There are many moments when hearing this motto gives me goosebumps. This weekend, I know it brought me to tears. But the thing is, it wasn´t only from an audible cheer.
The first weekend of February I was blessed to be able to attend the National Convention for ECyD team leaders in Salamanca. Over ninety team leaders, both boys and girls, about thirty Legionaries, consecrated, and Regnum Christi missionaries reunited from Valencia, Sevilla, Madrid, and Barcelona. Twenty Legionary novices warmly welcomed us into their home. All of it made for a weekend of true family spirit. (See the video.)
It felt a little strange not to be running anything, not to be organizing any of the practical aspects, and to be getting to know all but one of the team leaders for the first time. I had to get used to it the first day. But while praying Lauds the next morning, a spirit of intercession inflamed my heart. The phrase of our Statutes came to mind which describes how the consecrated woman primarily realizes her mission through prayer and the offering of her life… I am not here just to do nothing. I am not here to sit back and watch. I am never anywhere to do that. I am consecrated to God, so wherever I go I am to consecrate that place, those people, and those events to Him too, by my presence and the offering of my life. At that moment I made the conscious decision to live this specific weekend as a prayer. And it was– it was holy ground. Bringing the names of each team leader, RC missionary, Legionary and consecrated before Our Lord in the Eucharist became the moment from which everything else caught fire.
That´s why at several moments throughout the weekend I was brought to tears from an inaudible cry of “Viva Cristo Rey!” Our Lord tapped me in to the spark that was alive in each and every one of the souls at that convention: sparks that, when brought together like they were here, brought the heat of a raging bonfire into the atmosphere. Listening to the testimonies of those teenagers, letting the hope pour over my heart, I couldn´t help but be more perfectly convinced that GOD IS ALIVE.
