Forty catechumens in Dulce Nombre

Sunday, December 4, our parish celebrated the Rite of Entry into the Catechumenate for forty persons, between 14 and 40 some years old.

We usually celebrate the Rite on the first Sunday of Advent, but this year our parish hosted the image of the Virgin of Suyapa from noon Saturday, November 26, to about noon Sunday. I need to write and post photos on the visit of the Virgin of Suyapa as well as the celebration of the feast of Christ the King on the previous Sunday, November 20.

I have no photos from the Rite of Entry into the Catechumenate since I was in the middle of seeing to the details (and ended up preaching).

This morning, Monday, I was moved close to tears remembering the rite.

Before and after Mass, I had a chance to meet some of the new catechumens as well as their catechists. I talked with one 28-year-old who is single and is preparing for his baptism. There are other young men and women in their twenties and thirties preparing for baptism, though the majority are between 14 and 18. I also talked with two young men in their twenties who are intellectually disabled; they were full of enthusiasm, and we talked a bit about their lives – with the catechist of their village.

After the rite and the Liturgy of the Word, I went with the catechumens when they were dismissed so that we could do some reflection together.

Even though they were not very talkative, I found it a moving experience. The willingness of all these women and men to commit themselves gives me hope. There is one part of the rite that touches me deeply – the signing of the senses with the sign of the cross. The catechumen is signed on the forehead, the ears, the eyes, the mouth, the heart, the shoulders, the hands, and the feet. (Although the signing of the feet is not found in the Mexican rite, I have added it, using the formulas found in the Spanish-language rite from the US.) While the hands are being signed, the priest prays:

Reciban la señal de la cruz en las manos, para que Cristo sea conocido por el trabajo que hagan. 

Receive the sign of the Cross on your hands so that Christ many be known by the work you do.

As Padre German introduced the signing of the hands, he mentioned that the catechumens’ hands were mostly rough from hard labor.

When I was with them after the dismissal, I mentioned that their fingers were probably stained by the coffee berries that they had been picking in the coffee harvest (which began a few weeks ago).

For me and for Padre German, the signing of the hands of a manual laborer are a sign of the holiness of daily work with one’s hands. What a way to affirm the dignity of the work of these poor women, men, and young people. 

I am reminded of a quote of Saint Charles de Foucauld which I recently read in Little Sister Cathy Wright’s Saint Charles de Foucauld:

"Have the greatest regard for the most humble and littlest of our brothers.... Let us mingle with them, be one of them. Woe to the one who, out of foolish pride, would look down on those to whom God has given the highest place. He descended in his incarnation, descended in becoming poor...in always taking the last place."

In a world that looks down on those who are poor and work with their hands, the signing of the hands reminds us of a God who also worked with his hands and works through ours.

The other part of the rite of signing which touches me is the signing of the feet. 

As I mentioned, this is not in the Mexican ritual but I added it from the US ritual, because I think it is one of the most significant of the signings. The sponsors go down on their knees and sign the feet of the catechumens. The sponsor is there to serve, to be a sign of a God who washed the feet of his disciples. It is a real sign of what being a Christian is. 

The priest prays:

Reciban la señal de la cruz en los pies, para que puedan caminar siguiendo a Cristo. Receive the sign of the Cross on your feet, so that you can walk, following Christ.

In a society that does not value the poor, the young, the disabled, kneeling before them is the beginning of a new way of being – living as the Body of Christ.

Today, I am off to the diocesan annual planning meeting. I hope that the witness of the new catechumens sustains us in our journey. It will definitely sustain and challenge me.