The letters “RCIA” stand for the “Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults“, the document flowing from Vatican II which guides the process by which adults are initiated into our Roman Catholic community. The RCIA describes a process in which men and women are guided and cared for as they awaken in faith and are gradually introduced to the Catholic way of life.
The RCIA process is a series of carefully planned stages, marked by liturgical rites in the presence of the whole community, in which new Catholics embark on and join us in a continuing and deepening conversion into faith and discipleship. The RCIA takes the distinctive history and spiritual needs of each person into account, differentiating between the baptized and the unbaptized, the catechized and the uncatechized. The needs of mature, practicing Christians from other faith traditions are considered on an individual basis.
In RCIA, we personally encounter Jesus, Father, Holy Spirit
throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament which begins with
Mary, the Mother of God, accepting the Archangel Gabrial Message,
“Rejoice, O highly favored daughter! The Lord is with you. Blessed are
you among women.” And “So not fear, Mary, You have found favor with
God. You shall conceive and bear a Son, and give Him the name of Jesus,
(Lk.1:28-33. Mary’s “Fiat” or Yes has taught us to desire to live
daily for Jesus. Jesus was born, lived, suffered, died, and arose to
show us the Way, Truth and Life while He taught through His Apostles and
the Catholic Church. Therefore Jesus calls ALL People to Himself
through the Tradition and Sacred Scripture from the Old Testament and
the New as we encounter Jesus and His Catholic Church Teachings through
Holy Mass and the Eucharistic and Sacramental Life within the Church!
The
Candidates have been baptized into another Christian Church but desire a
closer walk with Jesus in the Catholic Church while the Catechumens
have never been baptized! RCIA tries to give the Candidate or
Catechumen, an encounter with Jesus within the Catholic Church through
Sacred Scripture, Church teaching and practical ways of serving God’s
People!