and Jesus said to his disciples, "I have come to set the world on fire."

[threeplusfire]

Dark grey sky, the damp in the air, the golden light inside the church, the white stone and soaring ceiling all reminded me of caves and castles built under mountains this morning. Mass was beautiful in an unearthly way, with a cellist added to the small choir and piano, voices and strings over the thunder rolling. Amazing, uplifting, that feeling that I belong right here, in this moment, in this space, in this time. The profound connection with God and everyone all at once.

My RCIA work begins in a month, and I will try to fan the flames in one heart. She's 25 and single, all I know. I can't wait to meet her. I hope I can be what she needs for this journey.

Comments

[crichton.livejournal.com]

rcia?

RCIA

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. It's a program to help people decide if they truly want to join the Catholic Church. (An old tradition that's been revived in the past couple of decades.) I went through it when I converted, and it was such a profound and wonderful experience.

Basically, every person is paired up with a sponsor who is around to ask questions, share their faith and be support. Everyone goes to Mass, and afterwards gathers for an hour or two of discussion and learning. It's kind of like a class, but less formal. This goes on for about a year in most cases, though there are folks who decided to wait longer. Usually starts around August/September. At Easter, there are baptisms and confirmations for those who need it, and the meetings continue until the end of May.

It's an amazing program, with a lot of great people involved. I think it really helps one get an idea of the community and have opportunities to ask questions. We have a deacon who leads most of the classes, and other clergy and religious come in to speak and take questions at times.

Since I felt such love and warmth from everyone in my journey, I feel compelled to offer up my time and energy to being there for someone this year. I'm terribly excited and little nervous, but I think I have a lot to offer.