ARE YOU THINKING OF JOINING THE RCIA?

The Month of May, dedicated to Our Lady and St Joseph, ends with the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (31 May 2015). I believe that the BECs have prepared some special event to mark the closing of this ‘prayer-filled’ month. This past one month, all of you as individuals, BECs and families have had a fruitful time in sharing your personal testimony of the power of the Rosary, praying and evangelising the good news to your neighbours. Throughout this month of May, the intercessions of Mother Mary and Saint Joseph have kept all of you united and in harmony in our BECs and families. I strongly encourage you to continue reciting the rosary and St Joseph’s prayer so as to continue bringing your family together. Don’t let your day pass without praying the rosary and novena because they are the weapons against evil.

My dear parishioners, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) for the year 2016/2017 will be commenced in mid-June. At the previous RCIA programme (2015/2016), we had 12 candidates who successfully completed the course. I am expecting more candidates to register for this coming session. It is our individual duty to recommend or introduce those who are interested in the faith to our Catholic Church so that they can journey through our RCIA programme in order to discover the meaning of life as well as God in their life. The RCIA is a spiritual formation and a discernment process which will help these candidates to learn more about Catholicism for a year through a series of classes, discussions, prayers and ceremonies. RCIA sessions are held every Tuesday evening from 8.00 pm to 9.30 pm, mainly in English and Tamil at the formation rooms.

These are some questions that you can ask interested candidates and yourself:

•   Are you interested to know more about Christianity and Catholicism?

•   Are you interested to learn about God, Jesus Christ, and the Catholic faith, the Catholic Church?

•   Are you an adult baptised Catholic but who has not yet received the Sacraments of First Communion or Confirmation for whatever reasons?

•   Are you married to a Catholic, attend Mass and are now considering to take the next step to be a member of the Catholic Church and enter into full communion with the Catholic Church?

•   Have you been away or left the Catholic Church for any reason, but wish now to re-examine your thoughts about the Church’s teachings and traditions, practices or beliefs and to seek clarification?

•   Are you a baptised Christian of another denomination who wishes to know more about Catholicism?

•   Are you a baptised Catholic but desire to continue your personal faith journey and to develop a deeper spirituality?

•   Are you a baptised Christian of another denomination who wishes to know more about Catholicism?

•   Are you in search of a meaningful life?

•   Finally, are you searching for God?

We welcome you with open arms to the RCIA journey to ensure you have a very comforting and spiritual experience.