Harvest4God

Welcome to the Harvest for God website!

Are you looking for resources to help you become the best initiation minister possible and make your formation sessions and liturgical celebrations better? This website will provide you with resources to draw adult inquirers, catechumens, and candidates closer to the Lord, the Church, and our world as disciples as they make this important journey under your guidance.

You will find each part of the OCIA journey as distinct menu options. Simply click at the top of this page the phase where you seek materials and follow the drop down menu to find what you need in the way of catechetical outlines, stories, and movie or music video clips/links to help your sessions come alive and touch the hearts, minds, and souls of your future Catholics more deeply about Jesus Christ, our faith, and the new life that awaits them.

Thanks for what you do to bring more people to the Lord through the OCIA. If you desire a quick overview of the initiation process as the Church envisions it, please scroll down.

May the Lord will bless you for your commitment and dedication.

What Is the OCIA? OCIA §§1, 4, and 5 tell us that this is an extended spiritual journey that takes place within and involving a parish community so those on this journey will come to know the living God and Jesus Christ personally and begin living a life of faith and conversion that will continue for the rest of their lives.

The formation for this life of faith is meant to be holistic, involving the heart, mind, soul, and body. It is meant to establish or deepen an interpersonal relationship between those on this journey and God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Church, a faith community, and their neighbor. There are seven components to this initiation journey.

Four Formation Phases: There are four phases of formation, each critical in its own way.

Phase One (Evangelization & Precatechumenate) The formation for this life of faith is meant to be holistic, involving the heart, mind, soul, and body. It is meant to establish or deepen an interpersonal relationship between those on this journey and God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Church, a faith community, and their neighbor. There are seven components to this initiation journey.

Phase Two (Catechumenate) goes deeper in forming unbaptized catechumens and baptized candidates these ways: basic knowledge of the Catholic faith, integration into the community life of a parish and its worship, an introduction to discipleship, and experiencing conversion as a way of life. This phase usually takes a year and is shortened only on rare occasions or for the baptized who come to us as very catechized in the Catholic tradition.

Phase Three (Purification & Enlightenment) normally takes place during Lent and is like an intense spiritual retreat preparing the elect for the sacraments of initiation they will celebrate at the Easter Vigil or during the Easter Season by rituals that are meant to purify their intentions to live the Christian faith and to enlighten them further about the importance of Christ and his passion, death, and resurrection. The five rituals are: three Scrutiny rites and two Handing On rites.

Phase Four (Mystagogy) takes place between the day the elect are initiated and Pentecost and consists of celebrating the Mass with their fellow Catholics on the Sundays of the Easter Season being fed by the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist so they may now go forth feeding others by the witness of their lives. It concludes on Pentecost Sunday.

Three Transitional Rites: Between each of the above phases there is a threshold ritual that celebrates the progress those on this faith journey have made and declares them ready for the next phase.

First Rite (Rite for Entrance into the Catechumenate) occurs when it has been confirmed that unbaptized and baptized but uncatechized inquirers have experienced the initial awakening described above in Phase One. The ritual makes the unbaptized catechumens, analogous to auxiliary members of the Church with some accompanying benefits and initial commitments. Those baptized but not as Catholics may celebrate an optional rite called the Rite of Receiving the Candidates, something common in the U.S.

Second Rite (Rite of Election) occurs when it has been confirmed that catechumens have been sufficiently formed during the Catechumenate Period to celebrate the sacraments of initiation and are prepared to live the Christian life as a Catholic. This ritual is normally celebrated by a bishop who declares those ready for baptism, confirmation, and the eucharist as “elect.”

Third Rite (Sacraments of Initiation) is the celebration in which the elect are baptized, confirmed, and receive the Holy Eucharist. It normally occurs at the Easter Vigil or within the Easter Season. It initiates the elect fully into the Catholic Church. Those who began their journey already validly baptized in other Churches or communions are welcomed into full communion with the Catholic Church. Those who began their spiritual journey as baptized in infancy as Catholics but who were never catechized celebrate the sacraments of Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist.

Here's how the process unfolds sequentially: