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Recently we celebrated the Rite of Acceptance in our church. This is the second step in becoming Catholic. All you have to do to be a Christian is profess your belief in Jesus our savior and believe it in your heart. But to become a member of the Catholic Church, you must spend at least one year learning the faith, studying the word of God and coming to understand the call to discipleship and how to live the life that our Lord called us to live.
There is true genius in the Catholic Church. Unlike many protestant churches that do an "alter call" after a moving sermon, people will be moved and impulsive and want to get Baptized with little or no other Christian teaching, and then the Pastor accepts the people for Baptism. They Baptize and then often forget the persons who came, those who, after the "glow" has worn off, go back to their former way of life. I speak from experience and remember questioning, silently to myself, the validity of claims of "souls saved", especially when I'd never see the person(s) in church again.
In the Catholic Church, if you are unbaptized as an adult, you first enter "inquiry" as the first stage of what we call the "Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults", or RCIA for short. The period of inquiry can last however long the inquirer needs to understand the Catholic faith and decide if they want to become a full member of the Church. If they decide not to join, they go on about their lives as it was before.
If they decide to continue, then the Parish is given the opportunity to formally welcome the new unbaptized through the Rite of Acceptance. The catechist will present them to the church and the Priest will ask them two questions, "What do you ask of God?" and "What do you ask of the Church?". The answers must come from the person, unbiased and without prior instruction. Sometime they are simple, and once in a while, you will get a well thought out and touching answer, as one of the young adults from my class made on Sunday. I had tears in my eyes, and a grin from ear to ear from pride in my student.
It is a beautiful experience and one that the person will not forget and will experience the LOVE offered by the parishioners. I still remember when I became a Catholic. It was the BEST experience of my life after Childbirth and Marriage to the love of my life.
It transcended every religious experience I had ever had to that day. I studied the Bible and attended the classes each Sunday with my sponsor, who is my BFF, (best friend forever) to this day. We grew closer in our faith and to each other.
I must explain further that the person entering the church must choose, or have a assigned to them, a sponsor during their journey. This person is there to pray for the Catechumen, support them, answer questions and be a general example of what the Christian life is like. This relationship helps the new Christian begin a new routine in their life, from learning the importance of daily prayer, to learning to forgive others and pray for them, to help the poor, and to share their faith with others. Of course, this is only a few lifestyle changes. The Catholic Church teaches there is more to being a Christian than "faith alone". We must choose to live like Christ and become more Holy in doing so.
Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross,
and follow me.
For whoever wishes
to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save
it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What
could one give in exchange for his life?
Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless
and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his
Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:34-38, also Luke 9:23-27 , Matthew 16:24-28
In Romans, Paul writes this:
I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to
offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your
spiritual worship.
Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed
by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what
is good and pleasing and perfect. Rom 12: 1-2
I encourage you to read all of Romans 12, as it is a long description of how to live in Christ.
The Catholic Church has many Traditions, as did the ancient Jews. Jesus himself observed the Jewish traditions and said this in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law
or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Matt. 5:17
and Paul in his letter to the Corinthians:
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
I
praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the
traditions, just as I handed them on to you. (1 Cor.11:1-2)
Jesus came to form his new church, with Simon called
Peter (Rock) as it's foundation. He taught his disciples how to live, to teach,
and to celebrate. We believe that when Jesus said, "do this in memory of
me." (Luke 22:19) , he meant for us to do just that, do what he did during
the Celebration of the Feast. You
may also read the rest of 1 Corinthians 11 as Paul explains the Eucharist and
it's importance in "come together to eat". This is the Eucharist, it
was done according to Jesus' command to "do this in memory of me" ,
so why is it so hard for folks to understand?
Read and contemplate on the scriptures. Find and study the Early Church Fathers writings. People who knew the Apostles or the disciples of the Apostles wrote these books!
I have found many of them from Amazon for Kindle at extremely reasonable prices. I am currently reading The History of the Church by Eusebius. Eusebius wrote the History using materials of his day, many which preservation could not save, and he fills in a lot of history of the times so when I read the Gospels, I can better understand where Jesus was coming from when he spoke to the people. Things we don't fully understand and sometimes, Theologians who haven't studied the Early Church Fathers, get wrong.
Right now, I am at the part about the fall of Jerusalem a generation after Christ died. It's amazing to put the predictions of Christ with the actual events that took place and see them in a whole new light! I love it! You will too, I promise.
That's all for today,
God Bless and keep you,
The Catholic Lady ©
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