Singers from the Music 2 Change apostolate set the tone for the inauguration.

Puebla, Mexico. March 13, 2009. This year’s Youth and Family Encounter in Puebla, Mexico gathered over 7,000 people from March 13-15 at the Andes Institute for a weekend of talks, activities, presentations, and apostolate displays for all ages.

View the photo gallery to catch a glimpse of the weekend’s activities.

During the YFE, Father Alvaro Corcuera delivered three separate addresses.
• A question & answer session with the youth on Saturday, March 13 in the morning.
• A homily during the Mass on March 13 at midday.
• A conference with the youth and families on March 13 in the afternoon.

Excerpts from these three talks can be read at this link.

Youth apostolates in action

The event started off with an explosion of light, color, and sound at the inauguration ceremony, thanks to the Regnum Christi youth participating in an apostolate called Music to Change (MC2), which aims to evangelize and impart values through music. M2C artist Ale Rojas performed the theme song, “One heart and one soul” as a duet with consecrated woman María Elena Escobedo. There was also a choreographed dance with a dozen young men and women performing.

After the inauguration, one of the first activities at the YFE was

	"Hollygood": more than just entertainment.

a holy hour, which was organized by Ancora club members, whose special mission is to pray for vocations and for the Pope’s intentions.

Saturday’s activities included programs for all ages. On Saturday, 250 girls from Club Giro (the Mexican version of Challenge Club) put on an event called “Hollygood” to transmit values through activities, musical performances, testimonies, contests, and more.

Boys from Club Faro (similar to Conquest Club) joined the girls for a Marian pilgrimage to a chapel in Puebla dedicated to the Rosary. On their way, the boys and girls prayed their rosary and sang songs in honor of the Blessed Virgin.

Building the Church

Regnum Christi members of all ages represented over 60 apostolates on display. There was a lot of mutual interest in all of the apostolates, as members visited each stand and spontaneously shared experiences and information. Throughout, as one participant noted, there was a strong family spirit and an almost palpable positive dynamism, a shared enthusiasm for doing good to others through their various apostolic works.

The YFE

	The participants discuss practical applications of the Aparecida document for their own pastoral work.

also included some events specifically for diocesan priests. On Friday, March 13, the Logos Pastoral Center (similar to the Sacerdos Institute) organized a meeting for close to 50 diocesan priests and seminarians. The purpose of the meeting was to reflect together on practical ways to apply resolutions that the bishops of Latin America had made in their latest meeting in Aparecida, Brazil. In short, the meeting was a concrete way to support the Church in the key objectives defined by the bishops of Mexico. It was led by Manuel Gómez Granado, a member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace who had participated in the Aparecido Meeting as an expert on social issues.

Bishop Francisco Moreno Barrón reflects on the importance of unity

On Sunday, March 14, Bishop Francisco Moreno Barrón,

	Bishop Francisco Moreno Barrón, bishop of Tlaxcala, presided over the closing Mass at the Puebla YFE.

from Tlaxcala, celebrated the conclusive Mass, during which dozens of children also made their first communions.

During his homily, he encouraged Regnum Christi members to live out their motto as a witness to the world.

“If Jesus appeared to us, who could resist him? But he has chosen to entrust his credibility to our witness of life. It is up to us to make the dead and risen Christ be known as the one sent by the Father, so that many people will open their hearts to him as their Lord and Savior.”

“That’s why the motto you have chosen for this encounter sounds so good! ‘With one heart and one soul.’ Our unity is an excellent way to proclaim Christ. If we were disunited, unable to speak clearly, each one with his or her own point of view, stuck in our own interests, we would be unable to show the authentic face of Jesus to the world. But united around the Pope, in communion with the bishops, united together as brothers and sisters, we are an overwhelming force and a testimony that can set the world ablaze with the power of his love.”

“Sisters, brothers, Jesus himself prayed to his heavenly Father for all of us. ‘Let them be one as you, Father, and I are one, so that the world will believe that you sent me.’ Pope Benedict XVI recently sent all of the bishops a letter, reminding us in a very simple way that the way to be credible witnesses is by communion, by unity. So, this encounter has marked the path for this Legionary family, for Regnum Christi, but it is the same path as the Church. We have to proclaim the dead and risen Christ by our witness of the power of unity.”