Back in 2007, I made my second sojourn through the RCIA program as a Candidate. That is the term given to those who enter the RCIA process and have already been baptised in another Christian faith community outside of the Catholic Church. You can learn more about RCIA from any local parish or from other resources on-line.
Speaking of other resources on-line, that is why I'm writing this post. I want to remind everyone of the handy, dandy YIM Catholic Bookshelf. Introduced back in May, the bookshelf now is up to over 355 volumes of solid Catholic reference material. These books are all available in full view from Google books, and all are completely searchable.
I was a strike-out at my first attempt up at the RCIA plate. I had other excuses too, but lack of knowledge by the catechist at the parish I was in was a big one. If only I would have been able to research some of my questions, maybe I would have become a Catholic in 1990 instead of 2008. Alas, the possibility of quick, yet in-depth, research wasn't possible then. But it is now.
Enter the YIM Catholic Bookshelf as a part of the solution. Just click on the portrait of Our Lord in the side-bar, and presto (!) you are in our electronic study. Certainly candidates and catechumens have a lot of questions. And as Cardinal Newman said once, "Catholicism is a deep matter—you cannot take it up in a teacup." So I hope that the YIM Catholic Bookshelf can be used as a resource for both catechists and catechumans (and candidates) alike.
Here are a few examples for you to consider. By entering the following search terms into the search blank (right below the portrait of St. Joan of Arc)on the shelf, our reference librarian at Google will locate a number of volumes that can help you answer a question, or find an answer to one. Give it a try!
Search Term - Number of Books Found
Penance 180
Confession 243
Reconciliation 165
Mary 118
Veneration of Mary 73
Communion of Saints 151
Doctrine 191
Confirmation 201
Purgatory 165
Primacy of Peter 53
Canon of Scriptures 55
By no means is this an exhaustive list. And clearly, this is not a circumvention of the two main catechetical published works out there: the Bible, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I'm just suggesting that if you have a couple of hard-boiled, skeptical, candidates (like I was!) who need a deeper bibliography, send them our way.
You'll be glad you did.
