Now and Forever: A Regnum Christi Essay on an Approach to Living Life in Light of Eternity

Thirty-nine years old is too young for a heart attack. I’d done all the right things: healthy diet, regular exercise, no smoking. Heck, I had even run a half-marathon two months before. Yet there I was with 100% blockage in my right coronary artery, nurses bustling about the emergency room attaching wires and nodes to my chest, forcing nitroglycerin tablets under my tongue, asking my pain level, and everywhere beeping instruments warning of imminent end. It was surreal, like a strange, muddled, impossible bad dream. Only when Father Louis de Vaugelas approached my bedside and asked, “Father, do you want to receive absolution?” did the reality set in: I could be dead in a few minutes. “YES!!! I want absolution,” I said, as tears trickled down my face.  If you want to learn how to live life, face death.  It comes for us all, sooner or later. At a day and a time that we cannot know now. My experience in the emergency room on the brink of FOREVER taught me lessons that are changing my life NOW. In the following pages, I’ll share some musings that might move something in you. I hope these reflections help you make life decisions leading to the happiness you were meant for, helping you to live life in light of eternity. 

Have a Question about the Faith? Get the answer here!

Scroll to Top

Ask a Priest a Question

Please note:

Questions regarding details of abuse of minors or vulnerable adults (including pornography) could be the subject of a mandated report to civil authorities. Mandated reporters are persons identified by law who have an obligation to report suspected child abuse and neglect. 

Looking for another country?

RC Near You

News & Resources

News & Resources

The Regnum Christi Mission

The Regnum Christi Identity

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!