OCIA to have liturgy focus

By DAWN PROSSER
Director of Communications
 
Diocesan Director of Worship Father Andrew Galles provided an overview of the updated process for the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) in a webinar Monday. The Christian initiation webinar was offered through the diocesan Office of Faith Formation’s The Conversation Webinar Series. Karmen Bower, diocesan director of faith formation, hosted the online event.

“This (webinar) will not be exhaustive. It is intended to be an introduction of the changes ahead of us,” Bower explained during her introduction. “More than anything, our hope would be starting fall 2024 (now) is to put this on our parishes’ and pastors’ radars.”

Bower and Father Galles stressed that the Christian initiation process is focused on liturgy rather than catechesis only.

“First and foremost, this is a liturgical rite,” the director of worship explained. “We’re trying to get you more familiar with what’s going in this new ritual that’s being released now.”

He said although the rite technically goes into effect Dec. 1, few have a copy of the ritual as it will take time for church publishers to have the books ready for distribution. Father Galles did point out that “nothing major is changing as far as ritual activity. This is still the same structure, the same outline.”

The shift from the current practice to the new ritual is due to the retranslations of rituals since the 2011 Roman Missal retranslation, the priest said. The USCCB promulgated an updated National Statues for the Christian Initiation of Adults in April 2024, which helps outline the stages of the Christian initiation process and expectations of the church.

Father Andrew Galles outlines the basics of OCIA on a recent webinar.Father Galles pointed out at this time; parish leaders should familiarize themselves with the short document outlining the statues as information includes what the church will require during the initiation process including recordkeeping.

Directed to baptism
A change in mindset regarding Christian initiation will be needed as the new statues are implemented in the diocese, Father Galles warned. He explained that the old concept of RCIA, conducting classes in an academic year and including those at various stages of reception of the sacraments will no longer apply.

“Christian initiation is directed towards baptism. It’s ultimately towards those who are unbaptized, those who have no sacramental initiation whatsoever, those who we call catechumens. That’s the main driver of OCIA,” the director of worship said, noting Christian initiation is a preferred term for the process.

Different scenarios in parishes exist such as baptized Christians wishing to be in full communion with the church, unbaptized or baptized Catholics who have not received first Communion or the confirmation.

“Christian initiation provides the general structure for simply being received into the church,” he said. “OCIA is meant for those unbaptized. Everything else falls in order after that. The Easter Vigil celebration is ideally only for those who will be baptized. The whole thrust of that liturgy is towards baptism and reception of the holy Eucharist.”

Father Galles suggested it is possible that baptized Christians may be received into the church outside of the Easter Vigil.

“It’s a paradigm shift in many ways but it makes us understand how ideally those received in full communion who are already baptized should happen at another time. Perhaps Easter Sunday or any Sunday of the entire year,” he explained.

Cathedral Easter Vigil

Bower added that in the past, the church has “lumped in together” those receiving all three sacraments of initiation and those Catholics who were baptized and received first Communion but not confirmed.

“This is not intended for that second group of people. I do think Christian initiation helps us use the language and start to instill the idea and concept into the minds of people,” she said.

Four initiation stages
Christian initiation is broken down to four periods, the director of worship explained, and each period has several steps.

“The first period is the precatechumenate,” he said. “It’s really the evangelization stage of all of this. We are determining whether someone is an inquirer … we need to judge at this point if the desire for the conversion is sincere.”

If the person is deemed a “series inquirer of the faith, they are accepted into the order of the catechumenate,” Father Galles said.

4 Stages of Initiation
Stage 1	Evangelization and Catechumenate
Stage 2	Catechumenate
Stage 3	Purification and Enlightenment
Stage 4	Mystagogy

The length of the catechumenate, the second period, may come as a surprise to some, he said. The statues state “it should begin before Lent in one year and extend until Easter of the following year.”

“We need to have this real shift to understand that the catechumenate needs to last a year because it is not a catechetical program. OCIA can’t look like an academic year program … it doesn’t celebrate the liturgy first. Catechesis flows from these liturgical rites, not the other way around,” he said, pointing out that catechesis is an important part of initiation but not the primary focus.

There must be time allowed for the conversion “to blossom” and learn what is required for a follower of Christ, he said. The statues call for formation to include study of Catholic doctrine and Scripture and understanding works of charity and service.

“This is where the bulk of the work is done so that by the time we get to the Rite of Election, the church, the sponsors can say, ‘Yes, this person is ready to undertake more intense preparation to be able to receive the sacrament of initiation at the Easter Vigil,’” Father Galles said.

After the Rite of Election, those wishing to be received into the church are known as the Elect. They then enter into the period of purification and enlightenment. This period includes three scrutinies and presentations of the creed leading up to holy Saturday.

“This period ends with the great, beautiful and joyful celebration of the Easter Vigil and the actual celebration of the sacraments of initiation,” the priest said.

Now known as neophytes – “babies in the way of Christ” – the new Catholics are not done with the initiation process. They enter the fourth and final period known as mystagogy. The director of worship said the neophytes would be encouraged to “gather together on a weekly basis,” to share community and be recognized and encouraged by the faithful.

“This period ends with Pentecost or around Pentecost with some celebration or even recognition at principal Pentecost Masses or even get together for a celebratory dinner,” he said. “There must be ongoing support. They need to know they have been received into a community that cares about them.”
Storm Lake St. Mary parishioners received into the church at the Easter VigilContinuing assistance
Bower and Father Galles explained four regional trainings will be held in January 2025 to assist parish leaders in preparing for the updated initiation process. Also, a workshop with Liturgical Training Publications speakers will be offered in September 2025 to continue to train parish staff and clergy on the new initiation requirements.

Father Galles will offer a four-part OCIA webinar series in the spring of 2025 to provide ongoing education.

More information on the regional trainings and other OCIA resources are available at: https://www.scdiocese.org/ocia.

The entire OCIA webinar can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzDOiJf_Fe4