CNE Newsletter - December 7

NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR

Recently, the CNE Leadership Team sat down to decide the winners of our annual New Fire and Radiate Christ awards.
We had multiple nominees this year, and all of them deserving.

This is our third year giving out these awards, and I get the sense of a building movement of evangelization here in our Archdiocese. It is evident that the Holy Spirit is at work through all of you in powerful ways.

I invite you to attend our CNE Banquet this year, which will feature the announcement of the award recipients. This annual event also allows our growing community of evangelists to come together and celebrate this movement of the Holy Spirit. For me, I am grateful for the opportunity to be a small part of it!

Blessed Advent to you all. The CNE Team continues to hold you in prayer. Please pray for us.

Sean Ater

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

Phase II of Beacons of Light urges Pastors and Directors of Evangelization to form the Evangelization Team. The recent Evangelization Team Orientation Webinar covered:

The role of the Director of Evangelization
The role of the Evangelization Team
Possible organizational charts for the Evangelization Team
Possible job responsibilities for roles including: Marriage and Family, Children, Youth, Adults, Hispanics, Young Adults, and more

If you were unable to attend our Evangelization Team Orientation Webinar, please take the time to review the recording found HERE.

The CNE is available to help you in this work of Phase II of Beacons of Light. We are available to you for the following:

Discerning a new Evangelization Team organizational chart
Leading StrengthsFinder and Charism Discernment to aid the Evangelization Team development
Crafting new job descriptions
Aiding in the hiring process: job postings, sitting on interview committees, drafting interview questions
Helping form a plan for building a healthy, prayerful team culture
Anything else you may need!

For more information please contact Sean Ater at sater@catholicaoc.org.

Before I get to the Q&A for this issue, a reminder: Registration is now open for the Rite of Election (and Call to Continuing Conversion)! The combined rite will be celebrated on the First Sunday of Lent: February 18, 2024.

Celebrations will take place at 3:00 p.m. (English) and 7:00 p.m. (Spanish) at Immaculate Conception Church in Dayton and 3:00 p.m. (English) and 7:00 p.m. (Spanish) at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter-in-Chains in Cincinnati.

Families of Parishes may choose from any of the four liturgies for their group to attend, based on geography, timing, or language; there will be no deanery-specific assignments.

Please RSVP by January 15 to ensure the names of catechumens and candidates are included in the program and on the website, as well as adequate seating for parish groups. Go HERE to RSVP.

That said, here are my answers to some more questions I’ve recently received regarding the RCIA:

Q: Who is the RCIA process for?

A: The RCIA process is primarily for catechumens. A “catechumen” is an adult (or a child at or above the age of reason) who has not been baptized. The major stages and rites of the process are required for them to become Catholic.

The RCIA process can also be accommodated to serve an uncatechized candidate. This is an adult (or child at or above the age of reason) who was baptized as an infant either as a Catholic or as a member of another Christian ecclesial communion but did not receive further catechetical formation nor, consequently, the sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist. (RCIA 400) There are major rites specifically for uncatechized candidates that mark their progress and provide moments of grace while still honoring their baptism (see RCIA, Part II.4). But, since these rites are optional and the candidate’s length of catechetical formation can vary, the uncatechized candidate is a secondary audience for the RCIA process, not the primary audience.

As for catechized candidates, those baptized persons who have lived as Christians and need only instruction in the Catholic tradition and a degree of integration within the Catholic community, they should not be asked to undergo a full program parallel to the catechumenate (RCIA, National Statutes, 31).

Q: Why can’t the RCIA process be entirely virtual or online?

A: An entirely virtual process is not possible. During Covid, many parishes gathered their catechumens and candidates online, via Zoom, for their catechetical sessions. We did this then because we had to, but it’s not ideal and shouldn’t be the norm. Nothing can replace the impact of a dynamic catechist in the room.

There are also many aspects of the RCIA process that can’t be put online. Yes, RCIA is about learning the faith. But, it’s also about experiencing the life of the parish; getting to know, serve, and be served alongside Catholics; and receiving grace through the major and minor rites of the process. It’s about prayerful discernment and going on retreat. It’s about a handshake, a hug, a pat on the back, a hand on your shoulder while someone prays over you. It’s about sharing food and sharing life. It’s about encountering Jesus in a profound way and making the decision to be his disciple. These tangible, sacramental aspects of formation and accompaniment are difficult, if not impossible, to achieve online.

Have a question about the RCIA process? Email me! (nhardesty@catholicaoc.org)

The Peace of Christ to you,
Nicholas Hardesty, Assoc. Dir. of Adult Evangelization & RCIA

Mark your calendars for CNE Appreciation Banquet, Saturday, February 3, 2024!

This annual banquet at the Savannah Center in West Chester begins with a cocktail hour at 5:00 p.m., and dinner following at 6:00 p.m. This evening of community building features the awarding of the New Fire and Radiate Christ awards to exceptional evangelists in our Archdiocese.

The banquet is free for all parish evangelists. Look for your invitation in the mail in the next few weeks and register soon!

An Ecumenical, Theological Conversation on Justification
Glenmary Home Missioners is partnering with The Church in Dialogue to host a theological dialogue on the topic of justification on January 12, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains. This gathering will bring together theologians from Lutheran and Reformed backgrounds, along with Alan Mostrom, Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology, to discuss this topic from a Catholic perspective.

The free event is open to all who are interested in engaging in this topic in a theologically rigorous and charitable way. More information can be found HERE.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Gathering
Held globally for over a century, the Week of Prayer is organized by representatives from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity at the Vatican and the World Council of Churches.

On January 18, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. Glenmary Home Missioners will be hosting an ecumenical worship gathering at St. James of the Valley Catholic Church in Wyoming. All Christians are invited to this time of prayer and worship. A social with refreshments will follow and will be accompanied by representatives from various ministries throughout the city.

More information on the event can be found HERE or at the flyer below.