an itty-bitty rant.
bwarg. this is about the end of RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). Deven has to go through it to be formally made Catholic.
when I was baptized, it was a little affair attended by my family and their friends. it was private.
when I received my First Communion (through my Catholic grade school), it was a slightly larger but still relatively private affair attended by the families - parents mostly, some siblings, a few extended family here and there - and occasionally VERY close friends of the families of my 30-kid class. attendance was limited by something, but I don't think it was tickets, because I never heard of those till my sister had her Confirmation.
speaking of which, when I was Confirmed (through my parish), it was a slightly larger affair attended to, once again, families and occasionally close family friends, and attendance was controlled by tickets - I think we were given 3-5 or so each, and whatever we didn't use we were supposed to give to someone who desperately wanted to bring a few extra people.
the point is, everyone at these things was there for someone in attendence and had close ties to them, and the crowd was kept in check by a relatively small kid-to-guest ratio.
now zip to when dear darling converts get to have all three of these sacraments at once - the HUMONGOUS Easter Vigil.
for one thing, it's in the middle of the night, and it's three hours long. if you're a convert, emotions are running high. if you're standing in the back of the overflow hall facing the projector screen with the Mass being fed over live, the desire to fall over and go to sleep is running high.
for another, everyone on the planet is stuffed into your church that night. everyone from the fiancee in the front row with tears in her eyes as her fiance is anointed with the chrism oil of Confirmation, to that 30-year-old guy* with the ball cap and wad of gum in the back who hasn't gone to church since he was 12 and was talked into going by his grandma and decided to go to the Vigil because then he could sleep in on Sunday. my church has a sign in the front saying it holds something like 267 people according to the fire code. let me tell you, for Easter vigil it holds about 350 people, and the hall is creaking with about 200 or so more. people come out of the woodwork!
so inevitably there's a significant bunch of people in attendance who don't know any of the converts and occasionally join in singing some of the ninety zillion pop-Christian tunes that the choir is belting out, while wondering if other people will criticize them if they sit down after standing for an hour without being able to see a darned thing so that their legs don't give out completely.
so why not do for the converts what we do for any "cradle" Catholic who's receiving the sacraments, from Baptism to matrimony and Holy Orders? why not limit the congregation, by a ticket system or personal invites or whatever, to people who have a vested interest in the catechumens and candidates receiving their Sacraments of Initiation? yes, there's the point that the whole parish community comes together to welcome the newbies into Holy Mother Church, but realistically speaking, the only people who come for the cate-candis and don't know them personally are those little old ladies who think of anyone between conception and fifty as their children. plus, and this seems really strange considering the entire population of the globe appears to be bursting the seams of your church, there are actually people in the parish who go to Easter day Masses and aren't there.
it can still take place during the Easter Vigil Mass. in fact, the many Easter rituals involving renewal, newness, entering, and rejoicing are highly appropriate for that occasion. just don't let it be a spectacle - which exactly what most Easter Vigils have become, through one way or another. (I say most because I'm sure Easter Vigil for cloistered Carmelites is VASTLY different.)
anyway, it's really late and I have to get up at 8am. darn ol' women's studies class.
=^.^=
*this is NOT in ANY way to disparage people who come back to church after being gone for any reason. people coming back is a cause for hope, happiness, and redoubled prayers.
when I was baptized, it was a little affair attended by my family and their friends. it was private.
when I received my First Communion (through my Catholic grade school), it was a slightly larger but still relatively private affair attended by the families - parents mostly, some siblings, a few extended family here and there - and occasionally VERY close friends of the families of my 30-kid class. attendance was limited by something, but I don't think it was tickets, because I never heard of those till my sister had her Confirmation.
speaking of which, when I was Confirmed (through my parish), it was a slightly larger affair attended to, once again, families and occasionally close family friends, and attendance was controlled by tickets - I think we were given 3-5 or so each, and whatever we didn't use we were supposed to give to someone who desperately wanted to bring a few extra people.
the point is, everyone at these things was there for someone in attendence and had close ties to them, and the crowd was kept in check by a relatively small kid-to-guest ratio.
now zip to when dear darling converts get to have all three of these sacraments at once - the HUMONGOUS Easter Vigil.
for one thing, it's in the middle of the night, and it's three hours long. if you're a convert, emotions are running high. if you're standing in the back of the overflow hall facing the projector screen with the Mass being fed over live, the desire to fall over and go to sleep is running high.
for another, everyone on the planet is stuffed into your church that night. everyone from the fiancee in the front row with tears in her eyes as her fiance is anointed with the chrism oil of Confirmation, to that 30-year-old guy* with the ball cap and wad of gum in the back who hasn't gone to church since he was 12 and was talked into going by his grandma and decided to go to the Vigil because then he could sleep in on Sunday. my church has a sign in the front saying it holds something like 267 people according to the fire code. let me tell you, for Easter vigil it holds about 350 people, and the hall is creaking with about 200 or so more. people come out of the woodwork!
so inevitably there's a significant bunch of people in attendance who don't know any of the converts and occasionally join in singing some of the ninety zillion pop-Christian tunes that the choir is belting out, while wondering if other people will criticize them if they sit down after standing for an hour without being able to see a darned thing so that their legs don't give out completely.
so why not do for the converts what we do for any "cradle" Catholic who's receiving the sacraments, from Baptism to matrimony and Holy Orders? why not limit the congregation, by a ticket system or personal invites or whatever, to people who have a vested interest in the catechumens and candidates receiving their Sacraments of Initiation? yes, there's the point that the whole parish community comes together to welcome the newbies into Holy Mother Church, but realistically speaking, the only people who come for the cate-candis and don't know them personally are those little old ladies who think of anyone between conception and fifty as their children. plus, and this seems really strange considering the entire population of the globe appears to be bursting the seams of your church, there are actually people in the parish who go to Easter day Masses and aren't there.
it can still take place during the Easter Vigil Mass. in fact, the many Easter rituals involving renewal, newness, entering, and rejoicing are highly appropriate for that occasion. just don't let it be a spectacle - which exactly what most Easter Vigils have become, through one way or another. (I say most because I'm sure Easter Vigil for cloistered Carmelites is VASTLY different.)
anyway, it's really late and I have to get up at 8am. darn ol' women's studies class.
=^.^=
*this is NOT in ANY way to disparage people who come back to church after being gone for any reason. people coming back is a cause for hope, happiness, and redoubled prayers.