Session Planning Samples

Liturgical Catechesis Chart for Catechumenate Period - Cycle A (PDF)
Andrew Casad, Catechumenate Magazine, September 2007

Liturgical Catechesis Chart for Catechumenate Period - Cycle B (PDF)
Andrew Casad, Catechumenate Magazine, September 2007

Liturgical Catechesis Chart for Catechumenate Period - Cycle C (PDF)
Andrew Casad, Catechumenate Magazine, July 2007

Click here for >> Sample Program for Purification and Enlightenment

Year Round Initiation Model

A popular and common model of initiation, especially for those parishes who are beginning to implement the rite, is the Nine Month Initiation Model. Inquiry Sessions begin in September, the Rite of Acceptance/Welcome is celebrated and then Catechumenate Sessions begin some time prior to the First Sunday of Advent. This model is workable when teams are new, small and just beginning to learn about the vision and dynamics of the Rite. However, this model does not reflect the vision and the dynamic sense of the Rite.

(1) The Spirit is not bound to the academic calendar. If someone is "inquiring" in January, it is probable that the spirit is moving in them at that moment and we do a disservice to them to ask them to wait until classes begin in September and then give them a book to read while they wait.
(2) The Spirit does not work on our time schedule. Each person has a unique story of conversion. Some people will need an extended time in the precatechumenate phase, and others will not.
(3) The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is designed to bring one to mission. A nine-month model, based on an academic calendar, encourages the catechumen/candidate to look upon the Easter Vigil as graduation night, and then the sacraments become ends unto themselves.

While many parishes begin with the Nine Month Model it is critical that the parish recognize that it should be striving to develop a richer pastoral expression of the Rite that is faithful to the spirit and the norms established in the Rite itself. The Year Round, Ongoing Model provides a jumping board for such an implementation. That means that the precatechumenate phase and the catechumenate phase of the process is ongoing and year round. As soon as someone expresses an interest in the Catholic Church, they are interviewed and then immediately join other Inquirers who have been meeting on a regular basis. Whenever a few people in the precatechumenate are ready to move into the catechumenate phase, we celebrate with a Rite of Acceptance/Welcome. Those who are not ready yet to move into the catechumenate phase, remain in the precatechumenate phase, while those who celebrate the Rite of Acceptance/Welcome, join other catechumens and candidates who have been meeting weekly.

About 1 month before the first Sunday of Lent, the Director meets with those catechumens who have spent 1 complete cycle in the catechumenate phase and with the candidates to evaluate whether or not they are ready to receive the Easter Sacraments. That decision is made through dialogue between the Director and the catechumen/candidate, the Director and the team and the Director and the sponsor. (If the Director, team and sponsor believe that the catechumen/candidate is not ready, time and care should be given to help the catechumen/candidate arrive at that decision also.) On the first Sunday of Lent, those who will receive their Sacraments at the Easter Vigil will celebrate the Rite of Election/Call to Continuing Conversion, and begin the Purification and Enlightenment phase of their journey, while those who are not ready to receive their Sacraments will remain in the Catechumenate Phase. Those catechumens remaining in the Catechumenate Phase must continue in that phase until the first Sunday of Lent of the next year. Those candidates remaining in the Catechumenate can remain there until they are ready to receive their sacraments. Prior to their reception of Confirmation and Eucharist, they should move into a modified Purification and Enlightenment Phase and celebrate a Penitential Rite. They can then receive Confirmation and Eucharist at any of the regularly scheduled parish masses.

The year-round, ongoing model requires a team that is large enough to be divided into all the different phases that may be taking place at the same time. (For example, during Lent, there might be 3 catechists working with inquirers in the precatechumenate phase, while 3 or 4 different catechists are working with the catechumens and candidates that have remained in the catechumenate phase, and 3 other catechists are working with the elect and the candidates who are in the purification and enlightenment phase of the process.)