four phases of the RCIA journey—inquiry, catechumenate, purification and enlightenment, and mystagogy.
 

Catechist and Sponsor Resources

There are many resources available to catechists, sponsors, and the entire assembly to support the ministry to the catechumens and candidates. The Coordinator of RCIA coordinates sessions and provides resources for catechists and sponsors. 

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: Study Edition / Complete text of the rite together with additional rites approved for use in the diocese of the United States of America. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1988.