Regnum Christi

Planned Parenthood Federation of America headquarters, Washington, DC

I pray that the video series by The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) will shock America and awaken our nation to the shame that is Planned Parenthood.

The tapes are dramatic, raw and honest. Some members of the traditional media and liberal politicians say the folks who did the videos are sneaky. The President’s official spokesman even said the White House wants to investigate how the videos were made, suggesting they were “heavily edited” to produce the desired result. (NOTE: CMP released the entire unedited tapes, just in case someone wants to judge the appropriateness of their editing.) Continue reading →

“He who wishes for anything but Christ, does not know what he wishes; he who asks for anything but Christ, does not know what he is asking; he who works, and not for Christ, does not know what he is doing.” — St. Philip Neri

If Christ is not driving your thoughts and actions, if friendship with Christ is not your focus, if you are trying to go it alone and living on a horizontal plane, thinking only about the here and now….then you are really missing the main purpose of our existence. Allow Christ in! Make time for him and allow him to help you and love you!

It was a great last day of missions here. We are all tired, but very happy with what we have been able to do and learn here.

A few camp highlights for the girls today were limbo in the games station and face painting in crafts.

The girls were enthusiastic for the last day and we just tried to enjoy the time with them! At the end of the day, before serving their lunch, we had an assembly where all the children sang for us and the sisters thanked us for spending this week with the girls. For them, she said, it is a week that they will remember all their lives. This was brought home to a few of us whom Sr. Alexandra took to show some of the homes where she found the kids for the summer camp. While we were walking back one boy approached Fr. Aaron like he knew him and then started showing him the cheer from last year! When we got back, Fr. Benjamin got the “new priest in Haiti treatment” and was ceremoniously thrown in the pool. Continue reading →

We call the Eucharist the Source and Summit of our Catholic faith. It is the source, the river of Life flowing from Christ’s pierced side. This river is the fount of all the graces we could ever want to walk the path of the Way, the Truth and the Life. It is also the summit, the peak of communion with God. It is Heaven, toward which every effort and sacrifice is directed.

A source of fresh water, a pristine spring and the summit of a mountain are among the most beautiful sights on earth. They remind me of God and his Fatherly embrace. For our seminary vacation this summer, we spent the first couple weeks of July hiking the Appalachian Mountains of New Hampshire. We’ve seen many breath-taking springs and even more breath-taking summits in these past weeks. Continue reading →

Another fun-filled day at camp for us at St. Joseph’s school! We all agreed that today the girls were exceptionally well-behaved (for the most part…Diana and Bea had a rough time with the Red Team) and our transitions from station to station went very smoothly—thanks to Hannah and the girls she enlists to help ring the bell for us. One of the fun things that they do to keep together as a team is to scream out a team cheer while they move from station to station. So, it can seem a bit chaotic when Cris and Ashley’s group is yelling out “We are Yellow” and the Tommy and Grace’s team are echoing after them “Team Wose” (“Team Pink” in Creole) and some of the older girls from Nikka and Mary’s team are cheering “B—L—U—E!” with some hand motions, and Georgia and Adam’s Orange Team is just trying to walk and clap at the same time until Will and Toni’s team goes by and everyone joins their Creole cheer of “Sak Pa Se!” (which is roughly translated “Hey, what’s up?” Continue reading →

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?” — Mt: 13:10

For a good while, I have heard a little heart whisper, as if the good Lord is telling me that by giving me a small problem/misery, He is in reality solving a bigger problem, that He is healing a bigger misery.

He heals this way. He shows us the Father’s loving care by giving us challenges, so we will grow stronger in the spiritual life. We can think ourselves very virtuous, but, in my experience, acceptance of divine graces precedes growth in virtue. The graces needed for the formidable task of evangelizing the culture are continuously flowing from the Crucified One; indeed, He is waiting to live ever more deeply in our hearts and in the hearts of those we meet. Continue reading →

Summertime is usually when we get to go away and rest for a little. We all need a break from our busy schedules. Even Christ takes a break with his disciples in today’s gospel. He wants to go away with his own to rest for a while, to be alone with them. I think this is what vacation should be, to spend time with your family and to be with God. True vacation has to be vacation for the soul too, and the soul needs energy and it can only get energy through prayer and silence. We need a vacation from the normal things; just a change in place and rhythm can be helpful in itself. It would be good to take a break from media, internet and phones. I think it is helpful to separate ourselves from these things every once and a while. Vacation should be a time when we can put things into perspective and readjust accordingly. This is why we need a break from everything and look on our life as an outsider. I think this summer can be a great opportunity to slow down and to spend some extra time with God so that we can let Him be the one who guides us, because He is the Good Shepherd.

What a wonderful Sunday we were able to live together here in Haiti today!

In the morning, a few missionaries rode with the Missionaries of Charity to camp while the others climbed once more into our faithful green jeep (affectionately dubbed “the Frog”) and we had our second full morning of summer camp. Continue reading →

Today we had quite a different experience; a day full of contrasts! Here are a few words that we used to describe our day from our moment of sharing tonight: Humbling, love, hope, grateful, surreal, full, stretched, hope, Heaven, yes, Catholic, universal, silence, dignity, moving, action, overwhelmed, overload, overdrive, light.

Our first experience was a long drive through the marketplace to the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, to a town called Carrefour, where the Missionaries of Charity have their Home for the Dying. Continue reading →

We were blessed today by one of the “coolest days” we have ever had on missions—which was very welcome in our foray into summer camp today!

Led by the van of the Missionaries of Charity, we drove through the streets of Port-au-Prince and its markets, too, to arrive to St. Joseph’s School, our home base for summer camp. We had a few minutes for morning prayer and leaving our supplies in our designated classroom, and then we were off to meet our teams or get our stations ready. Continue reading →