The Postcatechumenate

Following baptism at Easter Vigil, the RCIA concludes with a period of reflection on the purpose and significance of Christian baptism. Following the practice of the early church, this is known as a period of mystagogy, a time of instruction into the meaning of what is now part of lived experience. In the published editions of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, the section dealing with the period of postbaptismal catechesis or mystagogy occupies a scant two pages. The terse prose of the ritual book is striking. The text gives only the briefest glimpse at how this fourth major period of formation in the Christian way is to be carried out. In the early days of the implementation of the RCIA, little attention was given to this period. Most parish RCIA teams arrived at Easter Sunday morning so exhausted that little energy was left for the "how" and "what" of mystagogy. Eventually, a popular wisdom emerged that claimed this was the time to teach about sacraments and to introd…