Spirit of RCIA explored in training program

"We are blessed to be working with people who have heard the call of God," said Sara Sharlow, diocesan coordinator of the Rite of Christian Initiation (RCIA) for Metuchen, as she opened a day-long training for new RCIA team members in the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway, Sept. 27.

That sense of blessing continued throughout the day as Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri Father Peter Cebulka and Joan Best Seamon explain the richness of this rite of the Church for some 80 participants. Together, they brought a combined 40 years of RCIA experience to their presentations, as they informed and enlightened those who are beginning initiation ministry.

"What is the RCIA?," asked Father Cebulka. "It is the ministry of God’s love," answered one participant. "It is a formal process that enfleshes the essential mission of the Church - to ‘go and make disciples,’" answered another.

Through story, ritual and instruction, the presenters explained the process given by the universal Church as the means by which persons are to be welcomed into, formed for, and enfolded in the Catholic Christian community. 

"These rites are essential. They are not optional. They must be authentic, not perfunctory," Father Cebulka said. "The Church entrusts us with this rite and expects us to use it."

He went on to explain, "The RCIA is as ‘official’ as the General Instruction on the Roman Missal, the Ordo, the Funeral Rite, Marriage Rite, the Rite of Penance. It is not something we invented or made up at Vatican II. The RCIA is a return to the way people were initiated in the early Church."

Father Cebulka made it clear that the Holy Spirit — not RCIA teams — makes Christians. Thus, he kept the ministers focused on the center of the ministry while also helping them understand the process and giving them the tools needed to be better instruments of the Spirit. Seamon, director of music ministry in St. Matthias Parish, Somerset, told a story about her own experiences in the RCIA in explanation of the impact the Spirit can have through this process. "It changes lives forever," she said. "It changed the people in the process, and it changed ME!"

Further exploring that concept, Father Cebulka talked about conversion — the goal of the RCIA process. "Conversion takes encounter, time and nurture," he said and proceeded to explain how this Rite of the Church provides the environment for that to happen in the life of one who has heard God’s call. The team members who attended the workshop learned about the various stages of the Rite and the way it offers the welcome, instruction, discernment and experience that are essential for those beginning a new life in Christ.

"The Rite is about formation, not just information," Father Cebulka explained. With that in mind, the presenters modeled for the participants a Rite of Acceptance, allowing them to be formed by the liturgical experience. Those who attended the workshop were particularly touched by this immersion into the lived ministry. They came away from the day with more than "book learning" — much in the same way they hope and pray their catechumens and candidates come away from their time with the RCIA.

One of the RCIA teams attending the workshop together was from Queenship of Mary Parish, Plainsboro. Their reflections on the day were both self-evaluative and hopeful. "I have some concerns," said Bill Lahr. "I want to be sure we are fulfilling the Rite. There is always room for improvement." Hugo Simao added, "It’s good to see where we want to go, how we can improve our ministry. It’s very good to have someone tell us what the Church really asks of us." A new team member, Bobbie Schott said she was uplifted and affirmed in her "yes" to the call to serve in this ministry by all she heard from the presenters.

Michael Jeter, a two-year veteran team member from St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral Parish, Metuchen, concurred that there is always more to know. "I came here knowing some," he said. "I learned some. I have heard some things from a new perspective, in a new space." Like others who came to this day, full of enthusiasm and the Spirit, Jeter said, "The question is how can we improve? How can we implement what we are hearing?" He pointed out that it is the Spirit that makes all things possible and that the Spirit guides this ministry.

The Spirit was evident in the assembled RCIA team members, in the presenters, in the witness statement given at the end of the day by Jeffrey Calia, a young man who lived the Rite of Christian Initiation process at Rutgers University where Father Cebulka is chaplain. It is people like Calia, who are on fire with love for the Lord — having heard his call and having responded — who are the hope of the Church today as truly as in the early Church.

Calia’s witness concluded a day of formation for team members, but the formation continues. The Office of Worship will continue to offer days of information and enrichment for lay and clergy team members and for clergy who preside at these Rites throughout the year. The next such gathering will be Nov. 13 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the diocesan center. For more information about this upcoming event, or about the RCIA ministry, contact Sara Sharlow at (732) 562-1990, ext. 1633.