Assessment

Take Home Exam 100%

Module Aims

This module is designed to introduce participants to “how Christians are made”. Through a mixture of input, practical opportunities and reflection, participants will grow in confidence in their knowledge and practice of Christian Initiation and reflect on their own experience and how their pastoral contexts may expand their ministry in this vital aspect of the life of the Church..

Indicative Syllabus

• The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults [OCIA] Today
• Overview of the Evolution and Theology of Christian Initiation
• the Nature of Baptismal and Lectionary Based Catechesis
• Accompaniment of Catechumens in the Parish
• Ministries relating to OCIA
• The Rite of Election and the Purifications of Lent
• Word, Water, Oil, Food, Mystagogy; Children of Catechetical Age
• The Order of Baptism of Children (younger than ‘catechetical age’) and the Order for their Confirmation
• The Rite of Reception into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church. (Eucharist in itself and as a Sacrament of Initiation will be treated in Christian Initiation II.)
• Contemporary Concerns and liturgical developments.

Learning Outcomes

• — Discuss liturgical elements and practice of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) in its theological, historical spiritual and pastoral dimensions;
• — Critically review opinions and writings of a liturgical-pastoral nature relating to OCIA;
• — Have a familiarity with ecumenical questions as they relate to worship practices;
• — Manifest the skills necessary to integrate theological, liturgical, and pastoral dimensions in the preparation of the celebration of the various parts of Christian Initiation according to the official Orders;
• — Demonstrate basic skills that facilitate continued or future ministry with regard to liturgical ministry relating to OCIA at parish and at community levels;

Bibliography

• — Introduction, Christian Initiation (prefaces the RCIA, but is applicable to all sacraments of Initiation), 1972
• — Austin, Gerard, The Rite of Confirmation: Anointing with the Spirit (New York: Pueblo Publishing Company, 1985).
• — Chupungco, Anscar J., ed., Handbook for Liturgical Studies, Vol. II: Fundamental Liturgy; Vol IV: Sacraments and Sacramentals (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1998, 2000).
• — Ferguson, Everett, Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009).
• — Fleming, Austin, with Victoria M. Tufano, Preparing for Liturgy: A Theology and Spirituality (Chicago, IL: LTP, 1997).
• — Johnson, Maxwell E., The Rites of Christian Initiation: Their Evolution and Interpretation, rev. ed. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2007).
• — Kasper, Walter, ed., Harvesting the Fruits: Basic Aspects of Christian Faith in Ecumenical Dialogue (London: Continuum, 2009).
• — Kavanagh, Aidan. The Shape of Baptism: The Rite of Christian Initiation (New York: Pueblo Publishing Company, 1978).
• — Kavanagh, Julie, and Maeve Mahon, A Welcome for your Child: A Guide to Baptism for Parents (Dublin: Veritas, 2008).
• — Mahon, Maeve, You Shall Be My Witnesses – Coordinator’s Book (Dublin: Veritas, 2016).
• — McGrail, Peter, First Communion: Ritual, Church and Popular Religious Identity (London: Ashgate, 2007).
• — Osborne, Kenan B, The Christian Sacraments of Initiation (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1987).
• — Spinks, Bryan D., Early and Medieval Rituals and Theologies of Baptism: From the New Testament to the Council of Trent (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006).
• — Schmemann, Alexander, Of Water and the Spirit: A Liturgical Study of Baptism (Crestwood, NY: SVS Press, 1997).
• — Stuhlman, Byron, The Initiatory Process in the Byzantine Tradition (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2009).
• — Turner, Paul, The Hallelujah Highway: A History of the Catechumenate (Chicago, IL: Liturgy Training Publications, 2000).
• — ________, Confirmation: The Baby in Solomon’s Court (Chicago, IL: Liturgy Training Publications, 2006).
• — ________, When Other Christians become Catholic (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2007).
• — Walsh, Liam, Sacraments of Initiation: A Theology of Life, Word, and Rite. 2nd Ed. Hildebrand Books (Chicago, IL: LTP, 2011).
• — Wagner, Nick, The Way of Faith A Field Guide for the RCIA Process (New London, CT: Twenty Third Publications, 2008).
• — Whitaker, E.C., Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy. Revised and Expanded Edition by Maxwell Johnson, A Pueblo Book (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2003).
• — Witczak, Michael G., Lex Orandi: The Sacrament of Baptism (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2011).
• — Wood, Susan K., One Baptism: Ecumenical Dimensions of the Doctrine of Baptism (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2009).