Called to serve
Four years ago we joined a different parish in our town. The reasons were many and I won’t go into them here but I will say that our current parish has been and continues to be, a blessing to our family. Last year I felt a call towards helping with the RCIA program and asked hubby Tim how he felt about us serving in that way. He agreed and so we signed up. Suffice it to say we enjoyed our time there and felt we had been led by the Holy Spirit to serve in this way. This year our pastor asked us to become the directors of the program and we have agreed to do so.
If you are Catholic you are probably already well aware of what the RCIA program is but if you aren’t you may be curious. RCIA stands for the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults and in a nutshell it’s the process that someone goes through when they are discerning if they are called to join the Catholic Church.
Tim and are thrilled to be doing this ministry and we both feel this is truly where God has called us to serve. However, it’s a HUGE job and the scope of it can seem a little overwhelming at times. Still we are trusting in God’s leading and we’ve been studying and attending training seminars to make every effort to serve to the best of our ability.
And I gotta tell ya, I absolutely love it! I’m learning more about what catechesis is and should be than I thought there was to know and I truly feel blessed to be in this ministry. I am eagerly looking forward to the upcoming year.
Of course this means other things will have to take a back seat. Our family won’t because they always come first and we’re making a continuous constant effort to involve them in this ministry. Our business can’t because it’s a good portion of our income. But other things we do will slow down, they just have to. But you know, I’m Ok with that and I have a lot of peace about it as I truly do feel we are walking the path God has chosen for us.
By the way, the materials we are using this year are from the Association for Catechumenal Ministry and are top notch! Check out their website for more information. Oh and don’t skip the introduction - it’s beautiful!
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Jun 27, 2006 - 03:06:34That is really neat you are taking up this ministry of directing your RCIA program! I am a Catholic convert (4 years ago) and learned so much in RCIA. I’m going to be getting married in November to a life-long Catholic and I’d love to see if we can get involved with RCIA at his parish once I’m living there. I learn better when I’m forced to explain something to someone else so helping with RCIA would give me even more opportunity to learn about my faith!! You and your husband doing this ministry with as busy as I can imagine your lives must be is inspirational! Best wishes.
May God bless your work with RCIA, Michele. I was on our team for several years after I came into the Church, and at that time, our parish had a very dynamic team and leader. The time there was a real blessing to me. May it be the same for you as you serve others!