CNE Newsletter - November 22, 2024

"Together Sunday" is almost here! On November 24, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, we have a powerful opportunity to welcome disengaged Catholics back to the joy of weekly Mass. We hope that Together Sunday has been an opportunity to begin to build a culture of welcome and hospitality at your parish. It has been encouraging to see the creative ways parishes are inviting people to return to Mass and to encouragING parishioners to make that invitation.

As you make your final preparations for this Sunday, please review the Hospitality Checklist. Also, let's begin to pray for those individuals and families who may be returning to Mass for the first time in a long time, that they will be received with open arms, and that they may encounter Jesus in the Eucharist in a profound way.

Sean Ater
Director, Center for the New Evangelization
sater@catholicaoc.org

Marriage Preparation Update

The Marriage & Family Evangelization team is pleased to share that our Marriage Preparation website has been updated with the 2025 dates for Genesis: Pre-Cana Retreat and This One At Last. Please note that the Spanish Genesis retreat will be offered in two locations in 2025. For questions regarding an English retreat, please contact Katie Englefield at kenglefield@catholicaoc.org, and for questions regarding a Spanish retreat, contact Adriana Vasquez at avasquez@catholicaoc.org.
In addition, Marriage Data Folders can be ordered from Central Services. The folders come in packs of 25 and there is a minimal fee. Place your order by contacting Central Services at centralservices@catholicaoc.org.

Preparing for the Rite of Entrance

Most of you will soon be celebrating the Rite of Acceptance (now called the “Rite for Entrance”). It’s customary for parishes to celebrate this on the first Sunday of Advent, but you don’t have to do it then, or even only then. According to the OCIA, “Two or, if necessary, three more suitable days or occasions in a year should be set aside for celebrating the rite.” (18.3) The first Sunday of Advent may not even be the best time because the lighting of the Advent wreath and the beginning of a new liturgical season draws the focus away from the important moment when inquirers become catechumens. They may need other, “more suitable days” to mark this transition in their journey.

So, when should we celebrate it? The OCIA says that you should celebrate the Rite for Entrance when you see the signs of conversion! (42-43). Here’s a short video from Team Initiation that addresses some other concerns as well:

OCIA Record-Keeping

Note that those inquirers (unbaptized persons) who celebrate the Rite for Entrance must be recorded in the Register for Catechumens. You can adapt one of the registers that are currently available for purchase so that they accommodate all the information that needs to be recorded (see OCIA 46 and the new National Statutes, Norm 14) or you can use the template that our Chancellor, Fr. Jason Williams, has created and place these pages in a nice binder until updated registers from the publishers become available.

Next Initiate Series Webinar

Our next webinar, “Purification & Enlightenment: A Lenten Retreat,” will be on Wed., Dec. 4. Yes, Lent is still quite a ways off, but it’s good to be planning now for how you can make that time less about catechesis and more about prayerful discernment and spiritual growth. (see OCIA 139) Register here for the entire series and you will get the follow-up link to the recording and the slides, even if you can’t make it to one of them: