I was noticing up-and-coming blogger, atheist-converted-Catholic Leah Libresco posted on her baptism yesterday. I’m always curious about the choice of a day for adult baptism when it’s off the liturgical year. The Church strongly urges Easter Vigil, of course. It does so with such an insistence that it presumes that if an adult is baptized elsewhere in the liturgical year, that it be prepared by a Lent of sorts. Not only by the elect, but also by the community, or a portion of it.
The 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time is an unusual choice. If Easter Vigil is not possible, there are other baptismal feasts, even this time of year. All Saints Day and Christ the King seem more fitting for this particular month. And a seven-week wait for Epiphany or Baptism of the Lord, is a thought too. The Orthodox embrace the Epiphany/Theophany as an appropriate baptismal feast, along with Easter and Pentecost.
The picture posted is also intriguing, as it features two clerics (plus one in the background) but no sign of a godparent.
I am aware of a conservative or clerical pushback against “RCIA” as it surfaces in parishes. It’s important to keep in mind that RCIA is, by definition, rite. Not a catechetical/faith sharing offshoot on weeknights or during Sunday Mass. One priest I knew commented several years ago, “I don’t do RCIA if it’s not called for.” I could well have commented, “If you’re a Catholic priest you sure should be doing it. What other initiation rite is there?”
Whatever rite was used, congrats to Leah on her baptismal day.
With this post, we begin the final chapter of Built of Living Stones. Sections 170 through 261 should take us through two months of posts, more or less, and give us a look at the practical side of building or renovating a church building. “Building a Church: Practical Considerations” covers the topic of sections 170-171.
