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catholicdan
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| Joined: | Wed Jul 11th, 2007 |
| Location: | Merced, California USA |
| Posts: | 61 |
| First Name: | Danny | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | From A 2 Z now on to RC. |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 07:33 pm |
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Hello to all.
I will also be attending RCIA this September. I started to form my theology from Pentecostal/Seventh Day Adventism to a very Catholic theology. Since my discovery of the real Eucharist I have partaken of it since. Is it ok for one who is not yet officially a Catholic to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ?
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"To be steeped in history is to cease to be Protestant." Cardinal Newman
"Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux,
Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux"
May the Holy Cross be my Light.
Let not the dragon be my guide.
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BodRod
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 2nd, 2006 |
| Location: | Apple Valley, California USA |
| Posts: | 770 |
| First Name: | Cliff | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Raised an SDA, then Generic Christian, finally at home with ... |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 07:47 pm |
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Greetings Danny,
I too, came from the SDA group and I also, could not get the concept of the real Holy Eucharist out of my mind. I can remember the first time I received. I felt so complete and was so excited that I did not calm down enough to go to bed until mid-night-ish !!!
Best wishes on your Journey!
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Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.
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David W. Emery
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 10:14 pm |
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Dan, as much as we’d like to tell you, “Sure, come help yourself! God’s gift is free to all,” we can’t do that. The reason is that you can’t have communion until you’re in communion.
It’s kind of like citizenship. Once you are formally a Catholic, you have all the rights and privileges. But until then, it’s like you’re a resident alien: you can be here, you can interact with us, but you can’t do everything a citizen does.
Meanwhile, I’m delighted to extend my hand to you in fellowship. Welcome to the forum.
David
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Credo Catholic
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| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
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| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Thu Jul 12th, 2007 01:24 am |
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| Hi Dan, many of us on the forum have talked about how we longed to receive the Eucharist, and how hard it was to attend mass and see others receive it, knowing they were receiving the body of Christ. I promise you it's worth the wait. Find a priest who can talk with you about the procedure of RCIA, why the sacraments aren't available until you have officially joined, and especially what to do concerning your marriage. He will be able to sort through the specifics of your situation.
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BettyBoopToo
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Camas/Washougal, Washington USA |
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| First Name: | Betty | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Fist Baptist/Calvary Babtist/Secular Confusion/ Roman Catholic |
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Posted: Thu Jul 12th, 2007 04:26 am |
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catholicdan wrote: Hello to all.
I will also be attending RCIA this September. I started to form my theology from Pentecostal/Seventh Day Adventism to a very Catholic theology. Since my discovery of the real Eucharist I have partaken of it since. Is it ok for one who is not yet officially a Catholic to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ?
Hello again Danny, Happy you've already gotten started here at the forum, thanks for joining us in tonights chat. Look forward to visiting with you.
God Bless
Betty
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Patience
"Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent."
St. John of the Cross
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Annie
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| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio USA |
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| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Thu Jul 12th, 2007 10:15 am |
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It is not okay to take Communion if you are not officially Catholic. But a brief search of other forums on Catholicism will show that people in transition to the Church do this a lot, especially people from other liturgical churches who come to understand the meaning of the Real Presence and are attracted by the gravitational pull of the Eucharist. The Church likes to say they are doing it out of "ignorance" but sometimes people take Communion illicitly because they know from reading the catechism that they really are in communion with the Church but due to the difficult rules of joining, which for some of us were almost impossible, they are in communion in spirit but not in fact. We don't know for certain how God will deal with this but the Church has a rule which must be followed.
Bottom line: it's a sin to take Communion if you are not officially in communion with the Church.
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Annie
Ora et labora
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catholicdan
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| Joined: | Wed Jul 11th, 2007 |
| Location: | Merced, California USA |
| Posts: | 61 |
| First Name: | Danny | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | From A 2 Z now on to RC. |
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Posted: Fri Jul 13th, 2007 01:33 am |
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I can understand you post but I am trying to understand something about communion or being in communion with the church. I don't know if this is the right forum for this so if it is not please let me know.
In Acts chapter 2 once St. Peter preached the Gospel to the people on the day of Pentecost and challenged the people to come to Jesus, those who believed were immediately baptized and "added" to the church, in fact over three thousand were added that day. Please don't think I am challenging the RCC on this I am converting to the church but I need to know why one is required to go through this lenthly process when that was not the case in the bible. I am going to check on this with the Ante-Nicean Fathers and come back to what I find on this matter.
Peace,
catholicdan.
____________________
"To be steeped in history is to cease to be Protestant." Cardinal Newman
"Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux,
Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux"
May the Holy Cross be my Light.
Let not the dragon be my guide.
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David W. Emery
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
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Posted: Fri Jul 13th, 2007 09:11 am |
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Dan, two thousand years ago, Christianity was a tiny seed; now it is a giant tree whose limbs stretch around the world. On the day of Pentecost, the Church had no doctrine, no structure, no real life apart from the Judaism that gave it birth. A newborn baby does not have the understanding of a grown-up.
The period of education and discernment is for your own protection. Otherwise, how would you know what you are getting into? There is even then a lot that doesn’t meet the eye. 40-odd years ago when I entered the Catholic Church, I was just a kid — a teenager, to be exact. I’ve learned about myself, and a lot about God, in the intervening years. But I’ve also moved closer to God and become sort of kin to him in a way I definitely did not understand at the time of my conversion. So I grow and the Church grows.
Actually, the catechumenate (what we now call the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults or RCIA) was established very early, probably within a couple of decades of the beginning of Christianity. We see an example of the catechesis given in those days in the Didache, which dates from about 70 or 80 AD. This rite was restored by the Second Vatican Council, and probably not a moment too soon, seeing the religious illiteracy of these times.
Often people coming out of Protestantism, where everything is a matter of accepting Jesus as one’s Lord and Savior and doctrine is not enunciated so as not to offend those who believe otherwise, wonder why Catholicism is so different on this point. The difference is that, through divine revelation and the institutional means God gave us to preserve it, we have the fullness of truth, we have the presence of the Lord in the sacraments, we have far more than a book. If you are coming to the Catholic Church for something more than you were getting elsewhere, you should expect to put forth some effort to gain it.
Finally, the Catholic Church requires a period of learning and reflection to protect its own mission. If the Church were to allow people to become Catholic willy-nilly, that is exactly how they would live their lives as Christians: willy-nilly. But the Church’s reason for existing is the salvation of the world. How is the Church to save others if its own members have no life in Christ? Are we saved willy-nilly?
David
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Annie
Banned
| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
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| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Jul 13th, 2007 10:31 am |
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catholicdan wrote: Please don't think I am challenging the RCC on this I am converting to the church but I need to know why one is required to go through this lenthly process when that was not the case in the bible.
The process is supposed to be shorter or longer depending on your individual situation. Not everybody is supposed to go through RCIA. You are supposed to be interviewed to determine how much catechesis you require if you have already been validly baptized.
However, these rules are routinely ignored.
____________________
Annie
Ora et labora
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CajunRick
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| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
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Posted: Fri Jul 13th, 2007 02:37 pm |
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catholicdan wrote: why one is required to go through this lenthly process when that was not the
case in the bible.
The people who heard Peter speak were the same people who followed Jesus day by day. They were not strangers to the faith, they were the followers of the Christ.Most were probably among the 5000 on the mountainside for the Sermon on the Mount. Peter was calling them to put their lives on the line for Christ, to get off the fence and move one way or the other. Jesus had laid down his life for them, and it was time for them to make a commitment.
Within a few years, those who were willing to make a commitment to Christianity were routinely put to death. It wasn't "expedience" that made people choose to follow Jesus. It was a decision that risked their lives. They understood just how serious that decision was, so by the time they were ready, they were already committed. Even so, the catechumenate was established that routinely took three years to complete. New members studied and prayed and listened to the word, and then were chased out before the "mysteries" (what we now call the Liturgy of the Eucharist) even began. They were not allowed to stay until after they were baptized. That's three years of preparation before they could even see what they had been waiting for.
Today, the choice to become Catholic is an easy one, so it's left to the Church to make certain it is undertaken seriously. If (as we believe) the Catholic Church is the one, true Church, then a person who undertakes entry into the Church improperly is endangering his very soul. To join the Church and then to walk away is not like leaving one Protestant church for another; it is rejecting the fullness of Truth. It is failing to discern the Body and Blood of Christ. To knowingly leave the Church is to quite literally risk one's very salvation.
So the Church has to do its very best to make certain that no one "comes to the table" without full knowledge and understanding of the decision they are making. The first thing they have to be willing to do is to accept the authority of the Church even when its inconvenient or uncomfortable. Like when the Church insists on a lengthy process when we don't want to wait. This is how the Church has decided to prepare new entrants into the faith.
We don't want numbers. We don't even want contributors. We want faithful Catholics who will be with us for a lifetime, and then will join the endless cloud of witnesses in heaven.
And sometimes we need to accept humbly that the Church knows better than we do what is best for us.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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Darlene
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania USA |
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| First Name: | Darlene | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Christian, trusting His love and forgiveness |
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Posted: Sat Jul 14th, 2007 09:22 pm |
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David, Annie and Rick,
Great replies. I respect the Catholic Church for being thorough and wanting those who consider Catholicism to make sure they are doing it with their eyes wide open and an understanding of the doctrines, dogmas and teachings of Holy, Mother Church. Joining most Protestant churches usually only entails a couple of meetings to discuss the church's Faith Statement and a few other details.
Anything worth while is worth waiting for, don't you agree?
Darlene
____________________
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. II Corinthians 13:14
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Esther
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
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Posted: Thu Jul 19th, 2007 09:43 am |
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| I don't have much to add, everyone has really worded it wonderfully. I just wanted to share my experience. When I went through RCIA I used to get frustrated and impatient. But looking back I realize what a beautiful time in my life it was. I got so much out of it and learned so much. It was such a time of preparation for me. It was also amazing to watch the others in my class grow. At first they weren't that serious and as the time came closer, it was truly awe inspiring to see the transformations take place! I hope you get the same kind of experience!! God bless you!!
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Johnnie o
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| Joined: | Tue Jul 31st, 2007 |
| Location: | W. Hempstead L.I., New York USA |
| Posts: | 24 |
| First Name: | john | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Cradle Catholic,altar boy(latin mass '62-4), 8yrs@ catholic school, Lapsed Ca. ... |
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Posted: Wed Aug 1st, 2007 12:00 pm |
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Annie,"The process is supposed to be shorter or longer depending on your individual situation. Not everybody is supposed to go through RCIA. You are supposed to be interviewed to determine how much catechesis you require if you have already been validly baptized.
However, these rules are routinely ignored."
Hi there,
iI was just wondering where you came up with this conclusion???
I am part of the RCIA team at my Parish. Rules routinely ignored???
Even Catholics attend RCIA to become better acquainted with their beliefs.
Maybe you ought to help or attend some classes, to gain a firsthand knowledge of what is realy going.
Baptism is a formula, to be baptized properly it has to be done in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Lutherans and Anglicans for instance would not be re-baptized in converting to the Catholic Church.
However they need to be instructed in the Beliefs of the Catholic faith and confirmed.
This will take years, I am still learning!
RCIA lays down the basics... after which we hope and pray the 'candidates' faith grows in the Church.
Those in faiths that do not use the Trinitarian formula, will receive Baptism, confirmation, and Holy Communion at Easter Vigil.
RCIA is a 'rite' available to all those who wish to join the catholic faith.
Catholic being 'Universal" our doors are open for anyone.
I've actually been at a parish where the 'Team would vote on whether the candidate was 'catholic' enough. I found that a lil distasteful, but that was their procedure,However I don'rt know of anybody they denied.
God bless,
Johnnie o
Last edited on Wed Aug 1st, 2007 12:07 pm by Johnnie o
____________________
All warfare is based on deception
The Opponent is wise: Whenever He can, He makes use of the easiest and most effective of his weapons: Gossip. It doesn’t take much effort to use it, because others do the work for him. A few miss-directed words can des
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Annie
Banned
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Posted: Wed Aug 1st, 2007 12:34 pm |
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My experience is from talking to people from dozens of dioceses which ignore the National Statutes for the Catechumenate. These rules are routinely ignored and most dioceses that these people are from put everyone through RCIA whether it is appropriate or not. The "priest shortage" is often used as the excuse.
I have noticed you are new here and so don't know that there are some on this board who are not entirely naive about the system.
And yes, voting on whether a person is Catholic enough is strictly forbidden under the rules. Not just "distasteful."
Last edited on Wed Aug 1st, 2007 12:37 pm by Annie
____________________
Annie
Ora et labora
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Johnnie o
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Posted: Wed Aug 1st, 2007 12:37 pm |
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Hello CatholicDan,
great moniker!
First Welcome to the fold.
Now The question was is it okay?
Sometimes even for Catholics it is not right to recieve.
In your case, you may have jumped the gun a little bit.
Communion is about receiving what is given. there are steps to be taken before it is given. The Sacraments of Baptism, and Confession are two prerequisites. Patience is a virtue. If you are asking the question maybe you feel a lil guilt in participating before you were prepared, and need to confess your impatience.
I have been back in the fold since 2001, I read the bible and catechim regularly. My Brother is way out there yet, as well as many members of my family.. He believes the da'vinci code, as truth before the Church. He at times is vehement about my involvement in the catholic Church today. I am an Extraordinary minister, and Lector, as well as a RCIA Team Participant.
Confession ought to be done at least done at least twice a yr. for any Catholic. Last year My Uncle died, the family attended the Funeral at a Catholic Church, in which The Mass is part of, I have family that has had nothing to do with the Catholic Church, does no recognize its authority in their lives.. and are adament about it..."Outside the Church".. Welll that day in that Chruch, where the funeral was held, right before Communion, the Priest says, "please, if you are not a practicing Catholic, please refrain from coming up to the altar to receive."
Well I watched from a few pews back, as two Full pews of my 'Non participating' family members literally looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and decided to get up and receive; rather than 'embarrassing' themselves by remaining in their seats. What made them get up??? Deep inside they are Catholics Thru and thru, they coud not deny it sitting there.
Outside the Church they like how they fit into the world, I have yet to discuss it with them, but since then, they have quieted down, and have downplayed my involvement in the Church.
Now, in my experience, watching the candidates@ the easter Vigil go Up and recieve Holy communion for the First time, with a Church full of believers is a uplifting emotional and a very deeply spiritual experience, for the The candidate, and the Church at the same, this ceremony is being conducted around the world, so it is a celebration for the entire Church, to welcome all its new candidates at the same time.
God bless,
Johnnie O
Last edited on Wed Aug 1st, 2007 02:27 pm by Johnnie o
____________________
All warfare is based on deception
The Opponent is wise: Whenever He can, He makes use of the easiest and most effective of his weapons: Gossip. It doesn’t take much effort to use it, because others do the work for him. A few miss-directed words can des
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Tina in Ashburn
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| First Name: | Tina | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Cradle Roman Catholic, Ukranian Catholic, presently practicing as Roman Latin ... |
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Posted: Wed Aug 1st, 2007 01:48 pm |
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catholicdan wrote: Since my discovery of the real Eucharist I have partaken of it since. Is it ok
Dear Danny Danny DANNY,
No this is not okay!
No one should approach the Eucharist without being cleansed of sin by confession first.
It is good that you ask - you must have done this in ignorance and then felt something "wrong". I hope you will listen to those here advising you against this practice.
To take the Eucharist in your non-Catholic circumstance makes it clear that you don't understand enough to be partaking. I'm sorry if I sound harsh but to steal this Eucharist in this manner alarms me and I must tell you that this imperils your soul. To receive in this manner doesn't do any good, but rather is a grave sin. [If you really didn't know - that's okay.]
As others have aptly noted here, even Catholics who approach the Eucharist, must be worthy to do so. It is important that we all "discern" the Body of Christ correctly and receive with humility and obedience in the most worthy manner possible. To receive unworthily never results in any good fruit.
Everyone, me included, must be vigilant with frequent confession before approaching such a powerful Sacrament.
I noticed this thread late, so hopefully by now you abstain.
We all look forward to your entrance into the Catholic Church when you can receive all the fullness of the Faith and the Sacraments.
____________________
Tina
Arlington Diocese
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Johnnie o
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| Joined: | Tue Jul 31st, 2007 |
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Posted: Wed Aug 1st, 2007 03:16 pm |
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Hey Dan,
what exactly is your theology of the Eucharist.
God bless, Johnnie O
____________________
All warfare is based on deception
The Opponent is wise: Whenever He can, He makes use of the easiest and most effective of his weapons: Gossip. It doesn’t take much effort to use it, because others do the work for him. A few miss-directed words can des
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Johnnie o
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Posted: Wed Aug 1st, 2007 03:30 pm |
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Hi Anne,
please tell me what are the statutes which deem some appropriate or not, I may be a novice here, But I have a very deep and intense study of Scripture and Apologetics under my belt. I also have been involved with the RCIA here in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y. going on my fourth season this OCT.
Our RCIA is run by our Deacon of ten yrs. Priests do attend regularly, ut are only needed on several occasions to speak to the catecumen.
Our religion is a religion of attraction, catholics don't go out and solicit people to join like the other denominations do, so if they show up at a rectory and ask, How can I become Catholic, do we break the questionaire and see if they pass the test??? Or do we teach them how to become catholic and welcome them into the Church of Christ.
since 2001, I have had plenty of people throwing everything at me including the kitchen sink for defending the faith.
The website:
http://www.studylightforums.org
My profile:
http://www.studylightforums.org/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1940
Topic Catholic Conversiohttp:
http://www.studylightforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=433n:
and where I’ve done most of my defense of the faith.
God bless,
johnnie O
Last edited on Wed Aug 1st, 2007 06:16 pm by Johnnie o
____________________
All warfare is based on deception
The Opponent is wise: Whenever He can, He makes use of the easiest and most effective of his weapons: Gossip. It doesn’t take much effort to use it, because others do the work for him. A few miss-directed words can des
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Daffodil
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Posted: Wed Aug 1st, 2007 03:55 pm |
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Annie wrote: catholicdan wrote: Please don't think I am challenging the RCC on this I am converting to the church but I need to know why one is required to go through this lenthly process when that was not the case in the bible.
The process is supposed to be shorter or longer depending on your individual situation. Not everybody is supposed to go through RCIA. You are supposed to be interviewed to determine how much catechesis you require if you have already been validly baptized.
However, these rules are routinely ignored.
I have faced this in my own parish. I have attended RCIA before (for about 4 months), and I wish that my priest would allow me either to undergo private instruction, or to skip it altogether. As is, I would have to start from the beginning and attend the full series of RCIA classes again. I have a Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies, and have read the catechism instruction book that we use twice. I come from a High Church background. I feel as if I am prepared, and fully understand, the commitment in conversion. He has my best interests at heart, and I must try to understand this. 
I will be moving with my new husband sometime in January, and I will talk to the chaplain on base about the situation then.
____________________
My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior....
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Johnnie o
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Posted: Wed Aug 1st, 2007 04:05 pm |
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Hello again Dan,
Lengthy process you say? One night a week, and attend Mass Sundays for 8 months? LENGTHY?
I sit through these each and every one of these classes, and I am still amazed, after three yrs.
Let's see, Biblically, Jesus trained the apostles over THREE years.
In the Book of Acts, people were doing things that could not be denied as the Holy spirit in work through them. There was nothing instant however, they heard the Gospel and believed.
What's your hurry? In the early Church people were allowed to attend, however they did not recive Holy Communion until full Catechised.
During the final processes there are oaths to take. That is basicallly what you are training for. So that you will be fully capable of understanding and accepting these oaths. Each Sacrament is an Oath, in itself.
There is Papal authority? do you understand It, accpt it full, before God and the Church. There are doctrines and Dogma's of the Church, in which you will swear to accept? Simply attending a Mass, is not the same as being in communion with the Church, there are certain rites you have to go through, each in which you will more understand and realize what it is to Fully join the Catholic Church.
Even our Children are taught the faith for yrs., (even though they live them through their parents teachings), before they are able to recieve the Sacraments.
The Early Church would even keep the Eucharist a wellkept secret becuase it did not want "to thow pearls to swine.'
Unfortunately, this hidden secret of the early Church, has caused its Denial in other denominations.
Try this on for size: Happy reading, this will keep you busy and enlightened:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM
God Bless,
Johnnie o
Last edited on Wed Aug 1st, 2007 04:33 pm by Johnnie o
____________________
All warfare is based on deception
The Opponent is wise: Whenever He can, He makes use of the easiest and most effective of his weapons: Gossip. It doesn’t take much effort to use it, because others do the work for him. A few miss-directed words can des
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Johnnie o
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| Joined: | Tue Jul 31st, 2007 |
| Location: | W. Hempstead L.I., New York USA |
| Posts: | 24 |
| First Name: | john | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Cradle Catholic,altar boy(latin mass '62-4), 8yrs@ catholic school, Lapsed Ca. ... |
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Posted: Wed Aug 1st, 2007 05:17 pm |
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My experience is from talking to people from dozens of dioceses which ignore the National Statutes for the Catechumenate. These rules are routinely ignored and most dioceses that these people are from put everyone through RCIA whether it is appropriate or not. The "priest shortage" is often used as the excuse.
And yes, voting on whether a person is Catholic enough is strictly forbidden under the rules. Not just "distasteful."
Hello Anne,
So your experince is someelse's experince thru conversation?
If that is how I came to the knowledge of the Church, I probably wouldn't be back... I went out and researched for myself.
There are a lot of catholics out there who do not agree with all the teachings of the faith, "Cafeteria Catholics" 1 from column 'A' two from colomn 'B' excetera>>>> doesn't make what they say to be true, more than probably your hearing their opinion, not The Churches teaching.
Why is voting strictly forbidden, while ascertaining who to allow 'IN,' is that not essentially voting? YEA or nea? who gets to decide? thumbs up or thumbs down? Wwe are not a secret organization, where a person needs to be voted in.
I am combing the catechism, I can't find any rules for excluding anyone.
{National Statutes for the Catechumenate. I dunno? still searching! }
Our Catechism of the Catholic Church, doesn't seem to exclude anyone!
From the Catechism: On confirmation
IV. Who can Receive Baptism?
1246 "Every person not yet baptized and only such a person is able to be baptized
Who can Receive Confirmation?
#1306 Every baptized person not yet confirmed can and should receive the sacrament of Confirmation.[url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/#$1KK]121[/url] Since Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist form a unity, it follows that "the faithful are obliged to receive this sacrament at the appropriate time,"[url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/#$1KL]122[/url] for without Confirmation and Eucharist, Baptism is certainly valid and efficacious, but Christian initiation remains incomplete.
#1310 To receive Confirmation one must be in a state of grace. One should receive the sacrament of Penance in order to be cleansed for the gift of the Holy Spirit. More intense prayer should prepare one to receive the strength and graces of the Holy Spirit with docility and readiness to act.[url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/#$1KP]126[/url]
#1322 The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation part
#1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penanceicipate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist
#1232 The second Vatican Council restored for the Latin Church "the catechumenate for adults, comprising several distinct steps."[url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/#$1I5]34[/url] The rites for these stages are to be found in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).[url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/#$1I6]35[/url] The Council also gives permission that: "In mission countries, in addition to what is furnished by the Christian | | |
