THE WEEKLY DIGEST
OF REGNUM CHRISTI
DAILY MEDITATIONS
Week of June 1 - 8, 2025
Sunday, June 1, 2025 – Promises Fulfilled
Monday, June 2, 2025 – The Source of Our Strength
Tuesday, June 3, 2025 – Communion of Love
Wednesday, June 4, 2025 – Sharing in His Joy, Completely
Thursday, June 5, 2025 – He Prayed for Me
Friday, June 6, 2025 – Do You Love Me?
June 1, 2025 – Promises Fulfilled
The Ascension of the Lord
Luke 24:46-53
Jesus said to his disciples: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to Heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.
Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, as you ascend into Heaven, I cannot help experiencing a lingering sense of being left orphaned. Lead me to a deeper experience of this final mystery of your earthly life and help me to discover in it the joy of your promise—a promise that is already being fulfilled in my life.
Encountering Christ:
- The Promise of My Father: To the Apostles it may not have seemed so, but by ascending to his Father, Jesus was opening himself to even greater intimacy with them. No longer would their relationship be limited by physical space and time. Through the Holy Spirit, they were to be transformed into dwelling places for the Blessed Trinity, tabernacles of God’s presence here on earth. They were to receive the fullness of the Father’s promise: the promise of divine intimacy that the chosen people had longed for throughout all of salvation history. Jesus came to earth to show us the face of the Father—a Father who is faithful to his promises. There is no falsehood or even potential falsehood in God. His words bring about the very reality they announce. As soon as he has spoken a promise, that promise is fulfilled, even if it might not be evident to us in our limited human perspective which is bound by time. Scripture is full of divine promises— promises that by faith we can know beyond doubt are already accomplished. To what extent have we taken to heart the Father’s promises?
- As He Blessed Them, He Departed: Jesus’ last gesture before ascending to Heaven was to bless his companions. Luke’s narrative, in fact, places him in the very act of blessing them as he was taken up. Perhaps, as previously mentioned, it could even be said that the very fact of his parting was paradoxically a blessing in itself. He would not have left them if this were not true. Jesus had told them that it was better for them that he was to go (cf. Jn 16:8). The blessing they were to receive was the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their souls. It is only natural that we might envy the Apostles for their firsthand experiences of Jesus during his time on earth, but how much do we value the unfathomable gift of the indwelling of the Holy Trinity in our souls? How aware are we of this great gift?
- They Returned to Jerusalem with Great Joy: Only weeks before, when Jesus had been taken from them, the Apostles had been distraught and afraid. Now, confronted with a new physical separation from their Teacher and Lord, Luke’s Gospel tells us that they came away rejoicing. What had changed? What enabled them to find joy even in the very moment they were being physically separated from Jesus? The Apostles had been transformed by the power of God’s promise and his blessing. Jesus promised them a new kind of intimacy—they were to be “clothed with power from on high.” And Jesus had blessed them as he departed, strengthening them with the power of his love as they awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit. They now knew that, although Jesus was no longer physically among them, his presence could never be taken from them. To what extent do we rejoice in our relationship with the risen Lord? When God seems far away, are we able, in the depths of our heart, to joyfully trust in his unfailing presence?
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, though my limited humanity cannot always see, I believe that your promises are already being fulfilled in my life. Teach me to live in communion with the Holy Trinity dwelling in my soul by grace. Help me to open my eyes to the great gift that is mine, that all that I do might be with you and in you.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will set an alarm to remind me to pause at two different moments to remember that you dwell in my soul. I will offer you a brief act of faith, hope, and love.
Teresa Williams grew up in the Detroit, Michigan, area. She felt God’s call to consecrate her life to him at a young age and has been living out her vocation as a consecrated member of Regnum Christi since 2002. She has earned degrees in education and religious sciences and worked with young people in Ireland and several cities in Mexico. Currently, she is living and working in Monterrey, Mexico.
June 2, 2025 – The Source of Our Strength
Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter
John 16:29-33
The disciples said to Jesus, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now? Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”
Opening Prayer: My Jesus, guide me in the deepest recesses of my heart to encounter you in this time of prayer. Give me the courage to examine my heart and to discover the truth about where I look for strength and security. I want to share your certainty of the Father’s love and rest in it, and find the strength to build my life on you alone.
Encountering Christ:
- We Believe That You Came from God: Listening to Jesus’ words as he described his relationship with the Father, the disciples were moved to a great act of faith. “We believe that you came from God,” they proclaimed. There was no longer room for doubt. Yet Jesus knew their hearts even better than they did themselves. He rightly foresaw that within only a few hours they would flee in fear, leaving him utterly alone. Their spontaneous act of faith was built on the powerful emotions they felt as they heard him speak, words that produced profound sentiments of joy, loyalty, and allegiance in their hearts. Yet, only too soon, they were forced to come face to face with the frailty of their own human strength. Their faith flourished when powered by emotion, but collapsed in the face of adversity.
- I Am Not Alone: Jesus’ own faith in the Father was built on much more than convincing words and delightful feelings. His certainty of the Father’s love and his guiding presence was unshakeable. He knew that in the hour of trial, he would be abandoned by his beloved Apostles, but he found the strength to continue forward to his Passion with the certainty of the Father’s presence. His desire is that each one of us might also come to know the Father’s love in this way. He wants us to find the source of our strength not in ourselves or in any other human source, but in the Father’s unfailing love.
- Take Courage: Jesus knew he was sending his Apostles forth as sheep among wolves. The trial they would endure on this night of his Passion was only the beginning of a road marked by contradiction. Thus, he desired to share his own source of strength with them. Just as even in the darkest hours of his Passion, he was never alone because his Father was always with him, so too would his disciples never be alone, even in the throes of persecution, for he had promised to be with them. This promise holds true for us as well. He does not promise to free us from suffering, but to be our strength when we encounter it. Where do we automatically look for security in moments such as these?
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, so often I look to you to give me guarantees of a life marked by success, prosperity, and unadulterated happiness. I subtly expect you to be an earthly Messiah, much as the Jews of your time did. Yet you invite me to put my trust not in earthly guarantees but in your Kingdom that is not of this world. Teach me the ways of your Kingdom and help me to discover unfailing strength and joy in the certainty of your constant presence.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will entrust a difficult situation, in my own life or in a loved one’s, to you, asking not that you take it away, but that you allow me to encounter your presence in the midst of this suffering.
For Further Reflection: OMNIPRESENCE, Fr. John Hardon’s Modern Catholic Dictionary:
“God being simultaneously wherever he is, since he is present everywhere. The divine omnipresence is twofold, by nature and by grace. By nature God is present in all things by essence, knowledge, and power. This is the presence of a cause in the things that share in God’s goodness. By his essence, he is substantially in all things, including the created spiritual essences (angels, demons, human souls) as the immediate origin of their existence. By his knowledge, he exercises his wisdom directly in all creation down to the least details. By his power, he operates with divine activity as the First Cause of everything that creatures do. By grace, God is further present in the souls in whom he dwells as in a temple. Hence the creature is joined, as it were, to God’s substance, through the activity of mind and heart, by faith cleaving to the First Truth, and by charity to the First Good. He is therefore present by grace as the known is to the knower and the beloved is to the lover. This presence is more than a cause of an effect. It is the possession of God on earth similar to his being possessed by the angels and saints in Heaven.”
Teresa Williams grew up in the Detroit, Michigan, area. She felt God’s call to consecrate her life to him at a young age and has been living out her vocation as a consecrated member of Regnum Christi since 2002. She has earned degrees in education and religious sciences and worked with young people in Ireland and several cities in Mexico. Currently, she is living and working in Monterrey, Mexico.
June 3, 2025 – Communion of Love
Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs
John 17:1-11a
When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.”
Opening Prayer: Lord, open my ears and help me hear and understand your words to your disciples. Help me listen to your voice today and be open to what you are asking of me.
Encountering Christ:
- Communion of Persons: Jesus prayed out loud to his Father, and he gave us a glimpse into the depth of his Father-Son relationship. Jesus, God made flesh, walked on earth, but his heart was never far from his Father in heaven. They were continually united, heart-to-heart and Person-to-Person. Jesus asked his Father to “give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,” and the Son was glorified at the Resurrection. When the disciples received the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 20:22), that outpouring of love that existed between the Father and the Son appeared as flames above the heads of the disciples. The communion of persons is not only a lofty Trinitarian reality, but also one we are called to make manifest in the world. “Man and woman, created as a ‘unity of the two’ in their common humanity, are called to live in a communion of love, and in this way to mirror in the world the communion of love that is in God, through which the Three Persons love each other in the intimate mystery of the one divine life” (Mulieris Dignitatem, 7). Marriage and family life are a reflection of the life of the Trinity, and the everyday opportunities that present themselves to do something small for a spouse, son or daughter, or aging parent are signs of that communion of love.
- Jesus Conquered the World: Since the fall, human relationships have often been a point of contradiction and division. The “world” that Jesus referred to in the Gospel is not the world God created in the beginning, but the fallen natural world that is subject to concupiscence. The unity that man and woman were called to is constantly at risk due to self-seeking and pride. “In the ‘unity of the two’, man and woman are called from the beginning not only to exist ‘side by side’ or ‘together’, but they are also called to exist mutually ‘one for the other’” (Mulieris Dignitatem, 7). The mutual subjection of one to the other out of love for Christ is difficult because we often prefer domination and competition. Christ’s followers are called to live in Christian unity, and not give in to the worldly desire to manipulate one another. We are able to live Christian unity when we rely on the grace of God.
- That They May Be One: The first of the four marks of the Church is that she is “One.” But this “oneness” is found in the unity of “the Trinity of Persons… because of her founder… because of her ‘soul’: ‘It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them together so intimately in Christ that he is the principle of the Church’s unity’” (CCC 813). This communion of persons becomes the reflection of the Trinitarian relationship of God, for “man becomes the image of God not so much in the moment of solitude as in the moment of communion” (St. John Paul II, General Audience, November 14, 1979).
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, I want to discover the unity of your life in the life of my family and my parish community. Give me a sensitivity to your voice alive in the Scriptures and in the community of persons you have put around me. I know you are speaking to me in your word and in my life.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will listen to your invitation through the word to reconcile with someone I have been meaning to reach out to with a phone call or email.
For Further Reflection: Mulieris Dignitatem, August 15, 1988 (St. John Paul II).
Leah Nguyen, mom to six children ranging in age from nine to twenty-four, resides in Kansas City with her deacon husband. She graduated with a master’s degree in theology from Holy Apostles College in 2019, which helps her lead Bible studies in her parish as well as defend the Catholic faith when talking with her teenagers.
June 4, 2025 – Sharing in His Joy, Completely
Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter
John 17:11b-19
Lifting up his eyes to Heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”
Opening Prayer: Lord, I come to this time of prayer with a desire to know you better. I want to know your truth by knowing your word. Fill me with the truth so I will be filled with joy.
Encountering Christ:
- In the Name of God: Jesus lifted up his heart, prayed to his Father, and begged him on our behalf to “keep them in your name that you have given me.” Jesus’ name is the one by which “God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend” (Phil 2:9-10). The name of Jesus is different from other names, for it is what it signifies: Jesus (Y’shua in Hebrew) is “savior, deliverer”; he redeemed us and rescued us. When we whisper the Jesus Prayer: “Jesus, son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” we invoke a name that is powerful in protecting us from evil and darkness. We can whisper this prayer, or simply his name, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” when we are afraid or tempted.
- Son of Destruction: Jesus referred to Judas as the “son of destruction.” Jesus had called him, allowed him into his inner circle of disciples, and treated him lovingly. What sorrow Jesus must have felt by Judas’ betrayal. “Those who do wrong deserve our tears…For the covetous man and the slanderer, and the man guilty of any other wrongdoing injure themselves most of all […] Christ repaid the man who was going to betray him with just the opposite. For example, he washed his feet, reproved him without bitterness, censured him in private, ministered to him, allowed him to share in his table and his kiss. Yet, though Judas did not become better because of these things, Jesus himself persevered in his course of action” (St. John Chrysostom). Jesus knew Judas would betray him, but he did not give up on Judas or neglect him. Jesus pursued him to the end, though eventually he was “lost.” What a beautiful challenge Christ sets before us by the loving way he treated Judas.
- Consecrated in Truth: Jesus desired that his disciples share the fullness of his joy by sharing in his Trinitarian life, “because they do not belong to the world.” Jesus called his disciples to follow him on a path that renounced earthly goods. He knew that the world would hate them, for their mission was to follow Christ and find their joy in him, and not in the attractions of the world. Their joy was fulfilled in discovering their mission to share Christ with others, and the early Christians did this as they “devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42). Simple Christian living in small community home churches spread through the whole world. We can imitate their devotion by sharing our joy in Christ with others, especially those in our parish and our neighborhood.
Conversing with Christ: Today I ask that you take away all of the lies and deception that encircle me and let me bask in your truth. Help me to seek you first, rather than reaching instead for the world’s fleeting pleasures, secure in your promise that this will allow me to share in your joy completely.
Resolution: Lord, I want to follow you with the authentic faith of the disciples. Help me find joy in living my faith. Keep me close to you, with your name on my lips and your joy in my heart.
Andrew Rawicki and his wife, JoAnna, live in Irving, Texas, near eight of their ten grandchildren. A convert from Judaism, Andrew entered the Church in 1991, and has been a member of the Regnum Christi spiritual family since 2001. He has served as the Regnum Christi Local Director for Dallas since July 2020.
June 5, 2025 – He Prayed for Me
Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr
John 17:20-26
Lifting up his eyes to Heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”
Opening Prayer: Lord, allow me right now to quiet myself, putting aside all distractions that tend to creep into my time in prayer. In this silence, let me reflect on, and give sincere thanks for, the loving petitions that you made to the Father on my behalf: that I may be one with you, that I may be brought to perfection, and that I may be with you for all eternity.
Encountering Christ:
- Prayers for Us: Jesus Christ, in praying “for those who will believe in me through their word,” was directly praying for all people in every age who encounter the living word, exhorting his loving Father to place us under his care “as one.” When are we united like this and strengthened with the grace to remain “as one”? When we partake of the Eucharist worthily (cf. 1 Cor 11:27), we are in communion not only with Christ, but also with the Father and the Holy Spirit, not to mention all of the angels and saints in Heaven! St. Therese cried during her First Communion, and the onlookers thought she was missing her deceased mother. She set the record straight: “It was beyond them all that the joy of Heaven had entered one small, exiled heart, and that it was too weak to bear it without tears. As if the absence of my mother could make me unhappy on the day of my First Communion! As all of Heaven entered my soul when I received Jesus, my mother came to me as well” (from Story of a Soul, St. Therese of Lisieux).
- Sent First: Three times in this prayer to the Father, Jesus stressed the importance of being “sent.” First, he prayed that we “believe” that this occurred. Next, he prayed for our belief to be strengthened to certainty, changing “believe” to “know.” Lastly, reinforcing that he is God and his mere word is efficacious, he proclaimed that his followers do already “know” this truth. We don’t often consider Jesus as an apostle (one who is sent by God), but truly Christ is the apostle par excellence. In his obedience and self-giving love, we have the model of how each of us, by virtue of our Baptism, should respond to the Father’s call to be apostles. “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Sam 3:9).
- Before the Foundation of the World: John’s Gospel famously begins: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” The concept of God outside of time is hard to fathom by our human intellect alone; we have no analogs in the created order. But Jesus, the Incarnate Word, told us in his own words that his Father, who is Our Father, loved him “before the foundation of the world.” How can we begin to understand this relationship, so that we can start to realize that we are also called to be in communion with this God of love? The unmerited gift of faith is required. May we have this faith to comprehend his perfect love that has existed, and will exist, for all eternity. The similarly unmerited gift of hope allows us to cherish Christ’s invitation to be part of this love for all eternity. “We can therefore hope in the glory of Heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will” (CCC 1821).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, please grant me the faith that I need today to see with your eyes, those same eyes that you lifted up to Heaven in praying to the Father for me. Thank you for your petitions to the Father on my behalf; let me never grow weary of showing you gratitude for the unmerited gifts you have provided to me in this life, and for the hope of spending eternity with you in the glory of Heaven.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, reflecting on the perfect love that each one of the mysteries calls to mind.
For Further Reflection: Read each of the short sections on the virtue of hope in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1817-1821.
Andrew Rawicki and his wife, JoAnna, live in Irving, Texas, near eight of their ten grandchildren. A convert from Judaism, Andrew entered the Church in 1991, and has been a member of the Regnum Christi spiritual family since 2001. He has served as the Regnum Christi Local Director for Dallas since July 2020.
June 6, 2025 – Do You Love Me?
Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter
John 21:15-19
After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He then said to Simon Peter a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
Opening Prayer: Lord, you know that I love you. You know everything. You also know that I fall short of demonstrating my love for you, particularly in giving you thanks. Help me appreciate all of the many blessings which you have given me from your Sacred Heart, and let my praise and gratitude for your unmerited gifts naturally flow from my heart and from my lips.
Encountering Christ:
- The Love of a Shepherd: What a memorable start to the day the disciples had! First, they received a surprise visit from their friend who continued to amaze them with his defeat of death. Next, a shared meal symbolized a return of the intimacy they had felt with him prior to his Passion and death. For Simon Peter, though, the symbolism didn’t end with the final swallow of breakfast. Jesus asked him a simple question about their relationship, but inquired three times. The searing pain of his threefold denial of his Lord and Savior caused Peter to lash out. Jesus, though, was offering Peter mercy to replace his guilt. Furthermore, he was taking the opportunity to reiterate the driving force that our first pope (and any who would follow) would need to exhibit to shepherd his flock: self-sacrificial love. Thankfully, this virtue is offered to our religious leaders, and each of us, as a free gift. This gift, though, like those of faith and of hope, are given to us for much more than our personal consumption. Let us reflect: To whom do we need to extend self-sacrificial love today?
- The Smell of the Sheep: Preceding each of the three questions from Jesus, Simon was reminded of his humanity and his place in the worldly order as a “Son of John.” As a son, Simon was subject to authority. As a believer in the one God of the Jewish religion, he was also bound by the fourth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother” (Ex 20:12). How could Simon Peter honor not only his earthly father but also his heavenly Father? The One who is our supreme authority asked simply that Simon Peter honor his vocation and shepherd his flock with love. Each of us, whether called to the vocation of the priesthood, consecrated life, or married life, must discern that call and attempt to humbly follow the will of God. As Catholics, in accordance with the Gospel we are exhorted to preach as we depart from each Mass; our vocation will necessarily involve shepherding with love and mercy those who are put in our path. “Evangelizers thus take on the ‘smell of the sheep,’ and the sheep are willing to hear their voice” (Evangelii Gaudium, 24).
- Follow Me: Peter’s interior transformation was a conversion of heart that resulted in his recommitment to follow Christ, even after Jesus foretold his martyrdom. Peter’s experience was “one of those sorrowful outpourings that impoverish us but are ultimately profitable because they show us our powerlessness and oblige us from then on to trust exclusively in God’s mercy and faithfulness” (Jacques Philippe, Interior Freedom, 100).
Conversing with Christ: When I hear your questions of Simon Peter, I feel the words working in my own mind and in my own heart. Do I love you? Yes, you know that I love you. Why do you ask? Is it not easy for you to tell? I am sorry that my love is so weak; grant me the grace to strengthen this love.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace, on this First Friday of the month, I will attend Mass and thank you for the many blessings that flow from your Sacred Heart. If Mass attendance is not possible, I will make a spiritual communion, and pray individually for my many blessings.
Andrew Rawicki and his wife, JoAnna, live in Irving, Texas, near eight of their ten grandchildren. A convert from Judaism, Andrew entered the Church in 1991, and has been a member of the Regnum Christi spiritual family since 2001. He has served as the Regnum Christi Local Director for Dallas since July 2020.
June 7, 2025 – Loved by God
Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter
John 21:20-25
Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me.” So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus had not told him that he would not die, just “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours?” It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.
Opening Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to be with you in these moments of silence. Please bless me as I listen for the message you have for me this day.
Encountering Christ:
- How Would You Be Known?: John described himself as the one “whom Jesus loved.” To our ears, it sounds like John was making a bold proclamation, calling attention to himself as the Lord’s favorite. Yet, each of us could say the same about ourselves. We are all individually, personally loved by Jesus. We are all free to place our heads on Jesus’ chest, metaphorically. If we understood the depth of the love Jesus has for us, we would not hesitate to describe ourselves as “the one whom Jesus loves.”
- What about Him?: By asking Jesus, “What about John?” Peter jeopardized his potential for interior peace, according to Linda Dillow, author of Calm My Anxious Heart. “Never compare your lot with another’s,” she said, because comparing is a recipe for discontentedness. This tendency we all have displeases Jesus as well, as we can deduce by his answer to Peter: “What concern is it of yours?” We immediately stymie our progress on the path to holiness when we allow ourselves to be distracted by the success of others. Each of us has a singular, unrepeatable mission, unique gifts, and all the grace we need to succeed. Let us take to heart Jesus’ command to Peter, “Follow me,” and use our energy to accomplish the mission he gave each of us.
- Beware of Misinterpretations: As students of the Master, the disciples must have mulled over Jesus’ words and actions, discussing them and trying to interpret them so that they could one day teach and preach. They may have also occasionally fallen into unhealthy speculation at times, because they misinterpreted Jesus’ comment to Peter, “What if I want him to remain until I come?” assuming that John would live forever. It’s a warning for those of us who spend time with the word, write and preach the truths of Jesus, and pastor others. We are blessed with the Holy Spirit, the rich tradition of the Church, and scholarly works to guide us, but the most reliable way to interpret Scripture for ourselves and others is to approach our responsibility prayerfully, with sincerity, purity of intention, and humility.
Conversing with Christ: Lord, help me to grow in my understanding of your love for me more each day. When I am full of this awesome truth, I am much less inclined to concern myself with how others are doing. Knowing you love me stirs my humility. I am grateful for your revelation through the word. Help me to be a good steward of your message of salvation.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will practice gratitude for the opportunities I have to read your word and share your message of love with others.
Maribeth Harper celebrated paying the last tuition bill for her kids’ college by writing a book for parents who have college-aged young adults: A Spiritual Toolbox: Tips for Parenting through the First Year of College. She is a wife of thirty-five years, mother of four, and grandmother of twelve and counting.
June 8, 2025 – Divine Life
Pentecost Sunday
John 20:19-23
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Opening Prayer: Come, Holy Spirit! Come, fill my heart with your virtues, especially faith, hope, and love. Pour yourself into me so I can pour your love out to others.
Encountering Christ:
- Breath of Life: Pentecost is the birthday of our mother, the Church. The Church began on this very day when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles and Mary. Pentecost is the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Today we hear how the Holy Spirit was breathed into the Church, making it the living body of Christ. Just as God breathed life into Adam (cf. Gen 2:7), Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into the body of the Church. At Pentecost, “a noise like a strong driving wind… filled the entire house in which they were” (Acts 2:2). This wind is associated with the Holy Spirit, the holy breath of God. May we be filled with the breath of life, the Holy Spirit, living and breathing life into us in each moment: “In his hand is the soul of every living thing, and the life breath of all mortal flesh” (Job 12:10).
- Sealed with the Holy Spirit: The same Holy Spirit that the Apostles and Mary received in the upper room is the same Holy Spirit we receive in Baptism. We are sealed with this same Holy Spirit at Confirmation. The Church teaches, “by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed” (CCC 1285). God sealed us with his Spirit for a purpose: to bring his love and mercy to others. The Apostles, and through their succession priests through the ages, received God’s breath and were given the authority to forgive sins and all their priestly duties. The rest of the baptized are called to spread the faith by proclaiming the Gospel and building up Christ’s Kingdom. I can ask myself if I am living up to this call.
- Divinized Vessels: At Pentecost, we can recall that “the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Rom 8:9). The sacraments change us; Christ himself working through them makes us divinized vessels of his presence. By his grace, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (cf. 2 Pet 1:4). The Catechism teaches: “As fire transforms into itself everything it touches, so the Holy Spirit transforms into the divine life whatever is subjected to his power” (CCC 1127). We receive God’s Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation. We receive his Body, Blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist. How could we remain unchanged? This Spirit we have been anointed and sealed with allows us to love and serve others in his name. This love is not our own love, but God’s: “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:5).
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, thank you for filling me with your Holy Spirit. I am in awe that you want to share your divine life with me. Fill me with your love and life so that I am a fruitful servant. Help me to build your Kingdom using the gifts you have given me.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will prayerfully consider how I have lived up to my mission to build your Kingdom, a mission which was sealed in my Confirmation. I will ask how you would like to lead me to spread and defend your Church.
For Further Reflection: Read the short work Deification and Grace by Dr. Daniel A. Keating.
Carey Boyzuck is a wife, mother, freelance writer, and lay member of Regnum Christi. She blogs at Word Life Light.
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