While we are all in quarantine, we might ask whether there is something we can learn from it. Rafael Gil, a Regnum Christi Lay Consecrated Man, explains some lessons.
Rafael lives in Madrid, in the Conde de la Cimera community, and, works mainly at the Francisco de Vitoria University. There he mentors students, offers spiritual direction and formation to young adult members of Regnum Christi. He also teaches Theology of the Body.
RC Spain asked him to point out a lesson that the community of lay consecrated men in Spain have learned in their as a result of the pandemic that the country is suffering.
He explained, “It is said a lot that nobody knows what you have until you lose it. But it is also true that we value ordinary things more when, for some reason, we live them with an unusual intensity. And that is what has happened to us. In these moments, the priority is our community, the others here, far from the thousand and one responsibilities of the apostolate.”
Rafael pointed out how it changed his priorities, “We are learning to value a treasure that, it is true that we knew we had, but that perhaps activism sometimes makes us forget, at least partially.”
Then he spoke of spending time in community, “The long and rich conversations between us, the leisurely after-dinner sessions and the awareness that we are all responsible for making coexistence better for others, has been a unique opportunity to live that commandment of love of neighbor that we have learned so much. However, sometimes we to be reminded of this commandment.”
He concludes explaining his community situation, “The closeness of each member of the community (we are 5 lay consecrated men in this city where male consecrated life was founded), has allowed us to thank God for living more deeply with those people who have heard the same invitation to give themselves to the others through Regnum Christi.”
You can read his original testimony on the Regnum Christi site of Spain.
