Becoming Catholic for Adults

HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
 

1. You enquire. You make contact with the Parish through the Parish Priest or the Director of Religious Education. The period of enquiry is an unstructured time for questions and seeking general information.
    

2. You decide you would like to learn more about the Catholic Church and its faith. You become a catechumen, somebody, along with others, who express their desire to learn the way of Jesus as lived by the Catholic Church.
    

3. Period of the Catechumenate. Along with full members of the community you celebrate each Sunday the Liturgy of the Word (the first part of the Mass made up of readings from the Bible). After the sermon (homily), the catechumens go to another place and, with the help of a catechist, further reflect on the meaning of the Scriptures. Through prayer, learning and coming to know other Catholic Christians, catechumens discover the power of God in their lives and in the church.
    

4.  Election. This is a ceremony (rite), usually celebrated on the First Sunday of Lent in the Cathedral when the bishop formally acknowledges the readiness of the catechumens and calls them to enter the Church through Baptism (if they have not already been baptised), Confirmation and Holy Eucharist. (Communion). They are now called the Elect.
    

5. Period of Enlightenment. This a time of more intense preparation to become a full member of the Catholic Church, usually coinciding with the season of Lent (six weeks before Easter). In fact the whole community is called to conversion by examining their lives in the light of the Gospel.
    

6. Sacraments of Initiation. The elect become full members of the Church through the celebration of the sacraments they were called to at the Election. This is done at the Easter Vigil or first Mass of Easter. From this time until the feast of Pentecost (fifty days after Easter) they are known as neophytes, “new sprouts.”
    

7. Period of Mystagogy. During the fifty days, neophytes ponder the experience and meaning of the sacraments and of belonging to the Church. Slowly, you begin to feel fully “at home”. YOU ARE!