July 30, 2024

Regnum Christi New York Tri State Eucharistic Congress

The Church is Alive

Have you ever witnessed history being made right before your eyes, and been fully aware that it was happening? Not just the kind of “I was there,” nostalgia that comes with the clarity of hindsight, but to be in the moment, fully aware that from this moment on, the world will never be the same? Last July 17-21 I had just such an experience at the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. Those days in Indiana, history was being made, and the Church in the United States will never be the same again.

So, what was so historic about the event? For starters, this was the first National Eucharistic Congress in the United States since 1941. The Bishops of the United States acted in concert to gather the faithful around the most central mystery of our faith and worship. As wonderful as the World Youth Days and other international events organized by Rome are, they came from outside. This was a home-grown response of our Bishops, as pastors of the local Church, to gather the faithful of our country in adoration of our Eucharistic Lord.

Secondly, the Eucharistic Congress was preceded by something truly historic in nature. We all know that in the days leading up to the Congress, four different sets of pilgrims from four different corners of the country set out on foot, bringing the Blessed Sacrament in Eucharistic procession to the convention center. What I didn’t know was that this was the first time in history that there has been a cross-country Eucharistic procession.

Read that again. Never before in the history of the world – not just of the United States, but of the world – has there been a cross-country Eucharistic procession.

What does that mean? It means that the American Bishops, with the spiritual authority that has been given to them, effectively brought about a consecration of our entire nation to the Eucharistic heart of Christ, which was culminated in Indianapolis. That’s powerful.

But perhaps most importantly, this Eucharistic Congress was historic in the atmosphere being lived there. I can honestly say, I have never seen the Church more alive.

It was alive through its diversity and its unity. Over the course of those days we witnessed liturgies in English and Latin, Spanish and Vietnamese, Roman rite and Syro-Malabar rite. There were Catholics from Europe, Catholics from Africa, Catholics from the Philippines, Catholics from Latin America, Catholics from the Middle East and yes, even a sizeable representation of Catholics from the United States! Something of the breadth of the Catholic Church was represented there, and far from being a cause of division, each group represented a unique enrichment for the whole.

More than 50,000 people united in music ranging from Praise & Worship, to Gregorian Chant, to Polyphony, to Byzantine, to the songs mom and dad used to sing at Sunday Mass.

And then there were the religious. There were the Congregations I knew, the ones I didn’t, and the ones that I’m not even sure God knows about. Priests heard Confessions, and nuns created clusters of joy.

In the middle of it all was Regnum Christi. We got known as “the guys who let you pin prayer intentions on their cross.” Walking around the booths, it occurred to me how different things would have looked without the existence of Regnum Christi. Aside from the Cheshire booth, the Regnum Christi booth, and the explicitly RC-apostolate booths such as Divine Mercy University and Catholic World Mission were several other noteworthy apostolates which wouldn’t exist today were it not for RC. That’s the beauty of our Movement. We exist for the Church.

These days, Christ showed the world a Church which is attractive, confident and very much alive. The seeds of renewal are visible everywhere. To paraphrase one of the bishops, “When John Paul II announced the springtime of the Church, I never expected to live to see it. But here it is before our eyes.”

History is being made. The Church is alive.

 

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Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Ask a Priest

“Ask a Priest: Is It OK to Watch Racy Netflix Shows?”

Q: Are my wife and I sinning if we watch shows on Netflix that contain graphic sexual situations as part of the story? – D.S.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: The short answer is yes, it’s objectively sinful to be watching these shows.

These shows involve people engaging in objectively sinful behavior and being an occasion of sin for others who watch them.

The Catechism, No. 2354, is worth quoting:

“Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.”

Your consumption of these shows helps to support and sustain an industry built on sin. The actors, the writers, the producers — everyone has a hand in producing shows that violate God’s plan for sexuality. These shows can especially corrupt impressionable young people.

A big part of your marriage is that you and your wife should be helping each other grow in holiness and reach heaven. This might be a moment for a heart-to-heart talk with your spouse.

Ask yourselves how well you are living your faith and whether you want to add to cultural decay or fight it. The answer could affect your eternal salvation.

 

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Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Uncle Eddy

St Leopoldo Mandic

Dear Manny,

I am glad you asked.  It shows that your soul is still alive.  Your long silence had been filling me with doubts about that.  It’s kind of an open-ended question, “What can I do to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in a special way during this month of transition?”  But I am not going to give you an open-ended answer, because I think I know what would please her most: getting rid of what displeases her most, sin.  I would say weekly confession for the coming month, starting today, would fill her maternal heart with joy.  Today’s world has lost the sense of sin, so many Christians never go to confession, or don’t really take their battle against sin seriously.  If you do, you will give your heavenly mother some relief.  That reminds me of today’s saint.

Leopold was an unlikely candidate for sanctity.  He was small of stature, had some strange foot ailment that made him seem a bit crippled, and had a serious speech impediment his whole life long.  But his vocation to be a Capuchin friar was clear enough to his superiors that they accepted him.  He was born in Serbia to a noble Croatian family, but the few Catholic priests in his area were Italian Capuchins, so that Order was his natural choice.  A few generations previously, his family had returned to the Catholic Church from the Orthodox faith, and each year his parents and his eleven older siblings celebrated the anniversary of that return.

He did his seminary formation and studies in Italy, and his first assignments were there as well.  But as professor and religious superior he was considered too lenient with the young religious, so his assignment was changed.  His deep and constant longing was to dedicate himself to bringing his Orthodox countrymen back into union with the true Church, but his speech impediment and small stature, in the eyes of his superiors, disqualified him for that kind of work.  So instead, he was given the ministry of hearing confessions, which he performed in a small confessional in the Capuchin house of Padua from 1909 until his death in 1942.  For twelve, thirteen, fifteen hours every day he would dispense God’s mercy through the little grill.  Stories of his supernatural wisdom and miraculous character abound, but suffice it say that when he was relocated in the 1920s, after only a couple weeks absence the people of Padua were up in arms and convinced their bishop to demand Friar Leopold’s return.  Have you ever heard of such a thing?  It goes to show you the depth of influence this humble confessor had on the souls of his flock.

Years before his death in 1942, he predicted the coming of war to Italy.  He also prophesied that heavy bombings would do severe damage to Padua, and to the Capuchin friary there, but, he also said, the little, unadorned confessional that had been the channel for so much of God’s mercy to enter the world would be preserved.  And it happened just so.

Today, a chapel has been erected near that confessional, and in the chapel St Leopold is buried, his body miraculously incorrupt, as if his years in the confessional brought him so close to divine grace that even his body has been claimed ahead of time by heaven.

Yes indeed, weekly confession during the coming month, I think it would be very pleasing to Our Lady, and quite salubrious for you.

Your loving uncle,

Eddy

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I’m Holding You

Dear Friends,

My hands are toward the end of their slow process of ceasing to function, and I am going through a process of “letting go;” not just physically but with my whole being. One thing that is, surprisingly, requiring a bit more detachment than I  expected is the ability to make art.

I am not, nor will I ever be, an amazing artist. More of a passable artist, I always enjoyed painting, drawing and crafting in its various forms. On a recent road trip, I looked out the window, marveling at the trees’ many shades of green and the soft but also pointed tips of the pine needles’ new growth and thinking on how I would paint them… and then reminding myself that, no, I won’t paint them. The fact that I can’t paint them can’t detract from their beauty, though. Perhaps I can’t create, re-create, or copy the beauty I see, but I can still appreciate it. It is still beauty, even if I have changed.

This and many similar experiences make up the daily ways Our Lord has recently been inviting me to let go of everything and just hold onto Him. In fact, it goes further. Recently, His reminder has become, “If you can’t hold on, just remember that I’m holding you.”

A friend gave me a book a few years ago called It’s Good to be Here by Christina Chase. Born with a physical disability that slowly but progressively worsens and for which there is no cure, Christina is a Catholic author who reflects on the sacredness of being human. I have come to greatly appreciate her reflections. Though we’ve never met or spoken, she is my friend in much the same way that you and I are friends, even though we may have never met. I can say that, through her writing, I understood a piece of my soul a bit better.

In my journey of contemplation on giving priority to “being” over “doing,” I constantly turned to life’s realities that require acceptance of just that: the elderly, the handicapped, the poor. These lives are of equal importance to the Lord, and their lives have value not because of what they do but because of who they are: God’s good creatures. These realities help me remember that, even when I am completely unable to do anything, I am still His, and He does great things through me when I give myself to Him — greater things than I could ever do on my own, even if I were an amazing artist. “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

Your Friend in Christ, 

Nicole Buchholz

(Nicole continues to offer her struggles with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, to God.)

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July 30, 2024 – God’s Final Harvest

 

 

 

Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

 

 

Matthew 13:36-43

Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank you for this new day. I believe that you are present in my heart. I believe that you want to give me your wisdom to live this life fruitfully. I trust that your mercy will protect me as I struggle against evil. I love you because you have overcome evil by your cross and Resurrection. I want to live this time of prayer as an intense moment to be transformed by you.

Petition: Lord, help me to look forward to your triumph with hope.

1. He Is Watching Us: The difference between good and evil is not lost for God. He knows how we struggle to live goodness in this world that is so often saturated with evil. He assures us that he sees the good that is done and will give recompense for it. I should strive to live each day knowing that I am seen by God and consistently try to sow goodness in my life.

2. The Limit of Evil: When sometimes it seems like evil can triumph in the world, we need to recognize that God has the last say over evil. He mysteriously allows evil to exist so that good can become purified. There will be a moment when evil will be judged and will no longer have power over our lives. If we have sown goodness with our lives and if we are living in God’s grace, he will free us from the domain of evil forever. Let us build up our confidence in the coming of his Kingdom. Let us use the struggle against evil as a way to show the sincerity of our love.

3. We Reap What We Sow: The assurance of Christ that there will be a final judgment gives Christians both soberness and joy in living their lives. We know our efforts are not in vain. We realize that this life is the short opportunity the Father gives us to do good and prepare for our great destiny with him. When I am tempted to lose patience in the fight, I must remember that the struggles will soon be over, and God will more than recompense for the sacrifices I have made in following his will and promoting goodness in the world.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I believe that you are in charge of my life. I renew my trust in the triumph of your holiness in my life. When I feel the pull of evil in my heart, I will remember that this life is short and that my struggle is precious in your eyes. Help me to keep my eyes on the happiness you are preparing for me.

Resolution: I will speak about the joy of receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation with someone I meet today, planting in that person’s heart the seed of the desire to receive this sacrament.

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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!