People witness Catholic's way of life and join the Church

Intermountain Catholic

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Outside the church in an adoptive Rite of Acceptance, Father Timothy Piasecki, of the North American Forum, asks Sue Burn, a member of St. John the Baptist Parish if she is prepared to begin her journey to Catholicism, and if she is ready to come inside to join the Catholic community.IC photo by Christine Young

The Diocesan Office of Liturgy sponsored a three-day institute on the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) June 4-6, at Juan Diego Catholic High School, Draper, so priests, deacons, religious, and lay ministers could get a deeper understanding of the vision of this rite and the fundamental and advanced skills implemented in all aspects of the process. Father Martin Diaz, pastor of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish, Midvale, attended the institute and wrote the following remarks.

by Father Martin Diaz, pastor

St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish

MIDVALE — The Way, the Truth, and the Life: Jesus responds to Thomas’ question of not knowing the way by telling Thomas and us that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

I am reminded of when in my first assignment nearly 30 years ago in Seattle, I had the opportunity to tour the soon to be dedicated LDS temple in Bellevue, Washington. At the end of the tour those who wanted to know about the LDS faith were invited to sign up. Indeed, as a new priest, filled with a spirit of ecumenism, I thought it would be helpful to me to know about the LDS faith. It did not occur to me that two missionaries would be visiting.

Not long after two missionaries, one a former Catholic, came to the Priory. I met with them through the complete course, which took three months or more. I attended a service with them at a ward. At one point they asked me, "If you see what we say to be the truth, will you be baptized into the Mormon faith?" I replied, yes. They set a date of Jan. 28, which is the feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas - the saint who more than any wrote about truth.

I did not see the truth in what they said. How many people see the truth and change their lives based on the new understanding? Not many. People do not come to religious belief based on the truth. They come to religious belief, or any belief, based on the way and the life. After they have joined the group of people, then come to understand the truth of the belief.

Both Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II were charismatic figures. Mother Theresa through her diligent care of the poorest of the poor and Servant of God Pope John Paul II in his enthusiastic engagement with youth, drew people to the Catholic Church and to the religious life and the priesthood. This had little to do with the truths of the faith but more so with the way of Mother Theresa and the life of Pope John Paul.

Your parish bulletin may list RCIA as one of the programs or ministries of the parish. RCIA is the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. The RCIA program or ministry is based not on the idea that people become Catholics because they see the truth in it but they become Catholics because they experience the way and the life of Catholics and want to join. Most often people experience the Catholic Church through a fiancé or spouse. Seeing the life that their partner lives, they ask to join in order to have the same experience.

Essential to the Christian Initiation process is breaking open the word. Those in the process are dismissed from Mass after the homily before the profession of faith. They are not yet ready for the profession of faith. In their gathering with the leader the group discusses the meaning for them of the scriptures they heard and the homily they received. This breaking open the word guides them into speaking about their own life in relationship to scripture. It leads them to share on the movement of the God in their calling. It may lead them to ask a doctrinal question.

The doctrinal questions are left to the weekly gatherings. In what is viewed more like a class there is the opportunity to answer the questions that were posed at the breaking open of the word. As the year progresses there is more and more opportunity to look into those issues that focus on the truth of the faith.

After baptism, confirmation, and first Eucharist, the new Catholics gather for a time to reflect on their experience and to continue asking the questions that arise from their entering into a new relationship with God and the community of believers.