A friend of mine grew up in anti-Catholic Mississippi. While at college she was attracted to the Catholic Church and started attending. She sent away for a Knights of Columbus program to learn about the Catholic faith which came in a plain brown envelope (like pornography, she said) every week. At the end of the year she felt called to become a Catholic and approached the priest. After he quizzed her about the catechism he found she was ready for baptism. The only problem, despite attending Church weekly for a year not one person had greeted her and she didn’t know a single Catholic! Contrast that with the call of the first disciples of Jesus. They have their questions about Jesus but the response is always: “Come and see.” You won’t meet Jesus in theory but in person. The RCIA process is designed to replicate that experience of coming and seeing Jesus in this community. We will not be effective evangelizers by slick PR campaigns or with wonderful educational material. Only when people come and see that our lives are filled with compassion, forgiveness, generosity, acceptance, love because of Jesus will they want to share our life.
