prayer

Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Ask a Priest

“Ask a Priest: Is Willful Distraction During Prayer a Serious Sin?”

Q: Is willful distraction during prayer grave matter? I sat down to pray the rosary with a podcast and was going to put my watch in the charger and noticed that I needed to walk around for a minute (fitness rings on Apple Watch). Since I often pray while walking around the neighborhood, I didn’t think this would be a distraction. But it turned into one, and instead of just forcing myself to go sit down, I finished the minute and started the rosary over from the top. Now obviously I consented to the distraction, and that is disrespectful to God and Mary so it was sinful. I struggle with scrupulosity due to the fact that while living a bad Catholic life, I actually thought I was living my faith appropriately. I never had a properly formed conscience, and I don’t trust it when it says, “You are probably OK,” because history has proven that false. So here I am, one and a half hours before Sunday Mass and I don’t think I can go to communion because I am stupid and cared about my stupid watch. I don’t want to fall into a lax conscience situation, but neither do I want to abuse the sacrament of confession by being in there every other day, since venial sins are forgiven in communion. – S.R.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: Distractions in prayer are common. Willful distractions, as you say, aren’t very respectful of God.

Nevertheless, unless there was special malice in your intention, it doesn’t seem like a grave sin in this case. If, on the other hand, you habitually give in to distractions to the point of neglecting prayer altogether, that could be a serious fault.

Prayer, like the spiritual life in general, can be a battle. One way we progress is to recognize the potential pitfalls in our life, and to adjust accordingly.

In this case, if you know the phone will be a distraction, consider leaving it in another room when you pray.

It might also be good to step back and see how you can detox from phones and smart watches and media, etc., during the day. Constant exposure to screens and images can cripple our interior life and sense of recollection, and make prayer much more difficult.

At a deeper level, it would be good to find a regular confessor who can help you deal with any tendencies toward scrupulosity.

Going to the same confessor who knows about your struggles with scrupulosity helps him to teach you basic rules and principles for evaluating these situations, and he will hold you accountable to them. He might also help you identify whether something psychological needs to be addressed too.

You mention that you previously didn’t have a properly formed conscience. One way to form your conscience is with a steady diet of solid Catholic books.

This can range from the Catholic Bible (especially the Gospels), to the Catechism (and its Compendium), to books on the spiritual life (see this list, for instance).

And when you have a genuine fall, don’t despair. Get up, seek forgiveness, and move forward.

God wants you to be a saint – and you can become one with his grace.

Keep learning more with Ask a Priest

Got a question? Need an answer?

Today’s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type your question HERE, and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything – liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events… Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question…

“Ask a Priest: Is Willful Distraction During Prayer a Serious Sin?” Read More »

Pilgrimage to the Museum: Man’s Search for God through Art and Time

Stephen Auth has always had a deep interest in art and the search for beauty. While an undergraduate majoring in history and economics at Princeton, Steve jumped at the opportunity to take as many art history classes as the university had to offer. For the next forty years, Steve’s investment business took him all over the world, and on his travels, one of the first things he did in any city he landed was to visit the art museums. On occasional Friday nights, he and his wife, Evelyn, gave tours of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to friends who were visiting them in New York City.

In 2002, Steve experienced a serious health event, and received a visit from Fr. John Connor, LC. Upon receiving the Sacrament of the Sick and speaking with Fr. John, Steve resolved that if he survived, he would refocus the use of his talents for the glory of God. It was during one of his and Evelyn’s tours of the MET that Steve began to understand one of the ways in which God was calling him to redirect his talents toward the good of the Church. Standing before a painting by Rembrandt called “The Toilet of Bathsheba,” which Steve had seen many times before, he suddenly saw the piece with a new perspective, with the eyes of faith. For Steve, it was like a light came on, and he and Evelyn began to reapproach the art with which they had become so familiar over the years with this new spiritual perspective, one that posits that all artists, in striving for beauty, are, ultimately, seeking God.

In 2010, Steve and Evelyn reconfigured their MET tour, and enlisted Fr. Shawn Aaron, LC, to help. “When we redid the entire tour with the presumption that all of us are seeking God, a gripping narrative began to emerge over 5000 years, a salvation history,” says Steve. “The tour then became a pilgrimage, a journey of pursuing God through beauty, and in the moments where you begin to see the artist come close to finding God, and the moments when the artist loses him, you’re feeling your own self being pulled toward God.”

Soon, Steve and Evelyn were giving several MET tours a year, and the list of those wishing to join in was getting longer. Friends began urging the couple to convert their unique pilgrimage experience to the form of a book so that more people could take advantage of this tour through history and through art. When the pandemic provided Steve with unexpected free time in his social calendar, he did just that, and his book Pilgrimage Through the Museum: Man’s Search for God Through Art and Time has recently been published by Sophia Institute Press.

Pilgrimage Through the Museum is a spiritual tour through the MET, working from the presumption that all art is a search for the creator, who is beauty itself. The tour travels from Ancient Egypt, through Greece and Rome and Medieval Europe, to the rise of atheism in the early 1800s and beyond, exploring the common themes that start to emerge through 5000 years of history. Above all, the book is a story of humankind’s search for the creator of beauty, and what happens when we lose track of the very thing that we are seeking.

But for Steve, the MET tours, the book, and the art itself, provides more than a history or a narrative to passively observe – art can also be a means of evangelization, through which true conversion can take place. And Steve is no stranger to evangelization; he is the author of The Missionary of Wall Street: From Managing Money to Saving Souls on the Streets of New York, which tells the story of his radical mission of evangelization in downtown Manhattan. For Steve, Pilgrimage Through the Museum, and art itself, is just another way to bring others into an encounter with God’s love and mercy:

“Art is a form of evangelization for a culture that doesn’t want to talk about God. It’s a lighter approach, a common ground to meet people at, because everyone appreciates art, everyone appreciates beauty. The book itself is a form of evangelization, a gentle invitation to think about what the art is really about, which is God, and our search for him through beauty.”

Steve has spent his career on Wall Street, and has worked for Federated Investors for over 20 years; he currently serves as executive vice president and a chief investment officer of Federated Global Equities. As well, both Steve and Evelyn are deeply involved in their Regnum Christi vocation. Steve is on the board of Lumen Institute, and was instrumental in starting Lumen teams in Manhattan, New Jersey, and Naples, Florida. Evelyn is on the Board of Directors at both Divine Mercy University and Catholic World Mission. They have also participated in missions in Mexico, and have led the New York City street mission for 10 years.

Steve and Evelyn will be touring the country speaking about Pilgrimage Through the Museum: to schedule a book signing or a talk on art and spirituality in your section, contact Mary Soressi at [email protected]. You can order Pilgrimage to the Museum, for yourself or as a Regnum Christi team book study, as well as Steve’s first book Missionary of Wall Street, through Sophia Press Institute. Pilgrimage Through the Museum is also available to purchase at the MET gift shop. The book is co-authored by Evelyn Auth and Fr. Shawn Aaron, LC, and all author proceeds of the book go towards the formation of Legionary priests at the seminary in Cheshire, Connecticut.

Pilgrimage to the Museum: Man’s Search for God through Art and Time Read More »

On the “Camino de Jésus” Pilgrims Encounter the Living God

Fr. Arturo Díaz, LC organizes the “Camino de Jésus,” or in English, the “Way of Jesus” every year, a pilgrimage through the Holy Land that passes through the principal sites where Jesus preached, beginning in Cana of Galilee and ending in Jerusalem. This year, the pilgrimage will begin Sunday, April 3rd and will end on Monday of Holy Week April 11th. María Linares from Spain has made this pilgrimage on several occasions and wanted to share her experience in order to make know this initiative. In her testimony she tells us that she was able to discover “a living God” in the Holy Land.

Although with time Maria has discovered that God is in the tabernacle, in adoration, living next door, “you can’t forget your first love.” For her, the Way of Jesus contains “all the ingredients to produce this profound encounter.” “It is a group of people, some of whom you know and others that you see for the first time, who come together to walk the same paths and places where Jesus walked, with boots and a backpack with everything you need. And accompanied by Fr. Arturo Diaz, LC,” she explained.

For Maria, the scene could not be better – the lake of Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee, the desert, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth. Although they are places that you have heard of your whole life and where you know that Jesus lived, when you live “a mass in the middle of the desert or on a boat in the midst of the lake, when you see the sunrise during a meditation on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, when you have adoration in Nazareth or when you confess your sins and your sins are forgiven by the mercy of God,” there is nothing left to do but “fall to your knees at his feet.”

She has also been able to see this same experience with other people who have accompanied her on this pilgrimage. “Through them I saw that God was became more and more alive, and I could see how God acted in each one of them,” she explained. Maria especially remembers one pilgrim who didn’t want to go on the trip and that, after two days on the pilgrimage, everyone witnessed the miracle that took place in his life and the radical change that occurred: “I was a witness with my own eyes what God was able to do. It’s something that I return to every time my faith becomes weak,” she said.

“I think that every Christian should have the opportunity to travel to the Holy Land. I would almost say they have the duty, if they can, to seek out this opportunity,” she pointed out in her testimony. On this Way, Maria has recognized that “you live the land, you walk on it and feel it with Jesus. Though it’s possible not to visit all the holy places, the ones that you do, you live intensely.

For Maria, the high point of this way was arriving to Jerusalem.  “It is incredible to arrive singing, ‘Our feet are crossing your threshold, Jerusalem,’ and to have the chance to spend a few hours in the Holy Sepulchre alone with just a small group of people,” she said. It is also a privilege to stand quietly in the empty tomb, the place where they laid the body of Jesus. “It is amazing to be aware that it really is empty, because he truly rose and is alive!”

Translated from Spanish Original

 

On the “Camino de Jésus” Pilgrims Encounter the Living God Read More »

“The Word of God is Living and Active”: When Motherhood, Faith, and Fitness Intertwine

For Kristen LeCompte, motherhood and fitness go hand in hand. She’s both a stay-at-home mom and a part-time fitness instructor, and has been working with a fitness program called Fit4mom, a program that supports wellness in women throughout all stages of motherhood, since her oldest daughter was born. But when she signed up to run the Boston Marathon in October of last year, she didn’t know she’d be doing it seven months pregnant!

Kristen’s decision to run the Boston Marathon actually started to take shape back in 2015. She had had high hopes for herself during her first qualifier, but ended up needing to walk most of the race, encouraged along the way by Fr. Edward Hopkins, LC, who ran the half-marathon, and Fr. Michael Sliney, LC, an avid marathoner. This first marathon experience led Kristen to take time to understand and attain the physical and mental fitness she would need to achieve the goal time at the Boston qualification race

In 2018 in Hartford, Connecticut, Kristen made the time and was set to run the Boston Marathon on April 20, 2020. When the COVID pandemic arrived it cancelled, among so many other things, the race for which Kristen had worked so hard to qualify.

When the opportunity finally arrived for Kristen to run the Boston Marathon in October of 2021, she did not hesitate to apply. A week later, she found out she was pregnant with her fourth baby! Kristen knew that this meant that she would be attempting to run the marathon 28 weeks pregnant, just into her third trimester, but this only made her desire to complete the marathon even stronger. “I knew this would take faith and would be more than just running a marathon,” says Kristen. “It would become a pilgrimage of sorts.”

Kristen’s resolve to run the race seven months pregnant didn’t stave off all uncertainty; several months before the race, during one of her longer runs, Kristen had a moment of doubt “I started asking myself ‘why am I doing all of this, what’s the point?’” She was still early in her pregnancy, and she knew that the runs would only get longer and harder as her baby grew and the race drew nearer. But a supernatural motivation urged her on:

“I had this moment of light about doing this for all those expectant mothers struggling with the reality of having a child. Unfortunately, many women today make the heartbreaking decision of abortion, and I wanted to embrace the challenge of the marathon as a sign that we can do really difficult things as moms and expecting mothers. And I wanted to offer up all my pain and sacrifice for all those expecting moms who were struggling with this very decision.”

On the day of the race, Kristen felt physically ready and spiritually supported by her faith and her Regnum Christi family. On the Sunday before race day, the group attended a runners’ Mass with other Catholics who would be participating in the marathon the following day, and received a special blessing. Katie Tuttle, a Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi, and Fr. Daniel Pajerski, LC, who concelebrated the runners’ Mass, also ran in the marathon the next day.

“The day of the race was very beautiful,” recalls Kristen. “Obviously, being seven months pregnant, it was not my fastest marathon, but in a sense, it was the most meaningful.” Kristen was able to run the first half before run-walking the last 12.1 miles. At the half-way mark, Kristen’s husband, Brenner, and their three children surprised her by being there and running a little of the way with her!

However, the most emotional part of the race for Kristen came when she ran past Boston Children’s Hospital. One year prior, her teenage nephew had passed away, and it was at Boston Children’s Hospital that he had undergone open heart surgery as a toddler. “Knowing that he had been there, that many other kids like him are battling there, and that so many parents like my brother and sister-in-law have to be so strong as they go through these truly life changing challenges motivated me to press on.”

After training for seven months and running the Boston Marathon with her unborn baby, Kirsten couldn’t wait to meet her! Seraphina Grace was born on January 8th, 2022, and fits in perfectly with her three siblings, Mariella (9), Brenner (7), and Juliette (4). Seraphina is named after the fiery choir of angels devoted to worshipping God.

Kirsten’s first experience with Regnum Christi was at Loyola University Maryland where she went to college. She participated in the door-to-door missions in Washington, D.C., and the Regnum Christi spirit of an active, moving mission continues to resonate with her. “I think the reason why I have always found my spiritual home in Regnum Christi is because I always like to be on the move, active, pushing forward,” says Kristen, who sees her vocation to Regnum Christi as deeply connected to her joy in running. “One of my favorite Bible verses is Hebrews 4:12, ‘The Word of God is living and active.’ I think often about this verse when running, and it reminds me of who I am called to be as an RC apostle. I consider my RC vocation and my fitness to be intimately intertwined.”

Kirsten lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut and is part of the New York TriState Regnum Christi locality. She and her husband currently help run the Challenge and Conquest clubs that their children attend at their local parish. She is grateful for her Regnum Christi brothers and sisters who were praying for her throughout her pregnancy and training, and for the tremendous example of living an active, moving mission that they have provided her and her family over the years.

 

“The Word of God is Living and Active”: When Motherhood, Faith, and Fitness Intertwine Read More »

Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Ask a Priest

“Ask a Priest: How to Love God With All One’s Heart?”

Q: How do I love and serve God with all my heart and soul? – D.H.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: Great question! It is a notable ideal to love and serve God with all your heart and soul.

Mark 10:17-21 touches on this very question:

“As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus answered him, ‘[…] You know the commandments: ”You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.”’ He replied and said to him, ‘Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, ‘You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’”

If you already are praying daily, receiving the sacraments frequently (or relatively frequently during the pandemic), and doing acts of charity, and you still feel called to something deeper, you might consider whether God is calling you to dedicate your whole life to him and his Church.

It might help to find a regular confessor and/or spiritual director who could guide you. You might even consider contacting the diocesan vocation director for feedback.

A book you might find useful is 60 Days to Becoming a Missionary Disciple. The first 30 days are dedicated to understanding how to follow the great commandment to “love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” The second 30 days are dedicated to understanding how best to follow the other great commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Whatever you do, try to keep up the prayer life. And make visits to the Blessed Sacrament when you have the chance. With time and prayer, you will sense where God is guiding you.

Keep learning more with Ask a Priest

Got a question? Need an answer?

Today’s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type your question HERE and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything – liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events… Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question…

“Ask a Priest: How to Love God With All One’s Heart?” Read More »

The Path to Joy: A New Book to Help Us Navigate the Stages of Faith

Tom Clements’ spiritual journey has been a circuitous one, with a few speed bumps and detours along the way. As a cradle Catholic, he went from being an altar boy and daily communicant to spending several years searching for joy and fulfillment in a non-denominational faith. Not finding the fulfillment he was seeking, Tom returned to the Catholic Church, where he has spent decades deepening his faith and his relationship with God.

Having experienced his own winding journey of faith, Tom has recently written a book called The Path to Joy: Navigating the Stages of Faith. This newly published book maps the faith journey in clear and practical steps, from Stage One (I Believe in God) to the ultimate stage (Union with God). Along the way, Tom provides humor and examples of his own successes and setbacks throughout his own walk to joy.

Tom was inspired not only from his own faith journey, but by his career in software – Tom started one of the first Intranet companies in the United States, selling it in 1999, and it is this experience and expertise in problem-solving and processing that he brings to The Path to Joy. “I think our world today is interested in process – you can watch a YouTube video on how to fix something, you can do a google search to understand how a machine works, or how to get from point A to point B,” says Tom. “I’m process-oriented, and sometimes when I read the mystics, they were too mystical! My intent in writing this book was to provide a plan and a process to understanding our faith continuum, and how to grow in faith.” 

This process-oriented approach was particularly helpful to Tom not only in examining his own faith journey, but also when inviting others to encounter Christ. “I knew you were supposed to meet people where they’re at, but how do we know where they are? I needed to find out where people were on their journey so that when they asked questions, I could appropriately respond.” The book offers answers to both questions: “What are the stages that I have taken in my faith journey, and where do I go next?” and “How do I work with others to help them grow closer to Christ?”

In writing The Path to Joy, Tom wanted to help people to understand where they (and others they may encounter) are in their faith process, in a way that is easy to read and easy to understand. Reflection questions at the end of each chapter (“Are you searching to know God better?”, “Are you fearful about what others think about you?”, “Do you admit when you are wrong?”) help readers process the information on complex spiritual matters in a simple, personal and practical way.

One of the main themes of Tom’s book is the virtue of joy through gratitude. Tom had spent much of his life seeking satisfaction in achievement and success, but it wasn’t until he turned to God in humble gratitude that he finally found the joy and fulfillment he had been seeking. In the first stage of the book’s journey, Tom invites readers to list 100 things for which they are grateful, and examine what they have personally done to deserve those 100 things, how those gifts have allowed to them to realize some success, and to whom do they feel truly grateful, and he returns to this theme of joy through gratitude throughout the book.

Since Tom sold his software company in 1999, he has been busy: he started Southern Catholic College, the first Catholic College in Georgia, in 2001; he spearheaded the founding and construction of a residential Catholic high school in Ghana with his wife; and he has spent the last 20 years of his life in non-profits, including serving on the advisory board for Regnum Christi. But for Tom, his greatest accomplishment is bringing joy – and Christ – to the people he encounters every day. “What God has called me to do right now is to be Christ to the person in front of me, to be a joyful person, to see the good in others, to encourage others, and have them feel some of that joy,” says Tom. “If this book just touches one person, changes one person, what a gift that would be.”

Tom is a member of the Atlanta Regnum Christi section. He currently serves on the advisory board for the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, and is Chairman of the Board of Catholic Worldview Fellowship, an apostolate directed by Father Ryan Richardson, LC. To find out more about Tom’s book The Path to Joy: Navigating the Stages of Faith, and his practical and process-oriented approach to the spiritual life, visit his website at thepath2joy.com, or purchase the book on Amazon. To contact Tom for more information or to book him as a speaker for your event, email [email protected].

The Path to Joy: A New Book to Help Us Navigate the Stages of Faith Read More »

ECYD 101: Meeting the Rest of the Family

Learn About the Younger Members of the Regnum Christi Family

ECYD 101: Meeting the Rest of the Family is a six-episode video series designed to introduce ECYD to Regnum Christi members and show them how the Regnum Christi charism is lived out in the younger members of the spiritual family. Discover the contents of ECYD statutes through the eyes of the ECYD adolescents and deepen in your understanding and love of the charism and God’s plan for the spiritual family. Episode Guide:

  1. ECYD Identity and Belonging
  2. ECYD History
  3. ECYD Mission
  4. ECYD Spirituality
  5. Life in ECYD
  6. The Spiritual Family and Bridging the Gap

GO TO THE COURSE PAGE ON TEACHABLE

ECYD 101: Meeting the Rest of the Family Read More »

New Book Explores the Richness of the Kingdom of Christ

After a Theology Congress organized in 2015 by the Theology Faculty of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum in Rome, a group of Regnum Christi Members including Fr. Pedro Barrajón, LC; Fr. Nicolas Bossu, LC; Fr. Andrew Dalton, LC; Fr. Nikola Derpich, LC; Mauro Gagliardi; Fr. David Koonce, LC; Emilio Martínez Albesa; Matteo Monfrinotti; Fr. José Enrique Oyarzún, LC; Fr. Devin Roza, LC; Angela Tagliafico; Laurent Touze; Fr. Cristobal Vilarroig, LC; and George Woodall came together to contribute to this work which explores the Kingdom of Christ in a deep and well-rounded way. The goal of the congress was a more profound understanding, biblically, theologically, and historically, of the Kingdom of Christ, to prepare for the Jubilee year of the 75th anniversary of the Legionaries of Christ in 2016, a religious congregation that forms part of the Regnum Christi Federation.

In these pages you will find studies on topics such as the history of the Feast of Christ the King in the 20th century, the devotion to Christ the King of the Spanish and Mexican martyrs of the 20th Century, the Kingdom of God and of Christ in Sacred Scripture, the relationship between the Church and the Kingdom of Christ, the meanings, symbols, and prefigurations of that Kingdom, the thought of Justin Martyr and Origen on the Kingship of Christ, the extension of the Kingdom of Christ as the goal of all apostolate, Christological aspects of the royalty of Christ, eschatological aspects of the Kingdom of Christ, Christ as King and his Kingdom in the thought of Sts. Teresa of Jesus and John of the Cross, and the relationship between the Kingdom of Christ and the social doctrine of the Church.

The Kingdom of Christ: History, Theology, Life is for sale in paperback and digital format on Amazon, as well as the Spanish edition, El Reino de Cristo: Historia, Teología, Vida.

New Book Explores the Richness of the Kingdom of Christ Read More »

Art and Contemplation: Awakening the Contemplative Gaze to the Beauty of God

As a young woman, Gaetane Auger, a Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi, knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life: she planned to attend L’École des Arts Décoratifs, a renowned art school in Paris, and spend her life as a professional artist living in Paris.

But God had other plans.

In 2002, Gaetane served a year as an RC Missionary during which time she continually felt a call to a life dedicated not to art as she had always planned, but to the service of others. “I was trying to convince God during my missionary year that it was really important for me to go back and study, and that I would be able to evangelize my friend group,” says Gaetane, “but it was during a conversation with one of my friends that God’s plans were made clear to me. She was describing this life we had been dreaming of – how we were going to be artists living in Paris, having our own studio, how life would be. And I suddenly realized that I couldn’t imagine my life if it wasn’t to be given to others. That’s when I realized that my call to consecrated life was stronger than my call to painting.”

In fact, in saying ‘yes’ to the consecrated life, Gaetane was fully prepared to give up painting altogether. One day in prayer, upon reading Christ’s words to Peter “Do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15), Gaetane felt moved to detach completely from her previous dreams of becoming an artist and, although it was difficult, made the decision to give away all her art supplies. Again, God had other plans for Gaetane.

Throughout her consecrated life, Gaetane never lost her passion for painting. When she was on missions abroad, she used whatever materials she could find to attempt to capture the beauty around her; on her first to mission to Chile, she painted the views of lakes and volcanoes, the people on their bikes and the colorful ponchos, on scraps of papers and cardboard that she had on hand. Then, while working in a particularly intense apostolate in 2017, Gaetane felt the desire – and the need – to paint. “I needed an outlet, so painting became something that helped me,” says Gaetane. For this reason, she always tries to take time out of her busy schedule – she is the Community Director for the consecrated women in Atlanta and is in charge of Family Life for Pinecrest Academy in Cumming, Georgia, and recently started helping with Lumen Institute – to paint. Indeed, for Gaetane, painting is much more than simply a hobby – rather, it is an act of contemplation. And when she takes time to paint, usually on Sundays, during retreats, or for just a moment in the evening at the end of a long day (she’s learned not to wait for the “perfect moment to paint,” because that perfect moment may never come!), Gaetane puts on quiet music and sets aside all other distractions so that she can fully enter into an attitude of contemplation and receptivity of the presence of God. 

As she began to paint more and more, Gaetane realized that God, as the great gift-giver that he is, was returning to her the artistic gift that she had freely surrendered to him. She began painting little cards to give to family, friends, and her community (Gaetane says that for her, painting is a kind of love language), and a recipient of one her cards asked her if she would consider leading a Prayer and Painting Workshop. After this event, Gaetane, with the encouragement of Regnum Christi section director Kathleen Conklin and the help of her community, hosted an art show during a garden party at the home of the consecrated women in Atlanta where she exhibited 10 paintings highlighting the beauty of religious and consecrated life. At the event, Gaetane also offered for sale five different greeting cards featuring prints of her original artwork; the cards sold out within ten days, and the demand for more cards hasn’t stopped. In response to this interest in her work, in August of this year Gaetane opened what she calls her “petite boutique d’art,” an online shop called Art & Contemplation where her greeting cards can be purchased. It may not be the studio in Paris that she dreamed of having as a young woman, but to Gaetane, Art & Contemplation is so much more: a Spirit-driveninspiration that allows her to share her God-given gifts as a way to evangelize through beauty and art. Art & Contemplation now features 13 unique greeting cards, and Gaetane hopes to add products like art prints and prayer journals in the near future. And Gaetane is planning a second art exhibit in February of 2022 on the World Day for Consecrated Life where she will share the rest of her series she created on the theme of consecrated life, and more. She also hopes to offer more Prayer & Painting

Workshops, where women can help each other to pause to pray and paint and learn more about the art of Christian contemplation. “When we paint, something happens in our hearts – we can reconnect with ourselves again, reconnect with God, and then be able to give of ourselves better,” says Gaetane. “Painting allows us to take the time to stop and look, to look again, and to be still.”

For Gaetane, this new initiative has been a team effort – over the past year since Art & Contemplation began, Gaetane’s community has offered her encouragement, feedback and advice, help with framing and presenting her pieces, and the push she needed to move her mission and ministry forward. All proceeds of Art & Contemplation go to support the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, but to Gaetane, it’s much more than simply a fundraiser. “The greeting cards are a way to make myself and my community present in these special moments in the lives of the families we serve,” says Gaetane. “It’s a little mission, and I’m so happy to see how people have loved them and are asking for more.”

Over the few short months since Gaetane first felt called to use her artistic gifts in service of the Church in a more far-reaching way, Art & Contemplation has grown much more than she ever could have imagined. She asks for the prayers of the Regnum Christi family that the Holy Spirit continues to guide her initiative as she keeps discerning how God is calling her to use the gifts he has given her. “I believe that what God is putting on my heart, and where he has been not just leading me but pushing me, is a new apostolate in which we can live out the charism of Regnum Christi – to evangelize and to bring people to encounter God,” says Gaëtane. “This is one more creative way that can touch hearts through beauty and art, so I’m excited to discover what God has in store for the future!”

Visit Gaetane’s “petite boutique d’art,” Art & Contemplation, at artcontemplation.com to view and purchase the greeting cards featuring her original artwork, to learn more about her workshops, and to find out about upcoming art shows and events. You can also become a Patron and make a donation to support this new apostolate of art and beauty. All proceeds go to the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi – you can meet Gaetane’s community in Atlanta here!

Art and Contemplation: Awakening the Contemplative Gaze to the Beauty of God Read More »

Scroll to Top

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!