Introduction The Church has been entrusted with the fullness of the truth, God’s final self-revelation in Jesus Christ, who is the “image of the invisible Father” and in whose image each human person is created. Because we know Jesus Christ, we can see and understand the truth about man. For this reason, the Catholic Church has the only adequate anthropology, meaning that she possesses a true and complete understanding of the human person. To an increasingly secular culture this sounds like anti-cultural blasphemy. Why? To answer that question, let’s look at the radically different ideas about reality from which our... Read more
Categories
- Adult Faith Formation
- Articles from Bishops
- Catechesis and Culture
- Catechizing Children
- Catechizing with Art
- Catholic Schools
- Evangelization
- Leadership & Catechist Formation
- Liturgical Catechesis
- Marriage and Family
- Pedagogy & Methodology
- Personal Witness Stories
- RCIA
- Sacramental Preparation
- Saints and Holy Men & Women
- Scriptural Catechesis
- Spiritual Formation and Prayer
- Youth Ministry
Articles Under: RCIA
Every January we enter back into ordinary time with the baptism of Jesus at the Jordan by John the Baptist. As John’s father Zachariahprophesied at his birth, John is the “Precursor” who “will go before the Lord to prepare his way” (cf. Lk 1:76). This transition to ordinary time provides a rich context for a fresh reflection on our Christian mission to “prepare the way of the Lord.” In this article, we’ll look at several philosophical proofs of God’s existence and then see how everyday acts can prepare the mind and heart for faith. In order to enter into this... Read more
The purpose of this article is to answer the title-question as succinctly as possible from within the framework of the Second Vatican Council and subsequent papal interpretation by Pope St. John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor (VS). First we must understand two terms in order to more fully grasp the meaning of conscience and how it operates in life, namely, the terms “freedom” and “truth.” Truth That Sets Us Free Freedom and truth are uniquely tethered to one another in the Gospel of John where Jesus says, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and... Read more
A Community’s Conversion Story Today, Franciscan University’s community is well known for its charismatic, evangelical orthodoxy and for its culture of Christ-like faith throughout the student body. What many people do not know is that this was not always the case. In President Emeritus Fr. Michael Scanlan’s book Let the Fire Fall , he outlines the reality of campus life when he arrived in the early 1970s. Alcohol and drugs were the currency of college social life… Many of the students routinely got drunk on Saturday night and slept all day Sunday. Many of them used marijuana regularly to relax... Read more
Why do so many newly baptized Catholics stop practicing their faith within only a couple years? The causes of attrition are various, and can include inadequate catechesis in the RCIA process, lack of interior conversion to Christ, and insufficient support and connection with other Catholics or the wider parish community. [i] Let’s think about these new Catholics for a minute. Still wet from baptism and glistening with the oil of confirmation, they now have a new status and, according to the tradition of the Church, a new name. The elect who have been initiated into the Catholic Church are called... Read more
Before I became Catholic, if there was one word that summed up my evangelical Pentecostal Protestant experience, it was “spontaneous.” If there was one word that summed up my perception of the Catholic experience, it was “rubric.” My perception was that Protestants were spontaneous and therefore “authentic,” while Catholics had rubrics and were therefore “lifeless.” After I became Catholic, I began to work with RCIA and discovered that apparently I’m not alone. While concluding an RCIA inquiry meeting one year, I closed in an extemporaneous prayer and, when finished, one of the inquirers said out loud, “Wow! I had no... Read more
Every new year brings new hopes, dreams, promises, and possibilities, as does the Year of Mercy! The Holy Father asks us to respond wholeheartedly to the call for a widespread and generous outpouring of mercy, despite the fact that this emphasis on mercy might appear to minimize the demands of justice and the law. Some may be surprised at this, as were the pharisees and scribes at the time of Jesus. At the same time, though, millions of Catholics and non-Catholics are delighted as they observe Pope Francis and his announcement of this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. How Does This... Read more
In 2004, I resigned from being a Pentecostal pastor to enter the Catholic Church, and therefore needed to find new employment. The only job I could find was selling cars. Going from pastor to car salesman was an extreme culture shock. In training for my new job, one principle loomed large over all others: no matter what happens, do not let the customer leave without making a purchase . If a customer responded to my sales pitch with “I’m just looking today” or “I need to talk to my wife,” I had a litany of responses close at hand. If... Read more
There is a compelling challenge that every catechist must face: having fallen in love with Christ ourselves, how do we pass this love on to others? The answer is far from simple. Human beings are multi-dimensional, so we have to work on many levels simultaneously. In considering how to approach this work, we are indebted to the great Roman catechist, Sofia Cavalletti. It was she who drew attention to the typical order in which catechesis—indeed all human learning—unfolds, especially for children: first the body, then the heart, then the mind. If we are to catechize well, we need to follow... Read more
Being attuned to the presence of God at Mass is vitally important if we are to be formed by liturgy over the course of life. In this article, Scripture teacher Gayle Somers reflects upon the encounter with God possible in the Liturgy of the Word and offers important concrete suggestions for entering more deeply into the Scriptures proclaimed at Mass. “When we take up the sacred Scriptures and read them with the Church, we walk once more with God in the Garden.” [i] Who can resist an invitation like this—to share the intimate communion with God given originally to Adam... Read more