Teresa and Alejandro Páez

My family has experienced so many blessings: I have a brother who is a Legionary, a sister and two twin daughters who are consecrated members of Regnum Christi, and Alejandro, my only son, after five years in the Immaculate Conception School for boys interested in the priesthood, began his studies in the Legion’s novitiate in Germany this past September.

We also have three other daughters: Andrea, the youngest at thirteen, Teresa, who is a wife and mother, and Jimena, who has been married for six months and is expecting her first child. Teresa and Jimena had the grace to be coworkers in Regnum Christi at the service of the Church.

It is impossible for us to understand how or why God, from all eternity, has placed his eyes on our children, on our whole family. What is evident is our need to accept and thank our Lord for these very special graces. From my own experience I have come to see that when God asks for a child, he takes their place.

Our children are always in need of our support. Our children who have consecrated their lives to God need our support, our prayers, our words of encouragement. As parents, we have come to understand that we have the vocation to be parents of consecrated lives, because we are all immersed in their vocations and God needs us to respond accordingly.

Following Christ implies carrying a cross; whoever says it is easy, don’t listen to them. A good parent is always thinking about

	The Páez Garza family in Rome for the LX anniversary of the foundation of the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement.

his children, and whom he will marry is a major concern. Yet is there a better partner than our Lord Jesus Christ? Not being able to see our children very often is tough, really tough, but if it is for their happiness and the salvation of souls, can we say no?

A few years ago I heard a priest say that it is extremely important for children who consecrate their lives to God to feel the support of their families. When we walk through a forest, what do we focus on? The leaves, fruits, flowers ... but roots do not get much attention. Yet without the roots the most beautiful of trees cannot stand. That is the support that our children need. We need to be deep, strong roots who hold our children up with our joy, our prayers, our sacrifices; these manifestations, like the sap running through the tree, help them to flourish and give the fruits they are called to produce.

A root’s mission is a quiet and hidden one, hardly visible, but it is essential for us to help our children be the light of our confused world, an example of love in a world of selfishness, hope amidst despair and meaninglessness.

It is difficult to find the appropriate words to thank our Lord for the wonderful, sublime and mysterious gifts of the priesthood and the consecrated life at his service, to which our children have been called. Many future saints depend on our fidelity.