44 Elect ‘handed’ on the faith at Presentation of the Creed

KOTA KINABALU  – Forty-four Elect from the English session were handed on the faith and exhorted to live it at the Presentation of the Creed during the Sunset Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral on 20 Feb 2016.

Presider Fr Abel Madisang stretched out his hands and prayed over the Elect that God would “purify them and make them holy; give them true knowledge, sure hope and sound understanding” so as “to make them worthy to receive the grace of baptism”.

The rite concluded with the distribution of the Apostles’ Creed cards to the Elect.

The Presentation of the Creed is seen as the public handing-on of the faith or the Traditions of the Church.  It signifies the official handing-on of the faith that is received from Christ through the apostles in the beginning.

In the rite it is ‘handed on’ or ‘presented’ and when later on it is ‘given back’ (called in the RCIA ‘the Recitation’) it becomes the public commitment to the same faith.  Words and action are a public sign of what has been professed during the whole of the catechumenate.  That is why it is a credible action and not a mere ceremony (RCIA Commentary).

For the period after their ‘election’, the catechumens or ‘the Elect’ as they are called now, celebrate certain rites, particularly the scrutinies and the presentations, which bring about the process of purification and enlightenment.

The First Scrutiny took place on the following Sunset Mass, Feb 27, in which the community of faithful led by the presider prayed for the Elect that they “may keep the Word of God in their hearts and learn to understand it more deeply; that they may learn to know Christ; that they may humbly acknowledge their sinfulness; and that the Holy Spirit may strengthen them and teach them to know the things of God and how to please Him.