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RCIA Formation PortalThe catechumenate is an extended period during which the candidates are given suitable pastoral formation and guidance, aimed at training them in the Christian life (RCIA 75) -
the holy spirit
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The teachings of the Catholic Church on the Holy Spirit might be summarized with the following:
- From the very beginning until the end of time, when the Father sends the Son, the Father also sends the Spirit, who unites us to Christ in faith so that as adopted children we can call God "Father (CCC 742).
- The Holy Spirit builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church (733).
- The Holy Spirit restores to the baptized the divine likeness lost in sin, invites them to participate in the divine life of the Holy Trinity, and sends them forth to bear witness to Christ (734-747).
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pay attention to your breathing
We're breathing all the time. Our breathing keeps us alive. As we breathe air into our lungs, vital oxygen is absorbed into our bloodstream, carried to our heart, and pumped to all the oxygen-hungry cells in our body. As we breathe out, the potentially harmful carbon dioxide emissions produced by our cells cycle back through the lungs and out of our bodies. - Take a minute and observe your breathing. Notice your in-breaths and your out-breaths. Are they deep? Shallow? Fast? Slow? As you breathe in, imagine your breath carrying energy to all parts of your body. As you breathe out, imagine your breath releasing anxiety out of your body and back into the world.
- Take another minute and return to your breathing. Notice how your breath is part of you, never leaving you despite your inhales and exhales. Think of how your breath grows fast and shallow when you get excited; slow and deep as you relax. Your breath is an image of who you are and what you are doing, intimately united to the activities of your soul.
- Return to your breathing for a final minute. Recognize in your breath the very life of God, breathing in you, with you, and for you. Let your in-breaths be Jesus breathing in with you, and let your exhales be Jesus breathing out with you. Let your breathing, united to the holy Breath of God, turn into a prayer of gratitude, a prayer of surrender, a prayer of longing, a prayer of love.
- Take a minute and observe your breathing. Notice your in-breaths and your out-breaths. Are they deep? Shallow? Fast? Slow? As you breathe in, imagine your breath carrying energy to all parts of your body. As you breathe out, imagine your breath releasing anxiety out of your body and back into the world.
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formation sessions index
- God, Faith, and Divine Revelation
- Understanding the Sacred Scriptures
- Jesus: Incarnation and Atonement
- The Holy Spirit
- The Church
- Lent and the Liturgical Year
- Mary and the Communion of Saints
- The Last Things
- Paschal Mystery in Liturgy and Sacrament
- Baptism
- Eucharist
- Bishops, Priests, and Deacons
- The Sacrament of Marriage
- The Sacrament of Reconciliation
- Morality and Conscience
- Catholic Social Teaching
- Grace and Forgiveness
- The Lord's Prayer
- Advent and the Liturgical Year
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