"To ask about the Catholic Faith means that God is doing something deep within you.  God has awakened some kind of unrest and some kind of desire.  God has led you to look to the two-thousand year-old way that Catholics have responded to God's Word, participated in God's life, and committed themselves to live according to the Gospel.

Part of your search involves exploring the Catholic Faith -- its teachings, its values, its spirituality, its Sacraments -- in short, its people.  Part of your search involves exploring your own heart, what God has planted in you through your life story, and what God calls you to be in the future."     

-- Seeking Christ: First Steps Toward Catholic Faith

The Catholic approach to "conversion" involves discernment, dialogue and decision.  It requires time to reflect, search and discover what it means to make a firm commitment to live as a disciple of Jesus and as a Catholic. It also calls for those seeking to enter the Church to have the opportunity to dialogue with others.  This "process" is called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (the "R.C.I.A.")

St. Jude joins with the other Catholic parishes in the Elyria cluster -- St. Agnes and St. Mary -- to offer the R.C.I.A. process for interested adults on Wednesday evenings, from 7 to 8:30, beginning in September and culminating with the Easter Vigil... and beyond.   Team members from all three parishes journey with those interested in learning more about the Church.  Sessions meet at all three parishes, on a rotating basis each month.

To learn more about R.C.I.A., contact Ann Chadowski.