Me? RCIA? Are you sure??

Posted By Carlos on October 28, 2009

RCIASo I got a call.  It was a call I saw coming but was not looking forward to.  It came nonetheless.  It seems that my pastor and my CRE recommended me to our Director of RCIA as a possible addition to the RCIA team.  The reason I saw it coming was that my CRE mentioned that she was hoping to get me more involved in the parish and said “maybe RCIA”.  I guess I’ve made a few fans over the last year of teaching catechesis.

Now one might ask why I would not be looking forward to such a call.  For me, it was intimidation.  Similar to my initial discernment for becoming a catechist, I didn’t think I was qualified to teach adults.  It’s one thing to teach 6th graders.  I can anticipate most questions and respond to most of what they throw my way.  Adults?  Not so much.

My primary concern was that adults can obviously pose more difficult questions and I feared getting into a debate over theology.  While I’m comfortable in my faith, I’m not the best debater; so I wasn’t sure I was the best one for the job. As I digested the information on the answering machine, it reminded me of another blogger who experienced the opposite type of request.  Christian from Smaller Manhattans was an RCIA catechist who was asked to teach a 6th grade class.  I remember him saying that he wasn’t all that excited at the prospect of switching groups, but he quickly began to love teaching the 6th grade.  While I was adding RCIA versus switching, I started to wonder if my experience would be similar to Christian’s.

It’s funny how the Holy Spirit works.  I got a message on a Monday and was supposed to meet with the director after Mass on the coming Sunday.  I couldn’t stop thinking about it all week long.  With prayer, intimidation became curiosity and curiosity turned into excitement, all before even having met with the director.  It didn’t take long for him to convince me to come to the next session to observe.

Two days later, I was sitting around a table with 3 other catechists and one catechumen.  Everyone was very welcoming and I felt quite comfortable for a fly on the wall.  I was there to observe as one catechist presented on the faith topic of that particular session and the other catechists offered additional insights.  All I can say is that for an observer, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut!!  I participated like I was a veteran of the group even though I had not prepared to do so.  If felt natural and it felt right.  The team is a great team with everyone bringing a slightly different perspective on how to “live” the faith.  The dialogue was insightful and I learned quite a bit myself.

So guess what.  I’m a RCIA catechist as well now.  I find myself looking forward to the next session with excitement and eagerness.  That’s a good sign, right?  I’m thankful for the wisdom of both my pastor and my CRE, because if they hadn’t initiated this, I don’t think it would have ever happened.

Until next time, keep sharing the faith!

Categories: Challenges, Ministry
Tags: , , , , ,


| More

About the author

Carlos

My name is Carlos Torres, and for better or for worse, I am a Catechist. As a Catechist, I help supplement the religious education that parents give at home with focused and detailed lessons around Scripture and Tradition as taught by the Church. Now, I have no background in teaching, much less in dealing with a group of tweens and teens who don’t want to be with me, in a classroom, on a weeknight, learning about faith; yet week after week, I and many other Catechists do just that by letting the Holy Spirit guide us in planting those seeds and helping fulfill the Church’s mission to “go and make disciples”.

Comments

  • http://platytera.blogspot.com/ Christian

    Man, you will be busy doing both. Please do not burn out.

    The 3 years I taught RCIA/ adults was an indispensable foundation for teaching the kids; I expect it’ll be the same for you.

    “My primary concern was that adults can obviously pose more difficult questions and I feared getting into a debate over theology.”

    Yeah….I would often respond to an RCIA question with “I DON’T KNOW” and then get an answer for the next class meeting.

  • http://platytera.blogspot.com/ Christian

    Man, you will be busy doing both. Please do not burn out.

    The 3 years I taught RCIA/ adults was an indispensable foundation for teaching the kids; I expect it’ll be the same for you.

    “My primary concern was that adults can obviously pose more difficult questions and I feared getting into a debate over theology.”

    Yeah….I would often respond to an RCIA question with “I DON’T KNOW” and then get an answer for the next class meeting.

  • http://www.catechistsjourney.com Joe Paprocki

    Carlos, I’m not at all surprised that you were called and that you love it already! I worked in RCIA for 7 years and loved it…it is a wonderful role for a catechist…very different from teaching 6th graders. Now you have the best of both worlds!

  • http://www.catechistsjourney.com Joe Paprocki

    Carlos, I’m not at all surprised that you were called and that you love it already! I worked in RCIA for 7 years and loved it…it is a wonderful role for a catechist…very different from teaching 6th graders. Now you have the best of both worlds!

blog comments powered by Disqus
«     »

About the author

Carlos

My name is Carlos Torres, and for better or for worse, I am a Catechist. As a Catechist, I help supplement the religious education that parents give at home with focused and detailed lessons around Scripture and Tradition as taught by the Church. Now, I have no background in teaching, much less in dealing with a group of tweens and teens who don’t want to be with me, in a classroom, on a weeknight, learning about faith; yet week after week, I and many other Catechists do just that by letting the Holy Spirit guide us in planting those seeds and helping fulfill the Church’s mission to “go and make disciples”.