Last night, my first full year of overseeing the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults and Adult Confirmation came to it’s conclusion. Although I oversaw RCIA and Adult Confirmation the previous year, this year I developed the curriculum and began and ended the year. Last year, we had a total of 10 Non-Catholics come into the Catholic Church with 13 Catholics receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. This year we saw that number increase to 20 Non-Catholics with 8 Catholics receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. And although we aren’t concerned with percentages, since the importance lies with the salvation of souls, we are very blessed to have so many entrust us with their sacramental preparation.

Source: Catholic Memes

With this being said, I found today as excellent opportunity to share you very quickly what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches on the Sacraments of Christian Initiation. Today we won’t focus on Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist, since each need their own Quick Lessons from the Catechism, but for today we look at what the Sacraments of Christian are in general.

In paragraph 1212, the Catechism states,

The sacraments of Christian initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist – lay the foundations of every Christian life. “The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life. The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus receive in increasing measure the treasures of the divine life and advance toward the perfection of charity.

The Catechism also teaches…

Christian initiation is accomplished by three sacraments together: Baptism which is the beginning of new life; Confirmation which is its strengthening; and the Eucharist which nourishes the disciple with Christ’s Body and Blood for his transformation in Christ [#1275].

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20) [#1276].

I ask you to please pray for all of the neophytes and fully initiated at my parish and the parishes across the world that were received into the Catholic Church this past Easter Vigil. I also ask for prayers for those individuals they are discerning whether or not to reach out to people like me at the parish seeking Baptism and full communion into the Catholic Church.

This blog post is dedicated to the RCIA and Adult Confirmation 2014-2015 Class at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Gilbert, AZ.