/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

>RCIA

When are we going to see protestant conspiracy videos claiming that RCIA stands for "Roman Central Intelligence Agency"? Do they exist already? I wouldn't be surprised tbh

Go to an Anglican Use parish, they continually have to prove their orthodoxy and have reason so to do.

I'm sure there are some posters in /christian/ with more culture, dedication (and faith).

>>617946

Have you tried talking to your bishop about it?

Go to another parish. You don't have to go to your nearest one, but whichever one is best for you. See if you can find a trad parish near you, too, and go there.

When I was in RCIA it wasn't bad, but pretty bland and more Christian than Catholic, although the course co-ordinators did come out with some howlers though e.g. using the "Man who is Father-Son-Husband" to explain the Blessed Trinity, which is Sabellian heresy lel.

Also, a lot of priests couldn't care less, and it's such a tragedy.

>>617954

You want me to report the Priest to the Bishop? How can I realistically do that? Also, by the time the Bishop intervenes it will probably be too late anyway. Bishops take weeks to go stuff done. And my Parish (UK based) has a lack of Priests anyway.

I'm so angry that a PRIEST could laugh at wasting 90 minutes of time that I wanted to devote to learning about Jesus.

It's making me reconsider everything about the Church.

>>617956

you don't seem to be very commited then

>>617956

>How can I realistically do that?

Have you tried talking to him?

>>617956

>>617956

I'm going through RCIA now too. I'm lucky enough to be doing it one on one with a chaplain who has never done it before, so its a learning experience for both of us, and if I have questions he can't answer off the bat, he'll write it down and find out for me.

I think its important to find someone who you can talk to and is genuinely interested in your true conversion. If this parish can't offer you what you need, try to find another.

At the same time I've found you can't expect so much from the average Catholic, even the ones more active in their churches. People who grew up in the church don't feel the urgency of our quest to be born again. A lot of our journey is going to be finding things alone, but luckily we have so many resources on the Internet. I consider /christian/ to be one of my major supports in my Christian life, even if I don't post here much, we grew up in imageboard culture together so its easier to relate to the feelings and expressions here than in church for me.

Sorry I'm not the best at expressing myself or encouraging words but I don't want you to give up. Even if you can't find a parish that can answer your questions, God will always be there for you, and the Saints have written countless words on anything you can imagine. Try to find some that speak to you.

>>617946

Now wait, what does RCIA actually do? I've never gone through it. Is there like a quiz or something at the end? How is it determined that you "passed?"

If RCIA isn't working to teach you, maybe something like the Catechism of Pius X will help (it's a Roman Catholic Catechism designed specifically for laymen. It's easy to understand) supplement it with the Catechism of the Catholic Church (which is much longer and dryer and sometimes less clear but often I think it will help you more)

>>617946

Begome Brodesdand

>>617946

Find a latin mass parish if you can.

>>617955

>but pretty bland and more Christian than Catholic

Subtle bait?

Just study your Catechism and Denzinger, or better yet begome Ordodox.

I feel you brother.

RCIA is 100% about just convincing a priest you're ready. You'll learnmore about the faith as you practice. It's just smile, nod your head, and study at home.

>>617946

Are you really willing to become Catholic from being convinced or do you just want the cool label ? I'm not implying either - but I'm saying this, because many people here seem to just joke about it or offer answers that make no sense at all (i.e. "change parish", "look for a latin mass parish", "look for muh traditional parish", "become ortho/protestant" etc.), which have nothing to do with reality and because it determines how much you want to "invest" for Christ.

So your RCIA doesn't seem to bring your forth to the faith and apparently the priest came in once or twice chatting about the parish - prolly not even realizing you had RCIA.

You first action should not be a rant (it's a rant tho I can totally understand why you seem to be angry) on an anonymous chinese blanket knitting forum - which btw was more than just uncharitable … let's put it that way - on the internet. It should've been to go to your RCIA director and discuss the matter. Furthermore should you have been going to your priest and discuss this matter with him, too, especially with regards to him bursting into your RCIA class and starting to chat about things that aren't concerning your conversion.

You have a right to be discussing this matter and to receive reasonable answers - but you have no right to call anyone there "bad", least the priest.

Furthermore, study the Catechism and Scripture at home - ask questions that come up while doing so, go to Mass regularly. Maybe your parish has a bible study group ? Join it. Dedicate yourself rather than being angry on the internet - because not only does this not help you any further, it has the huge potential to tempt you to stray away from the faith and the Church. And do you want that just because of a temporary feeling ? I'm sure you don't want to.

This is btw something that anyone should ask themselves: If I have a problem in my parish and/or with my priest and/or with my faith, should I be asking or ranting about that on the internet, among random people of which I don't know whether they are what they claim to be (i.e., of the same denomination as I am or even Christian), in places that are known for trolls reigning free ?

Deny yourself, take up your Cross and follow Christ. That does not include being angry about stuff in random places but solving your problems like a reasonable adult would do.

>>618231

I agree with the majority of your post but some of the assumptions you're making to defend the priest contradict with what OP actually says happened to him, it's rather explicit the priest knew it was an RCIA class and what OP wanted out of it. Saying bad things about the priest online may be uncharitable but finding a different parish to get confirmed in isn't, there is zero obligation involved in the first phase of inquiry, thus no reason is too small to find a different parish.

>>618254

What OP implies and what actually happened might differ from each other. And regarding finding another parish: Wanting to be part of the Church also involves loyalty. You have a "home parish" and you should be loyal to it and do anything you can to get involved and improve it. Which is what I was telling OP. Become active in talks and "non-Mass activities", study on your own meanwhile and if anything is even remotely unclear, ask about it - in RCIA or the priest, not on the internet.

That seems to be a major problem anyway these days and one of the things that leads to parishes dieing. Not only are there fewer and fewer Christians, they abandon ship as soon as something seems "off" or "problematic" rather than holding true to the Church and contributing to solve the problems prevalent.

I'm not saying changing the parish is inherently bad, but doing the "muh trad parish", "muh latin parish", "muh begom ortho or prot" is. Furthermore - as I said - is changing the parish not inherently good either, as there seem to exist problems that should be solved rather than just leaving it dieing - because that is surely what its future bears if everyone acts like that.

>>617949

Prot here and not knowing what RCIA stands for the first thing that came to mind while reading OP was Roman Catholic Intelligence Agency.

Obviously that's not what it really is but it gave me a good chuckle

I absolutely feel your pain. Stick with it but learn from additional sources too. Though to quit at this stage would be like quitting school because the teacher sucks while the course material itself is good.

An excellent series that explains the catechism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rumiGyn0Xs&list=PLLEpVo8x_WwCqds-BBtj4sZBz5Ca5Bwts

>>617946

OP, listen. Go to the priest directly and tell him that he made you uncomfortable and why he made him uncomfortable. Your going to need to rouse boldness to talk to a priest anyway once the Sacrament of Penance is open to you and you start going to confession to get your sins forgiven. Pray that God will give you the strength to deal with the problem directly.

>>618260

I still mostly agree with you, especially regarding people who flee from any parish that is even slightly modernist, my point is mostly for OP to save himself first by finding somewhere that will accelerate catechesis instead of mucking it up, and then he can worry about the state of parishes after he's confirmed. At that point one aught to be involved in their parish however they can and contributing to their community like you say , but if they're still barred from the most crucial sacrament there are bigger problems.

I will share my RCIA experience:

>generally older people, but three girls around my age

>one of them is covered in tattoos and has green hair

>another wears skirts that are extremely inappropriate for church

>RCIA director makes convo with me while he's peeing in a urinal

>everyone excited they get to touch a Mary statue

>>618834

>RCIA director makes convo with me while he's peeing in a urinal

whats wrong with that?

or this:

>everyone excited they get to touch a Mary statue

>>618836

>RCIA director makes convo with me while he's peeing in a urinal

I guess you had to have been there. I was leaving the restroom and he walks in, pulls out his weiner, and with it in his hand, he turns his head and asks "did you have any questions?"

>everyone excited they get to touch a Mary statue

I am a former protestant who grew up hearing that catholics worshiped Mary, and it's just amusing to me to see that Mary is brought up more often in my group than Jesus is.

>>617946

Sorry to hear that, OP. Like many suggested here, talk to the priest on private about your concerns and explain him why and how all that made you feel.

I met many weird priests…and some of them were true challenges to my wish to cling to God’s love and His Church (which I still believe to be His bride, even if a sinful and weak one); know that you are not alone and that we are praying for you too.

>>618839

She is solely human, so her experience is more comprehensible by the new to the faith.

Fwiw, RCIA was the last push I needed to finally leave Christolatry for good.

>>620824

Do you have legit autism?

>>620828

He does, and so do you.

>>617946

The whole Church is a mess currently. If you want to become and remain Catholic, you have a long and hard road ahead. Be prepared for that.

>>620824

> His "only human" mother gets all the attention

I really really hope that you are not serious.

I'll pray for you. do not despair, do not throw away this gift of faith from God for a lukewarm man. You have experienced first-hand the crisis the church is facing right now, keep it in your mind. You must help these souls.

This is not the first priest to impede someone in their relationship with Christ. Realize he is just a sinner like yourself, he doesn't make the best decisions, he doesn't value God as He should be valued. He's not perfect, none of us are, yet God loves us and wants to bring us to Him.

Here are some things you can/should do:

> Pray for him and her

> Forgive him and her

> Take the priest aside and tell him how you feel ( without the obscenities) how you want to be Catholic but he's making it hard, he's not teaching you the faith at all, he's not giving a good example of a Catholic man ( if he interrupts you and starts giving excuses, ask him to let you finish, if he doesn't let you finish just end the conversation)

Then try to find another parish (from this site if you can http://latinmassdir.org/) and start reading a few pages of the catechism of Trent every day, and a few chapters of the New Testament every day and a bit of a good Catholic book. Also come on discord, we can give you some more advice and resources

>>620828

If you don't have autism what are you doing here