Back in the day to become a Catholic the first step would be to study the catechism. They would learn the truths of the faith, study how Catholics were called to live and then be invited to develop their prayer life. The RCIA process uses a different process. The starting point is an encounter with Jesus flowing from a life of prayer. After that one learns how the Church has come to understand the faith in the creeds and how that impacts our behavior. We can think of it as the Transfiguration model. The disciples had come to know Jesus — what he did and taught. On the mountaintop they learned the Truth of who he was which would lead to a change in their lives.
