2013 R.C.I.A

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults

Malvern Retreat House

March 23, 2013

Mary and the Wedding Feast of

Cana

Changing Water……into Wine

Lord Jesus Christ, We thank you for having called us together here.

We offer you what we are about to undertake,everything we think, do and experience

    during this day in your honor.

We also offer you any fatigue of the past week,from the various events of the days,

    because this - too - is our “daily bread.”

Grant that we may begin this retreat with a spirit of hope and anticipation

That you will feed our hearts and souls in the days ahead...

    in the name of the Father and of the Son    and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

• Interactive• Challenging

Conference will be….

• Coherent• Audible• Paced

Presentation should be….

Goals

Information, leading to…

Formation, providing..

Hope.

PreambleReading the “Signs of the

Times”

“Faith impels us to read and discern the signs of

the times in the present history.”

Porta Fidei, Pope Benedict XVI, 2012

“(The current times) should prove a stimulus to the Church: To increase its vitality, To take stock of itself, To give careful consideration to the signs of

the times,

Always and everywhere ‘proving all things and holding fast that which is good.’"

(Ecclesiam Suam, Encyclical by Paul VI “On The Church,” 1964 )

Preamble

Preamble

In other words, the Church asks:

Where were we? …….. Where are we? ……… Where are we going? .. What’s good? ……….. What’s not? ………….

(Past) (Present) (Future) (Keep or make

better) (Change or discard)

And….how do we discern this? (next slide)

Reading the “Signs of the Times”

An Interactive Exercise

As a Church, where do we see:

An increase in vitality? The Church taking stock of itself? The Church giving careful consideration

to the signs of the times? “Holding fast that which is good"

Reading the “Signs of the Times”

As a Church, where do we NOT see:

An increase in vitality? The Church taking stock of itself? The Church giving careful consideration to

the signs of the times? “Holding fast that which is good"

Reading the “Signs of the Times”

As a BELIEVER:

Where do you see an increase in vitality in you life?

How are your taking stock of yourself? Who helps you give careful consideration

to the signs of the times? What is good in your life to which you

are, and should be, “holding fast?”

Reading the “Signs of the Times”

As a believer, where does there need to be conversion/redemption: What areas of your life are lacking vitality? What areas of your life have not been examined?

(“Taking stock of yourself”) Whom do you still need to consult to give

“careful consideration to the signs of the times?”

What is NOT good in your life onto which you are still “holding fast?”

Reading the “Signs of the Times”

Questions:What is this that we’re doing?

Why is this important?

What saint is famous for this process?

Extra Credit:What religious order did he found?

What book did he write?What Pope is a member of this order?

What secular examples do we have of this process?

“They asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works of God?’ Jesus

answered …

(To start….) “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

John 6:28-29 (NIV)

But what does that look like ?(2 examples)

Christifideles LaiciGifts, Charisms

and the Dignity of the Lay Faithful.”

Spiritual Gifts Inventory

Catherine of Siena Institute

Gifts vs. Charisms

What’s the Difference?

Gifts vs. Charisms

Gifts :Difference?

Supernatural Given by God TO

you… Given by God FOR

you For your

sanctification

Charisms :

Natural Given by God TO

you… …for OTHERS! For their consolation

Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Gifts:

1. Wisdom (desire spiritual > temporal) …..2. Understanding (know truths beyond faith).. 3. Knowledge (circumstances) ……………….4. Counsel (right/wrong judgment) …………. 5. Fortitude (courage) ………………………………6. Piety (reverence)…………………………………...7. Fear of the Lord (wonder and awe)………..

Corresponding Virtues:

Charity Faith Faith Prudence Courage Justice Hope

But what are charisms?How do In know which charisms

I have?

Charisms: Sacrificial & Consecrating

Penance/ConfessionObedienceMartyrdom

Silence Solitude Prayer Charity Poverty

Charisms: Speaking

• Teaching• Exhorting/

Encouraging• Pastoring/

Shepherding• Apostleship• Evangelization

Words of Knowledge

Words of Wisdom

Prophesy Tongues Interpretation

Charisms: Ministering

• Helping• Hospitality• Giving• Government/

Ruling• Showing Mercy

Faith Discernmen

t Miracles Healing Exorcism

Answers To The “Big Questions”

• Suffering

• My Family

• What Should Lay People Do? ▫(vs priests & nuns)

• Women

• Human Sexuality

New wine – New wineskins

• Mark 2:22 …

• “No one puts new wine into old wineskins; ▫ or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, ▫ the wine is spilled, ▫ and the wineskins are ruined.

• New wine must be put into new wineskins.”

As Catholics, how do we begin applying the

“Word” – in new ways – in our lives today ?

The “Word” (Catholic Tradition)

• Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God ▫ (Vatican II, Dei Verbum para. 10)

• …there exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture.

• Both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, merge into a unity. (Ibid)

• …while sacred tradition takes the word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity …

• ….so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may - in proclaiming it - preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known.

i.e. … applying the Scriptures, in practical ways, to everyday situations in our lives.

The “Word” (Catholic Tradition)

The “Great Questions”• Suffering

▫When Bad Things Happen to Good People (Rabbi Harold Kushner)

▫Salvifici Doloris (1984 Pope John Paul II)

• Family (1981, Familiaris Consortio)

• Laity (1988, Christifidelis Laici)

The “Great Questions”

• Women (1988, Mulinaris Dignitatem)

• Human Sexuality ▫ (1968, Humanae Vitae, Paul VI)▫ (1979-1984, Theology of the Body, John Paul II)

For Adults For Young Adults

“An encounter with the ‘Word’ is an encounter with Christ (St. Jerome)

Other Real World Examples

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults

(End of Presentation)

Malvern Retreat House

March 23, 2013

Faith in ActionMary as the Model

Faith Applied in Action:

•Discern for yourself what the Lord is telling you during your retreat this year.

•Discuss this three times with at least one person over the course of the next year.

Faith Applied in Action:

•There are 18 Marian celebrations and feast days…

•Celebrate just one of these days that honor Mary this year.

Faith Applied in Action:

•Commit to saying the Rosary (or Divine Chaplet) daily during October, the month dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary.

Faith Applied in Action:

•Mary is mentioned close to 50 times in the New Testament. …

•Over the next year, chose and read just one Marian story or passage. Sit with and pray with this passage for one week from one Saturday to the next.

Mary as the Model

What you might experience:When you do this:

• Joy

• Trepidation

• Trust

• Confusion

• Wonder

• Treasuring Memories▫ “Pondering”

• Meditation▫ “Reflecting”

• Tasting ▫ The fruits

End of Presentation…R.C.I.A. Retreat