The RCIA Finale

Let's get our feet wet, shall we? Blog away.....

I imagine some would hope their first official web log would have the Internet community up all night trying to cull the nuggets of gold from it. Well, not here - certainly not from this tired brain. It took me about three and a half hours to set the page up, and half the things I clicked...I'm not sure what they do. No worries. My bed (and Catherine) will soon be calling me in, the TV has been off all night (that's growth), and tomorrow is Sunday. Sweet Sunday. Is there a better day of the week? Not for this lad. You see, I do it God's way on Sunday. Church, rest, lunch, rest, snack....nap, then rest, you see how it goes. I wasn't always a sabbath observer, but, I've changed. A lot has changed this past year, and my journey begins it's culmination tomorrow as I attend my last RCIA class at St. John the Baptist Church in my beloved Chico.

When I met Deacon Steve Schwartz last May and he outlined the next year of my life, Easter Vigil 2009 seemed, well....a year away. "A year, but, I want to be Catholic now!" What a sweet lesson in patience I have lived throughout this journey. I was like all the rest - I only thought I new what being Catholic meant. We often think so small in the beginning. Maybe it's to protect the brain from exploding with excitement. If we saw how grand the journey would become, we might give up before we're half way through as I have done so often in my life. I realize now that I have seen something through to it's conclusion for the first time in years. And though I have known Christ for 37 years, I have never really known what, or, who He was calling me to be. Just how does the "Son of God" define a "man of God." Most of us, regardless of our denomination, don't really know our faith. We certainly don't know the history of our church and next to nothing at all about our fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers who went before us. In the Catholic Church they will all be mine. I've met people this year, who I now call friends, who haven't walked the earth in centuries. And that's good news for someone like me, because I haven't reached my limit of "Loved Ones" yet.

So, I just want to give a big shout-out to the "08-'09 RCIA class of St. John's, Chico: Anne, Debbie, Randy, John, Valerie, Twila, Melissa, Katie, Jackson and Tom. We were awesome if I do say so myself. I hear people complain about how their program was boring or not well taught, and that's a shame. It shouldn't be. It needs to be inspiring, taught by inspiring Christo centric people. Like....Deacon Steve, John Few, Lori Smith, John O'Hara, Debbie Rosales, Al Lentz and Henry. (These are some of my new friends who are still walking the earth). Next week, of course, begins Holy Week. No class. No half mass (sans Eucharist), half class kind of morning. That's the way we do it in Chico. Next Sunday we will stay for the entire Palm Sunday Celebration. But, no Eucharist. Not yet. I am a candidate, a baptized Christian. I can never remember a time in my life when I did not know Him and love Him. But soon, I will receive Him in a new way and thus know Him and love Him in a way I thought did not exist this side of heaven.