by Michael Podrebarac
We’ve heard so much lately about the renewed Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) and the role it should play in anchoring a parish community in the crucial themes of evangelization and discipleship.
We’ve refined various terms: catechumen versus candidate, year-long versus year-round and individual accompaniment versus classroom catechesis. Parish Evangelization Services is presently hosting a comprehensive series of formation for parish OCIA directors and teams.
But a quick review of how the OCIA is structured might be of some value. The OCIA bears both a simplicity of form and a profound depth of meaning.
Primarily, the OCIA organizes and directs the catechumenate — the way in which unbaptized adults are invited to become Christians. These men and women are the singular focus of the catechumenate, and the rites which lead them to baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist accompany their deepening faith in God and conversion in Christ.
Secondly, the OCIA supports those already baptized in becoming fully Catholic through catechesis, spiritual formation and the completion of their Christian initiation through the sacraments of confirmation and the Eucharist. This pastoral accompaniment is for both those baptized in another Christian tradition as well as those adult Catholics who haven’t yet received confirmation (and in some cases, first Communion).
Catechumens and those seeking full Catholic participation are actually two separate groups served by the OCIA. For the already-baptized, the church insists that they not be delayed in their entrance into full communion and the completion of their Christian initiation. While their formation may share some similarities with those seeking baptism, the two journeys are profoundly different, and the church desires that the unbaptized and the baptized not be lumped together indiscriminately.
The catechumenate embraces four periods: evangelization, catechumenate, purification and enlightenment and mystagogy.
Evangelization is an untimed period of searching and inquiry into the essentials of faith, repentance, prayer and life within the community. This searching and inquiry is best accompanied individually.
Catechumenate is a period, expected by the church to last at least one full liturgical cycle, in which catechesis, formation and participation in the life of the community assists the catechumens in their growth in faith, their deepening conversion, their greater covenant with God through prayer and the spiritual disciplines, and their life of discipleship and service to others.
Purification and enlightenment is an intense season of the “elect” (as the catechumens become), purifying their commitment to Christ and being more profoundly enlightened by the Holy Spirit as they draw closer to sacramental initiation. It is designed to take place during the Lent preceding Easter initiation.
Mystagogy has both a formal parameter — typically the Easter season following initiation at the Easter Vigil — as well as a lifelong character of continuing conversion and greater perfection in the Christian life. Mystagogy, in a real sense, is observed until the Christian departs this life for the next.
Simple yet profound. And calling each of us to participate — but that’s for another time.
