RCIA 178-184: Presentation of the Lord’s Prayer

The second of two Lenten presentations is ordinarily scheduled during the fifth week, following the third scrutiny. It’s the last major RCIA liturgy before Holy Saturday, and it takes the elect deep into the Liturgy of the Eucharist. And strangely enough, it is the one prayer, if any, with which a non-Christian might already be familiar.

The outline is simple:

LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings
Gospel Reading (Presentation of the Lord’s Prayer)
Homily
Prayer over the Elect
Dismissal of the Elect
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Just like presentation of the Creed (RCIA 157), the rubric of RCIA 178 mentions …

The presentation of Lord’s Prayer … should preferably be celebrated in the presence of a community of the faithful, within Mass.

RCIA 179 gives readings, a full set as one would see on Sunday or a major liturgical feast:

179. In place of the first reading assigned for the weekday Mass, the following two readings are used, as indicated in the Lectionary for Mass, ritual Masses, “Christian Initiation: Presentation of the Lord’s Prayer.”

Hosea 11:1b, 3-4, 8c-9

Psalm 23 or 103

Romans 8:14-17, 26-27 or Galatians 4:4-7

After the Gospel Acclamation, the elect are called forward. They are instructed briefly:

Listen to the gospel reading in which our Lord teaches his followers to pray.

And the passage from Matthew is alluded to, but not read verbatim. The rite gives the liturgical text of the Lord’s Prayer, without the doxology. The rest of the rite is straightforward: homily in which the celebrant “explains the meaning and importance of the Lord’s Prayer.” RCIA 182 gives the Prayer over the Elect, aiming the whole community toward the Vigil:

Almighty and eternal God,
you continually enlarge the family of your Church.

Deepen the faith and understanding
of these elect, chosen for baptism.
Give them new birth in your living waters,
so that they may be numbered among your adopted children.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

RCIA 183 gives the options for the dismissal of the elect, just as in RCIA 176, 169, 162, or 155. An “appropriate song” may conclude the Liturgy of the Word, and the celebration of the Eucharist for the community follows.