RCIA has begun!
We started our RCIA classes 2 weeks ago (Thursday will be class #3) and so far it has been good. It is a slow experience, though. I find that I am impatient with some things. For example, the first class we just did introductions. There's a good group... ten or so, including the four of us. I think we are the only ones coming without a spouse who is already Catholic.
I'm sure it seems odd that we are just abandoning our previous 'brand' of Christianity to join a church that has so many rules and requirements. We have even gone so far as to petition that same church to recognize our prior marriages as null due to defect in the relationships (no doubt about that, they were not fit marriages or they would still be in existence). The thing is, if you believe with all your heart that something is true... well, you owe it to yourself to pursue that belief. We believe in the authority of the Catholic church. We are subjecting our two still-at-home kids to the classes by parental authority, but they have the right to choose whether to pursue the sacraments with us. Call it indoctrination if you like, but it is our responsibility to share what we believe to be true.
I'm not saying this is right for everyone. I'm not passing judgment or condemnation upon anyone who doesn't believe the same as I do. I'm merely saying this is right for me and my family.
That said, I will be sharing the journaling activities here in my journal - mostly because I think it will be cathartic for me, but maybe it will be helpful to another. I hope and pray that something I share can be of use to another. Maybe not even on a spiritual level... maybe some portion of my journey will help another find healing for a common struggle. Believe me, I have many of those.
The entries will be tagged RCIA if you would like to follow along. Feel free to share or comment. I only ask that you try to be kind if you have something to add. I promise to do so in anything I post. Anything truly sensitive I will likely tag under a friends' only security... I have personal baggage that I don't want the whole world to see... especially those in my small personal universe. If I touch those subjects in this endeavor, it will be friends only.
Next entry will be the first journaling activity... I've got one for last week and one for this week so there's likely to be two entries close together.
Anyway.. here's to a new journey.
I'm sure it seems odd that we are just abandoning our previous 'brand' of Christianity to join a church that has so many rules and requirements. We have even gone so far as to petition that same church to recognize our prior marriages as null due to defect in the relationships (no doubt about that, they were not fit marriages or they would still be in existence). The thing is, if you believe with all your heart that something is true... well, you owe it to yourself to pursue that belief. We believe in the authority of the Catholic church. We are subjecting our two still-at-home kids to the classes by parental authority, but they have the right to choose whether to pursue the sacraments with us. Call it indoctrination if you like, but it is our responsibility to share what we believe to be true.
I'm not saying this is right for everyone. I'm not passing judgment or condemnation upon anyone who doesn't believe the same as I do. I'm merely saying this is right for me and my family.
That said, I will be sharing the journaling activities here in my journal - mostly because I think it will be cathartic for me, but maybe it will be helpful to another. I hope and pray that something I share can be of use to another. Maybe not even on a spiritual level... maybe some portion of my journey will help another find healing for a common struggle. Believe me, I have many of those.
The entries will be tagged RCIA if you would like to follow along. Feel free to share or comment. I only ask that you try to be kind if you have something to add. I promise to do so in anything I post. Anything truly sensitive I will likely tag under a friends' only security... I have personal baggage that I don't want the whole world to see... especially those in my small personal universe. If I touch those subjects in this endeavor, it will be friends only.
Next entry will be the first journaling activity... I've got one for last week and one for this week so there's likely to be two entries close together.
Anyway.. here's to a new journey.