Rome, November 24, 2019
Solemnity of Christ the King
To the members of Regnum Christi
Dear friends in Jesus Christ,
In this current moment of our history, while we are preparing to celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King for the first time since the Statutes of the Regnum Christi Federation (SRCF) went into effect, we greet you and your families and we thank God for the gift of his life and apostolate in Regnum Christi, where we seek to be “witnesses to the love of Jesus Christ by the unity and charity among us” (SFRC 6).
The Gospel of the day (Luke 23:35-43) presents our Lord crucified and explains the reason for this death sentence: Jesus affirms that he is “The King of the Jews.” We see a mob that mocks him and the good thief who, recognizing the lordship of Christ and asking to be admitted to his Kingdom, finds salvation and becomes an apostle with the testimony of his faith. In this passage we discover the great love of Christ, who seeks and saves all who are willing to welcome him.
For us in particular, it is an invitation to look at the most essential part of our life and mission: God’s personal call to each one of us, and to the entire spiritual family, to make present the mystery of Christ the Apostle “who goes out to people, reveals the love of his heart to them, gathers them together and forms them as apostles and Christian leaders, sends them out and accompanies them as they collaborate in the evangelization of people and of society” (SRCF 8).
In fact, the entire Gospel is full of profound and transformative encounters between God and man. Therefore, we must continually immerse ourselves in the Word of God to encounter the living Christ, who calls us to experience his personal love and sends us out to share this experience, accompanying us every day until the end of our lives.
Regular contact with the Word of God will make it easier for us to see all the events of our own lives in light of the mystery of Christ the Apostle. In fact, we believe that this period of our history is an opportune moment to rediscover, with renewed joy and gratitude, how God has also come to meet us through many situations and circumstances, through men and women in whom he has shown us his love, and how he has gathered us together in his Church and Regnum Christi.
We can say, without any doubt, that our spirituality is born from the experience of the love of Christ and that “we seek to respond to our Friend and Lord with a personal, real, passionate, and faithful love” (SRCF 12), clothing ourselves in him “in our hearts and in our works, so he reigns in our lives” (SRCF 13). Therefore, the Solemnity of Christ the King is a great opportunity to renew our desire and commitment to allow Christ to live in us (see Galatians 2:20), so that he can reawaken the mystery of his life in our lives, and that in us and through us he may go out to meet many people, tell them how much he loves them, call them, form them as apostles, and send them out to evangelize as well, so that “he reigns in the hearts of all people and society” (SRCF 13).
All Regnum Christi members “share a common spirituality and mission, that each one lives according to his own specific identity and vocation” (SRCF 6). Belonging to Regnum Christi – which the lay members seal through their association, as described in the Rule of Life of the Lay Faithful Associated to the Regnum Christi Federation (RL), and the Legionaries, consecrated women and consecrated men through the profession of their vows – consists in consciously accepting the baptismal vocation to holiness and the apostolate (see RL16) and in following the path that God, in his infinite and provident love, has thought of for each one of us. In this way, we grow in friendship with Christ. We live the evangelical virtues of poverty, filial obedience, and purity in thoughts and actions; we perform the duties of each state of life with love; we offer our talents to collaborate in the mission of Regnum Christi in the service of the Church, etc. (see RL 17).
To continue to deeply live this mystery of Christ the Apostle in the world, we will all renew our Regnum Christi commitments together on the Solemnity of Christ the King, using the text of the new rite. In the Eucharistic celebration, the prayers of the faithful based on the Statutes (which are found in the Rite of Association) can also be used.
In the coming weeks we will offer you the following resources for your personal reading and meditation, and for reflection as a team or community: a document and an animated video-infographic on The Identity of Regnum Christi According to the Statutes, and a video entitled Live the Mystery. These materials are part of a broader initiative to go deeper into the identity of Regnum Christi according to the Statutes, as a complement to what is already taking place in several territories. They were prepared by the General Directorate’s area of life and mission, with the collaboration of members of the different vocations of Regnum Christi, and all of the territories. We hope you will find them very helpful as you grow in the knowledge and experience of our charism.
We end by assuring you of our prayers, and asking for yours for the General Chapter and the General Assemblies that will take place at the beginning of the year 2020,
Fr. Eduardo Robles-Gil, L.C. Gloria Rodríguez Díaz Dr. Jorge López González
General Directive College
