This is the thirteenth in a new series of posts sharing Pope Leo XIV’s words each Wednesday in his Weekly Audience, a time when he teaches, encourages, and shapes the mission of the Church around the world. Check back here each Wednesday to get to know Pope Leo!
“Easter gives hope to everyday life.”
In this week’s Wednesday audience, Pope Leo XIV reflects on the Resurrection of Christ as a source of hope amid the challenges of today’s world.
Our lives can seem chaotic, full of pain and suffering, and marked by events that appear confusing and unacceptable, on both a personal and global level.
In these moments, Christ is our lodestar. The Easter proclamation—“He has risen”—brings care and healing to our troubled minds and hearts, hope in the face of life’s challenges. Meditating on the Resurrection, our lives find the meaning that we seek.
“Paschal hope does not disappoint. To believe truly in the Pasch through our daily journey means revolutionizing our lives, being transformed in order to transform the world with the gentle and courageous power of Christian hope.”
To read more of Pope Leo XIV’s General Audience reflection, click here.
This summer, Rome welcomed over one million young people from all around the world to celebrate the Year of Hope at the Jubilee of Youth 2025. Among this throng of passionate young pilgrims were over 100 ECYD leaders from 15 different countries, who had gathered to take part in the International Encounter of ECYD Team Leaders (IEETL), in order to deepen their love for the Regnum Christi charism as it is lived among the youth, and to renew their enthusiasm for the mission.
This international encounter aims to reveal the beauty of the Regnum Christi charism, allowing participants to return to their localities with renewed enthusiasm for their mission. This summer’s IEETL event, which is held every two years, included 30 team leaders from the North American territory: 18 from the United States and Canada, led by Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi, Natalia Santos and Fr. Matthew Schmitz, LC; and 12 from the Philippines, led by Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi, Cathy Floro, and Fr. Robert Antonio, LC.
The ECYD leaders spent the first week at a retreat center north of Rome, where they took part in prayer and reflection, formative talks and workshops, retreats, group activities, and a pilgrimage to Assisi, which included a visit to the Basilicas of St. Francis and St. Clare and the resting place of the now-canonized St. Carlo Acutis.
During the second week, the team leaders attended the Jubilee of Youth, a weeklong event celebrated throughout the city of Rome. Here, they joined one million other young people for a week of activities that included workshops and encounters throughout the city, opportunity for the sacrament of reconciliation, and a prayer vigil with Pope Leo XIV, complete with adoration, live music, and a Q&A with the Holy Father. The ECYD leaders also had the opportunity to visit the holy doors of the major basilicas during this jubilee year, and renew their Pledge of Friendship at the Church of St. Agnes.
“Now, it’s time to lead.”
Curtis Rober, who hails from Louisiana, is one of the ECYD team leaders who attended the IEETL and Jubilee of Youth in Rome. For Curtis, one of the most powerful moments of the trip happened on the final evening of the Jubilee of Youth event during the Vigil with the Holy Father at Tor Vergata: “It was just me, over one million people, and the Pope, kneeling down, looking at the Eucharist, in absolute silence.”
“We all had a very different personal relationship with Christ, but each one of us had a moment when Christ personally reached out to us and told us something that gave us a little more motivation to keep going,” says Curtis of the impact that the trip had on him and on his fellow ECYD team leaders. “Now it’s time to lead—and I’m 100 percent confident that everyone who was there is going to change the world.”
A Pentecost in the heart of Rome
Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi, Natalia Santos, was one of the trip coordinators and part of the spirituality team who accompanied the youth throughout the two weeks. Originally from El Salvador, Natalia was an ECYD member and missionary herself, and for nearly a decade she has been serving as an ECYD director, in Atlanta, Georgia, and now Washington, DC.
For Natalia, what moved her most about the event was the close community that was created in a relatively short time, and among a group of participants from such diverse cultural experiences—of the 124 ECYD leaders that attended the encounter, about a quarter of them came from the North American territory (United States, Canada, and the Philippines), while other leaders came from Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, and El Salvador), Europe (Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, and France) and Côte d’Ivoire.
For me, it was a little Pentecost experience! We were coming from all different nationalities, so many different languages, and for some reason we were all able to communicate—not because we spoke the same language, but because we had the same charism within. It was so beautiful to see these kids from all around the world coming together as teams—they started as strangers, but within the first few days, they had become family.
And this unity in one charism, and in one faith, was a theme that continued throughout the entire experience. Natalia recounts an encounter that occurred during the Jubilee of Youth while returning from seeing Pope Leo XIV for the first time:
On the way back, we shared a metro car with a group of Spanish kids singing and playing guitars. At the next stop, a group of Brazilians came in singing and playing drums, and suddenly, the Spanish and Brazilian groups started singing the same tune, the same hymn, in their different languages. This is our Church!”
And this is precisely the message that Pope Leo XIV gave to the one million youth gathered at the vigil on the final night of the Jubilee of Youth:
We encounter Christ in the Church, that is, in the communion of those who sincerely seek him. The Lord himself gathers us together to form a community—not just any community, but a community of believers who support one another. How much the world needs missionaries of the Gospel who are witnesses of justice and peace! How much the future needs men and women who are witnesses of hope! Dear young people, this is the task that the Risen Lord entrusts to each one of us!
ECYD is the Regnum Christi charism lived by adolescents, who make a pledge of friendship with Christ and with each other, to transform the world for Christ. For more information about ECYD in your area, visit their website at ECYD – Regnum Christi.
Q: I got back into my faith about a year ago. I was away for 10 years, and I made my first confession since being away. I am struggling with scrupulosity in regard to sins, such as what sin could cross over into mortal sins. A movie came out and I bought tickets for it. However, I can’t help feeling as though I shouldn’t go because of the “sorcery or dark arts” involved in the movie. Is it a mortal sin to feel like I shouldn’t go, but go anyway? Or should I not go to avoid mortal sin? Please help! — Amanda
Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC:
It is good to hear that you returned to practicing your faith. The gift of conversion is a great grace that you want to make the most of.
As for your situation, let’s try to unpack it a bit.
A problem with scrupulosity is that a person ends up seeing mortal sin where there is no mortal sin.
It’s a somewhat different case when there is doubt about the line between venial and mortal sin.
To pose a blunt question: If you thought that something was “only” a venial sin, would you still do it? If the answer is yes, then sloth, not scrupulosity, is the problem.
And if you go ahead and do something that you think might be gravely sinful, that itself would be sinful since it shows a bad intention.
If scrupulosity is the problem, that needs to be addressed, perhaps with the help of a solid, regular confessor or a spiritual director.
In the meantime, if you are having second thoughts about attending the movie, you might want to err on the side of caution and skip it. In general, that is a prudent decision given the content of many movies nowadays.
Part of the fruit of having a good prayer life and access to the sacraments should be a growth in virtue. We should be desirous of the things of God and less of the things of the world.
Remember, being a good Catholic isn’t just about avoiding mortal sin. It’s about striving to become a saint. At a minimum that means avoiding things that could be a near occasion of sin for us.
Remember, too, that your core identity is that you are a beloved daughter of God. Jesus suffered and died on a cross for your redemption, so much does he love you.
God only wants your holiness and happiness. He hopes that you open your heart to him; he wants you to be with him forever in heaven someday.
To help you reach that goal, you might recall the words of St. Paul: “Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
So, on the positive side, ask yourself: “Is this the kind of movie that gives glory to God? Will it help me grow closer to Our Lord? Is it a movie that will inspire me to holiness?”
Lord Jesus, eternal Shepherd, in your kindness look with mercy on your beloved flock. We cry out to you as orphans: Lord, grant us vocations! Call many of our young people to be holy priests and consecrated men and women. We ask you this through the intercession of Mary, your tender, holy Mother.
Lord Jesus, grant us priests and consecrated persons after your own heart! Amen.
Meet Tanner Williams, who found his vocation to be a lay apostle in Regnum Christi through youth work!
There is a relationship of complementarity and co-responsibility among the different RC vocations and their unique ways of living the shared spirituality and mission.
Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.”
Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, grant that I may be a good steward of all you offer me.
Encountering Christ:
Giving an Account: This parable challenges us in many ways. First of all, it reminds us that we are to give an account of what we have been given. If we were to make a list of all that we received from the Lord, what would it contain? In what ways do we feel that we have made the most of what we have received for the building of the Kingdom of God and for his glory?
Astuteness: By the end of the parable, it appears as though the Lord is praising the children of the world. The steward was at least sagacious in preparing for his temporal future, looking out for future provisions. He was making use of a God-given gift, his intelligence. Despite the somewhat self-centered intention, he was astute. How often do we practice this virtue in light of our own stewardship?
Children of the Light: Luke’s Gospel, accompanied by his Acts of the Apostles, portrays the Church as God’s saving instrument, particularly instrumental between the death of Christ and his second coming. The Church is a gift that her children are called to make the most of as its stewards. Are we astute in our use of this gift? Do we neglect the salvific means the Church offers us in its sacraments? Do we hijack it for our own moral purposes? Or do we strive to understand this gift and astutely strive to be children of light?
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, how do you call me to be a steward of all your gifts, particularly that of the Church? Help me to see where my motives lie in my use of the gifts you offer me, and help me to be astute.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will listen to how you call me to be a steward in this world and in the Church.
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!
