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November 17, 2023

Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Ask a Priest

“Ask a Priest: What If I Pray a Lot But Don’t Feel Closer to Jesus?”

/ Ask a Priest
Q: How does one know if he/she is disposed to receive the graces of Communion? I wonder because, for one thing, it is hard to be patient with difficult family members, and if I have so much trouble loving others, then how can I love Christ? I have been going to daily Mass, confession at least twice a month, often weekly, daily rosaries and read the daily Mass readings before Mass and reflect on them. Recently I have been trying to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. I also volunteer at the church food pantry and spend at least an hour a week in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I have the desire for holy Communion but often do not feel any closer to Christ, and I know it’s my fault, not his. Lately the scriptural “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him” [Job 13:15] comes to mind. – M.S.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: If you are doing all those things you mention with good intention, don’t worry. You are likely receiving grace from your communions.

The point of prayer, etc., is to give glory to God and to help you stay humble. It’s not about consolation.

If you don’t feel any consolation, it is possible that God is simply purifying you.

The fact that you continue to pray, despite the lack of consolation, means that you are making a greater effort to pray; you are using your will to help you focus on prayer. All that is good.

Jesus might be closer to you now than ever before. If you feel a bit in the dark and can’t feel his presence, relax. Sometimes the darkness can be a sign of God’s closeness.

That might sound counterintuitive. But remember, God is mysterious. Growth in holiness is ultimately God’s work in you; it’s not something you earn by your deeds.

It would be good to stay the course for now. Think about finding a solid spiritual director or regular confessor who can guide you. And keep working on the charity with the difficult family members.

Perhaps your problem is not that you don’t love them. You might just have trouble liking them in any given moment. But liking is not the same as loving. Loving means you want the best for them and that you are willing to sacrifice for them.

A book that might help you is When the Well Runs Dry: Prayer Beyond the Beginnings, by Jesuit Father Thomas Green.

Count on my prayers.

 

“Ask a Priest: What If I Pray a Lot But Don’t Feel Closer to Jesus?” Read More »

Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Uncle Eddy

St Elizabeth of Hungary

/ Uncle Eddy

Dear Liza,

By all means, make as many plans as you can; make good plans, prudent plans, ambitious plans – but always be ready to change them if the Lord asks you to.  God doesn’t want us to shelve our spirit of initiative and creativity, but he does want us to remain docile to the nudging of his incomparable divine wisdom.  That’s how we reverse the original inflexibility of Adam and Eve, which did so much to disrupt the human condition.  They got so attached to their own plans that they deliberately ignored God plans – bad idea.

The story of St Elizabeth of Hungary is a prime example of the proper balance.  As an infant, she was betrothed to Count Ludwig of Thuringia, and she was sent to live in his castle when she was only four years old (he was ten at the time).  They grew up together and Ludwig became more enamored of her the better he got to know her.  When he turned 21 they were wed.  It was the perfect Christian marriage.  She, as eyewitnesses relate, was “perfect in body, handsome, of a dark complexion; serious in her ways, and modest, of kindly speech, fervent in prayer and most generous to the poor, always full of goodness and divine love,” and he was wise, well-tempered, handsome, patient and truthful, and loved both by his people and his fellow nobles.  After they were married Elizabeth began an energetic work of service to the poor and sick in the province, building a hospital at the foot of their castle-mountain, feeding nine hundred poor people daily at the castle gate (plus providing for many others throughout the region), and generally disposing of their royal patrimony with generous but prudent Christian charity.  Ludwig, unlike so many other husbands of saintly women, put no obstacles in Elizabeth’s path of prayer and mercy, confident that her virtue would bring God’s blessings upon his family and his realm, and they grew closer as their marriage matured.  The future was very bright.

But when Elizabeth was expecting their third child, Ludwig heeded the Pope’s call and joined the Emperor Frederick II on a new crusade.  He died some months later of the plague.  When the news reached Germany, Elizabeth was devastated.  She cried out, “The world is dead to me, and all that was joyous in the world,” and she ran maniacally around the castle shrieking with grief.  Soon afterwards, her in-laws forcibly removed her from the castle and she and her children spent some time bopping from relative to relative, until she decided to renounce the world, join the third order of Franciscans, and spend the remainder of her life in the full time service of Christ in his poor.  She parried multiple and attractive offers of marriage, took the Franciscan habit, continually shocked her fellow nobles by her austerities and selfless devotion to those in need, and wore herself out by her ceaseless prayer and charitable activity, such that her health broke and she passed away before reaching 24 years of age.

She hardly planned such a life, but neither did she insist on her own plans when God led her down a different road.  May her intercession and example inspire you to be equally trusting and flexible as you continue your own life’s journey.

Your affectionate uncle,

Eddy

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November 17, 2023 – Living My Encounter with Christ

/ Daily Meditations

 

 

 

 

 

Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious

 

Luke 17:26-37

 

Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, someone who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise one in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”

 

Introductory Prayer: I believe in you, Lord, my companion and strength. I believe that you come out to meet me each day, asking me to depend more on you and less on creatures. I hope in you, Lord, as the one who fills my longing to love and be loved. I love you here and now with my prayer and with my desire to be faithful and generous in the little things you ask of me.

 

Petition: Lord, help me to put you first in my life.

 

  1. They Were Eating and Drinking: In the time of Noah and of Lot, God’s judgment was said to come down upon man. Yet the real moment of judgment for each one of us comes immediately upon our own death. It is then that the Kingdom will be fully revealed to us, and it will be decided whether we will be part of it or not. But it is in the course of my own life that my option for being received into the Kingdom is decided. God comes to me today. How will I respond? My response now and each day determines my eternal place in the Kingdom.

 

  1. Do Not Return to What Was Left Behind: In most disasters people have little chance to collect belongings; those who try are often lost as a result. The same will be true of the Final Judgment—or at our own death; when Jesus comes, will I be ready? What do I most cherish? What I must hold on to is my relationship with Christ. And this implies in so many ways losing “my life” here. Do I live with the attitude of losing my life a little more each day, detaching myself from things, activities and people, so as to be freer to love, serve and be with Christ?

 

  1. Where the Body Is: “Where, Lord?” the disciples ask; where will the day of the Son of Man take place? It will take place, says Jesus, wherever you are. Whether we die and encounter Christ in a personal judgment or are alive to encounter the Lord at his Second Coming and the Final Judgment, the reality is the same. Standing next to a saint or a sinner will not alter our fate. Who we know or what contacts we have will do little. Where we are in our relationship with Christ will be the only real determining factor. Where am I, Lord, today, in relationship with you? May this be my only concern!

 

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, increase my desire to live my life in close relation with you. Order all my activities according to your will, and my relationships according to your heart. “I want whatever you want, because you want it, the way you want it, as long as you want it” (Prayer of Pope Clement XI).

 

Resolution: I will give priority to my relationship with Christ. I will make prayer my first act today before every meal.

November 17, 2023 – Living My Encounter with Christ Read More »

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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!