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The word catechumen has to do with baptism.
The reason you hear it around Easter is that it is a special time when members of the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) are baptized and become members of the church in a public ceremony typically called the Easter Vigil.
Baptism is the sacrament by which a person becomes a Christian. The person becomes a son or daughter of God, and a brother or sister to Jesus.
The person becomes an adopted member of God’s family and meets with other family members at Church.
Our mothers gave birth to us and as a result we became members of our biological family and humanity then we began living a temporary life in the world.
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Baptism is a second birth, a birth into a new and higher life and we become sharers in the life of God himself.
Baptism for adults is not something to be taken without willingness, thought, and preparation.
On occasion we hear of someone being “forced” to be baptized.
Typically this pressure is applied when the individual is about to marry and the future spouse demands it as a condition of marriage.
If this is found out the Church will not baptize the adult no more than they would validate a
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marriage if they discover that one of the parties to the marriage is being pressured into making the marriage contract.
If the adult freely desires to become a Christian there logically needs to be a time of preparation and instruction in the faith.
This time is called the catechumenate and the person who desires baptism is called a catechumen.
There is a powerful incentive for people of all ages to be baptized and is found in the Gospel of John chapter 3 verse 5.
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
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As you can see from the passage baptism gives immeasurable benefits and as a result Christian parents want their infants baptized as soon as possible. The baptism of the infants are both desirable and a duty of the parents required by church law (Canon 867).
Clearly, a baby is not able to participate in a time of preparation and instruction until later in life.
The church also requires an after or “post-baptismal catechumenate” (Canon 1231) for the child.
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Their preparation and instruction will begin at home with their parents.
Parents, the child’s first teachers, will naturally instruct the child in right and wrong and by their example living out the Commandments.
Being baptized as an infant or as an adult logically requires instruction beyond that which is commonly known. In time the people will ask these new Catholics
“How come you Catholics believe . . . .” it certainly would be nice to give them a clear and convincing answer wouldn’t it?
The answers are found through the time of instruction called the catechumenate.
And the students being instructed are called the Catechumens.