RCIA Logo copyright 1996 Thomas Scharbach. All rights reserved. Used with permission

Have you ever thought of becoming a Catholic?

Some may ask… “why be Catholic?” Good question… To be truly Catholic means to enter into the Catholic wisdom tradition. It means appreciating all of creation and looking at the world from a universal perspective. It means adopting a holistic outlook that encourages personal growth and social transformation. It means building community and learning from history. It means not being afraid to ask questions about faith, about the Church, or about the world in which we live.

Yet all this heritage is pointless unless it also points us to Christ, and to living the gospel. The reason for accepting the Catholic tradition is to learn better from our rich past how to live our faith more deeply today.

Each year at Easter we have the joy and privilege of receiving adults into the Christian community through baptism. The Rite is specifically geared to them, though it is also an occasion to welcome those already baptised in one of our sister churches, who find themselves called by grace to embrace full communion with the Catholic Church and to be embraced by it.

Most of us were baptised as babies – and there is a beautiful rightness about that. Just as we received our natural life from our parents as a sheer gift of love which we did nothing to earn, so the community of Jesus’ disciples embraces us with love, not because we have earned it, or because of our personal faith, but as a gift of grace from the heart of God.

Some of you were baptised as adults and you remember your journey and the experience of coming home and knowing you belong. Whatever our personal experience, let us imagine that we have spent our life with no knowledge of Jesus, in a family that has never celebrated the experience of being part of a Christian community. We have been picking up our values from the world around us, and in our search for meaning we keep coming up against a brick wall. We are unable to find our centre and we find ourselves stumbling from crisis to crisis without knowing where we are going. There is no way of judging the value of things and no way of finding forgiveness or of bringing about a reconciliation from the many hurts that life brings. At least, we find that we cannot do these things in a way that satisfies our soul. Then, by whatever means, we come to know of Jesus and so of a God of love. We experience an attraction to be part of a community of faith that offers forgiveness and communion with God as well as a set of values that has stood the test of time, generation after generation. We ask to be part of this community and we are welcomed by baptism. Some of you know this joy. We all know people who would love to experience it if they only knew about it.

Jesus gave his disciples the mission to go to the ends of the earth and invite people to belong in a community that has discovered God’s love through Jesus. Our community at St John’s prays that God may use us again as his instruments in providing just such a welcome to those whose hearts are being attracted to Jesus, and to those who wish to bring their life and experience in one of our sister churches into the Catholic community, to share with us the Catholic dream, the dream of Jesus that there will indeed be one fold and one shepherd and a world that embraces Jesus in such a way as to embrace ‘all the nations of the world’.

If you require further information, please call us… 6254 3236.

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ST JOHN THE APOSTLE PARISH - KIPPAX

  “AN EMMAUS JOURNEY” (RCIA) -
2011/2012 PRESENTER PROGRAM

Date	Topic	Presenter(s)
Mon 12 September 2011	Enquiry Night	The Team & Invited Speakers
First Steps: In Search of God
Mon 19 September 2011	The Religious Experience	Tom Halloran
Mon 26 September 2011	Jesus, the Revelation of God's Love	Tom Halloran
1 – 16 October 2011	School Holidays
Mon 17 October 2011	Prayer	Helen Druett
Guidance for the Journey: The Word of God
Mon 24 October 2011	The New Testament	Michael Fallon
Mon 31 October 2011	The Old Testament	Michael Fallon
Mon 7 November 2011	Jesus' self-giving on the cross	Michael Fallon
The Church
Mon 14 November 2011	The Church
Mon 21 November 2011	Introduction to the Sacraments	John Hogan
Mon 28 November 2011	Baptism	John & Cathy Hogan
Mon 5 December 2011	Confirmation	Paul Browne msc
Mon 12 December 2011	Eucharist	Tom Halloran
Mon 19 December 2011	Reconciliation	Paul Browne msc
20 Dec 11 – 30 Jan 2012	Christmas Break
Mon 6 February 2012	Sacrament of the Sick	Marian England
Mon 13 February 2012	Marriage & Family	Team
A Model for the Journey: Mary
Mon 20 February 2012	Mary in the Church	Mary Moran
The Context of the Journey: The Church in the World
Mon 27 February 2012	The Community, its Life & Ministry	Judy Netting
Mon 5 March 2012	Social Justice, Ministry and Mission	Sigrid Kropp
The Final Steps
Mon 12 March 2012	Break ( Canberra Day)
Mon 19 March 2012	The Creed	Michael Fallon
Mon 26 March 2012	Tour of the Church & Final Preparations	Team
Mon 2 April 2012	Holy Week
Pentecost
Sunday 27 May 2012	Mass Celebration – Re-united

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Key Dates			Team
Ash Wednesday	22 February 2012		Mike & Daniella Kiley
Holy Thursday	5 April 2012		Gerard McCormick msc
Good Friday	6 April 2012
Holy Saturday	7 April 2012
Easter Sunday	8 April 2012

 

School Holidays

1 October – 16 October 2011

22 December 2011 – 2 February 2012