R.C.I.A. - Classes for the Rite of Christian Initation for Adults are held on Monday evenings at the Olive Avenue location beginning in September.

Classes are open to adults without any faith background or baptism, those who were baptized and/or raised in other faiths, and adult Catholics who have not yet received Communion or Confirmation. 

Please contact us ASAP so we can answer your questions about the program.
You are welcome here!

How do we learn to live a life of faith?
There are many books on the subject, but none of them can teach how to live the faith as well as the people who are trying to live it. When those who have been coming to the church to inquire about what we believe and how we live decide that they want to prepare to become Catholic, they enter the catechumenate. The word catechumenate (kat-uh-Q-men-it) is used for the process of becoming a Catholic Christian; it also means a specific period within that process. During this time, unbaptized people and people baptized in non-Catholic Christian denominations prepare to join the Catholic church by learning and doing what Catholics learn and do.
 

The strongest feature of this period is catechesis (kat-uh-KEE-sis). This means that inquirers learn to believe and celebrate the mysteries of the faith by listening as the scriptures are proclaimed and preached and by participating as the church celebrates what it believes throughout the liturgical year. They also learn the many other times and ways we pray. In addition, the church’s moral teachings, traditions and disciplines are explained.
 

In many parishes, the primary time for catechesis is after the liturgy of the word on Sundays. As the rest of the assembly proceeds with the Mass, inquirers go to another room to reflect on Scripture and discuss the faith in order to prepare to take their place as full, participating members of the body of Christ.
 

Inquirers also learn the ways of Christians by getting to know us and seeing how we deal in faith with daily life. They participate in parish events. They also participate in our life of service to the church and to the world. By spending time with us, those seekers forge bonds of friendship, strengthening their ties with the church. By our spending time with them, our faith is strengthened and renewed. They remind us that our faith is a living, growing reality, and that people are attracted to it today just as they were centuries ago by the teachings of Jesus and the life of his disciples.

Copyright 1997 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800. Text by Victoria M. Tufano.