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October 23, 2026

RC This Week: the most recent stories about Regnum Christi spirituality, communion, and mission – Oct 23

/ Regnum Christi News

Spirituality

 

RCTW-Oct-23-1Can You Taste Sorrow?

The truth is that we must experience joy to understand sorrow. We can taste the saltiness of tears, but the flavor profile of sorrow is the emotional response to experiencing that which takes away our joy.

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RCTW-Oct-23-2Be Not Afraid: A Retreat Guide on St. John Paul II

When Karol Wojtyla emerged onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after being chosen by the conclave of cardinals as Pope John Paul II, he made history. This Retreat Guide will give us a chance to reflect on what made this Polish Pope so holy, inspiring, and spiritually fruitful.

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Communion

 

RCTW-Oct-23-3The task of protecting marriage and the family is “more urgent than ever before.”

In this week’s Wednesday audience, Pope Leo XIV continues his reflection on Gaudium et Spes, considering the dignity of marriage and the family in today’s society.

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RCTW-Oct-23-4A Week of Prayer for All of Our Priests and Consecrated Members: October 25 – 31

Regnum Christi invites you to join us in praying especially for our brothers and sisters living the consecrated vocations of Legionary priests, Consecrated Women, and Lay Consecrated Men in our territory.

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Mission

RCTW-Oct-23-5A Daughter of Iranian Refugees Finds Identity in Israel

Her parents fled Iran as political refugees. Years later, Frouzan Zohar is living and studying in Israel as conflict brings Iran and the Holy Land painfully close. In this episode of Her Voice From the Holy Land, Kathleen Nichols explores Frouzan’s Persian identity, Christian faith, conversion journey, music, and hope for the Iranian people.

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RCTW-Oct-23-6Georgia Bulletin – Legionaries of Christ: Building his Kingdom through formation, evangelization and community

Legionary of Christ priest Father Abraham Eo deepened his understanding of the vow of obedience when receiving his first assignment as a newly ordained deacon in 2023.

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Vocation

RCTW-Oct-23-7Come & See: Seminary Guest Visit

Come see what life in the seminary is like with daily Mass and adoration, opportunities for discernment and prayer and time with the priests and brothers.

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January ShorelineRCTW-Oct-23-8

The Shoreline Retreat is a weekend for college-aged young women who love Jesus and want to go deeper in their relationship with Him while discerning their future. Hosted by the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi in Atlanta, the retreat offers a prayerful space to encounter Christ in the sacraments.

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Retreats

Retreats for Men
Men’s Spiritual Exercises, Dec 10-13, Lincoln, NE 
Young Men Spiritual Exercises, Dec 15-17, Houston, TX
RC Renewal Retreat for Men, Jan 7-10, Atlanta, GA
Ignition 2027 Center Harbor, Dec 29 – Jan 2, Center Harbor, NH
Ignition 2027 Cheshire, Dec 29 – Jan 2, Cheshire, CT

Retreats for Women
Aflame 2027 ECYD High School Girls, Dec 29 – Jan 1, Benton, TN

Retreats for Couples
Three to Get Married Marriage Preparation, Nov 12-15, Washington, DC
Three to Get Married Marriage Preparation, Dec 10-13, Washington, DC

Vocational Discernment
Come & See: Seminary Guest Visit, Oct 30 – Nov 1, Cheshire, CT
Thanksgiving “Test Your Call” (TYC), Nov 27-30, Cheshire, CT
Advent Spiritual Exercises, Dec 16-21, Cheshire, CT
Christmas “Test Your Call” (TYC), Dec 29 – Jan 2, Cheshire, CT
January Shoreline, Jan 1-4, Atlanta, GA

Other Events
2026 North American RC Women’s Convention, Oct 29 – Nov 1, Mundelein, IL
Regnum Christi Men’s Conference, Jan 15-18, Houston, TX
Hope Awakens 2026: An Online Regnum Christi Gathering, Dec 1, Online

RC This Week: the most recent stories about Regnum Christi spirituality, communion, and mission – Oct 23 Read More »

26-10-25-PCOTW

A Week of Prayer for All of Our Priests and Consecrated Members: October 25th – 31st

/ pray weekly, Regnum Christi News

Regnum Christi invites our entire spiritual family and all our friends to join us in praying especially for our brothers and sisters living the consecrated vocations of Legionary priests, Consecrated Women, and Lay Consecrated Men in our territory.

Each week throughout the year, we will pray together for a different group of Legionaries and Consecrated, spanning all the communities across the territory, as our “Priests and Consecrated of the Week.”

Our Consecrated members are men and women who have said yes to Christ’s call to follow him, leaving everything behind to dedicate their entire lives to him and to join him in the mission of building his Kingdom. We come together to support them with our prayer, asking our Lord to strengthen them, hold them close to his Sacred Heart, and give them his deep joy as they live their mission each day.

 

This Week We Pray for

Herrera_headshotFr. Fernando Herrera, LC, was born in Manizales, Colombia and raised in Mexico City, Mexico. He was ordained in 2004. From 2004 to 2009, he served as director of the Regnum Christi youth section in Puebla, Mexico, and from 2009 to 2015, he returned to Italy to study and assist at the European University in Rome. In 2015, Fr. Fernando moved to Santiago, Chile, to serve as chaplain at Everest and Cumbres Schools and as chaplain to Regnum Christi youth groups. In November 2024, he arrived in Houston, Texas, where he is currently serving as assistant chaplain for the Regnum Christi adult sections and supporting the Hispanic ministry in the local parishes.

Ristine_headshotJennifer Ristine grew up in the Chicago area and discovered her call to the Consecrated Life in Regnum Christi while living in Seattle as a special education teacher. Since her consecration in 1997, she has lived and worked in Rhode Island, Florida, Washington DC, Spain, Ireland and Magdala, Israel. Now she resides in the Detroit community where she assists in the Regnum Christi locality and continues as an instructor for the online spiritual director certificate at Divine Mercy University. She holds Masters in Theology (Catholic Distance University), Ignatian Spirituality (Comillas Pontifical University), and the Mystics (Catholic University of Avila, Spain) which influences her love for faith and spiritual formation through spiritual direction, teaching, writing, conferences, and retreats. You can find her books on Amazon.com: Jennifer Marie Ristine: books. You can find her daily meditations on epriest and RC Meditations.

Duill_headshotFr. Fergal Ó Dúill, LC, is originally from Dublin, Ireland. After working some years as an engineer he joined the Legion in 1993 and was ordained in 2004. He served in Saltillo and Satélite, Mexico and in Dublin, Ireland. In 2015 he was posted to Dallas, Texas, where he served first as a chaplain at The Highlands School and then as Director of the Regnum Christ men’s section, preaching retreats, directing apostolate, and offering spiritual direction. In June 2026 he was named Regional Vocation Director for Texas and became a member of the Houston Community in Spring, TX.

O'Loughlin_headshotFr. Benjamin O’Loughlin, LC, born in Syracuse, NY, joined the Legionaries of Christ out of high school in 2001. His studies took him through Bad Münstereifel, Germany (novitiate 2001-2003), Salamanca, Spain (humanities studies 2003-2005), and finally Rome, Italy, where he graduated summa cum laude from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum with a master’s degree in ethics and anthropology and a bachelor’s degree in theology. He was ordained a priest in Rome, Italy, on December 13, 2014. On his first assignment in Detroit, Michigan, he ministered as boys formation director for international students at Everest Collegiate High School & Academy from 2014 to 2015, and then as ECYD Boys Director until 2018. He then spent a year in Mexico City as chaplain to the Regnum Christi young men’s section, based out of the Anahuac University, before returning to the United States, with Regnum Christi young adult ministry roles in Dallas and Philadelphia. From 2022-2025 he directed the Regnum Christi North America Young Adult Life Department. In his current role as a Regnum Christi Locality Representative, Fr. Benjamin provides support and oversight for a third of our Regnum Christi localities in the US and Canada.

Prayer for Priests and Consecrated Members in Regnum Christi

God our Father,
We thank you for our spiritual family of Regnum Christi, and for those within it that you have called to total consecration as Legionaries of Christ, Consecrated Women, and Lay Consecrated Men.

We ask you to renew their encounter with your Son Jesus Christ,
who goes out to meet them and reveals the love of his heart to them.
Deepen their personal love for Christ
and their trust in his love for them.
Gather them close to him,
form them,
and send them out accompanied by your Son,
in the mission of forming apostles and Christian leaders who make your Kingdom present in hearts, in families, and in society.

Send your Holy Spirit to sanctify and strengthen them,
And to help them respond generously and courageously to their mission each day.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Week of Prayer for All of Our Priests and Consecrated Members: October 25th – 31st Read More »

Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Uncle Eddy

St John of Capistrano

/ Uncle Eddy

Dear Jean, Ever since you arrived at college your notes have narrated all the wonderful experiences you have been having.  Unfortunately, all of those experiences are parties, dates, weekend road trips, and other social engagements.  Not once have you mentioned a single class, a professor, a lecture – and you have not even alluded to any kind of spiritual life.  My dear niece, you can skim along the giddy surface of a “good time” for the first eight (or more) weeks of college, but if you don’t balance out your social life with a little substance, the next four years will be nothing more than a long firecracker.  Depth of soul, my dearest, depth of soul is what leads to lasting joy and the inexpressible sweetness of a life lived intensely.  The highest mountains have the deepest roots, and they are the most beautiful.  The deeper waters harbor more life, and can withstand the storms.  Those who love silence can hear the music better.  Learn from the example of today’s saint. He was one of those extraordinarily talented persons who would have achieved greatness in whatever undertaking he embraced.  He was born in central Italy, and finished up his studies in the city of Perugia.  He made such an impression on the people there that when he graduated they elected him governor.  Political squabbles ended up with his capture and imprisonment by local adversaries.  It was prison that saved him.  Forced to reflect on the passing nature of worldly glory (hitherto his only desire), and on the reality of death (prisons in 1400 were hardly comfortable or sanitary), he emerged with a determination to put his life at the service of God and the eternal Kingdom.  He humiliated himself by riding through town sitting backwards on a Donkey, with a huge paper cone on his head where he wrote out in bold letters all his most heinous sins.  As he made his way through the streets, children and adults alike laughed at him, and pelted him with mud and stones.  In this condition, he requested entry at the Franciscan friary, and began his preparations to become a Franciscan priest.  He was subjected to severe trials of obedience as a novice, for which he was grateful ever after, but persevered in spite of the difficulties. By the time he was ordained a priest, everyone was familiar with his extraordinary abilities as a preacher and miracle worker.  He spent the rest of his life traveling from province to province and tirelessly calling people to repentance, trying to counteract the scandals and disorder that reigned in the Italian church at the time.  Eventually he was entrusted with reform of the Franciscan order itself, which he performed admirably.  He also became a favorite pick for special papal missions – to Jerusalem, for instance, and then to counteract heresy in Austria.  Wherever he went, huge crowds gathered to hear him and to ask him to cure their sick.  His zeal for the Church won many fallen-away Christians back into the fold, and even roused the Hungarian king and people to successfully resist the onslaught of Turkish invaders at the gates of Belgrade.  After that engagement, he fell victim to the plague (sparked by the dead bodies that lay strewn and rotting all about the besieged city) and died.  Throughout the years of his remarkable life, St John began every day with the same activities: rising before dawn, he prayed for an hour and celebrated Mass, only then would he go forth to build the Kingdom. Perhaps you are not called to such heights of sanctity (but perhaps you are), or to such a public mission in the Church (though you might be), but unless you carve time out of your social life for some study, prayer, and personal reflection – even if it’s only a little – you may not find out your calling at all, which would be quite tragic. Your affectionate uncle, Eddy

St John of Capistrano Read More »

How Do I Fast for God Alone?

/ Ask a Priest

Q: How do I fast for God and not out of vanity? I’ve heard that if you say you “could not live without X,” you should fast from it. For me, it’s food and binge eating, and it’s getting in the way of my aesthetic goals. I’m not and don’t look unhealthy, but I know that food is an idol that I put above God. Therefore, I would like to fast to get rid of that temptation. But how do I put fasting to get closer to God above fasting to lose weight? I feel bad telling God I’m fasting for him but secretly doing it out of vanity. Please help! — L.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC:

It can be a perennial struggle in our lives: to do the right thing for the right motive.

Fasting needs to be done prudently. It’s easy to slip into the pendulum mindset: fasting today, bingeing tomorrow as a “reward.”

My quick suggestion is, instead of fasting, try to offer up something at every meal — a smaller dessert, less sugar in the coffee, etc. It’s good to link an intention with the sacrifices, such as reparation for your sins or for the conversion of a relative.

Even if your motivations are mixed — partly for God, partly out of vanity — at least you can start working on the habit of self-discipline.

And what you skip in food, think of donating the difference somehow to the poor. If over the course of the month you eat one less cheesecake, for example, think of donating that money to a homeless shelter.

To get away from vanity, try dressing modestly even when you lose weight. That helps keep the spotlight off you.

Still another suggestion: Be universal in your charity. Be as kind to unattractive people as you are to attractive ones. This helps you love people with a pure intention.

You mention binge eating. If anything seems out of control, please see your doctor.

How Do I Fast for God Alone? Read More »

26-10-23-DM

October 23, 2026 – One Step Closer

/ Daily Meditations

Friday of the Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Luke 12:54-59

Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain—and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot—and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time? Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

Opening Prayer: My Lord, I come before you as your child, and I ask you to send your Spirit into my soul, so that his gifts might strengthen me, comfort me, sanctify me, and enlighten me to hear what you want to say today.

Encountering Christ:

  1. Complacency: Jesus’ admonishing words tell us a lot, between the lines, about the attitude of those to whom they were addressed. His listeners were utterly complacent. Jesus’ thundering reproach was probably meant to shake off that complacency; he challenged them to read the signs of the times, and he did all that he could to free them from their blindness. How frustrating it must have been for Jesus to come to those who had been praying for the Messiah, only to find that they neither accepted nor believed him, nor seemed willing even to have an open mind about him. We console Jesus when we fight against our own tendency to become complacent.

     

  2. Proactivity: It is not uncommon for a person to be quite focused on a specific goal (for example, to improve one’s prayer life or to grow in virtue), but to bluntly ignore the simple opportunities to actually advance toward that goal. A good program of life will help us to make concrete resolutions (little baby steps toward living a virtue) so that we can be more confident, by God’s grace, of growing in that virtue. It is true that the ideals of Christian life are lofty, but God always gives us some concrete step we can proactively take each day.

     

  3. Surrender: Ultimately, such a proactive attitude requires a lot of humility, for it underscores the fact that we cannot reach our high ideals with one powerful leap. Instead, our little steps to grow in virtue or to draw closer to God only have a chance of success to the degree in which they are aided, quickened, and elevated by God’s grace. Maybe that is why it is so difficult to proactively invest into our spiritual life; instead of relying on our control, it requires an increasing degree of surrender to the work of grace in us. May we be docile enough to allow Christ to work in our souls.

Conversing with Christ: Jesus, help me to shake off all types of complacency. Free me of my blindness. Grant me the grace “to interpret the present time” and the humility to make a small step in the right direction today.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will set a spiritual goal for myself and take the first step toward growing in that virtue.

For Further Reflection: One Step Closer will help you take the next step in your spiritual life. Its forty doses of clear, practical, and bite-sized reflections will inspire you on your journey to holiness, happiness, and your life purpose. Each reflection comes with a memorable motivational quote. It’s a book that you can understand, written in simple language that resonates; it gives you practical means to work on your strengths and it challenges you to be better: One Step Closer: 40 Doses of Motivation, Hacks, and Experiences to Share with Millennial Catholics, by Anthony Freeman, LC.

 Father Gabriel von Wendt, LC, is a priest who works as a professor at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. He has a passion for philosophy and the role of Catholic faith in contemporary culture. He is a co-founding member of the Catholic Worldview Fellowship, a study-abroad program for talented college students who want to evangelize culture.

October 23, 2026 – One Step Closer 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!