The Fullness of Grace

The first thing I want to do is recount the entire Easter Vigil from last night. I started to, but then I realized how difficult it would be. The Easter Vigil is the celebration the night before Easter and it is the biggest and most elaborate mass of the year. It took about three hours. Check out the Unnamed Geniuses for talk of the Catholic Easter Vigil; they give it a good treatment. If you have any questions I would be glad to answer them. For this post I will focus on explaining the events around the sacraments.

The use of light is very important in the Easter Vigil. To start, everyone gathers outside the church in the dark of night. A fire is started and the Easter candle is lit. The Easter candle is a big candle almost six feet tall. Everyone follows the Easter candle in procession into the completely dark church. As everyone enters the church, they carry a small candle which was lit from the Easter candle. It symbolizes the light of faith in God they received at Baptism when they entered the church. The Elect (the people preparing for Baptism and other sacraments) did not have candles (or in the case of Philip, was not supposed to have a candle).

How it started and we got here
My involvement with RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) began in September. At the fellowship I was at they asked for people to be involved as sponsors for RCIA. There were a couple of teenagers in the program and the team was looking for younger people to sponsor these young people. I signed up and was assigned to Philip, who is 18. Since September, I have been walking with Philip in his journey to join the church. (This is the point where it would be very helpful if I used labels and tags for my posts. I could say check all the posts labeled RCIA and see the entire story.) At this stage in his journey Philip a member of the Elect, since he has been preparing to receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion at this Easter Vigil. After Baptism, he will be referred to as a neophyte or new member for a year.

In my last post, I explained how earlier in the day I pieced together the fact I was going to be Philip's Godparent and sponsor. It turned out my reasoning was correct and I was both his Godparent and Confirmation sponsor. Anyone who wants to can now correctly refer to me as a Godfather.

Baptism
After the Elect followed the Easter candle in procession around the church, the water for Baptism was blessed. Those to be Baptized were then asked some questions and responded with "I do."

Do you reject Satan?
I do.
And all his works?
I do.
And all his empty promises?
I do.
Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?
I do.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
I do.
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
I do.

Each of the people was immersed in water three times with the pastor saying, "I Baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." After Baptism the Elect become members of the church and are properly called neophytes. While the neophytes were changing into dry clothing, their Godparents gathered at the altar. Instead of joining them as I should have, I went back and sat down in my pew. Luckily, as soon as I sat down the person in front of me drew my attention to my mistake.

The neophytes were then dressed in white robes as a symbol of their new and spotless nature after the cleansing of Baptism. Each of them received a candle from their Godparent that was lit from the Easter candle. The neophytes went among the congregation and lit everyone's candle in the church. This symbolizes how their faith will be a light to everyone.

Confirmation
Confirmation is based upon Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles. As the neophytes stayed around the altar, the candidates were called forward with their sponsors. After answering the Confirmation questions, which are the same as the Baptism questions, they all received Confirmation. The priest anointed the forehead of every person with chrism saying "[Name] be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit." He then shook their hand saying "Peace be with you." Nearly 30 people received this sacrament.

Eucharist/Holy Communion
The last part of initiation for these people was receiving Holy Communion. After Confirmation the mass ran like a normal Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Afterwards
After the mass there was a reception. All of the people who went through first sacraments were surprised to find a poster welcoming them to the church and a bag of letters of support and congratulations from people in the congregation. A little girl came up to Philip and told him how she had prayed for him by name every night before she went to bed. This seven year old girl was preparing for her First Communion and had never met Philip before.

Before this, the most moving moment of the evening had been the first Baptism of the night. It was a person who used to practice Judaism. In embracing Jesus, he found the completion and perfection of the faith he grew up with. However, this acceptance is viewed as a rejection of Judaism.

That art project I mentioned earlier can now be explained.


Art and me is a bad combination. However, finding clip art and mounting it on colored paper is something I can pass off as a creative enterprise. The RCIA team took scores of pictures over several months for these posters. The sponsors were in on it from the start, but it was a complete surprise to the sponsored.

How Long?
I have an answer for you. Twenty minutes.

Now the question: How long after a young man's first mass as a full member of the church does it take for someone to tell him he should be a priest? A lady who met Philip at the reception said she would pray that he becomes a priest. For all she knows he could be a mass murderer. If I remember correctly, it was Sidney who said he wanted a workshop at church on ways to tell vocation recruiters no.

The Sunday catechesis will continue through the Easter season to Pentecost.

Happy Easter to all, and to all a good night!

The penultimate post on the Elect

The RCIA process is on the cusp of culmination.

I went to the Holy Thursday mass. At the start, three people (including Philip whom I am sponsoring) from the congregation brought up three oils. These were blessed on Monday at the Chrism mass, where the bishop blessed all the oil that would be used in the diocese for the coming year.

Each of the oils has a specific use.

• Oil of the sick - This is used to anoint the sick.


• Oil of catechumens - Everyone who is Baptized and people preparing to enter the church are anointed with this oil.


• Chrism - This is used in Confirmation when a person is sealed with the Holy Spirit.

This morning, the morning of Holy Saturday, the day started with an 8:30 prayer service which included the Ephphetha Rite. Translated from the Aramaic or Greek (not sure which), Ephphetha means "be opened." Before the Rite was a prayer service which was very similar to the Liturgy of the Word at a normal mass. After a short homily, the priest called the Elect forward. They recited the Nicene Creed with the congregation and then father touched all of them, making the sign of the cross on their ears and mouths. The priest prayed the Elect would be open to hearing and proclaiming the Word of God.

After this there was a practice for the Elect, Candidates, and their Sponsors and Godparents. We walked through what would be happening at the Easter Vigil tonight and who would stand where when. We worked out who would be walking around with candles in the dark, how to Baptize people by immersion, and where to get them ready for the next part of mass quickly. When to say Amen, I do, and Peace be with you.

All of this brought me to thinking of the time I made my first Communion. I was in the second grade and one of eighty people preparing for the sacrament. We had a week or two of in church practice of standing, sitting, receiving, and processing. We even had crackers so we could practice correct form in consuming the Eucharist. In fact, every sacrament I remember making for the first time had a lot of practice. These people tonight are getting three of them and they have not had even a third of the practice I went through for just one sacrament. Even so, I think everything will work out well, even though there will be open flames handled by nervous people wearing robes.

Clarification
There is one thing I have not made clear in my RCIA posts. When I started the sponsorship of Philip in October, he already had a Sponsor and Godparents lined up. I was not there in a direct role like all the other sponsors, but only to attend the classes and teachings with him. At the start of Lent, Philip said he had other people (family members I understood) who would sponsor him. At first I was a little miffed that I was doing all the actual work and someone else would step in at the last minute. Then I thought about why I signed up for the program. I wanted to help someone who did not have anyone else to be there for him.

You need to understand, this was my mindset for the past 6 months. Today I asked Philip who would be coming to the Easter Vigil. He said he thought his sister would come but he was not expecting anyone else. Combining this with the absence of anyone else at the practice today, my reasoning leads me to say I will be his Godparent and Confirmation Sponsor. If so, I would be honored. However, finding this out the morning of the sacraments is unconventional.

Last night I was working on an art project, but more on that later. Tonight the Elect and Candidates will all receive Confirmation and Eucharist, while the Elect will also receive Baptism. The Easter Vigil starts at 8 and after the Vigil and reception I hope to be home a little after midnight.

The Passover Seder and Unleavened Bread

There was another RCIA event this past weekend. It is not a standard event for people in the program, just something the team wanted to do to teach the people. In preparation for becoming Catholic, they prepared a Jewish Passover Seder. It is the ritual meal Jews eat every year to commemorate their liberation from Egypt.

While I have been to Catholic explanations of the Seder before, this was much more detailed and authentic. I directly participated in drinking the four cups of wine, washing of the hands, breaking one of the three matzo on the plate, eating a Hillel sandwich, dipping an herb into salt water, spilling ten drops of wine for the plagues, eating charoset (mixture of apples and nuts), and singing Dayeinu (about being grateful to God) among other things.

To get into the spirit earlier in the day, I made my own matza. Everyone got the recipe at the Sunday teaching earlier in the week, but I was one of the few who actually made it. The recipe is reproduced below.

Unleavened Bread

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp Crisco
1/2 cup very hot water

Mix flour, salt, and Crisco together - Put in a Tupperware type container and shake until it is the consistency of pie dough - crumbly.

Add water.

Shake about 3 minutes, or until dough forms a small ball. Then, take the ball and THROW it (not knead it) on your counter for about 15 minutes. (You may need to take an "arm rest")!

Divide into 3 parts - put on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten before baking to about 1/4 inch.

Bake at 350 degrees about 25 minutes.

NOTE: "Throwing" it on the counter is VERY IMPORTANT and for at least 15 minutes - if you don't, the bread will be tough.

In addition to this given recipe, I took a meat tenderizer and attacked the dough every few minutes to help soften it up. I also used the tenderizer to imprint a design on two of the pieces.

Back to the Meal
There is a lot of symbolism and meaning in the Seder. It focuses on how God brought the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt. The teaching on Sunday explained some of the background. I wanted to know more, so I stared my own online research. I have been focusing on Jewish sources to explain the Seder. I want to learn about everything in its original context, not from sources or people who cherry pick only the most helpful information for their interpretation. There are some Christian sources that ignore much of the Seder and there are some Jewish people who celebrate the Seder and say the messiah has come in Yeshua (Jesus). I will not attempt a summary, but the Unnamed Geniuses are here to help explain the Passover Seder.

All of this stuff is important to Christianity because Jesus and his apostles were Jews. The Last Supper was a Seder that was prepared and eaten in accordance with Jewish custom and law. However, Jesus does not finish it in the proscribed way. Four cups of wine must be drunk in the meal, but Jesus stands up and walks out before he would have offered the fourth cup.

A few points were brought up in what I heard and read:

• The third cup of wine is for God's redemption of Israel. After this cup Jesus suspends drinking the fourth cup until He accomplishes His redemptive work.


• Jesus is the new paschal sacrifice. Like the lamb offered in the Passover Seder, He is without blemish.


• At dinner, Jesus says He will not drink wine again until He is in His Father's kingdom. He rejects wine offered to Him until His death.

There is a lot of information out there and I do not have a clear understanding of everything that is happening. I hope this will push you to read up on it or offer your own insights.

The Third Scrutiny
The Third and final Scrutiny for the Elect happened two Sundays ago. All the readings are online. The Gospel for the day was the raising of Lazarus in John 11:1-45. Refer to my post on the First Scrutiny for links explaining the Scrutiny since they are all very similar.

Next for RCIA will be the Holy Thursday mass, followed by a bunch of things on Holy Saturday before the Easter Vigil (which is another big bunch of things, three sacraments, and lots of grace).

Forgiveness through Reconciliation

This past weekend there was a reconciliation retreat for RCIA.

Before the candidates are received into the church at the Easter Vigil, they have the opportunity to go through the sacrament of Reconciliation. To this end, the retreat explained the basis behind Reconciliation, why we need it, and how it helps us. It also covered the motions and words of the sacrament itself since neither the candidates nor the elect had completed it before. For those of you not familiar with the rites of the Catholic Church, I will give a summary of Reconciliation.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation
Movies and TV often portray Reconciliation happening in a wooden box where a person speaks to a priest through a screen. While this was the standard setup in olden days, most churches now have small rooms on the side for the sacrament. A person can either speak to a priest anonymously through a screen, or sit and talk face to face.

In the first part of the sacrament, a person goes to a priest and confesses his sins. They could be serious like "I killed a person" or "I cheated on my spouse" to the less serious like "I told a lie" or "I stole a candy bar."

The priest is not allowed to talk about what people tell him in confession. Priests have been excommunicated from the church for breaking this rule. This confidentiality is also protected in civil law. Priests cannot be legally compelled to reveal what they are told in the sacrament. To avoid getting sidetracked, I will not cover all the legal details here.

After the confession, the priest will often offer some advice. At this point, there could be a scripture reading or a prayer such as an Act of Contrition. The priest will then give a penance to the person. The completion of the penance shows the person is sorry and willing to make amends for his actions. A normal penance is praying a certain number of prayers, but they can be more direct such as apologizing to a person who was wronged or returning what was stolen. The priest then gives absolution. It is not the priest who forgives sins, but God who works through the priest.

Back to the Retreat
At the end of the retreat, the candidates (the baptized from other denominations) all went to Reconciliation. The elect (the unbaptized) did not, since baptism would cleanse them from sin before they received the Eucharist. Since I am sponsoring an elect person, I sat through six hours of explanation of something I have done a dozen times to support someone who would not be going through Reconciliation at the end of the day.

It had been a year since my last confession so I went. Afterward I felt the burden of my sins removed. It was not just me. Several of the people who made their first Reconciliation felt as if a weight was lifted off of them.

The Second Scrutiny
The motions and prayers of the Second Scrutiny are very similar to the First Scrutiny. All the readings that were used are online. They are different from the regular readings used for the Fourth Sunday of Lent. While RICA had the Gospel of Jesus healing a blind man in the ninth chapter of John, everyone else heard about the Prodigal Son.

If any of our Protestant friends have comments about Reconciliation, I would enjoy hearing them.

The First Scrutiny, including Exorcism

In the continuing journey of RCIA, Sunday was the third Sunday of Lent and the First Scrutiny for the elect.

The readings for the day, specifically chosen for the First Scrutiny, were from Exodus 17: 3-7 and Romans 5:1-8. The Gospel was from John 4: 5 – 42. This is a passage I do not understand as well as I would like to. Before going any further, if you would like to read the long Gospel passage of the woman at the well you can follow the link to See More...
[Jesus] came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." (The woman) said to him, "Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."

Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come back." The woman answered and said to him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus answered her, "You are right in saying, 'I do not have a husband.' For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true." The woman said to him, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking with you."

At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, "What are you looking for?" or "Why are you talking with her?" The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, "Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?" They went out of the town and came to him. Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples said to one another, "Could someone have brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, 'In four months the harvest will be here'? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work."

Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me everything I have done." When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, "We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world."

Observations on the Gospel

These are two things I have heard other people bring up.

• The woman is at the well at midday. Most people drew their water in the morning or evening to avoid the heat. Only the outcasts would go to the well at midday, so this woman must be an outcast of the village. Samaritans were also looked down upon by Jews of the time.
• The woman has five husbands. At the time, Israel had been occupied by five different countries. The woman can be understood as Israel, giving itself to five different foreign forces and their gods.

This passage is all about living water. I think it is faith in God through Jesus. This is a step beyond the water from the rock in the Old Testament mentioned in the first reading. No one will worship "on this mountain nor in Jerusalem" because worship will no longer be confined to a temple, but expanded to everywhere. The "worship what you do not understand" refers to the incomplete revelation to the Jewish people. They were originally given the law (which is why "salvation is from the Jews"), but need to accept Jesus to complete their understanding of God.

If you have any insightful comments they would be appreciated.

The First Scrutiny
There were no programs for this like there were for the Rite of Election. However, there is a summary of what happens here and a complete text available in pdf here. My comments about links three weeks ago bear repeating if the message has not gotten across.

The Scrutiny consisted of praying over the elect. The priest prayed a prayer of exorcism that the elect be delivered from all mistrust and not be misled. At the same time, the congregation prayed quietly for the elect. After more prayers for the elect, the priest placed his hand on each of the elect to bless them. Since there are only three elect in the parish, it was easy for him.

The Second and Third Scrutinies are happening on the next two Sundays. If you get a chance you can find out at what mass they do the RCIA stuff and go at that time to see it for yourself.

Last weekend's election

In my continuing series describing the process of becoming Catholic, the previous two weekends were filled with RCIA events. While I do not have a link handy with all the information, I have a program from the Rite of Election that lists almost all the steps.

Rite of Sending
Two Sundays ago (the last one before Lent started), we had the Rite of Sending at church. All of the catechumens (the unbaptized) gathered at mass. Each of them signed the Book of the Elect. After being prayed for by the congreation they were sent from the parish to the bishop.

Signing the Book of the Elect signifies deep commitment and starts the final stage of preparation. For example, any person who dies after signing the book but before receiving the sacraments on Easter is given a Catholic burial.


Rite of Election
The catechumens, their godparents, candidates, and their sponsors went to see the bishop this past weekend (the first weekend of Lent). While it was one big event, the Rite of Election referred to what happened to catechumens and the candidates were involved with the Call to Continuing Conversion.

This big event was held in the largest church in the diocese. Even though the church seats over 1,000, they had to schedule Friday night, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon sessions to accomadate all the people. The program was in four languages, Vietnamese, Korean, Spanish, and English. All the directions were given in English and repeated in Korean and Spanish (the Vietnamese people must have gone to an earlier election).

The format was basically the Liturgy of the Word. The reading from Ephesians touched on why the people are called elect:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.

The elect are those God chose to have faith.

Affirmation by Godparents and the Assembly
The bishop asks the godparents if the catechumens are sufficiently prepared for election. The godparents respond "They have."

Invitation and Enrollment of Names
The bishop asks the catechumens if they want to participate in Easter sacraments. "Therefore, do you wish to enter fully into the life of the church through the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist?" Catechumens respond "We do." As each parish brings up their Book of the Elect to the bishop, the names of the catechumens are read aloud.

Act of Admission or Election
The bishop says "My brothers and sisters, I now declare you members of the Elect, to be initiated into the sacred mysteries at the next Easter Vigil." The catechumens are now properly referred to as the elect.


Call to Continuing Conversion
This is for the candidates who have already been Baptized. It is similar to Election, except there is no book presented. There is an affirmation by the sponsors testifying to the preparedness of the candidates. The bishop says "My brothers and sisters, the church recognizes your desire to be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit and to have a place at Christ's Eucharistic table. Join with us this Lent in a spirit of repentance. Hear the Lord's call to conversion and be faithful to your baptismal covenant."

This is followed by intercessions and prayers for the elect and the candidates. The choir sang the line "Hear us, O Lord" in four different languages. I would have joined in, but the singing was not distinct enough for me to pick up and sing in three languages I did not know.

That was the end of that day's activities.

Presentation of the Creed
This past Sunday (first Sunday of Lent) the elect were presented with the Nicaean Creed. It is a concise summary of Catholic beliefs and is recited every week at Mass.

Father opened his homily with a story. He did not link it to RCIA, but it is close enough for retelling purposes. First I should say Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays in Lent. However, in olden days the injunction applied to every Friday.

Once there was a Jewish man who lived in a Catholic neighborhood. Every Friday, he would grill stakes outside and the sweet aroma would fill the neighborhood. The Catholics were not pleased with this, as they could not eat meat on Fridays. The Catholics worked at converting their Jewish neighbor and after many years finally convinced him to join the Catholic Church. As he stood before the priest on the day of his conversion, the priest sprinkled him with holy water saying, "Born a Jew, raised a Jew, now a Catholic." Everyone was happy. The next time Friday came around, the neighborhood filed with the smell of BBQ again. The Catholics rushed to their friend's house to remind him of the practices of his new religion. When they got there, they saw him sprinkling the stakes with holy water saying "Born a cow, raised a cow, now a fish."

The first steps of RCIA

Last September I became involved with the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) program at church. I heard they had a couple of teenagers in the program and wanted some younger people to be involved as sponsors for them. I volunteered and was assigned to Philip, who is in his first year of college.

Every Sunday I attend church with Philip and he is dismissed with all the other candidates and catechumens after the homily to learn more about the scripture readings of that day. After mass the candidates, catechumens, and sponsors together hear a teacher from the parish talk about a different subject. Some past topics have included prayer, stewardship, the Epiphany, holiness, marriage, and forgiveness to name a few.

Before I get to far, I should mention the difference between candidates and catechumens. Candidates have already received Baptism and are preparing to enter the Catholic Church and become confirmed. The Catholic Church acknowledges "one baptism for the forgiveness of sins," so other Christians do not need to be baptised again. Catechumens are new to Christianity and preparing for Baptism and Confirmation.

I joined as a sponsor later in the process so I missed a few of the early parts. The unnamed geniuses have a summary of the RCIA process along with the steps and rites which can fill in anything I miss. The first part I was involved with was the Rite of Acceptance. I was part of this several months ago, so my memory might be inaccurate.

Rite of Acceptance

At the beginning of mass, the catechumens and their sponsors come forward. The catechumens express their desire to follow the Gospel. The catechumens receive the sign of the cross on their forehead, mouth, ears, shoulders, hands, and feet as a blessing. This is to open them up to God. The priest blesses the catechumens and asks the congregation to pray for and support them. The catechumens accept a cross to wear as a sign of their intention and journey while the congregation accepts the duty of guiding them.

Presentation of the Our Father

This usually occurs later in Lent, but for scheduling purposes it occurred earlier in our program.

There are a few Gospel readings where Jesus first gives His disciples the Our Father. Then, the candidates and catechumens are given a paper with the Our Father on it. Like all the other rites, the candidates and catechumens are accompanied by their sponsors, who have their right hand on their shoulder to show they are to support them.

Today (the last Sunday before Lent) was the Rite of Sending, but I will cover that later when I explain who they are being sent to.