November 13, 2020

Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Ask a Priest

“Ask a Priest: How Should I Prepare for Visiting Cohabitors?”

Q: How do I explain to a secular relative who lives in Europe whom I have not seen in years, that he and his girlfriend when staying with us can’t sleep in the same bed or bedroom, as we are devout Catholics? – M.M.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: It’s good that you don’t want to encourage behavior in your home that is objectively sinful.

This could be a good opportunity to evangelize your relative and his girlfriend.

A key factor in evangelization is being aware of where your audience is. Your relative might be living in such a secularized environment that he doesn’t even consider cohabiting a sin. (It’s not just a problem in Europe!)

Without knowing much about him, I would suggest a few steps.

First, you might consider writing him an e-mail now, saying how much you look forward to seeing him. Then explain that you can accommodate him and his girlfriend so long as they don’t mind sleeping in separate venues in your home.

Here it might help to say less rather than more. Even the very notion of their not being able to share a bed might be a shock that will take them time to process. So it’s better to let them come to their own conclusions and decisions.

I suggest the e-mail, rather than a call, because an e-mail gives the recipient time to think and react. A phone call can catch your relative off guard.

If your relative asks why he can’t sleep with his friend, you could try to explain as simply as possible that you and your husband’s beliefs hold that the place for physical intimacy is in marriage and that you as a couple are committed to maintaining that ideal in your own home.

In the meantime you might want to pray for the couple. Ask their guardian angels to help them.

It might help, too, to draft an e-mail and then let it sit for a few hours or overnight. Come back and review later and see if it hits the right tone.

For now, you might try to assume that your relative and his friend have all the best intentions. It’s just that they might have grown up in a culture that didn’t instill Christian values in regard to chastity.

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Christ the King Letter to Regnum Christi Members from the General Directive College

To All Members of Regnum Christi,

Dear friends in Christ,

May His Kingdom come!  This is the longing that is born in the depths of the heart of every apostle who desires that the love of Christ be made present in the midst of this world.  We aren’t referring to a fictional or imaginary world, but to the world of the here and now, the present and concrete circumstances of our every day lives (see SRCF 13).

How fitting that the  Church celebrates Christ as King in the last week of Ordinary Time, before Advent begins.  The desire for the coming of the Kingdom is fulfilled in the incarnation of Christ, for the Kingdom is Christ himself living among us. By living the mystery of Christ in ourselves – by allowing him to become “incarnate” in us – we too make this Kingdom present in the world.

As the General Directive College, we want to wish you a happy feast of Christ the King, and invite each one of us to live this part of the Church’s liturgical year with special intensity. As a means to assist us in this, we are preparing an essay titled, “Live the Mystery of the Kingdom: Make it present in your heart, in the hearts of all people, and in society.” [It is available now in Spanish and will be translated into English in the coming months] We would like to invite you to read, meditate, and reflect on it. It is meant to be an inspiring text for personal reflection, and includes some complementary resources to allow us to go deeper into it personally or as a community. There is also a novena that can be prayed and shared.

“The Kingdom is the Word made flesh. We desire to speak this Word with our own words, but even more so with our lives.” says the essay in it’s conclusion. We entrust this desire to Mary, Queen of the Apostles, that she may teach us to open our hearts and lives to welcoming the coming of that Kingdom which is her Son.

In Christ,

The General Directive College of the Regnum Christi Federation

 

Christ the King Novena

Spanish Original

Ensayo-Vive-el-Misterio-del-Reino-2020

 

 

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Alex Kucera

Atlanta

Alex Kucera has lived in Atlanta, GA, for the last 46 years. He is one of 9 children, married to his wife Karmen, and has 3 girls, one grandson, and a granddaughter on the way. Alex joined Regnum Christi in 2007. Out of the gate, he joined the Helping Hands Medical Missions apostolate and is still participating today with the Ghana Friendship Mission.

In 2009, Alex was asked to be the Atlanta RC Renewal Coordinator for the Atlanta Locality to help the RC members with the RC renewal process. Alex became a Group Leader in 2012 for four of the Atlanta Men’s Section Teams and continues today. Running in parallel, in 2013, Alex became a Team Leader and shepherded a large team of good men.

Alex was honored to be the Atlanta Mission Coordinator between 2010 to 2022 (12 years), coordinating 5-8 Holy Week Mission teams across Georgia. He also created and coordinated missions at a parish in Athens, GA, for 9 years. Alex continues to coordinate Holy Week Missions, Advent Missions, and Monthly missions at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Cumming, GA.

From 2016 to 2022, Alex also served as the Men’s Section Assistant in Atlanta. He loved working with the Men’s Section Director, the Legionaries, Consecrated, and Women’s Section leadership teams.

Alex is exceptionally grateful to the Legionaries, Consecrated, and many RC members who he’s journeyed shoulder to shoulder, growing his relationship with Christ and others along the way. He knows that there is only one way, that’s Christ’s Way, with others!