GREENSBORO — Advent has begun, and amid the busyness of the holiday season, a group of women in the Triad recently gathered for a retreat designed to help them focus during Advent and prepare their hearts for Christmas.
Regnum Christi of the Triad offered an evening retreat Nov. 30 entitled “Women’s Advent by Candlelight,” an evening of reflection, prayer, fellowship and food. Regnum Christi is a Catholic apostolate under the auspices of the Legionaries of Christ comprised of lay, consecrated and ordained members.
Patty Disney, a Regnum Christi team leader who helped to organize the retreat, hoped participants would take with them a sense of peace and calm throughout the holiday season.
In a world that does not value faith in God, women must be encouraged to live their faith each and every day, Disney said. This retreat was an opportunity to gather together, share prayer time and offer support to one other.
Throughout the evening, women were encouraged, inspired and reminded that to share the spirit of Advent in their homes, they must first create a sacred space within themselves for prayer so as to deepen their relationship with God.
The evening began with a reflection offered by Father Paul Buchanan, pastor of Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro, where the retreat was held. Father Buchanan invited the women to what he called “a bit of Lectio Divina,” an invitation to listen with hearts, minds and imagination to key moments in Scripture that reflect the expectant joy of Advent: the Annunciation, the shepherds’ encounter with the angels, and Mary and Joseph finding Jesus in the temple. Be receptive to God’s will and His love for us, just as Mary was, he told the participants, and ask her to help guide them throughout Advent. Like Mary, we may not understand all of God’s plan for us, but as we wait for the coming of the Lord, Mary waits with us, he said.
Catherine Vendetti, a young lay missionary for Regnum Christi who travels throughout the Southeast offering spiritual talks and presentations, was the keynote speaker for the retreat.
Vendetti used selected scenes from the 2006 film “The Nativity Story” as a framework for her presentation on three ways to let oneself be loved: loved by God, loved by oneself and loved by others.
Some people, she said, feel starved for the love God offers because they don’t give themselves time to build a relationship with Him. Mary’s relationship with God certainly didn’t start with the appearance of the Angel Gabriel, she said. Rather, Mary’s prayer life and her constant attention on following God’s will in her life demonstrated her closeness with God.
To respond to God’s call, Vendetti said, one must create an interior life of constant communication with God through regular prayer. While cooking, cleaning or shopping, Vendetti suggested to the participants, keep one’s mind and heart on the baby Jesus as if they were preparing for their own baby’s arrival.
Loving oneself, Vendetti also noted, can sometimes be the most difficult thing to achieve. Evaluating one’s own expectations is a good place to start, she said. Ask yourself: Are those expectations reasonable, good and true? Do they result in feelings of the worth and dignity that God has bestowed on you?
Vendetti concluded with encouraging the women to let themselves be loved by others during this Advent season. In giving love to others, they must also allow others to reciprocate and share their love in return.
“We were created in the image and likeness of God. That means we were created to love and be loved as the Holy Trinity loves and is loved,” she said.
To learn more about the Regnum Christi movement in the Diocese of Charlotte, go online to www.rcgreatercharlotte.com.
— Annette K. Tenny, correspondent
Viva la Virgen, the conqueror
MONROE — Amidst the joyous euphony of giggling children and cooing babies held in their parent’s arms, parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Monroe honored Our Lady of Guadalupe with song and dance in an annual feast day celebration at the parish Dec. 12.
Many at the parish are of Mexican descent and they are passing on their love of Our Lady of Guadalupe to their children and grandchildren by means of traditional songs, dance, dress and food.
Hundreds of parishioners rose before dawn to sing Mananitas, songs of love to the Virgin Mother of God who appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531 in Mexico. Later in the evening men, women and children of all ages returned to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish for more singing and traditional dances which were performed by children of the parish.
Father Benjamin Roberts, pastor, and Father Cory Catron, parochial vicar, donned festive serapes during the celebrations. Father Roberts offered Mass later in the evening in a vestment with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the back. He offered his homily in English and Spanish to a standing-room-only congregation.
“O Holy Virgin of Guadalupe we love you as our mother. O Holy Mother of Jesus Christ we acclaim you as our queen. O Mother of Christ the King of the Universe, we recognize you as the conqueror,” Father Roberts said.
“The Virgin of Guadalupe is a conqueror. She came to the hill of Tepeyac and she conquered the fear in the heart of Juan Diego. With the promise of healing for his uncle Juan Bernadino, the Virgin of Guadalupe conquered the worry and anxiety in the soul of Juan Diego.
When the Virgin of Guadalupe asked for a chapel to be built on Tepeyac, she conquered the separation between the two cultures in Mexico who worshiped her Son. Our Lady of Guadalupe conquered the separation. When the Virgin came to Guadalupe, she came as a conqueror.
“The Virgin of Guadalupe is the conqueror of fear. She is our mother. She is the loving mother who guards us and protects us. The Virgin of Guadalupe conquers the fear of those who are afraid to completely follow Jesus Christ. She is our loving mother.
We have no need to fear to follow Jesus Christ when we walk hand in hand with the Mother of God. She conquers our fear with her gentle gaze. She conquers our fear with her loving words. She conquers our fear with her tender touch. We love the Virgin of Guadalupe and she is the conqueror of fear.
“The Virgin of Guadalupe is the conqueror of separation and division. She is the mother of unity. At Guadalupe, the Virgin united the various cultures of the various tribes and peoples. She brought together people from different languages, cultures, and places. The Virgin of Guadalupe conquered their divisions because she loved each of them as a precious child of God. She looked with love on Juan Diego. She sent a message of love to Bishop Zummaraga.
She gave her image of love on the tilma and her image shines throughout the whole world. She looks at each of us with the tender eyes of a mother. She gives to us the word of protection and consolation. She brings us together to worship her Son. We love the Virgin of Guadalupe and she is the conqueror of separation and division.
“O Holy Virgin of Guadalupe we love you as our mother. O Holy Mother of Jesus Christ we acclaim you as our queen. O Mother of Christ the King of the Universe, we recognize you as the conqueror,” Father Roberts concluded.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
Listen to Father Roberts homily in English and Spanish: https://fatherbhomilies.podbean.com/e/homily-for-our-lady-of-guadalupe-in-english-and-spanish-1513184701/
