CONVENTION 2020
Baptism is a vocation, a calling that resounds in our innermost being, beckoning us to walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, for the concern of the Spirit is life and peace. (See Romans 8:1-6.) Te fundamental vocation of the human person— every human person—is holiness. Some see the sacraments as merely an extension of the institutional Church, rather than a place of encounter with the living God through Christ. Some think holiness, sanctity, vocation belong to clergy or vowed religious. In this time when we see empty pews, poor participation in the sacramental life of the Church, a rise in clericalism and many scandals, the Church of the 21st century is ready to sing a new Church into being. Te message of the resurrected Lord must resound in our deepest being —Be not afraid! Be not afraid of an emerging “new model” of the Church! Be not afraid of a theology of vocation that includes the laity. Be not afraid of new structures in parishes! Be not afraid of a new evangelization! Te Church is ever ancient and ever new! Be not afraid of new!
Tis whole digital convention is different. NPM, beyond this COVID-19 environment, will be different. Every moment of this pandemic time, we are learning that things will be different and there will be a new normal: Telemedicine is here to stay. Distance learning is here to stay. Tele- Worship is here to stay. It goes on and on!
Be not afraid! We are a new creation birthed at the font; a Spirit-driven “WE”, the Church—Koinonia—community! And it is “WE . . . WE . . . WE” all the way home!
Be not afraid!
Meaningful Ways to Celebrate the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
Msgr. Rick Hilgartner and Lynn Trapp
Our plan for the presentation on the celebration of the rituals contained in the RCIA came from our experience of trying to celebrate the rites well. Both of us have heard many times in giving workshops about the challenges and frustrations of pastoral musicians (or occasionally even clergy) regarding
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“ The liturgy does not exist in a vacuum, and liturgical planning can’t take place in a vacuum either.”
the lack of collaboration or consultation that is required for liturgical planning and preparation. We thought we could “lead by example” and demonstrate our own collaboration and partnership. Such collaboration takes work, but it bears abundant fruit. What we do with the rituals of the RCIA is but one example. We work at this collaboration every day— for funerals, weddings, the Sunday Eucharist, and seasonal planning. Others are part of the process as well: the liturgy committee, the RCIA and sacramental formation teams, and families and parishioners (especially in the cases of funerals and weddings). Te liturgy does not exist in a vacuum, and liturgical planning can’t take place in a vacuum either. It is never the work of a single person; it is literally “the work of the people.”
When the time came to prepare for the breakout, our pastoral world was already negotiating the restrictions the pandemic imposed on our celebrations of the Sacred Liturgy. We were forced to look beyond our immediate reality to the vision of an ideal. Sharing ideas about the Easter Vigil, for example, having recently celebrated it in an empty church without the celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation, was disappointing to say the least. On the one hand was the frustration of drawing attention to the losses and sacrifices we have been forced to make. But on the other hand, the Liturgy is always about the vision of an ideal, of the Kingdom of God; our own reality here on earth, even with our best efforts, great resources, and happy successes, will always fall at least a little bit short of that ideal. Tankfully there will always be another opportunity to do it better,
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