The components of the Regnum Christi International Convention are simple: Mass, pray, meet, discuss, eat, sleep, repeat for a week.
It has felt to me like a long week – and I’m not a delegate, just an observer and communicator. Some of the bags under the eyes of delegates are getting deep and dark. Everyone takes this business very seriously.
Folks will start heading home tomorrow, with more departing on Sunday. A few are using this opportunity to visit Rome to stay on and be tourists for a few days. Most of the group doesn’t get here all that often.
I predict that on the flights home there will be much snoring and that most minds will be a little foggy the first couple days on home turf. But I doubt any of the delegates will regret participating.
When someone says they are going to Rome, friends and family are excited about it for you (and, perhaps, a bit envious). After all, Rome is an amazing place to visit. And the delegates did have an opportunity to attend a Papal audience and about half a day to see the sights.
But for the most part, it has been 12-hour workdays and long, serious discussions. No yelling or fisticuffs, but some contentious moments for sure. When you are sorting out the definitions, structure and purpose of an international movement, many questions arise and the answers are not universally obvious.
So I want to commend the 64 delegates for a powerful week of communion. The come from many countries, cultures, languages, ages and family backgrounds. But they are all Catholic, Regnum Christi and committed apostles of Jesus Christ.
I pray that as they meander home they will remember less what occasionally divided them – and remember more what universally unites them.
