Fr Óscar Náder, LC, territorial director for Italy.

This past October 25, Fr Óscar Náder, LC, territorial director for Italy, sent a letter to the Regnum Christi members in his territory about the purpose of the Movement. In the letter, he refers to a meeting held in Maddaloni with the apostolate heads in the territory. In case it is of interest to English-speaking readers, we offer the letter translated into English.

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Thy Kingdom Come!

Rome, October 25, 2011
Dear friends in Christ:

I would like to thank you for your participation and contributions in our meeting in Maddaloni.  It really enthuses me to see that in spite of the difficulties and even errors, the Lord constantly encourages each one of us not to give up and repeats to our soul, “Do not be afraid. I have conquered the world!” While I was listening to you talk about your experiences, from the most exciting to the most disappointing, I heard these words resonate inside: “The vocation to Regnum Christi is a call from God, a loving invitation born in his divine heart and in his inscrutable designs of salvation. Those who value this vocation as an invitation and a very personal gift from Christ will respond with faithful love and authentic freedom, beyond the ups and downs of sensitivity or life’s contingencies” (RCMH, 163). What is more, I not only heard it: I also saw it concrete before my eyes, in your lives and in your testimony. I am ever more convinced that if we are faithful to God, Regnum Christi in this country could be a privileged instrument of salvation.

Thus: being Movement members is not just a nice idea or a hobby, but a true calling from God. And like any call, it is “an invitation from God that expects an answer of love and cooperation from man” (RCMH, 2). It is an even more important collaboration if we think that the Legionaries and consecrated women are always available to change places and missions, following God’s will, but those who stay in the territory and truly build the Kingdom are you, the lay people. The fact of knowing that you have understood that when you said “yes” to the Movement, you did not say “yes” to a particular priest or a specific consecrated woman, but to God, gives us great consolation and hope. This is the secret thanks to which things are made stable: apostolates, people, and circumstances may change, but the work continues on.

As you well know, Regnum Christi’s characteristic is that members do not just settle for praying and letting God do the rest. The Movement is for people who make themselves available to cooperate actively with God: it is a movement of apostolate. Apostolate is fundamental and distinguishes our life. The Lord asks us to help him change society, to transform it, to make Christ the center of the world, making people know him and love him wherever they are. That is why we can clearly say that the person who does not want to commit, and who does not want to do anything for others, is not called to Regnum Christi.

It is not enough, either, to just want to do something, if that desire is not followed by a real decision. This does not mean that people are not called to the Movement when concrete family or professional circumstances do not allow them to dedicate time to the apostolates. The true apostolate of Movement members is to communicate Christ; the rest are just means. The means may change, be different, more or less intense according to each one’s real possibilities. What does not change is the “fire,” the “passion,” the burning desire to share the greatest treasure we have: the faith.

The Lord has given us instruments that help us to spread his Kingdom ,and most of us are called to make these apostolates grow.  They are a gift from God and as such, we have the responsibility of making them fruitful, but they are not the end purpose of our effort for the Lord. Thus, on the one hand, it is necessary to respect the DNA of each apostolate, but on the other side we have to feel free not to create straitjackets and not be afraid to adapt them to the concrete needs of each local church.

This is what we were able to see concretely in Maddaloni: the family spirit, the unity and harmony of Regnum Christi, along with the wide variety of realities lived in the different areas. It is a treasure that we must care for and make fruitful through communion and communication between the members, always inspired by “speaking well of others,” which unites us so much in spite of distances.

As I was saying, the heart of the Movement is love for Christ, our “center, standard, and model.” Thus, the priority will always be the spiritual life. An apostolate that is not founded on the spiritual life has no meaning at all. It soon becomes a quest for personal satisfactions through empty philanthropy and ends up being a subtle form of egotism. This is the true work of the Legionaries and consecrated women who are among you: to help you grow constantly in union with God through prayer, the sacraments, and formation. Every moment they dedicate to resolving practical questions, organizing events, doing apostolates, gathering people, even though at times it is necessary and indispensable, is at bottom “stolen” from your own spiritual good. And here is where we see most clearly the importance of collaboration between them and you, the lay people. I will take this opportunity to tell you: expect from them to dedicate themselves to their specific vocation as their top priority and to leave the rest to you. This means that you will take care of some things that they have done up to now, but you will see that it will be an investment, and with good coordination and distribution of the tasks among all the members, it will even be less laborious than you imagine.

It is up to you to extend the Kingdom of God in society; the depth of that extension depends on the priests and consecrated members. You are called to make as many souls as possible participate in the richness of our faith, sharing it through your witness and apostolic action. Their task is to help you and the others to live it to the full.

Thank you once again for the good times we spent in Maddaloni, but above all for your love for the Lord and for Regnum Christi. May the Lord bless all your efforts and grant you the grace to live your vocation as committed lay people to the full, in the most diverse areas of life: in the family, at work, in society.

The good that the Movement can do in Italy is in your hands and you are in God’s hands.

I ask you to bring my priestly blessing also to your relatives and to pray for me and my mission, so that I will always be faithful and available in God’s hands.

Yours in Christ and the Movement,

Fr Óscar Náder, LC