Six Principles of the RCIA
   
 
  • The RCIA is first and foremost a faith journey process.

    RCIA is for and about people whose faith journey cannot be programmed because programs as such do not cause conversion; only God brings about conversion.

     
 
  • The RCIA is a community event

The initiation of adults is about the Christian community initiating new members into itself, and therefore it must take place in community. It is never a private process. The RCIA sees the Church as community -as us; and it also sees us as the primary ministers of the RCIA.

 
 
  • The RCIA ministry is basically one of witness and hospitality.

The document is particularly strong in this respect when it says: “…the Initiation of adults is the concern and business of all the baptized” (RCIA #41). Although the RCIA involves many parishioners in various ministries (sponsors. catechists, prayers, spiritual advisors, etc) everyone in Holy Eucharist’s Parish Community is responsible for’ ministering to the prospective converts by the witness of their lives and the openness of their attitudes.
 
  • The RCIA is ongoing and multi-dimensional.

    The process of conversion takes time. For this reason there is nothing instant about RCIA. The commitment to gospel values and perspectives is a personal journey which is never accomplished by an educational program alone. Doctrinal instruction as well as spiritual formation is included in the RCIA.
 
  • The RCIA restores the baptismal focus of Lent, and reinstates the Easter Vigil as the honored time of initiation

This means that the whole initiation process centers on the candidates’ gradual incorporation into the Paschal Mystery - the mystery of  Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. The sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist celebrate in one symbolic action, one’s initiation into that mystery.
 
  • The RCIA is a step-by-step journey highlighted with corresponding rituals

The document sees the process of initiation divided into four basic steps. Between each of the steps the community celebrates a special ritual which brings closure to the preceding period and moves the candidates into the next step

 
   
 

 

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