Monday, June 28, 2004
First RCIA Class
Our first RCIA class opened with a song on tape, rather than a prayer, which I rather liked. We have a small class, though, with uncomfortable card-table chairs and no table. We sit in a circle and talk. We have no place to put books or paper. We each shared a bit of our history and faith journey and then talked about the different books available to Catholics for learning, from the Bible to the Catechism to prayer books.
We talked a bit about changes in the Catholic Faith over the years, how once the concept of Limbo was taught (where people go to wait for the 2nd coming) while now Heaven is taught (where souls go to await being reunited with bodies). I'll need to do some investigation on that since it doesn't ring quite right with me.
We talked about St. Thomas Aquinas and The Summa... it made me want to get through some more reading so I might one day tackle that work. Our instructor talked about how St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that the loftiest understand of God was to realize that we have no understanding of God.
I asked about shorter RCIA paths for lifelong Christians who have been living their faith. Our instructor said RCIA was all about community, meeting people in the church, learning about others and sharing views... it used to be shorter and now is longer and that's for the better. There are, however, shorter paths for those who desire them... everyone is taken on a case-by-case basis. If I sought path other than this standard RCIA path, the Church would make it for me. For those who have less time or just don't want to cover ground they've already covered, you don't have to take the long way around, like I am.
We talked a bit about changes in the Catholic Faith over the years, how once the concept of Limbo was taught (where people go to wait for the 2nd coming) while now Heaven is taught (where souls go to await being reunited with bodies). I'll need to do some investigation on that since it doesn't ring quite right with me.
We talked about St. Thomas Aquinas and The Summa... it made me want to get through some more reading so I might one day tackle that work. Our instructor talked about how St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that the loftiest understand of God was to realize that we have no understanding of God.
I asked about shorter RCIA paths for lifelong Christians who have been living their faith. Our instructor said RCIA was all about community, meeting people in the church, learning about others and sharing views... it used to be shorter and now is longer and that's for the better. There are, however, shorter paths for those who desire them... everyone is taken on a case-by-case basis. If I sought path other than this standard RCIA path, the Church would make it for me. For those who have less time or just don't want to cover ground they've already covered, you don't have to take the long way around, like I am.
