Becoming Catholic

Because you are being called to follow Jesus! The Catholic Church claims to be the Church founded by Jesus Christ. We believe ALL people belong in that Church! The term "Catholic" literally means "universal"! We also believe that the Christian life requires not just community and fellowship, but also the support and "grace" available through our connection to the Church and the Sacraments. There is no "easy button" for discipleship, but the Catholic Church offers crucial structures, authority, and support for your walk toward and with Jesus.

It depends on your journey so far, which is why we have 1:1 conversation with everyone as they enter RCIA. Baptism is the first step. All Catholic should also be "confirmed" in the Church and be prepared to receive the Eucharist (Communion). That takes some time and preparation, but the most important step in the journey is the first one.

"Order of Christian Initiation for Adults." For the last generation, the Catholic Church, building on very ancient Christian traditions around forming disciples, has brought adults into the Church through OCIA, primarily by preparing them for, and bringing them to "Rites" (church rituals, including the Sacraments) that deepen their relationship to Christ and His Church. OCIA also sponsors "inquiry," the process by which adults can learn about the Church in a formal way and get their personal questions about faith and the Church answered from a Catholic perspective.

Yes, you are MOST welcome at Mass, and Masses are held every day! The Church teaches that all Christians "belong" at Mass, although Catholics are "obliged" to be present on Sundays. Our time together at Mass can be a great way to learn about the Church and get to know its members. Even for the unbaptized, the scripture readings and homilies can be a great way to grow in your faith and your knowledge about God. Your full participation is also always welcome - sing with us, learn the parts of the Mass, and make it part of your spiritual life. Until you are received into the Church, you SHOULD abstain from Communion. Reception of Communion is central to who we are as Catholics; we want all at the table of the Lord, but we do reserve participation in Eucharist to the fully initiated who are united to us through Baptism and a Catholic profession of faith. We talk about this a lot in OCIA!

No. We are a "no pressure" environment. You are brought to faith through the witness of others, and through God's grace and the action of the Holy Spirit in your life and in your heart. We don't "argue" you into the Church or criticize the faith journey that has brought you to OCIA. The point of OCIA is to help you build and deepen your faith in Christ. We hope and pray that leads you into the Church, but that is a decision you must make for yourself. Don't let anyone (the OCIA team, a spouse, a fiancé, etc.) make it for you.

Those baptized in other Christian traditions are, through that baptism, already part of the universal Church. The OCIA process is very different (and often shorter) for the baptized because we accept these baptisms as having begun your Christian journey - a beautiful response to the Gospel message and as having forged a vital connection between you and God. We DO believe those baptized in other traditions need to decide what their relationship is with the Catholic Church, which claims to be the Church founded by Jesus, and understand that a "confirmation" in that Church and a willingness to accept its authority and teaching is a necessary part of coming into "Full Communion." Catholics believe that the "fullness of truth" lives in the Catholic Church, and that the graces needed by the faithful are best obtained here.

Yes! We work with people with Jewish, Hindu, or Muslim backgrounds, and very often with people raised outside of any religious institution. The program does not assume any prior knowledge or faith background.

Interested individuals are encouraged to come to an "inquiry" session, so we can get to know you and your journey. Bring a friend! We meet on Tuesday evenings from 6pm-7pm in the Gathering Space. Enter through the front doors of the church. If that time does not work for you, reach out by email or phone to set up a time for a first meeting. OCIA also hosts "teaching sessions" that run for 16 weeks, or so, at least twice a year. You can join these "in progress" or wait until a session begins to get a good overview of Catholic teachings and get to know others on the road with you toward God (and possibly the Church)! Teaching sessions are held on Sundays from 10:30am-11:30am in Evangelization Room B. Please enter through the parish office. 

How long OCIA takes depends a lot on you. We want you (and us) to be sure you have your questions answered and understand in an adult way the teachings of the Church and the nature of its authority. Some people consider joining the Church over a period of years. Others know very early in the process what they want from the Church. St. Mark generally asks that those becoming Catholic participate in a full sequence of our teaching sessions with other seekers (see above), which generally start in May and October. Because the model Jesus gave us for becoming Christian involved getting to know others alongside getting to know Jesus, OCIA takes a "group" approach to learning discipleship, which makes sense given that the Church is a group enterprise. A general rule of thumb for the unbaptized is a year of preparation. For those coming to us with baptism and fuller Christian background, their time in OCIA may be quite short. A few months is often long enough for these individuals.

We have several presenters from the parish (including our priests) who discuss topics that revolve around knowledge of the Church and its "sacraments." We meet once a week for roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes. We begin and end with prayer; we always review the readings for the coming Sunday Mass. There is always time for questions. You prepare each week by looking over some short readings that we provide for you around the weekly topic.

We ask that you come to as many weekly inquiry and teaching sessions as possible. We have some great online resources and have even taught our classes virtually when conditions forced us to, but we believe in the power of face-to-face presence and getting to know you as a person! The process of becoming Catholic does require a commitment of time and spiritual focus, but most of the spiritual development we try to support takes place on your own. You should expect to grow your personal prayer life, become a regular at Mass, and find time to read the scriptures. Again, because we offer multiple teaching sessions a year, it is usually possible for people with a little lead time and support from family, friends, and the parish, to participate in the process at their own pace. We will work with you!

No one should check their consciences, their brains, or even their doubts at the door as the price of entering any Church! All of us, in and out of the Church, have a need to develop a deeper understanding of what the Church teaches about so many things, but especially the things that can be very counter-cultural and even counter-intuitive. We expect inquirers to have questions and to challenge and be challenged by teachings of the Church. We emphasize telling the truth about what the Church teaches (to the best of our ability), a willingness to challenge (and be challenged by) those teachings, and not being afraid of questions!

None of these circumstances prevent you from becoming an inquirer and learning about the Church, including its important teachings about marriage. Individual cases are different, but often annulments of prior marriages or "convalidations" of existing ones are a natural part of the process of becoming Catholic. Don't be intimidated by those terms or by the questions that must be asked along the way to clarify individual situations. From an OCIA point of view, we are all about helping you understand and connect with the ministries in the Church that support this important work. We understand how different each situation can be and how God uses the OCIA process to build up the Church and the Christian vocation of marriage.

It is important that you be accompanied personally on your journey toward the church. For the Church, it is important to have "trusted witness" to your commitment to the process and to the Church. Your sponsor is not needed immediately in the process, but is needed for many of the Rites, including your baptism and confirmation. A sponsor should be a faithful catholic. Ideally, they are someone who knows you, but who also can help you objectively as you ask questions and grow in faith. We have many parishioners who can serve as a sponsor if you don't know any Catholics.

Encourage them to develop a strong relationship to Jesus and to learn more about the Church. Much as we often want to, we can't make faith decisions for others. We CAN be welcoming and inviting, encourage questions (even if we don't always know the answers ourselves) and know a little about how OCIA works. Offer to accompany them (maybe even eventually to sponsor them) to a first "inquiry" session with the OCIA team and share your faith! Not just what you know about Catholic teaching, but by witnessing to them every day in love, self-sacrifice, and how discipleship changes and forms your own life. They need to see and hear how your faith matters to you. But don't be afraid to offer the OCIA process as a way of getting questions answered or learning about the faith. It doesn't commit them to joining. We are a "no pressure" environment!

Feel free to reach out to the OCIA team! We work with the parish's adult faith formation program to make sure you are prepared as an adult for Confirmation. Sometimes that preparation takes place within OCIA teaching sessions, but where possible, we prepare Catholic adults separately for Confirmation.

The Church teaches that OCIA is the work of the whole parish, so you are already involved in your willingness to pray, encourage, witness, and support those coming into the Church as adults. All OCIA participants need sponsors, and if you think you can make some time to journey with someone and offer advice and support on faith matters (no one is expected to have all the answers), please reach out to us and we will connect you to one of our OCIA participants. If you have experience as a catechist, perspective on the faith you might be willing to share, or any particular love for this ministry, please reach out to the OCIA team. Depending on the time of year and the state of the "team," we often need help with hospitality, inquiry, or teaching.

Members of the parish are welcome at teaching sessions, especially if they are serving as sponsors. We ask only that the needs of our candidates, catechumens, and inquirers be the priority, and that you participate in a way that doesn't focus the process on the concerns of the people who are already sacramentally Catholic.