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Part Three: Apostolate
Apostolate is the third element of life in Regnum Christi.
By apostolate, we mean living our mission by being apostles. It’s more than an activity, it’s a way of living our RC vocation in all aspects of our lives.
Christ is the Kingdom of God incarnate, and he invites Regnum Christi to the mission of making him present here and now in the hearts of all people and in the world around us, continuing his evangelizing mission with him: he invites us to be his apostles.
Jesus seeks us out to meet us where we are, brings us together as a community, reveals the love of his heart to us, forms us as apostles, then invites us to go out and collaborate with him in evangelization so that he may reign in the heart of each person and in the world around us.
The mission of a Regnum Christi member covers all aspects of life. It begins with the foundation of building your own relationship with God, living your God-given vocation and state in life as your personal path to holiness, and then impacting the world around you through a life lived in union with God that reaches out to others in evangelization and apostolate.
Making the Mystery of Christ present here and now
To fulfill our mission, we seek 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 (RCFS 8).
The expression “to make the mystery present” hides a real treasure. Discovering and unlocking this mystery— the divine-human reality of Christ—can help us to live our Christian vocation according to the spirit and mission of Regnum Christi with renewed enthusiasm and growing fulfillment.
According to St. John Paul II, the charisms of spiritual families in the Church are characterized by “a profound desire to be conformed to Christ by giving witness to some aspect of his mystery.”
In our case, we are called to contemplate and live “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” to “give glory to God and make the Kingdom of Christ present in the hearts of all people and in society” (SRCF 8). A synthetic way of referring to this particular facet of Jesus’ earthly life could be to refer to the mystery of Christ the Apostle, as in number nine of the Federation Statutes.
Living the charism in our mission
God calls us to make his Kingdom present in the hearts of people and in society, making present the mystery of Christ, the Apostle of the Kingdom.
The charism is a supernatural reality that cannot be fully explained in a definition, but we can reflect on it in order to understand it more deeply.
It is something alive, something that is incarnated in the people who receive it, and unfolds in a lifestyle and a way of living a mission.
What apostolates does Regnum Christi do?
Regnum Christi members everywhere live their mission in many innovative ways by responding to the needs of the Church and the world around them with creativity and in collaboration with the local Church.
There are some apostolates that are widespread across localities and countries and are directed by Regnum Christi, as well as others that are directed by the Legionaries of Christ and/or the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi. These include:
- Mission Youth Missions
- RC Mission Corps
- Conquest Boys Clubs & Challenge Girls Clubs powered by ECYD
- ECYD Mission Corps
- Pilgrim Queen of the Family
- Divine Mercy University
- RC Schools
- The Lumen Institute
- Retreats for men, women, young adults, and adolescents
It’s not just what we do, but how we do it
Regnum Christi has principles for how it engages in apostolic action. These principles are guidelines that help us channel the love and passion we have for our mission. They give order and direction to our desire to fulfill Christ’s command, “Go and make disciples of all the nations.” That desire is constantly intensifying as our spiritual life grows deeper. For our mission to bear fruit, our desire to evangelize needs to be channeled intelligently.
The principles of apostolic action provide a way of doing just that. Once again, the unifying factor is love. These principles help us channel our love for Christ; they help us live it out passionately and fully, in a way that will last. All these principles are assimilated gradually, under the action of the Holy Spirit, and through being involved in various formative and apostolic activities. There are six practical principles found in the statutes:
1. Leadership (SRCF 33-34)
In our mission to form apostles, we develop our own leadership capabilities, working to inspire, guide, and form others in humility, following the example of Christ in his servant leadership. We help apostles develop their own skills as leaders, and we help leaders in various areas of our culture become apostles.
2. Person to person (SRCF 35)
Everything begins with a one-on-one encounter between Christ and an individual. Christ not only preached to the multitudes, but he also went out to encounter each person where they were at. We work as he worked by being present to each person we are working with in our mission, reverantly seeing each one as Christ does, and accompanying with them person to person. This particularly applies in apostolic work, formation, and spiritual direction.
3. Formation of formators (SRCF 36)
By forming people who can form, guide, and inspire others, Regnum Christi equips formators to live their mission to bring people together, form them as Christ does, and accompany them as they set out to bring Christ to culture and the world around them.
4. Scope of the apostolate (SRCF 37)
Regnum Christi seeks to promote and undertake apostolates that convey Christ’s message with the greatest possible scope and depth.
5. Adaptation to times and places (SRCF 38)
Regnum Christi members, attentive to the needs of the Church and the world and with sincere respect for local cultures, seek to adapt their apostolic activity to the circumstances of time and place, in each case opting for the most appropriate methods and forms for evangelization.
6. Organized and effective apostolate (SRCF 39)
Guided by the Christ’s charity, Regnum Christi carries out its apostolic work in an organized and effective manner, always keeping in mind its mission and goals, and working as a team that makes the most of the synergy resulting from the complementarity of personalities, perspectives, and experiences.
ECYD: the Charism lived by Adolescents
ECYD members, age 11-18, make an pledge of friendship with Christ and with each other, to build a new world according to the Gospel.
For Regnum Christi, ECYD is a fundamental part of the spiritual family, one that many RC members serve in by leading ECYD sections, Conquest & Challenge Clubs, boys and girls camps and retreats, and conventions for adolescents.
More Resources to Check Out
From the Statutes of The Regnum Christi Federation
20. We are contemplative and evangelizing:
1.° Contemplative, because we discover Christ’s presence and love in our own hearts, in our neighbor and in the world. We seek to be men and women of interior life, lovers of prayer, and we recognize the primacy of God’s action in our growth in holiness and in the apostolate;
2.° Evangelizing, because, driven by the desire of Christ to enkindle the fire of the Father’s love in all hearts, we live as missionary disciples who seek to proclaim the Kingdom and bring the light of the Gospel to everyone.
10. The personal experience of Christ’s love produces an interior urging in our hearts that impels us to passionate self-giving in order to make his Kingdom present: “caritas Christi urget nos” (2 Corinthians 5:14). This passion moves us to take on a way of living that is characterized by:
- ° accepting that following Christ includes spiritual combat, the struggle marked by perseverance and trust in the Lord in the face of the reality of evil and sin in one’s own life and in society, moved by the power of love to the extreme;
- ° undertaking with a magnanimous, enthusiastic, and creative heart the actions that make the Kingdom present in greater depth and extent;
- ° going out to address the most pressing needs of the world and the Church;
- ° facing challenges with courage and boldness in our personal lives and in the apostolate;
- ° making the most of the opportunities that arise in life to proclaim the love of Christ with Christian audacity;
- ° fulfilling the responsibilities we assumed and striving to give the best of ourselves both in our formation and in our work.
From the Lay Members Rule of Life
Being an apostle
9. Lay members of Regnum Christi ardently seek to establish and extend the Kingdom of Christ among all people. They let themselves be permeated by Christ’s charity towards humanity and bring their apostolic zeal to life through intimate contact with him. They long for Christ to conquer their own souls and the souls of all those around them. Impelled by the Holy Spirit and in the style of St. Paul, they endeavor to be supernatural in their aspirations, magnanimous of heart, audacious in self-giving, tenacious in the face of difficulties, and practical and effective in action. They seek to transform the world in Christ. Their motto is, “Christ our King. Thy Kingdom Come!” Therefore, the lay members of Regnum Christi:
- º seek to encounter Christ daily in prayer, and to witness to him in the various circumstances of life;
- º in living their lay vocation, they make it their first priority to live their family life and the duties of their state in life, enlightened by the Word of God and Church teaching;
- º seek to engage others in the concrete realities of their lives to proclaim the Gospel to them and invite them to participate in Christ’s mission;
- º take on their responsibility as lay faithful to bring the light of the Gospel into the public, cultural, economic, political, academic and social arenas of life. They also seek to awaken the apostolic commitment of different kinds of leaders in the world, so they live their ethical and religious convictions more coherently.
- º start and participate in apostolic initiatives and works, according to their possibilities;
- º seek to participate in parish and diocesan life, contributing the Regnum Christi charism to the local Church;
- º desire to share with others the gift of God they have discovered in Regnum Christi. So they introduce and invite others to Regnum Christi, and accompany those who show an interest in getting to know it, or in participating in its spirituality and mission.
The importance of ECYD
10. Since the youth are fundamental for the future of the Church, Regnum Christi and society, lay members of Regnum Christi share the responsibility of ensuring that the young people who constitute ECYD receive proper attention and care.
