Maria Teresa Delgeon

My name is María Teresa Delgeon and I am a twenty-four year old graphic design student at the Finis Terrae University in Santiago, Chile. I have been a member of the Regnum Christi Movement for nine years, and I would like to share with you what the Movement has done for me in my life.

A number of years ago I went on an evangelization mission with ten of my friends in the north of Chile. It was a wonderful experience: spending time with my friends, getting to know many other girls who were interested in doing their best for Christ. I was really impressed with the way the consecrated women of Regnum Christi treated us. They hardly knew us and yet they were so attentive and charitable. Their constant joy and enthusiasm were also deciding factors. I soon realized that their happiness came from the bottom of their hearts, from a true friendship with Christ.

After the mission a young Regnum Christi member invited us to learn more about the Movement so we began attending different functions at the Regnum Christi center in Santiago. One thing that I really liked about the Movement was that it is demanding: the least I could do for Christ after having died for me on the Cross is to be demanding with myself.

Little by little I came to understand that God had called me to be a part of this work of his, to be an apostle and to follow him more closely. I saw that the Movement was truly a vocation, a charism and a methodology that was determined to go forward, a call from our Lord inviting me to have him as the center of my life. I then saw that my love for Christ should come to life in works so I began to get involved in an apostolate. I didn’t think prayer without bringing Christ to others was the right way to go.

My first apostolate was to be the director of a group of girls in ECYD, a youth version of Regnum Christi. I don’t know if I did it well or not but at least I knew that I was doing something to actively help and support the Church and society. Having souls under your care is a great responsibility and an awesome mission and that helped me to realize more seriously that I had a mission within this world.

Later I decided to give a year to serve the Church as a Co-worker in Regnum Christi, totally surrendering myself to Christ. It was a difficult decision but exciting and hopeful at the same time because I knew that I would be giving my all for Christ and forgetting about myself. It was an incredible experience spiritually and apostolically and you receive a thousand times more than what you give.

I am so grateful to God and the Movement for this great work which is bearing so much fruit for the Church all over the world. I am also grateful for how demanding it is because that is what the Church needs to continue spreading the faith and Christian values.

(September 16, 2003)