Letter from the Territorial Director

Thy Kingdom Come!
REGNUM CHRISTI MOVEMENT
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TERRITORIAL DIRECTOR

 

September 21, 2016
Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and evangelist

To all the Regnum Christi members of the North American Territory

Dear friends,

I hope you had a blessed summer, with time for family, friends and a break in the routine of school and work. Now the busy days are back, many of you balancing work, getting kids back and forth from school, and making the sacrifices necessary to do the work of apostles.

This is an ideal moment to reflect on our Mission and what it means to be Regnum Christi. We have completed most of our journey of Renewal, at least in the “formal” sense of creating new documents and governance structures. We have a clearer vision of who we are, and in our territory we have a real strategy, which we reviewed a few weeks ago and confirmed as setting us on the right path.

We also have opened our hearts to a continuing renewal of our Movement. And we understand the importance to our lay members to live and develop their vocation in five dimensions: spiritual life, formation, apostolate, accompaniment and team life.

We are a part of a Catholic Church that is vibrant, alive and young. Earlier this summer, millions of young people (and some a bit older) gathered for World Youth Day in Krakow. Their enthusiastic witness of faith inspires and motivates.

So does Pope Francis. In one of many memorable talks at World Youth Day, he proclaimed: “The world has no need of couch potatoes.” He challenged the youth to get off the sofa, escape the video games and evangelize.

He calls us to evangelize, too. And I believe that in Regnum Christi there is no room for couch potatoes!

Our mission is to reveal Christ’s love, form apostles and send them out to help build the Kingdom of Christ. We awaken the individual and their family to their mission in life and in the Church.

Our mission addresses so much of what the world needs today. In his homily at the Holy Mass and canonization of Mother Teresa our Holy Father powerfully sketched out the dynamic of charity which moves us all:

There is no alternative to charity [which is] not merely extending a hand in times of need [but rather] the vocation to charity in which each of Christ’s disciples puts his or her entire life at his service, so to grow each day in love.

… each one of us can say: ‘Just as the Lord has come to meet me and has stooped down to my level in my hour of need, so too do I go to meet him, bending low before those who have lost faith or who live as though God did not exist, before young people without values or ideals, before families in crisis, before the ill and the imprisoned, before refugees and immigrants, before the weak and defenseless in body and spirit, before abandoned children, before the elderly who are on their own. Wherever someone is reaching out, asking for a helping hand in order to get up, this is where our presence – and the presence of the Church which sustains and offers hope – must be.’ And I do this, keeping alive the memory of those times when the Lord’s hand reached out to me when I was in need.

What a beautiful summary of the mission of all Christians – and what a demanding one. We can – and must – be the link between the spiritually hungry and Christ, In Regnum Christi we strive to awaken the individual and their family to their “vocation to charity” and to form them so they too can build the Kingdom of Christ and offer the helping hand of mercy to our brothers and sisters in need.

Over the summer, I have spent much time in prayer and reflection. As a result, I am recommitting myself to live the charism of Regnum Christi to the best of my ability, depending on the support and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I ask you to make the same commitment to be an apostle who reaches out to others as the Lord has reached out—and continues to reach out—to you. If we are all that we are called to be, this will be a beautiful year of uniting hungry souls with the love of Christ.

Sincerely yours in Christ and the Movement,

Fr. John Connor, LC

Territorial Director North American Territory

 

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Territorial Directorate – 8815 Fulham Court – Cumming, Georgia 30041 – Tel. (678) 654-8803