By Dr. Carmel Suart –Director, Office of Christian Initiation, Archdiocese of Perth
“…the catechumens are now part of the household of Christ, since the Church nourishes them with the word of God and sustains them by means of liturgical celebrations” (RCIA 47).
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) clearly instructs the Church that once one becomes a member of the Order of Catechumens (the non-baptised) through the Rite of Acceptance, it is expected that they will be dismissed each time that they are at Mass. This as an essential part of their preparation for entry into full communion with the Church. The Rite goes on to say “when they (catechumens) are present in the assembly of the faithful they should be kindly dismissed before the liturgy of the Eucharist begins…. For they must await their baptism, which will join them to God’s priestly people and empower them to participate in Christ’s new worship” (RCIA 75.3). While the instruction is clear, parishes are still hesitant to dismiss catechumens from the Sunday liturgy for fear that Catechumens might feel excluded or rejected. This may be so because the Rite of Dismissal is not fully understood. For this fear to be alleviated within the faith community, we need to look at the Rite of Dismissal through a different lens, one that promotes the understanding that the Catechumen is not dismissed from the liturgy, but rather they dismissed into catechesis.
To understand the power and impact of the Liturgy of the Word as catechesis for Catechumens, we as a community of faith, need to come to understand more fully the presence of Christ in the Liturgy of the Word. Paragraph 82.4 of the Rite states “celebrations of the word of God arranged for the benefit of the catechumens have as their main purpose: “… to prepare them gradually to enter the worship assembly of the entire community.” As a faith community we come to the Liturgy of the Word not just to hear words about Christ, but to open ourselves to the real presence of Christ who speaks to us now through the reading of the Scriptures (Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 7). The Liturgy of the Word invites us not just to hear God’s Word, but to integrate it into the depths of our being so that it can transform us and become the inspiration for the way we live our life and the way we relate to God and to others. St Paul reminds us that “… faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). For the Catechumens to come to faith, they too must first hear the word. They too need to eat it, drink it in, so that as the words enter into their minds, hearts, and souls and they can take inspiration from the life of Jesus. How else can Catechumens be transformed to live in the light of Christ; to live as a Christian and know how to relate to God and to others?
The dismissal also serves as a powerful public witness to the rest of the community. It reminds the community what the Word of God is asking of all the baptised. In solidarity the parish community is called to pray for the Catechumens as they prepare to fully participate in the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
A confusion which arises often is whether the candidates are also to be dismissed. The Rite does not mention the dismissal of those who have already been baptised. One purpose of the Dismissal is to help the community to understand the difference between the unbaptised and the baptised. Baptised candidates are not dismissed as they are already recognised as members of the faith community [though not in full communion]. Their baptism gives them the right to be present at the celebration of the Eucharist even though they cannot receive Holy Communion. Through baptism they have already made their profession of faith and therefore already have a relationship with Jesus. In contrast, Catechumens have not received the Creed nor professed it in their baptism and thus do not yet own it.
So, when Catechumens are dismissed from the liturgy, they are not excluded or rejected from the liturgy. They are sent to reflect more deeply on the Word of God, the same Word that the community heard proclaimed and preached because at this point for their faith journey, this is the source of their spiritual nourishment.
Image by Patrick Fore on Unsplash
