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
Fr. Steven Reilly, LC was ordained in 1994. He has served in the Legionaries of Christ General Directorate and held positions such as vocation director and apostolate coordinator in the Legionaries of Christ North American Territorial Directorate. From 1996 to 2003, he was the superior of the Legionaries of Christ in Dallas, Texas, and director of formation at The Highlands School. In 2003, he was assigned to the Legionaries of Christ’s center in Potomac, Maryland, and served as vice-rector. Among the apostolic positions he held were chaplain of Woodmont Academy, the executive director of the Center for Family Development in Crownsville, Maryland, and director of Regnum Christi in Baltimore. From 2008 to 2019, Fr. Steven was the Legionaries of Christ safe environment coordinator, and after receiving a master’s degree in social work from Fordham University in 2013, he was named superior of the Legionaries of Christ community in New York, where he also served as the spiritual advisor to the Clergy Consultation and Treatment Service at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Harrison. On March 30, 2020, he was named to the North American Territorial Council for the Legionaries of Christ and re-appointed for a second term of three years on March 21, 2023. His second term began on July 1, 2023. He currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he serves as the community superior.
Fr. Jorge Martínez, LC was born in Veracruz, Mexico, and was ordained in 2014. While in formation, he worked with young adults and the youth section in Monterrey and Leon, Mexico; then he became administrator of the seminary (CES) in Rome. In the summer of 2015, he was assigned to Los Angeles to work at Guadalupe Radio, and arrived in Houston in 2017. Since then, he has supported the adult sections, run a formation program for married couples, and served as the pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish. He has also worked apostolically in Germany, New York, Spain and the Netherlands.
Br. Juan Manuel Pantoja is from Michoacán, Mexico, and when he was a child, he used to play “Mass” with his sister, using cookies and grape juice for the hosts and wine. At 12 years old, he became involved in the charismatic renewal, where he encountered Jesus in a more personal and intimate way. While Br. Juan was studying business administration and working in wealth banking, he felt God calling him, and at a leadership retreat, he heard God speak deeply to his heart. He joined the novitiate in Monterrey, Mexico, and today he is at the LC novitiate in Cheshire, Connecticut, where he is a first-year humanist.
Luly Fernández is from Monterrey, Mexico and was consecrated in 1993. Since then, she has served in a large variety of apostolates in several different fields. Luly has obtained a master’s degree in guidance and counseling and a doctorate in education. She served many years as director of Mater Ecclesiae College, and then in 2011, Luly served as Territorial Director for New York for one year, before heading to Rome to serve as General Counselor until 2014. She then became vice director of Le Chatelard Academy, an international boarding school in Switzerland, until 2021. Currently, Luly is serving in Washington, DC, with women and married couples. Luly also serves as a board member at Divine Mercy University.
Mariana Ortega is originally from Guadalajara, Mexico. She was consecrated in 1999 in Greenville, Rhode Island, following her missionary years at Overbrook Academy. In 2003, she began her ministry with young people, serving for six years at Woodlands Academy in Ireland, followed by ten years in RC Schools in Mexico City and three years at Le Châtelard Academy in Switzerland. Since 2022, Mariana has been serving in Detroit, where she accompanies and works closely with Hispanic women, supporting them in their personal and spiritual growth.
Fr. Michael Vanderbeek, LC was ordained in 2010. Throughout his ministry, Fr. Michael has had a heart for working with young people. His first six years as a priest were spent as the chaplain of Northwoods Catholic School in Spring, Texas, after which he dedicated six years to the national ECYD youth team, and then served as chaplain at Everest Academy in Lemont, Illinois.
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.
