This serves as a review of the material that your students can read after each class, but it may be helpful for you to read as well. Consider reading it before each class to better prepare you for group discussion.

Led Through the Mysteries

This chapter marks the beginning of the final section of Credo, entitled Pillars of Catholic Living. RCIA officially comes to an end when someone receives the sacraments of initiation. However, in her wisdom, the Church asks that communities offer special assistance to newly initiated Catholics in their first few months of practicing the Faith. The period that immediately follows one’s reception of the sacraments is called mystagogy. Mystagogy has two basic components: learning through experience and integration into community of faith.

Mystagogy means “leading through the mysteries,” and it involves guiding a newly initiated Catholic through a deeper experience of themysteries of the Faith. What are these “mysteries?” We’re not referring to a mystery novel, of course. In this context, mystery doesn’t mean some problem to be solved, or an answer to be discovered. In the original context of mystagogy, the sacraments themselves were called mysteries. St. Paul refers to this, in fact, when he writes of himself and the other apostles: “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor 4:1). In the early Church, the catechumens were not fully instructed in the meaning of the sacraments until after they were baptized, and so the period of mystagogy was the period after baptism when one learned all about the hidden riches of the sacraments.

Even though we now teach catechumens and candidates about the sacraments before they receive them, there is still something very true about the period you are now entering. For example, it is one thing to know intellectually that the Eucharist is the real presence of Christ. Yet that knowledge takes on new depths of meaning when you actually begin to receive the Lord in that way. At this point in your initiation into the fullness of the Faith, you are ready to go deeper and to drink in more of the richness of Christ in the sacraments and in the life of the Church.

This is why the Church calls for a time of mystagogy: she recognizes that theoretical instruction is not sufficient on its own. As human beings, our knowledge is always closely connected to experience. Being Catholic is a way of life, and so to completely know what it means to be Catholic, one needs to actually live out the Faith. Being Catholic is principally about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who leads us to friendship with the Blessed Trinity. A full understanding of the Catholic faith is thus only possible once one has begun to experience a relationship with Christ through the sacraments. This time of mystagogy is a time to review what you have learned about the Catholic faith and see it with a fresh perspective, now enlightened by the grace of the sacraments you have received.

Having received the sacraments of initiation, you now have common spiritual ties with so many new people. Mystagogy is therefore also a time to become completely integrated into your local community of faith. It is…a time to begin forging friendships with other practicing Catholics that will help strengthen you on this new journey. You may have already begun to do this. What this looks like will vary from person to person and will depend largely on the character of the parish or chaplaincy you belong to. Hopefully your sponsor, teacher, or pastor can recommend groups you may be interested in joining, whether it be a mothers group, a men’s Bible study, or a parish group that serves the poor. You may also need to look beyond your own immediate community to find a group that suits you, such as a local Catholic young adult group or parent’s group.

To help you during this critical period of transition, we will be considering some of the “pillars of Catholic living.” The earlier material in this program has been an introduction and summary of Catholic teaching. The chapters that follow have a more practical goal. We will be focusing on some of the most important elements of Catholic life and practice and explaining how to take full advantage of them.

Now that you understand something about Catholic prayer and worship, we will be explaining how to build up a life of personal prayer and how to benefit from confession and the Eucharist (chapters 31–33).

Now that you have an idea of how Catholics understand the Bible, we will be covering how to read the Scriptures and continue to study the Faith (chapter 34).

Now that you know about the Church’s teaching on Mary and the saints, we will be exploring how to actually cultivate a devotion to them (chapter 35).

And finally, we will be discussing how to hand on the Faith to others and live a life of stewardship (chapter 36).

While Pillars of Catholic Living is intended for the newly initiated, all Catholics—whether sponsors, spouses, or friends—will be able to benefit from it as they journey alongside newly initiated Catholics and grow in their own life of faith.

Farrell, Walter and Martin J. Healy. My Way of Life. Charlotte, NC; Confraternity of the Precious Blood, 2014.

Trese, Leo J. The Faith Explained. Scepter Publishing, 2000.