In this clip, Cy Kellett welcomes Emily Dinneny and Brayden Cook to discuss why it takes so long to become Catholic.
Transcript:
Caller: It’s not that I don’t want to be Catholic. I’m actually signed up to start OCIA here soon.
Caller: Good job.
Caller: Why does it take so long to become Catholic? Especially, like, when the book of Acts, where, like, people are baptized, you know, pretty. Pretty quickly after they profess their faith.
Emily Dinneny: Yeah. To add on that, I think the most beautiful kind of picture that I. That I could paint to kind of understand why the church has us wait, you know, so long, because I had the exact same mentality as you when I first started ocia. It was actually kind of a stumbling block for me and a hurdle, because I was frustrated that I would have to go through this whole program, especially in the midst of COVID And I was a senior in high school at this point, so that was also, you know, a little nerve wracking for me in general. But entering into the Catholic church, you know, choosing to profess belief in a religion is the most important thing you could ever do for your life and for your soul. And when it comes to something like marriage, right, if you were to. To meet somebody that you’re like, oh, my goodness, this person is amazing, I think I want to marry this person. Right. You might know, like, oh, I want to marry this person. But if you were to go to the courthouse the next day immediately and marry them after knowing them for, you know, five days, that would be a little crazy, right? Because even if you know that this is a person that you want to marry, that you want to spend the rest of your life with, there are still things that need to be done in order to actually prepare for a good marriage. Right. Like going through life experience with one another, getting to ask, you know, important questions about the future of your family. So I would say the best analogy I can give for this process is like, marriage, right?
Caller: But.
Emily Dinneny: But a religion is even more significant. Joining the true church of Christ is even more significant than choosing to marry somebody. And so it’s very fitting that this process takes time. And I will tell you from everyone I help teach OCIA at my parish, and there’s a lot of people who, you know, they’re antsy to go and join the church, but at the same time, they still are like, I don’t know if I’ll ever feel, in a sense, because when you learn that you’re about to receive, you know, the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, you know, you feel like, I’m never gonna feel ready or I’m never gonna feel worthy of this. Right. And so I think that that can be maybe some sort of consolation for you, you know, when you go to marry somebody. That takes time in order to prepare. Right. For that. And in the same way, it should take some time in order to prepare. Well, to receive the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord and to join his church.
Braden Cook: Yeah, that’s a great question. And really, you know, even if you look in the, the early church, after the time of persecution, it was, it was actually much longer than it is now. Right now it’s like a year. It’s really supposed to be two years if you look at the, like OCIA official book. But something else that’s in there which is rather fascinating is it’s not like a one size fits all sort of program that the church requires of every single individual that does join. And so I would, I would encourage you and the church actually provide some, some wisdom here for those who are, you know, running the catechetical programs at individual parishes. And it’s up, it’s left up to the discretion, of course, and the discretion of the priest. But there are times when you could be received into the church without having to go through the entire program. Now, the reason why that, that program, as to your kind of second question is, is kind of a long process of learning and you know, having, having this time where you meet together. Faith is because justification in adults requires that you have this sort of faith. Not just a general faith. I believe in, you know, I believe in Jesus, I believe he died for my sins, et cetera. It’s this doctrinal, this doctrinal faith, right, this sort of faith that, you know, the Creed speaks of. And that’s why you go through the Creed. That’s why oftentimes you might memorize the Creed, things like this. And so the church and really divine law requires of us this sort of faith which adheres our intellect to God in his revelation so that we can be, you know, we can suitably and we can, you know, most, most benefit from the graces that are offered through the sacraments of initiation, that being baptism. But since you’re, you are already baptized, Confirmation and first, first Eucharist, right. And so I would, I would personally ask, you know, your, your priest or your OCIA instructor, like, look, I’ve been studying this for quite a long time. I understand they might kind of have an interview sometimes they might not provide for that if it’s a smaller parish. But the reason why, I would say in the pre Nicene period, you might have some areas where it was longer, but especially during the New Testament, where it was very. It was kind of quick. Right. It was very, very quickly after someone converted that they were baptized is because it was a time of persecution. It was not safe to be a Christian in the first century, the second century, the third century, et cetera, up until, you know, Christianity was legalized in 325. And so the reason why is a case of a necessity. You don’t really have time to sit down for weekly classes going through the fundamentals of the Catholic faith. And it’s not that that wasn’t required of you. You had to have a general knowledge of the Catholic faith. But in times of necessity, the graces from the sacrament of baptism and confirmation and euch. Are outweigh the sort of formation that takes a longer period of time.
Cy Kellett: Gunnar, what do you think so far? We don’t. I don’t want to pile too much on you.
Caller: Yeah, no, that. That definitely makes sense. I think probably part of it is me having to humble myself and, like, understand that there is a process and it’s there for a reason. And I do get that. I mean, I look into this stuff all the time and I learn something new every day. So I get that there definitely is a process, and I can appreciate that.
Emily Dinneny: Wonderful.
Cy Kellett: Well, Gunnar, thanks very much. I interrupted you. So Gunnar makes point. You’re okay?
Braden Cook: Well, yeah, I was just going to say, like, I know. I know many people who went through OCIA either, you know, while I was going through, or those who I’ve taught in OCIA who were probably technically ready.
Caller: Right.
Emily Dinneny: Yeah.
Braden Cook: If we’re for. If we’re thinking about, like, doctrinally, they. They understand the basics of the Catholic faith. They can articulate, you know, the. The.
Caller: The.
Braden Cook: The articles of the Creed, and in a. In a, you know, intelligible way, things like this, not one of them. Not one of them regretted going through ocda because a lot of it. I mean, when you join the Catholic faith, it’s not just like some philosophy that you pin onto your life, these new doctrines that you begin to believe. You’re engrafted into the body, this. This living community, and having others who are on the same journey as you, preparing to receive the sacraments of initiation
Caller: and
Braden Cook: learning from those. There’s a lot of Catholics who might even attend the classes for Rocia just to get some, you know, fuller formation, the things that you can learn, just practically of the practices and maybe even just like the small tree, small T traditions that a lot of Catholics do in their spiritual life. It’s invaluable and it’s great to have that community know how to plug in when you join the church eventually. There’s a lot of there’s a lot of opportunity there just for that community, learning, learning new things, meeting new people and such.
Cy Kellett: Gunner, I’m so grateful for the call. If you’d like, I’ll send you a copy of Dr. Carlo Broussard’s book, the Saints pray for you. Very Catholic way to think about things. And the saints do pray for you, and I’m very sure are praying for you as you approach full communion with the Catholic Church. Call back anytime. Gunner, a very great question. It would be wonderful to talk with you again. I have to take a quick break. Our guests, Emily Denneny and Braden Cook. And our topic, why aren’t you Catholic?