My Question: During Lent for the Scrutinies, the catechumens are blessed, prayed over, and then dismissed with the Catechists to continue “breaking open the Word”. Can the Catechist continue to “break open the Word” even if it’s not during a Scrutiny Ritual?
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A: The RCIA never actually describes breaking open the Word the way that many people think about it. It describes dismissals. And it describes word services. But it never links the two.
However, in the United States, where hospitality remains a virtue, we don’t like to dismiss people from the liturgy without dismissing them to a session. So that’s been the practice that has evolved.
Dismissals are appropriate throughout the entire liturgical year – not just on scrutiny Sundays. So, a catechist certainly may break open the word with the catechumens any time of year.