Regnum Christi

Hello! Happy Feast of the Divine Mercy!!We had no better place to spend this beautiful day than at the Home for the Dying, where love and mercy are deeply experienced. Every night we share “the word of the day,” using it to explain our experience. Here is a brief summary of what the missionaries shared tonight:

• It has been so great to have the other missionaries here who have been here before.
• Thankful that we have medicine and care that we need.
• I am tired but to push through to make people smile and use your gifts was powerful.
• Smiles are a universal language and every room we went into that was our language.
• It was wonderful to see family and friends visit the people in the home for the dying.
• I felt like we were part of a family today when we were going to Mass together and playing games together.
• I was so surprised today when a girl I prayed with last time came up to me to ask to pray with her again today.
• Comfortable with being there today.
• I felt like I bonded with so many people and leaving was hard and I miss them.
• I am sad I won’t get to see my friends again.
• It was a beautiful day, Mass, each person to think we might share this last moment before they gaze upon Jesus in heaven.
• Today it was easier to pray and talk with people and comfort them.
• I felt so connected in so many different ways, prayer, singing, and touch.
• It was beautiful to hear people sing and see these songs in our hearts.
• There was so much emotion and energy today to see how they sang and prayed in Mass and the way we were with each person.
• You could feel Heaven today as we sang and were with these people, to think that we will be in heaven together with these wonderful people.
• I am going to remember this one little kid forever.
• I sat with one man who was dying who kept telling me that I was his sister.
• The kids today would light up being with us.
• I love to be in the home of the dying and to be with all of you.

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St Thomas asks for proof of the Resurrection. How many times we ask God to prove Himself, or for that miracle so that we can believe. How many times we ask to be able to touch the wounds of Christ so that we can believe. Christ answers Thomas. How lucky! But He answers us too, but we don’t always recognize Him. Like the disciples who were all afraid and uncertain, we have our fears, uncertainties, or even wounds. Through all these, we can touch the wounds of Christ. Through our sufferings, whatever they are, we are able to enter the wounds of Christ. We place our wounds in His, where they are given eternal value. The peace that He promises is made a reality when we live united to Him.  We are able to see Christ in the midst of fear and suffering, and peace reigns. The light of the Resurrection continues to shine today, we must continue to gaze on Him and our encounter with Him is the means of healing our wounds.

We had another amazing day, very much outside our comfort zone, but yet full of blessings. We visited Mother Teresa’s Home for the Dying, a home for 150 or so patients with diseases such as malaria, TB, cancer, AIDS… Not everyone is dying at this very moment, but they are all ill and receiving treatment. Knowing how to approach the patients and starting to feel at ease was a hard experience for most missionaries, but each one of them found the way to do it: playing chess or cards, painting a woman’s nails, giving her a massage with lotion, coloring or chatting (English – Creole)… we discovered that love is a universal language with no barriers. At the end of the day we visited the four women’s dorms and sang for them and prayed with them; this was a powerful and beautiful experience. We’ll be doing the same in the men’s dorms on Sunday.

Greetings from Haiti! We had a very full day at Gallete Chambon, a village in the outskirts of Port au Prince. Mission Youth has been working with the Immaculate Conception Parish for a few years now. It was a full day in the range of experiences, for many it’s been one of the moments in which they’ve felt most outside their comfort zone, or most stretched to love when it was hard. We were stretched physically (what we thought was a 30 min walk ended up being an hour hike) and emotionally (discerning how to deal with each kid). We were able to appreciate the beauty of the countryside and the goodness, and need, of the people here; we saw many acts of generosity and others of deformation and need. All in all it made us most appreciative of how blessed we are. We finished the day with a great sharing session and Mass, where Father spoke about the missionary endeavors of St Francis Xavier, which were in many ways similar to what we did today. Make sure you ask your loved ones for their personal experience of the village, there’s much to learn. Tomorrow we’ll be serving at the Home of the Dying, also run by the Missionaries of Charity. Keep us in your prayers and know you are in ours!

Greetings from Port-au-Prince! We are finishing our full first day of work, in which we served at the Children’s Home run by the Missionaries of Charity. The Children’s Home hosts about 80 babies and toddlers with severe malnutrition. The Sisters take care of them so they can be healthy again and go back home. Our role there is to hold them, feed them, love them…. This was a powerful experience for most of our young missionaries who were deeply touched by the need and desire for love of these children. Continue reading →

As an adult convert to Catholicism, my walk of faith received a huge jumpstart in 2000 when, at the age of 33, I received the Sacraments of Penance, Confirmation and first Holy Eucharist.  For the first couple of years as a new Catholic, I would often cry after I received Communion, tears of relief and gladness at the nearly inexpressible Mercy of God our Redeemer (I still tear up…but in those days, the water works were really something…).

“I have seen the Lord!”  Mary Magdalene is telling us now in Eastertide.  We adult converts, especially those of us who were the most strayed of the strayed sheep, often feel this and say this for many years after we are reconciled to Mother Church.  I would go so far as to say that I am only here on earth as a pilgrim to proclaim this, and only this, to those I love and those God puts in my path. Continue reading →

Something I´ve learned in my short little life is how much can change in one day. Be it for better or for worse…it doesn´t always take long for it to happen.

Something I´m still learning in my short little life is how long it takes for other things to change. Be it for better or for worse…it doesn´t always happen overnight.

February 11^th marked the first six months of this chapter in Spain. After six long hours on a plane to get here, suddenly six short months have happened in this new home. I feel that I´ve lived here a LOT longer than just a hundred and eighty days: I feel the 4,380 hours as a little closer to home. It´s amazing how many things have changed so fast: I moved countries. I moved languages. I moved colleges. I moved communities. I moved—inside and outside. Vacation, classes, courses, retreats, Christmas, exams, crosses, joys, exhaustion, excitement, adventures big and small… six months ago I was pretty much a different person. Continue reading →

Minnesota is lovely in the spring. I know because I have gone there the last two years to participate in the Expos put on by Cana Family Institute. I am particularly excited about the theme for this year: A Mission of Mercy to the Family. I think it has something for us as Regnum Christi members. In our renewal process I think many of us have discovered the mystery and the ministry of mercy. Most of us have keenly felt our need for it. Now, we’re trying to show that mercy to others.

Saturday morning at the Expo is dedicated to the question of the psychology of mercy. Our very own IPS—now Divine Mercy University —will be offering the entire morning session which combines theory and workshop on empathy as the face of mercy. Continue reading →

Happy Easter! Over the past few days, we have been meditating on the central mysteries of our Faith. The Resurrection gives us light in this time of darkness. When all seems gloomy, dark, and mysterious, Christ’s light shines on us. When looking at the sun for a while we lose sight of everything else. The only thing we see is light. We are blinded by it, no losing sight of everything, but giving light to everything. The more we look at Christ the more we can only see Him. The Risen Christ is this Light. This light dispels all darkness and becomes for us the only thing we see. Let Christ rise in your heart and let His light dispel our darkness.

As consecrated women of Regnum Christi, we are spouses of the Crucified One. We are called to not only follow Him, but unite to Him, sharing in His passion, death and Resurrection. This Good Friday, I share this poem that came to me in prayer during a retreat… a glimpse into what this means in my own life, and why I would choose Him, not just in His glory, but especially in His weakest hour. Continue reading →