Regnum Christi organized missions in many countries around the world during Holy Week. There are so many stories we can’t cover all of them, so here is a highlight reel of what happened in different countries. Since starting in 1993 in Mexico, Mission Youth and Family Missions have reached 7,800,000 households, with 191,900 young people and 16,000 families volunteering.
Colombia
In Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, 2,364 missionaries helped 24,301 people during Holy Week.
Ricardo Vallejo of Medellín, Colombia, spoke about his family mission experience: “The most beautiful thing about family missions is that it is an experience in which everyone can participate. Children become friends with local children, those who know how to speak, preach and those who do not dare to speak help organize the activities, those who are more intrepid go to the last house … but everyone can do something and, most importantly, all bear witness to Christ, even if only by their presence.”
Venezuela
Yuliana Ortiz spoke of her experience with Mission Youth from Barquisimeto, Venezuela: “The missions were … the most beautiful opportunity that God gave me for Him to enter my heart. It has been wonderful to answer His call with a ‘YES,’ because through these experiences we recharge the necessary fuel for our hearts: we increase our faith and fill ourselves with love. … Once the missions are over, we can be a ray of light in the midst of a society living darkness. Without a doubt, nothing is more rewarding than leaving your comfort zone to give yourself to others.”
Spain
Across Spain, 960 missionaries helped in 28 parishes over Holy Week.
Gabriel López spoke of the missions as a sign of contradiction: “Humanly, [missions] are not possible to understand: we slept on the floor, the showers were freezing … everything was rather uncomfortable. And, nevertheless, what a gift! The simplicity shared with the other young people, eating with the families who opened their houses, giving the best of ourselves in whatever conditions, filled us all and brought out the best in each one.”
Samantha Rivera from Venezuela now lives in Madrid and had a special experience of Holy Week missions in a parish right on the Camino de Santiago (Path of St. James) pilgrimage route. “It was a different [kind of] Holy Week, where the grace of God became evident. I can reaffirm that the Camino de Santiago is a special place to experience God’s presence. Most pilgrims who decide to walk do so as an ‘escape’ or ‘response’ to some situation they are experiencing in their lives; others do it for sport or tourism. Whatever the reason, they all get an experience that goes beyond what they could imagine. … I am very grateful for the grace of being part of this plan of God, and I am convinced that God is evident, because He needs us to shout to the world that all can be happy, but that we can only be happy with Him in our heart.”
Chile
During his recent visit to Chile, Pope Francis called for people to be missionaries. In that country, 1,500 people responded to this call through Holy Week missions.
Fr. Gastón Vicuña, LC, was chaplain for young men and teens in ECYD who were missionaries, and shared their joint experience: “We had wonderful experiences, because the guys who participate really become missionaries. The Holy Week missions were short but intense! All the celebrations of the Passion of the Lord were lived well. … The teens who went to the missions had strong experiences, either because of a closer encounter with God or from the reality of the poor in the countryside, which helped them a lot when they returned to their daily lives. It was a positive experience that many will repeat and invite their friends to participate in. It was an experience that helped them grow in their faith, where they had opportunities to talk about their faith, sometimes with people of other faiths who helped them to consider issues they never would have thought about in their day-to-day life.”
Pilar Alemparte, a young woman with Mission Youth, shared her experience in Marchigüe: “Holy Week was approaching, and I thought about what I would do. I thought about everything Jesus did for me, everything He gave me, and I did not know how to thank Him. After a while, I realized that the best way to thank Him was to share everything I have with others. Because of that, and because of the extraordinary experience of last year’s missions, I realized that I cannot sit idly by when so many people need help, and that I could not let this opportunity pass. … Going to missions is an unforgettable experience, where every day I learned something new—a new teaching, a new experience, but especially each day I saw more of God in my neighbor.”
Mexico
Holy Week missions began in Mexico, where they bring out the largest contingent. Mexico had 9,312 missionaries in 2018.
In Cancun, Mission Youth prepared the Stations of the Cross along the beach, with more than 250 actors participating. This was the highlight of missions in the Prelature of Cancun-Chetumal overseen by the Legionaries, where both urban and rural missions took place.
Seventy-seven young men from Toluca went up into 26 rural villages near Chiconcuautla, Puebla, where there is alarming poverty, violence, vice, and syncretic religious practice. They have been visiting the same towns for three years, and now a change can be seen from this work. Along with the young men, 40 young women in ECYD also went on mission from Toluca-Metepec to other towns.
A strong contingent came from Guadalajara. At the closing Mass there, Fr. Luis Rodrigo Núñez, LC, reflected, “I would like to be a mystic to understand the heart of Christ and be able to tell them how He feels when He sees that His sacrifice on the cross was not lost but continues to come through us to more and more souls. I would like to share with Him how it feels to see that the doors of hearts were opened.”
If you want more images, every single link in the article has photos of these missions. You can find out about upcoming missions, in the USA and internationally, at www.missionyouth.com.
