Called and chosen
Yesterday afternoon my fellow RCIA team members and I had the privilege of accompanying three catechumens from our parish to the Rite of Election at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. On the first Sunday of Lent, parishes from all over the archdiocese gather to present their catechumens — those who have asked to be baptized — to the Cardinal. Then the catechumens’ names are called, and they come forward with their sponsors/godparents to write their names in the Book of the Elect. It is a simple but very moving ceremony, and a major milestone in the RCIA process. (Next week we’ll be going back with the rest of our group — those already baptized — for the Rite of Continuing Conversion.)
I was nonplussed at first by the inclusion of Chinese, along with the usual English and Spanish, in the prayers and hymns at the ceremony, as well as the Cardinal’s focus on China in his homily. It wasn’t until I saw the enormous group of Chinese-American catechumens from Manhattan’s Transfiguration parish that I understood what a major presence they are in our diocese. There were, of course, many Hispanic Catholics in attendance, and I was also impressed by the many uniformed cadets from West Point. Just hearing the names of so many parishes, and seeing so many people filling the cathedral, was inspiring. I know it will increase my own joy when we celebrate Easter in my parish. And I ask you to please keep those preparing for baptism and reception into the Church in your prayers this Lent.
The New York Daily News reported on yesterday’s Rite, though their account of the Cardinal’s homily doesn’t quite express the point he wanted to make:
Egan, whose last major Mass at St. Pat’s will be Easter Sunday, didn’t use the homily to look back on his time in charge.
He spoke instead of his happiness at having a large number of Chinese-speaking New Yorkers at the rite of election.
During a visit to Communist China in the early 1970s, he and the priests in his travelgroup were invited to tea by young people who wanted to speak in secret about God, he recalled.
“What happened tonight must never be known,” the priests were warned afterward.
That last line is dramatic, but it unfortunately leaves the reader with the impression that Egan was heedlessly putting those young people in peril by telling the story! In fact, he explained that, after talking to the group about the Catholic faith, he and his companions wanted to send them literature to help them continue to study English. But they were warned not to — fear of the Communist government prevented them from being able to follow up at all. He went on to say how blessed he felt to be able to share the gospel openly with everyone who was gathered in the Cathedral.
Meanwhile, I continue to be fascinated and baffled by what can happen to stories when they are picked up and linked to by CathNewsUSA. Somehow, in collecting and posting the article from the Daily News site, CathNewsUSA added this lede: “Retiring New York archbishop Cardinal Edward Egan has hosted his last official event — a welcome for incoming Archbishop Timothy Dolan.” That’s totally inaccurate, of course, and the Daily News article says nothing of the kind (at least, it didn’t by the time I saw it this morning). What gives?
Finally, in other new-Catholics news — could Newt Gingrich be among those attending next weekend’s Rite of Continuing Conversion in his local cathedral? Matt Bai’s New York Times Magazine cover story from this weekend included this tidbit:
At a moment when the role of religious fundamentalism in the party is a central question for reformers, Gingrich, rather than making any kind of case for a new enlightenment, has in fact gone to great lengths to placate Christian conservatives. The family-values crowd has never completely embraced Newt, probably because he has been married three times, most recently to a former Hill staff member, Callista Bisek. In 2006, though, Gingrich wrote a book called “Rediscovering God in America” — part of a new canon of work he has done reaffirming the role of religion in public life. The following year, he went on radio with the evangelical minister James Dobson to apologize for having been unfaithful to his second wife. (A Baptist since graduate school, Gingrich said he will soon convert to Catholicism, his wife’s faith.)
I think it’s wonderful, Mollie, that you’re involved in this ministry. We had a ceremony in our parish yesterday during mass for our catechumens. Their “official” enrollment took place later that afternoon elsewhere in the archdiocese (not the cathedral – out of commission because of last month’s fire).
Very interesting about Gingrich. I’d like to know how he chose Catholicism. And I wish him luck with his annulments!
I also was at St. Patrick’s yesterday afternoon (I worry I’m going to mess up “St. Clare’s proudly presents our catechumens” even though I hear a hundred people say the same thing before me!). I find that this ministry is the most rewarding of all the ones I take part in. Talking to our catechumens afterwards, hearing their impressions of the Church and how it is changed by this excursion to the cathedral, always does something to relieve any cynicsim and a great deal of the frustration that my work in the parish inevitably brings. I see the ceremony and ritual with their eyes, and appreciate why it is important and what it brings to us – something a bit out of the ordinary, something that makes the place and time special, even if they are just wearing jeans.
On the other hand, I do find singing “Lift High the Cross” in Chinese just about one step more complicated than I can manage!
- Terri Miyamoto
Thank you, Jim! We did a “rite of sending” in our parish, too, before heading to the Cathedral.
I was so sorry to hear about the fire at the cathedral! I was in Chicago over the summer for a wedding, and went to the cathedral for Sunday Mass, only to find it was closed for renovations. We did get to go to Mass (in an auditorium), but I’ve never been inside the church itself.
Terri — Totally agree about the Chinese lyrics. (It’s especially discouraging when the cantor’s expert pronunciation doesn’t match your own best guess as to how the words would be pronounced!) “Alzad la Cruz” is difficult enough!
Mollie and Terri, thanks for telling us about your experience. About 15 years ago a friend of mine asked me if I would be his sponsor because he wanted to become Catholic. I did and I attended all the RCIA classes and events for the people becoming Catholic. This was at St. Boniface Catholic Church in San Francisco. The RCIA team was excellent. It was a very good experience for me. I liked the experience so much that I went through the RCIA process for another year even though I wasn’t sponsoring anybody. The third year I was asked to be part of the RCIA team. I did this for a few years. This entire experience has been one of the most important things that I have ever done.
“This entire experience has been one of the most important things that I have ever done.”
It’s a tremendous service to the church, too, Michael. I’m sure all of the people you worked with were touched by your gifts and presence, and were grateful that you could walk that important journey with them.
My personal opinion is that this is the very nuts and bolts of the new evangelism. We’ve built this very good infrastructure of RCIA teams in parishes all over. What is needed now are “fishing clubs” – ways to reach out to those adults who either are not fully initiated or who have drifted away – to funnel them into the RCIA process. I think our groups each year could be much, much larger than they are. But how to find them, and invite them?
RCIA is often treated, sadly, as an end in itself. Our RCIA leaders used to talk about “getting through the process.” Like a meat patty! You’re done, now go away and be Catholic.
Finding the disaffected isn’t that hard; their contact info is in the parish records.
Tips for opening a discussion with them:
1. Don’t invite them to Welcome Home Sundays, where their presence will be emphasized and they will have stand around shuffling their feet and listening to bluff comments like, “Well, see, now that wasn’t so bad was it?”
2. Don’t ask them what you can do for them. They probably don’t know or else they’d be in church. Tell them about someone in the parish who needs help. Ask what they think could be done. Ask if they’d be willing to do what they suggested.
3. Don’t take “the Church needs funds for its organ (vestments, whatever)” tack. The disaffected will seize on this with alacrity and write you a check to get rid of you. The larger the check, the less they want you to call them again.
4. Don’t try to engage in doctrinal discussions. If they express doubts or gripes with church teaching, admit you’re occasionally a fellow struggler. (If you’re not, you have no business talking with the disaffected.) Offer to make an appointment with the priest for them if they keep harking back to some problem with the church, but don’t be a know-it-all.
5. Don’t just try to herd everybody into a big group like RCIA as quickly as possible. Get to know people as individuals. Find out about them. Listen to their stories. Share yours.
6. Don’t tell them Newt Gingrich is turning Catholic.
Mollie,
Thank you for sharing this. I was fortunate enough to enjoy my own Rite of Election on Sunday as a catechumen in the Albany NY diocese. It was even more than I could have expected and I was surprised to find myself quite emotional. One of my catechists noticed and said to me, “I’m going to give you a hug, ok?”
You should know the kind of affect that you have in others lives through this ministry. A couple of Sunday’s ago the gospel reading was about the paralytic being lowered through the roof by the nameless four to be healed by Christ. One of our catechists said that she felt like the four represented the Church and I said, “You’re too humble. The hundreds of hours that you’ve spent with us – total strangers? You are the four, lowering us paralytics so that we may have the chance to be healed.”
Through all of my joy during the Rite of Election, there was also some sadness. Our cathedral, near the NYS Governor’s Mansion is under rennovation and the ceremony was moved to a smaller church. Since the Rite in our diocese includes both catechumens and candidates there was little to no room for guests. My family wonderfully supports me, but they are not Catholic and I was alone this day, just as I am every Sunday morning and Tuesday night. The catechists have an unexpected burden of being my surrogate family through this, at least until the Easter vigil when we will all be together. Maybe that’s part of what Lent is about: being alone, preparing and waiting for the reunion through Christ of our family.
Err… “kind of effect.” Yikes.
Speaking of errors, we were having microphone feedback problems during the beginning of the ceremony. Bishop Hubbard in his homily started by telling us a story about another time that he struggled with a bad PA system. He told about how he finally couldn’t take it anymore and said to the congregation, “There is something wrong with this mic.” At which point the congregation responded in loud unison, “And also with you!”
Thank you, Tom! I’m glad it has been such a good experience for you — it’s certainly a rewarding part of my faith life.
I’ve heard that microphone joke before! I wonder whether Bishop Hubbard was stretching the truth in making it a personal anecdote — or whether he could be the real-life priest who started the story going!