Dear Seekers!
Welcome, simply by coming to this sign-up page you have already begun a new journey in your life, a journey of discovery of the Catholic faith.
RCIA is the Church’s way of forming new Christians and welcoming them into the Catholic Church and it is as old as the Church itself.
RCIA is an acronym of Rite of Christian Initiation in Adults
R is for Rite: A `rite’ can be thought of as the right way of doing something. The method used by the Catholic Church has a long history and people come to an understanding of the Christian way of life through a gradual step-by-step process.
C is for Christian: There are many definitions of the word `Christian’; it has even been defined as someone who could leave their pet parrot with the town gossip when they go on holiday! The simplest definition, however, is that a Christian is someone who is a disciple of Christ. One objective of the RCIA process is to investigate what being a disciple means.
I is for Initiation: Initiation is the process of getting to the start rather than arriving at the end. The RCIA process is a journey where we spend short stops at Catholic landmarks; afterwards, you may want to come back and visit these landmarks either on your own or with friends as part of ongoing formation.
A is for Adults: A is also for “Ask Anything” – the RCIA is a time to explore the Catholic faith and ask all the things you wanted to know but were afraid to ask. Was Jesus just a man? Why did Jesus have to die? Why do bad things happen to good people?
Participating in the RCIA is much more than going to classes on Catholicism. It is undergoing a conversion to a new way of life in Christ. The best way to learn this is to be in the midst of parish community and you will gain much more out of the process if you can regularly attend services and events taking place in the parish. This will allow you to learn about the prayer and worship life of the Church and to develop a relationship with the Catholic Christian community.
Our approach consists of twenty sessions using the “Symbolon” program. The first ten sessions will lead you through the “big picture” of the Catholic faith, guided by the creed. The next ten sessions will focus on living the faith through the sacraments and moral life.
Each session will be approximately 90 minutes long and begin with an opening prayer and introduction, followed by a video and then a discussion relating to what we have discovered in the session. The dates will be published in the parish newsletter and on the website.
If you have any questions then please contact Deacon Paul (pevans@portsmouthdiocoese.org.uk)
I am quite confident that the One who began a good work in you will go on completing it until the Day of Jesus Christ comes. Philippians 1:6