Sunday November 10, 2024
INITIATION
Have you ever seen a breathtaking view and the people with you are missing it because they are absorbed in something else? You’ve got to see this! “Rites of initiation were created to interrupt a person’s life and arrest their vision, to stop their habitual ways of seeing life and open the psyche to a greater view of the world and their place in it,” writes Michael Meade. Jesus restores not just sight to the blind but grants vision. Religion offers a vision of all that is, the fullness of reality, revealing not only what is important, but what is true. The Rites of Christian Initiation certainly bring about conversion, a change, letting go of self-sufficiency to a relationship that is not of our making and the commitment to an encounter of which we are not the master.
Our morning liturgies this Sunday feature the Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens. A catechumen is a person who is being formed in the faith and preparing to receive the sacrament of faith, baptism. Those being welcomed have inquired about Catholicism and reflected on their own lives. They are ready to change their lives through conversion by entering into a relationship with God in Christ. They declare their intention to the Church and the Church, in turn, accepts them as those who intend to become its members. From this time on we, the Church, embrace the catechumens as our own with a mother’s love and concern. They will be nourished by the word of God as we pray for them and accompany them toward the Easter Sacraments.
We have a view of divinity and humanity that must be seen by all through the revelation granted us in Christ. The catechumens we welcome this weekend are here because they have learned the truth about Jesus who sets us free and have felt the bonds of love in our community. They are here because the Holy Spirit is at work in our parish through evangelization. There is something about you, us, that is attractive, be it the joy of believing or the witness of our ministry and service. Evangelization is bringing the Good News of Jesus into every situation, of speaking the name of Jesus to those who are near and far. This is the call of each one of us who follow Jesus as missionary disciples.
In Christ,
Rev. Robert P. Capone