RITE OF WELCOME

For myself, it was far more than a ceremonial step; it was a moment of sacred

reciprocity that had a profound e:ect on my understanding of self, the Imago Dei

(stamped upon me at the moment of my conception), Church, and a community. I

found myself at the heart of a mystical paradox: me an individual, who has sought to

remove the shadows on his heart obscuring this perfect image, now standing in front of

God to be formally sought and chosen with my fellow catechumens to enter his church.

This internal shift from the pursuit of God, to being elected and welcomed into his

house and community has at its core this profound spiritual meaning.

My transition from personal discernment to divine a:irmation is powerful. My

‘catechumenate’ has been a lifelong journey, one of inquiry, su:ering, trials and

tribulations, hiding behind the pursuit of external worldly pleasures. Leading me to a life

of prayer, and gradual conversion. I have been “knocking” at His door for many many

years. Not willing to fully allow ‘the physician of the soul’ (St Augustine) to enter. Today,

the door is swung open by a voice calling my name. My name written on the Order of

Service is not a mere administrative record, but a powerful symbolic enactment of

God’s promise. It tells me, “You are known. You are claimed. Your journey has been

seen, and you are now called by name into a public union with Christ.”

It has redefined my relationship with the Church. I am no longer simply among the

community but am now formally recognised as a part of it. My individual “yes” to God is

now intertwined with the Church’s “yes” to me. This carries a deep spiritual comfort and

responsibility: I am being welcomed into a body, a family, with all the support and

obligation that this entails. As a solitary seeker I am becoming integrated into the

communion of all who have gone before me, all the Saints, all the seekers, all the

Church, a joyous fusion, creating one body in Christ.

For me the spiritual meaning of the Rite of Welcome is one of allowing the healing balm

of His ‘grace’ to wash over me, a gift freely given to all those who humbly ask for his

forgiveness. It confirms my deepest longing for God. I stand prostrate in front of the

cross, transformed from “one who is interested” to “one who has been called,” and I am

not alone. it launches me toward the mystery of the Easter Vigil, as part of this RCIA

group walking with the whole body of the Church.

I give myself to thee. I give myself to thee.

In the words of Dietrich Bonhoe:er. ‘When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and

die’.