What is Breaking Open the Word?

What has become known as "Breaking Open the Word" is found in RCIA 67.

67. After the dismissal formulary, the group of catechumens goes out but does not disperse. With the help of some of the faithful, the catechumens remain together to share their joy and spiritual experiences.

The Rite of Dismissal is not an end in itself, but a means to move the catechumens (unbaptized) and perhaps the candidates (baptized) (see RCIA 406) to a place where they can be spiritually fed. Though they cannot yet come to the table of the Eucharist, Mother Church still has an obligation to feed those who have entered into a relationship with her through the Rites of Acceptance and Welcoming (celebrated recently).

This obligation is fulfilled by sending them out to dwell more richly on the Word of God that they have just heard at Mass.

His Word is their only food during this period. Participants depart from the Mass with one or several RCIA team members, godparents, and sponsors to go out to discuss the readings for that Sunday and experience more fully the impact of the Scriptures in their lives. While the congregation is being nourished by Jesus in the Eucharist, those seeking to join us at the sacred table are being nourished by Jesus in the Sacred Words of Scripture.

The session is not catechetical in its intent. It follows from the liturgical experience, and concludes approximately when the Mass concludes. Breaking Open the Word sessions are not opportunities for the delivery of a prepare catechesis. It is to be a facilitated reflection upon the content of the Liturgy of Word for that Sunday, and an opportunity for each participant to actively engage the Scriptural text and to be fed by that encounter with the Word.

Dismissal of the Candidates

Is it acceptable and/or desirable to dismiss candidates along with the catechumens for "Breaking Open the Word"?

There is a certain value of liturgical purity that is validly argued by those who advocate only dismissing the unbaptized catechumens. This recognizes that catechumens, lacking Baptism, are not yet joined to Christ sacramentally, and would greatly benefit from the additional spiritual nourishment that the Church can offer at the table of the Word of God, as they prepare to join the community at the Eucharistic table. The other side of this issue notes that, although baptized, the candidates cannot partake of the Eucharist either, and so would also benefit from deepening their experience of the Sunday readings in this special way. The RCIA text follows for this discernment of pastoral need, without directly calling for candidates to join the catechumens in the dismissal Rite (see RCIA 83 and 406).