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Welcome to
the
RCRA Forum
An online forum for individuals
in the Waterloo Parishes
participating in the Rite of Christian Reception of Adults
• • •
Question from April 10
How and why were the sacraments Baptism and
Confirmation separated? If you are supposed to be baptized first, why
wasn't there more of a push to make a baptism something to
happen after birth for us all at the same time of confirmation?
As best we know, the three Sacraments of Initiation -- Baptism,
Confirmation and Eucharist -- were originally part of one
unified ritual in the early Christian communities (much as they
are today for unbaptized adults who are joining the Catholic
Church through the RCIA). Early on, people were baptized,
confirmed and received first Eucharist all at the same time,
under the leadership of the local community leader (the
equivalent of what we would call a bishop today) who "confirmed"
the legitimacy of the person's baptism and admitted the
newly-baptized to the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Two historical
or social trends led to the gradual separation of these three
sacraments. One was the growth of the Christian
community, and the fact that in many smaller communities there
were no longer bishops available to confirm the baptism. Rather
than delegating this responsibility to the bishop's assistant
(what today we would call a parish priest), the church decided
to postpone "confirmation" until the bishop could be present and
could speak on behalf of the whole local church. The
second trend evolved from the early Christian community's debate
over whether children could be baptized. The consensus
which developed in the western Church was that infants and
children should be baptized, but the community recognized that
infants and children are not able to speak for themselves.
Over the years, it seemed logical to postpone confirmation (once
separated from baptism) until the individual baptized as an
infant or child was old enough to speak on his or her own behalf
about their desire to be
(an adult) Christian. There has been some discussion in the
Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council about whether
the three sacraments of initiation should be reunited for all
ages, not just adults, and some bishops have experimented with
different arrangements and different ages. A consensus has not
developed, however, and for now the Church has preserved the
practice of postponing confirmation for individuals baptized as
infants and children.
-- Dave Cushing (04/12)
Question from March 27
Is it wrong for a Catholic to believe the majority of the world
is eschatalogical?
The short answer to this question is, not necessarily, if by
"the majority of the world" you mean the way the world mostly
is. The fact
is that at any given time this world is a combination of both
the Eschatalogical and Incarnational principles, and under any
given circumstances, it may be more or less one or the other.
Individuals (and theologians) may disagree, according to their experience and
perception, of how much there is of one or the other. The
Catholic worldview always incorporates both the Eschatalogical and
Incarnational worldviews, although it may
lean ultimately more toward the Incarnational view. This is because the broader
Catholic tradition, rooted in the Gospel testimony, recognizes
that the Incarnation of Jesus Christ (his life, death and
resurrection) was a decisive event in the history of God's
relationship to Creation and to humankind. The Incarnation
initiated a new phase in this relationship, one in which this
world is gradually being redeemed and transformed, leading
toward the Kingdom of God (which, in the end, will finally be
realized outside of time and space). So the Incarnational view
is always one which will be fulfilled in the future -- a reality
we dream about and hope for. The real question is not so much
how the world is today, but how it could be, should be, or one
day will be. The power of the Incarnational worldview is that it
draws us further and further into the new reality which is
gradually but surely unfolding by the grace of God, even though
we may be limited for the time being in our ability to
experience that New Creation more fully. The more we realize what Jesus accomplished by his
life, death and resurrection, the more likely we are to allow
the Incarnational vision to guide our lives as individuals and
as a community.
-- Dave Cushing (03/12)
• • •
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• • •
If you have concerns, questions or
suggestions, please contact:
Director of Adult Faith Formation
•
320 Mulberry Street, Waterloo IA 50703
Phone: 319-234-9912
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Email: <DBQ208s3@arch.pvt.k12.ia.us>
Last Update:
04.18.12
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