Day 1: Introducion

September 15, 2008 - Day 1 of RCIA - the path to becoming a Catholic

1. Why Catholic?
2. Faith
3. Religion
4. Relationship with God
5. Man's Dignity and Vocation

Here is a look at what my first class entailed. I learned a lot in just a short hour and 30 minutes. The REV. Father Hathaway taught this class and was very enlightening. I learned a little about the creation of man. Some basics to how we were created. The trinity was brought up explaining the 3-in-1. For the most port, everything that was brought up was familar and I felt like I was in my hometown church. We have a few books that are part of the RCIA lessons: The Bible, The Cathechism, Outlines of the Catholic Faith, and The Faith Explained. The Cathechism was like a foreign language to me...they explained briefly how it's used and it's such a great tool that clearly outlines the Bible in a very effective way. It's not another book to the Bible...it's a tool to use along with the Bible for explanations of each Bible verse basically. Then, there was the question of the signing of the cross. This has always been so strange to me...not in a bad way. After many dinners with my fiance and his mother and watching them do the signing of the cross, I became very intrigued by the use of this. I never thought I would actually be doing it. So, from this night on, all students of the class began doing the cross signing at the end of the beginning prayer and at the end prayer. It's a pretty cool feeling I have to say. This was an eye opening class for me. I'm glad that I made the decision to go and I'm really looking forward to the next 8 months. We covered a lot this night, the basics basically and I will have more to update on a later post!

Current feeling: EXCITED!

The missing puzzle piece of FAITH!

You are probably wondering what I mean by Conversian Diary. Well, getting engaged in June brought up the conversation of where we were going to get married. He is Catholic and I am not. After a few discussions, we decided that we wanted to have a Catholic Mass Ceremony, which meant a couple of things for me: I had to be baptized Catholic and take the RCIA classes for 8 months in order to be baptized. I went into this at first with the decision that I would become catholic for our wedding, but after that day, I would continue being protestant but also attend Mass as well. I wasn't so sure about this whole becoming Catholic thing, but I knew it had to be done to have a Mass ceremony. It didn't bother me, I just wasn't serious about being a practicing Catholic. So, we signed up to have a Catholic Mass Ceremony, which meant I had to soon sign up for my classes. I'm now officially signed up! I've attended 3 classes so far…every Monday night from 7:30-9:00 pm. I was very excited about my first class. I wasn't sure what to expect, but went in with an open mind to learn and to decide if this is truly the faith that I wanted to follow. I have always been very opposed to Catholcism…I always thought that some of the ritualistic things practiced by Catholics were strange, one being, "the worshipping of Mary", and the other, "confession". I will touch more on this in a later post…my thoughts on these two things have changed, but in a good way! :-)

This is a huge decision for me to take part in these classes. I have never really researced any other faith than protestant (that's how I was raised and just assumed it was right) and never questioned my faith until recently. I've never been baptized either. So, this is a huge step for me, and yet an exciting one. At the end of the class, the night before Easter, is Holy Saturaday otherwise known as the "Easter Vigil". This is where students of the RCIA class will partake in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion for the first time. I wasn't sure in the beginning how I would go forth with being baptized Catholic, but from 3 classes so far, and a lof of prayer, I’m leaning more and more towards being "only" a Catholic. This is a huge decision for me. I've never decided for myself what I wanted to believe, or what was right to believe. I'm still not quite sure. I have a lot to think and pray about. I have a lot of questions still. I had my 3rd RCIA class lastnight…and something hit me lastnight and I was moved my Father Hathaway's lesson. Things are becoming clearer and I'm beginning to not think that "Catholics" are so weird anymore! I never thought I would be thinking or saying this. I feel truly blessed to have been given this oppourtunity to learn about the Catholic Faith and I’m excited for what the future holds. I'm not 100% convinced just yet, but I honestly can say, that I think I may have found the missing puzzle piece to my life! :-)