In September 2015, the project Seeds of Spirituality was launched, a virtual space that aims to offer Legionaries and consecrated members of the Regnum Christi articles and materials that help conceptualize and deepen our charism and spirituality. Below we present the story of how this digital publication arose. The editorial committee is composed of Father Michael Ryan, Father Juan Carlos Ortega, Mario Olivieri, a lay consecrated member of Regnum Christi, and Megan Houbeck, a consecrated member of the Movement. We offer an interview to understand how this initiative has been developed.

*****

Father Michael Ryan, L.C., recounts that the idea began to take shape during the extraordinary General Chapter of 2014: “I realized there was a certain void regarding our spirituality, which is especially felt among the younger religious. On the other hand, I felt that spirituality and charism were alive in the lives of Legionaries and members of Regnum Christi.” He recalls that during a meeting with territorial directors and the general governments of the Legion, lay consecrated members and consecrated women in September 2012, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis asked each to express what the Legion and Regnum Christi meant in their Christian life. Father Michael summarizes what was experienced during that moment: “People expressed their experience with great simplicity, but also with clarity and energy. No one doubted that they had encountered Christ and felt an apostolic calling in the Legion and the Movement. This convinced me that we could seek and develop our spirituality based on what was already sown in the field. We were not an empty organization without a soul.”

Mario Olivieri, a lay member of Regnum Christi, also states that the project was emerging from a palpable need: “In formal reflections, hallway discussions, or after-dinner conversations, the need to go beyond a purely canonical expression of a charism was always left unspoken. It was necessary to reach a broad development and a shared expression of a common spiritual experience. Questions like: What makes me vibrate? What touches the deepest strings of my heart and tells me that this is my place? These questions continually arise both individually and in groups.”

Megan Houbeck, a consecrated member of Regnum Christi, also shares: “For some time, I had the concern to deepen my knowledge of spiritual life, both for my own life and to better help others. In recent years, I have had the opportunity to study spiritual theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. These years have not only enriched my knowledge but also, by living with Legionaries at the Athenaeum, I have better discovered what it means to belong to the same family.”

[caption id=”attachment_6289″ align=”aligncenter” width=”300″>Mario Olivieri during a moment of fellowship at the meetings of the general governments with the commission of first and second degree members of Regnum Christi held in Rome in March 2014.

From these shared experiences, the effort was made to unite everyone’s efforts. It was not always easy, as Father Michael recounts: “I wrote to several Legionaries and some consecrated members and asked them to write about their experience, to conceptualize it and try to offer it to others. Many were quite enthusiastic, but only a few had the time to write. So, we had to wait and be patient.”

During that time, Father Juan Carlos Ortega, L.C., arrived in Rome and, seeing the work that was beginning to develop in the general direction, Father José Enrique Oyarzún presented him with a previous project that had been developing on the spirituality of the Movement. From 2009 until his arrival in Rome, the Commission for Consecrated Life of the Spanish Episcopal Conference had asked Father Juan Carlos to participate in and coordinate a study and reflection group on the nature of ecclesial movements and families, with the aim of seeking and offering, from theological, canonical, pastoral, and sociological perspectives, possible responses to the still open and unresolved questions of these new realities in the Church.

Father Juan Carlos describes that this experience helped him in two ways: on the one hand, “I contemplated the Movement and discovered, with enthusiasm, how the consecrated men and women and Legionaries live their charism faithfully, despite the very difficult years that God allowed in our history. I realized that by looking at my brothers and sisters and talking with them, we can find that charism made flesh”; on the other hand, “I better understood the meaning of communion, what we have called unity and charity. Institutional charisms and personal qualities, in their diversity, helped build reflection, to discover what God’s plan is for this new ecclesial phenomenon that the Holy Spirit has inspired. The opinion of others was built with one’s own vision; and each person was enriched by embracing the other’s stance, with the certainty in faith that everyone has received the same Holy Spirit.”

Seeds of Spirituality, as Megan mentions: “It aims to be a platform to share what we deepen about what God has placed in our hearts. Since the project is just beginning, we know there is much to improve, and I believe that, with everyone’s help, it will be possible to achieve it little by little.”

Father Juan Carlos comments: “I wish Seeds of Spirituality to be one of the places where everyone can express nuances of the received charism; and where everyone, with attentive reading and an open heart, can better understand the gift of God that we all share.” Meanwhile, Mario Olivieri adds: “We all have much to share from what we have lived, prayed, studied, and preached, which has done so much good to many and to ourselves. Therefore, I hope that through Seeds of Spirituality, with simplicity and generosity, we share and bring out from within what makes us who we are.”