Thinking of attending a Regnum Christi retreat

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Lurch104

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Hello All!

I have recently attended a mens retreat preached by a Legionaires of Christ priest. He really inspired me and I immediately began to read up on their order. I then found out about Regnum Christi. I was immediately intrigued and made contact with the group. I am now strongly considering attending another retreat at the Our Lady of Bethesda Retreat Center, and was wondering what I could expect. I have never attended a silent retreat and I am bit nervous about this (but kind of excited all the same). On doing some net searches, I came upon several unflattering accounts of both RC and the LC. My gut tells me to ignore the negative things I have read, and focus on the spirituality of the group I had witnessed first hand and was so impressed with.

I was hoping someone in the forum had some first hand experience with this apostolate and could share some insight.

God Bless and Thanks!
 
I am part of a Familia family life team. FAMILIA is a lay apostolate of Regnum Christi. So my little bit of exposure is as follows.

I have been greatly and wonderfully impacted by my contact with these people. I am a better Catholic, mother and wife.

I have learned much and benefitted much – however, none of it was on a retreat.

While everything I have seen is very loyal to the Magisterium.

The claims against Father Marciel Maciel have been researched and debunked. However, the claims don’t dissappear. I have also been worried about Fr. Maciel and now I am trusting that the right investigation was done.

We all are just human, but I think that those who criticize this group are those who don’t like that RC and LC and even little Familia teach the Truth of Christ - whole truth and no relativism. It isn’t the Catholic Lite of recent years.

In my Archdiocese, I have been among the grass roots efforts to make it possible to have Familia at churches since there are people within the office of the Archbishop who thought we were :cult-like" because we support the Holy Father and read the Catechism. We were “biased against working mothers” It is covered in Familiaris Consortio and the Holy Father explains his concepts thoroughly.

I have been anxious to finish Familia and move on to RC and I hope you get to enjoy your time with them.

Pax et bonum,
Mamamull
 
Dear Lurch104

So glad to hear that you enjoyed the retreat. Here,“downunder”, we rarely get more than a Regnum Christi day retreat per year, so I say, “go for it”!

My husband and I became members of this Church-approved movement about eight or nine years ago. From the spirituality of the movement we have gained a way to grow in love for Jesus Christ and His Church… The Legionary priests and seminarians, the consecrated and other Regnum Christi members that we have met have been inspirational to us, and to our children…

Regarding the calumnies put about about the Legionof Christ and its founder, Fr. Marcial Maciel, some will always choose to believe the worst, alas! Don’t stop on the negative reports: visit legionaryfacts.org or read “Christ is my Life”, published by Sophia Press; and consider the Lord’s words:“By their fruits you will know them.” Consider, too, how many founders and saints have been bedevilled by false reports (fill in the worst slanders of the period, here) and temporarily removed from “their” orders; some even dying while under a cloud.

The Holy Father himself said to 60 newly ordained priests (3 Jan 1991) :" To be Legionaries of Christ means that you have accepted with decisiveness and generosity the invitation to spread and bring about the Kingdom of God, that you are ready to devote yourselves to winning souls to dedicate yourselves to them for their salvation…"

Joining Regnum Christi is a free response to a call from God’s love. Going to a retreat doesn’t mean that this movement is for you, but if it serves to inspire you in your Christian work, why be fearful.

P.S. The retreat will be based on the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola. By the end of the retreat you will probably wish for a little longer silence!
PPS. Minerva, I am a working Mum
God bless you.
 
The retreats are taken from St. Ignatius Loyola. They are silent and very spiritual. Everytime I go on one I find I weed out some more of my poor qualities, and tend to build on my positive qualities. There is junk on line about a whole lot of orders. Fr. Maciel is loyal to Our Holy Father and is very heavily persecuted. Opus Dei the same thing. I always look at what Christ said. “By their fruits you will know them.” The Pope quoted many years ago that they were like the Jesuits of old. Opus Dei another great order has been picked apart over and over, yet the Pope just I believe beatified the Leader of that order. I go to mass at the Dominicans or with the Jesuits and see only elderly nuns and priests. I say go for it and enjoy!
 
Thanks for the replies!

I think you hit the nail on the head with the statement “By their works , you shall know them”. I could not be more impressed with their works, although my esteem for both the LC and RC is growing each day. I am working my way through “Christ is my Life” at the moment. I can’t figure out why so few people know about this movement.

God Bless!
 
Minerva,

RC isn’t biased against working moms.

The items that I believe caused the concern of the Family Life person in our Archdiocese are

1: we tend to meet during school hours in order to reduce childcare costs. and
  1. The Holy Father makes a mention of working mothers in Familiaris Consortio.
So, I would say RC and Familia are not biased against working mothers.

My first year of Familia we met on a day that one woman needed in order to be part of our team as it was her day off.

OK?
Mamamull
 
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Minerva:
well is regnum christi biased against working mothers?
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I have worked with them for years and have never known them to be biased against working women.
 
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Minerva:
well is regnum christi biased against working mothers?
Click to expand...
I have worked for them for years and have never known them to be biased against working women. I am a women and have children now grown but have worked for them since they were younger. I know a whole lot of working women involved in Regnum Christi.
Just an FYI for you!
 
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Minerva:
well is regnum christi biased against working mothers?
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I hate to say this, but here goes - it depends on what the definition of “biased” is.:eek: I say that because in the secular world, any criticism of anyone elses opinion is immediately attacked as biased. I believe Regnum Christi supports the belief that Mothers should stay at home and raise their children. This is in line with traditional Catholic teaching, but decidedly not in line with modern secular teaching.
 
I’m so glad you posted this question. I have been a member of Regnum Christi for 15 months now. I went through 4 years of Familia before I really even made the connection between this apostolate and Regnum Christi. I have to say that you should take advantage of every opportunity to go on a retreat run by a Legionary priest. It was those priests that convinced me of the value of the movement. For several years I attended mornings of reflection conducted by Legionary priests and each time I thought “who is this priest and where are more like him!!” Since joining the spiritual rewards have been endless and the graces have spread over my whole family.

I can understand how people may have the misperception that there is a bias against working mothers. There is a definite emphasis on family that may cause some working mothers discomfort. However, there are many mothers in Regnum Christi who work outside the home and, after all, doesn’t the Church teach God first, then family, then work?

Get to know some Legionary priests. You’ll soon come to understand that an organization that can produce such fruits has to come from God.

I’ll be praying for you!!
 
**Can someone tell me how to find a Regnum Christi retreat? I live near Seattle, WA. Thanks in advance! **
 
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StJeanneDArc:
Get to know some Legionary priests. You’ll soon come to understand that an organization that can produce such fruits has to come from God.

I’ll be praying for you!!
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the replies, and prayers. I have sent in my deposit and will be attending a retreat at the Our Lady of Bethesda Retreat Center September 17th.
 
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Lurch104:
Thank you so much for the replies, and prayers. I have sent in my deposit and will be attending a retreat at the Our Lady of Bethesda Retreat Center September 17th.
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I hope you receive as much fruit as I have received from the Legion of Christ. May God be with you, and I wish you a fruitful experience as well!
 
Forgiven said:
**Can someone tell me how to find a Regnum Christi retreat? I live near Seattle, WA. Thanks in advance! **
Click to expand...
Hi, the Legionaries have a retreat center in San Jose, CA, and a Legionary priests travels up to do retreats in Portland sometimes. If I find out more I’ll let you know.
 
Ummm… this is a four-year old thread that you just resurrected.
 
I too have been asked about a Regnum Christi retreat. I have attended 3 Christ Renews his Parish retreats and will be going to the retreat again in February.
 
Ask lots of people and if you can find former RC members and then form your opinion. Read up on it. It strikes me as worrisome that whenever threads appear and there is anything negative the RC members get extrememly defensive and attack. Yet, they are all about charity and speaking well of others. It is curious how that only seems to apply if the others are RC or LC members. Just be careful.
 
InHisName makes a very good point. RC certainly does good work but it has some very disturbing methods. This is not to say that RC members are not good and holy people of course. But they do tend to get extremely defensive (initially) and then go on the attach when put under any scrutiny. When I am asked about my Catholic faith (do you worship Mary? the saints? why do you need confession? etc.) - I don’t get defensive. If you have nothing to hide - then why get so upset?

Check out this discussion at a (supposed) blog for Catholic moms. It turns out that the magazine/blog is published by an LC priest and at least some of the writers are RC. What happened when people asked totally legitimate questions about RC? They shut down the thread.
faithandfamilylive.com/blog/time_for_talking/#blogComments

Also, it seems very telling that Pope Benedict remained silent upon the death of Maciel (who prior to his death had been told by the Pope to remove himself from the public eye and lead a life of mediatation). Whereas the founder of Opus Dei is a saint.
 
Toni said:
The retreats are taken from St. Ignatius Loyola. They are silent and very spiritual. Everytime I go on one I find I weed out some more of my poor qualities, and tend to build on my positive qualities. There is junk on line about a whole lot of orders. Fr. Maciel is loyal to Our Holy Father and is very heavily persecuted. Opus Dei the same thing. I always look at what Christ said. “By their fruits you will know them.” The Pope quoted many years ago that they were like the Jesuits of old. Opus Dei another great order has been picked apart over and over, yet the Pope just I believe beatified the Leader of that order. I go to mass at the Dominicans or with the Jesuits and see only elderly nuns and priests. I say go for it and enjoy!
Click to expand...
Just to clarify - Opus Dei is not a religious order, but a personal prelature in which the lay faithful live out the universal call to holiness in their daily lives.
 
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