The Period of Evangelisation and Pre-catechumenate or Enquiry is the first stage of the journey. It is a time to explore and question your faith, uncover the basic message of the Gospel, and begin to discern how to live this in your life. The first stage concludes with the celebration of the Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens.

Participants will have the chance to:

• ask questions about the Catholic faith
• engage in conversations about God, Christ, and his Church
• spend time sharing with other Catholics
• meet Jesus in the Scriptures
• listen, reflect, and discern

The Period of the Catechumenate is a time for you to deepen your understanding of the Catholic faith and your relationship with Jesus. It is a time for suitable pastoral formation and guidance. It can be thought of as an apprenticeship. At the heart of the Catechumenate period is conversion of heart, the conversion to Jesus Christ. This stage concludes with the celebration of the Rite of Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion, where the Church formally acknowledges the readiness of participants to move towards the celebration of Christian Initiation or Full Communion. This celebration takes place during the 1^st Sunday in Lent, at the Cathedral, where the Bishop, on behalf of the Church, accepts the Catechumen and Candidate for reception at the Easter Vigil. After the Rite of Election, Catechumens are known as “the Elect.”

Participants will have a chance to:

• grow in faith and conversion to God
• reflect on the Scriptures
• learn about Catholic beliefs, moral formation, and prayer
• experience Catholic worship practices by joining the faith community during the weekly celebration of Mass
• experience how Catholic’s pray
• begin to participate in the mission and life of the Parish community

The period of Purification and Enlightenment is a time for reflection and prayer and a time to develop a deeper relationship with Jesus. This is a period of more intense spiritual preparation, in which is more about interior reflection than catechetical instruction. It often occurs during the season of Lent before Easter. Scrutinies and other Blessings and Rituals are celebrated throughout the weeks that lead towards Easter.
This stage concludes with the reception into the Church which usually takes place at the Easter Vigil. It culminates with the bestowal of the Sacraments of Initiation. After Easter, the newly baptised person, or “Neophyte,” enters into a phase of catechetical formation called “mystagogy”

This is a time when the newly baptised (neophytes) and those received into the Catholic church begin their lifelong commitment to living a Christian life. It marks a shift from learning about faith to living faith in everyday life and a shift from looking within to looking outside, to the community.

The Neophytes continue to grow in their new faith and membership of the faith community by:

• reflecting on the experience of initiation at the Easter Vigil
• reflecting more deeply on the mysteries of our faith and the Sacraments
• experiencing full membership of the faith community
• deepening their participation with the Parish community at Sunday Mass
• continuing to participate in the mission and life of the Parish
• join the Mass of Welcome (formally called the Mass of the Neophytes) held at the Cathedral, presided by our Bishop, to celebrate those newly planted in faith (those baptised at Easter or received into full communion in the last 12 months)