the catholic community of st. francis of assisi
Joining the Faith
Many in the Catholic Church are ‘cradle Catholics’, meaning their families are and have been Catholic and were raised ‘from the cradle’ in the Church. As a result, they usually receive the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, Penance, and Confirmation, at a minimum, as they grow up in the Church. But there’s another way; every year during the Easter Vigil, thousands of new Catholic adults receive baptism into the Catholic Church. This process is called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).
At St. Francis of Assisi, we have several adults who went through the Rite of the Catechumens on January 12th. The term ‘Catechumen,’ in the early Church, was the name applied to someone who had not yet been initiated into the sacred mysteries of the Church but had an expressed interest and was undergoing preparation to join the faith. So why do adults choose to join the Church? Of course, there are various reasons, but we discuss the journey with two people going through the RCIA process in our parish.
