The Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi Territorial Encounter was recently held from December 27th to January 2nd at the Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston, Texas. Nearly 80 Consecrated Women, from 10 communities across the North American territory including the Philippines, gathered together for a profound moment of prayer, reflection, and communion. This annual gathering serves as a pivotal opportunity for the Consecrated Women of the territory to reconnect, rejuvenate, and realign their mission and vision for the upcoming year.
The theme of this year’s territorial encounter was Communities of Apostles Sent Forth as Apostles of Hope, in line with the Jubilee Year of Hope. This guiding theme called the Consecrated Women to reflect on moments of hope within their own consecration, within the consecrated life of their communities, and within the broader communities of apostles in which they serve.
The territorial encounter began with Mass and the opening of the Jubilee Doors at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo presiding. In the midst of the beginning of the jubilee year, this unity with the local Church and with the wider Church and Pope Francis was a profound experience of an inpouring of hope into the hearts of the Consecrated Women present and a highlight of the Encounter.
This year, the Territorial Encounter was visited by Nancy Norhden, General Director of the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, as well as General Councillor, África Pemán, both from Rome. Nancy presented the introductory and concluding conferences of the Encounter, and shared some words of preparation for the territorial assemblies and General Assembly of the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi coming up next year, speaking to the programs, projection, and strategic vision of the Consecrated Women as a global society of apostolic life.
One of the most important elements of the territorial encounter was the opportunity for the individual consecrated communities to come together and share experiences of hope – each community was given time to talk about seeds of hope in their communities and localities. This was a moment for the communities to share their mission with one another, and highlights of hope within their individual localities – where they have seen hope, and where they hope to be hope to the people they serve.
Lisa Small is the communications director for the Consecrated Women in North America, as well as the community director for the Consecrated Women community in Detroit. For Lisa, one of the highlights of the Territorial Encounter was the Holy Hour held on December 31st to conclude the year. During the Holy Hour, Nancy Norhden presented each community with a jubilee candle from Rome, and one by one, each community took their candle up to the altar, where it was passed from one member to the next. “This was a moment when we could pray for each woman individually, and for each community, and send them, with our hearts and intentions, back into the mission to be Christ’s light of hope for the people we serve and the area we live in.”
Besides prayer and reflection, the Encounter also included plenty of time for fellowship, games, and exercise, including a 5k Fun Run (or walk) around the neighbourhood.
But more than any one moment or event, what Lisa appreciated most about the Territorial Encounter was the general experience of joy, communion, peace, and laughter, and witnessing the deep commitment that her fellow Consecrated Women had, to the mission, to the people they are serving, and to the locality in which they live. “I was touched to see them truly being places of hope, and place of communion, hearing of the initiatives that they are involved with in the mission, the steady accompaniment that they are doing with the lay people, their work in their dioceses, the programs of evangelization reaching dozens of parishes,” says Lisa. “I felt very proud to see how much is going on, and where we are as a society of apostolic life here in this territory, which is a much healthier place after the renewal. It’s a place where Consecrated Women are being well-matched to apostolates within the local Church and the local community of Regnum Christi that suit their own desires, skill-sets, expertise, and training. When you get the right combination, there is a flourishing, and I am grateful for that.”
The Society of Apostolic Life “Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi” is an international society of pontifical right, approved by the Holy See and part of the Regnum Christi Federation. Called to a profound intimacy with Christ, and impelled by his love, Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi respond with an exclusive and total dedication to him through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience lived in multicultural communities. They live the same mission of Regnum Christi: to make present the mystery of Christ 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.
To find out more about the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, visit their website at consecratedwomen.org.
