Day 1: Starting with The End.
I have 59 minutes to write this entry to meet my self-imposed deadline...
RCIA Day 1 ("Becoming Catholic") went well... I am pleased to report that,
I wasn't late, and
Only biffed a couple of tasks at mass.
For the first day, the theme was "Starting with The End," featuring Karlo Broussard of Catholic Answers. Father Gary Kastl warmly took a moment to welcome me to class and the handshake really helped with grounding the nerves (I am always a bundle of nerves in people-y situations). My generous volunteer sponsor, Gail, came by frequently to check in and made sure that I was prepped in advance to fill out the required forms... I'm typically the over-prepared, detail-oriented type, and so appreciate when others lean in to help with the details and alleviate the pressure I put on myself. Love in action, right? Elaborating on tenderness and generosity in action, I need to underscore how Gail has stepped up selflessly: We met at a Catholic speaker series event a few weeks ago, and I've been working toward inserting myself in the local parish community downtown. Through everyday pleasantries, she seemed to hone in immediately that I didn't have anyone in Tulsa to walk beside me throughout the methodology of Catholic conversion and volunteered to sponsor and mentor me without even a moment's hesitation. This is an intense time commitment for a sponsor, and I am still attempting to wrap my head around this eight-month gift she has earmarked.
Back to class: After general housekeeping and going over the RCIA syllabus, Karlo took over.
Throughout this time in RCIA, the idea is to unpack all of God and discern the truth. Today's overall message leaned into answering the question "Who is Jesus?" with a high-level overview of the affirmations of Jesus as the Son of God, how this was perceived through the historical Jewish lens, and an overview of the Catholic reasoning behind the full implications of Christ's actions—and ultimately—the crucifixion.
Acknowledging here I've been pregaming the Catechism with Father Mike Schmitz for the past month-ish (tomorrow is Day #40 for my streak, and I will receive a sweet digital badge on the Hallow app). I'm currently on Day #206, listening to an average of 5 sessions per day, which has been a solid and welcome intellectual preparation for RCIA. I'm insufferable when I have questions/don't understand a topic, so prepping with this much ideology is vital to avoid being combative in class (the good Lord knows I'm a natural challenger). My personal goal is to not ask questions for the sake of asking a question, and to listen more than pepper the educators with endless smart-ass queries.
The takeaway from today's session: Jesus affirms the Trinity. I absolutely loved this and sketched the visual out in my notes:
Father —> Jesus <— Holy Spirit = Trinity
Trinitarian theology is unequivocally complicated and problematic for those laboring through the fundamentals of Christian faith to grasp (more on that in the future from my perspective), and over the past several years I've positioned the Trinity as a "SIT WITH IT" belief instead of trying to poke further academic holes in the teaching. The leadup of the affirmations of Jesus demonstrating and establishing his divinity as the Messiah, with the Resurrection as Christ's greatest miracle, simply clicked in my brain today. Through deduction and reason, Christ is Lord, and the implication for believers denotes our response can only be worship; ultimately knowing, loving, and serving God.
Passages for study this week: 1 Peter 3:15 | Matthew 16:13 | Mark 2:5-10 | Mark 14 | COTCC: Verse 156
What I biffed in mass: Didn't sit with the RCIA class up front* (bad kids to the back of the cathedral, am I right?), and I prayed through the rest of the congregation receiving the Eucharist (the bread & wine part for the non-Catholics). Didn't connect the dots that I'm permitted to approach the front for a blessing with my arms crossed; Father Kastl cleared that up for me outside.
There is no RCIA class this weekend due to upcoming stewardship needs, so the next post will be all about resources I've discovered so far.
**Fini: 11:59 PM
*Clearly would have known this if I sat with the RCIA class.
**With formatting I was done at 12:37 AM.