life archivos

Linking Liturgy to Life – How a Parish in Houston is going from Maintenance to Mission

February 11, 2019 / APP News Feed

St. Simon and Jude parish in the Woodlands TX (North Houston) takes foot washing very seriously. That’s right. Holy Thursday 2017 the pastor, Fr Pat Garrett, decided he wanted the Holy Thursday foot washing to be more than just symbolic. He invited the people in the pews to spontaneously wash one another’s feet and to also leave their shoes at the altar as an offering to the poor. The result? An extra half-hour of liturgical foot washing and almost 700 pairs of shoes left behind for the poor!

“It was amazing!” said Charlene Alexander, a consecrated woman of Regnum Christi on the pastoral staff. “So many people left their shoes behind and went home barefoot or in the 300 pairs of disposable flip flops that had been donated for this moment. Tears of joy and forgiveness abounded as the foot washing was taking place! Sincere embraces were exchanged after each foot washing…this is what moved me as I observed this most extraordinary moment on that Holy Thursday. I had never seen anything like it.”

It was clearly a Holy Spirit moment. The movement of generosity and desire to live this act was contagious. People of all ages were bringing each other forward and washing one another’s feet and leaving their shoes behind…Did Fr Pat realize beforehand what was going to happen?

He said afterwards: “I wanted the people to have the liturgy tied to a spiritual experience and tied to a missionary outreach. It was prayer, service and mission all in one! I was surprised at just how needed and heartfelt the moment became.”

One could say that Fr Pat has encouraged a way of Christian life in his parish that is discipleship rather than mere catechesis. Sharing the truths of the faith is one way to evangelize, but it’s incomplete by itself. Discipleship is more than just transmitting ideas, it’s sharing a relationship. And this is exactly what happened when liturgy became life. “Attempting to catechize families who have not been evangelized is like planting seeds in concrete. It doesn’t work” added Charlene.

Are they doing it again? This year they are planning a coat drive with similar dynamics. Hopefully it won’t be too cold out as many people are sure to leave their coats at the foot of the altar!

For more information:

– How to Set-up a Holy Week Mission

– More info on Mission Youth Missions here.

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The Love of Christ Impels Us – Kay’s Battle Cry

August 1, 2018 / APP News Feed

A true soldier for Christ passed on from us this June. The thought that comes to directly to mind in regards to her life is “The Love of Christ Impels Us”. It sums up Kay’s life, truly, and could have been her battle cry.

Kay Dodds, a Regnum Christi member in Greenfield, Indiana, was a loving, dynamic person whose beautiful smile and contagious laugh warmed others with her genuineness and gift of hospitality. She took an interest in whoever was in front of her, friend and stranger alike. She was a vibrant woman, a force of nature really, full of faith and love for others. Always full of initiative, she was an entrepreneur, devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and a missionary all her life. She lived a Christ-centered life, and shared that when she was in prayer, she spoke with Christ as if he were sitting next to her—that is how personal her faith was.

Her deep faith and gift for holy boldness caused Kay to be a true apostle. It was her mission to make sure everyone knew about God’s love for them. She was involved, often leading, church ministries, civic services, and apostolates all her life. Kay had a very special gift of encouraging and allowing others to help her in the mission to be an apostle on many levels. It was difficult to tell Kay no when asked to join her to help spread the Kingdom of Christ. She had a way of helping you see that obstacles could be overcome and that the value of the project was well worth the work.

Kay’s trust in God was another wonderful example. When Kay had an idea for a new initiative, she would pray and allow God to open the doors, if it was His will. So many times she could give an account for when she had the need for resources in the form of people, money, or services and they would arrive, just in the right time to allow a project to continue.

Not long after becoming a member of Regnum Christi, she received the inspiration to launch the world-wide apostolate Changing Hearts, inviting all Christian denominations to be partners in it. With its mission of returning the culture to God, and the vision of educating all people about the cultural dilemma of moral issues, Kay worked tirelessly on this new apostolate God had put on her heart. She was well after what could be considered retirement age, too!

Through much work, prayer and fasting of those called to join her, she was truly changing the hearts of many people throughout the world and opening hearts to Christ. Changing Hearts began with a simple bookmark/prayer card in her local area. That prayer card is currently available in six languages, has been distributed at world-wide events, including World Youth Days, and is constantly being tweaked to continue to be relevant which is evident by the use of a website, weekly newsletters, radio shows, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Courage, perseverance, and mission ring out as some of her outstanding virtues. She was an entrepreneur. She was widowed as a young mother with five children. She always lived as an apostle. She battled to recover from a traumatic brain injury later in life. She bravely fought cancer when it was discovered at Stage 4. Nonetheless, she was impelled to continue with an unshakable trust in the Lord and took comfort in the accompaniment of the Blessed Mother. She never seemed to doubt, even in adversity, that God was present and accomplishing His Divine Will. Even in her final months in the midst of chemotheraphy treatments, she dressed up as always and came to Regnum Christi Mornings of Reflection, continued her radio broadcasts for Changing Hearts, and partnered with another organization to take Changing Hearts to the streets with Good Friday Family Missions in downtown Indianapolis. She seemed never to miss an opportunity for serving Christ, even to the last. Kay offered her final months of suffering, which became quite intense, for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and the conversion of families.

Kay’s presence on earth will certainly be missed by those who were blessed to know her, but surely with her joy and love for others, Christ will allow her prayers from heaven to continue to open and change the hearts of many toward Christ.

Kay’s obituary can be found here.

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“Ask a Priest: Would Forgoing Treatment for Cancer Be Suicide?”

April 29, 2016 / Ask a Priest, Moral and Social Issues

Q: Without going into great detail, I have, at this point, most likely a treatable, or manageable, cancer. However, I am so tired of dealing with it, and seeing no hope for my future, with or without the cancer, that I just want to let it take its course. My concern is for my children and my soul. Is it considered suicide to not get treatment? It just seems such a waste of the little assets I have left to try to save a life with such a bleak future. Thank you for your time. -D.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: I am sorry to hear about your cancer. But your lack of desire for life is even more saddening.

It is important, first and foremost, to gauge your life, not in terms of the cancer, but in terms of your identity. You are a beloved son of God. You are a father with children to love. Your life has meaning, even if it has severe difficulties.

From a moral standpoint, we should seek and use any ordinary means to protect our health and sustain our lives. Our lives are a gift, of which we are stewards.

Where care is optional is when it involves extraordinary means. Extraordinary in this sense means something that is overly expensive or something that is such a burden as to make life unbearable — a kind of a prolongation of death rather than a prolongation of life.

Regarding extraordinary means, the Catechism says in its section on euthanasia, in No. 2278:

“Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of ‘over-zealous’ treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.”

(See here for more reading.)

Perhaps what would help is to seek out a spiritual director or priest or solid counselor. It is easy to become discouraged in the face of serious illness. You need someone who can give you perspective and objectivity about your situation. You might be dealing with depression that requires professional attention.

Above all, you need to see meaning in your suffering. You can unite your suffering with that of Christ on the cross. This is how suffering takes on a redemptive quality. We can suffer more easily when we see a reason for it. This is what Jesus did on the cross: He showed that suffering can have meaning and that it can help others. Perhaps you can offer up your cancer for your children, that they all make it to heaven.

For more reading you might find Peter Kreeft’s Making Sense Out of Suffering helpful.

You might also consider looking at a few of our online Retreat Guides, such as “Troubled Hearts”.

Also, “A Mother’s Tears” has a whole conference on the meaning of suffering and of “offering up” our sorrows.

I hope some of this helps. Count on being included in one of my Mass intentions.

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life

Linking Liturgy to Life – How a Parish in Houston is going from Maintenance to Mission

The Love of Christ Impels Us – Kay’s Battle Cry

“Ask a Priest: Would Forgoing Treatment for Cancer Be Suicide?”

Alex Kucera

Atlanta