Today we are around the table with Mary Schwarz who has “traveled the farthest” of all our guests-joining us from the Philippines!

Mary shares how she was first drawn to God through the existential ache for Him through beauty, how in college she found she could have a personal relationship with Him, and how He drew her to Himself through her vocation as a Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi.

Enjoy listening to Mary’s new and exciting apostolate of teaching the Alpha Course to law students at Manila’s De La Salle University and how she has gathered a community of apostles to help her live out this mission. Mary uses her spiritual charism of evangelization to reach a population that doesn’t know Him.

We recognize that we are engaged by Christ’s call: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19) to go beyond our known borders. We want to share his Heart of a Shepherd who, in today’s world, more than leaving the ninety-nine sheep to go after the one, brings and works with the one to go search for the ninety-nine together with him; to go out to meet those who are away and distant at the crossroads.-Regnum Christi General Convention Communique, n. 21

Thank you, Mary, for reading “the world from the Heart of Christ” (RC General Convention Communique, n. 20) and responding to His invitation with a generous yes–going out to meet those at the crossroads!

Show notes:

Alpha Course: https://alphausa.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwl6-3BhBWEiwApN6_kncAi2--7GuBRUDZ325LXhS3ZaMPvCAcuq16Jj9O7RSobTH1JC8LVRoCEnMQAvD_BwE

For this week’s episode, Laura got to have the guest over in person! She and Megan had the opportunity to sit around the table with Genesis Torrens. Genesis is the current director of Youth Faith Formation at St. Brendan the Navigator Parish in Cumming, Georgia. There she has the grace to impact over a thousand young people and their families, giving back the same formation and love for Jesus that she received as a young girl through ECYD.

Genesis’ story began at a retreat in Arizona when, as a young 11 year old girl, she first met the Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi. Since that first encounter with the Lord, she received a grace to be set on fire for him and to spend her life to make his Kingdom come.

The passage that came to mind while listening to Genesis was Matthew 5: 14-16. “A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

Thank you, Genesis, for coming on this week to shine your joyful light!

This week’s episode is fun: two sisters interviewing two sisters! Sarah and Angie are new Regnum Christi members and share with us how, through the gift of the Eucharist and sacramental life, especially in their parish, they’ve been able to find hope, healing, and a desire to serve the Lord using their time and talents. This episode will especially strike a chord for women who are building up the domestic Church in the beautifully mundane day-to-day of motherhood. We speak about how this glorifies God and builds His Kingdom, like a mosaic in a cathedral. It may be unseen by us, but God sees it all.

We pray that mothers, especially those who sometimes feel hidden, will feel seen and encouraged in this episode. Each of our homes and families is a corner of the Kingdom that is also called to spread the love of God.

“And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”- Matthew 6:4

We hope you enjoy this conversation and the love and bond between these sisters. We were inspired by their gratitude and how they champion one another! Thank you, Sarah and Angie!

Jennifer No, a loving wife and mother, shares with us how the Lord prepared her to say “yes” to be the Mission Youth and Family Director in Washington, D.C. alongside her husband. The beauty of her call lies behind how the Lord shaped her path: from a loving, nurturing Catholic family, to meeting Jesus more deeply in her adulthood through Spiritual Exercises, to launching the Walking with Purpose program in her parish, to being approached to consider the director role for Mission Youth. It is very clear how the Holy Spirit prepares us, one step at a time, for this moment we are called to!

As the RC Convention Communique 2024, n. 19 says, “An epochal change like the one we are experiencing requires a courageous and radical missionary choice. Small changes in our traditional pastoral work will be insufficient, and the mere implementation of means, plans, manuals, and programs will not be enough either. These all lead us to places we are already familiar with; to paraphrase St. John of the Cross, in order to arrive at where we do not yet know, we should walk where we do not know.”

Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing with us your courageous and radical missionary choice to go out to the homeless, door-to-door, March for Life, etc. in the heart of our country, and for forming the next generation of missionary apostles!

Show notes:

Walking with Purpose: https://walkingwithpurpose.com/

Mission Youth & Family Apostolate: https://www.regnumchristi.com/en/mission-youth/

We have a special episode on the podcast after a grace-filled 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis! This week Laura is joined by her consecrated sister, Carrie O’Connor. Carrie has recently returned to the USA after nearly a decade of serving in Chile and as she attended the Congress, she felt Jesus whisper to her heart: “Welcome Home!” A Eucharistic homecoming!

Enjoy listening as they share some experiences: from the life-affirming encounters at the RC booth, the Eucharistic adoration with over 60,000 people, and the Eucharistic procession with leading the way with 1,000 other religious and consecrated. The Eucharistic Revival was challenging, hopeful, inspiring, and powerful. Truly, heaven on earth.

See you in the Eucharist, dear listeners! May you, too, be welcomed home in the Eucharist, where He waits to fill your deepest hunger.

A summary of the RC presence there: https://www.regnumchristi.com/en/the-10th-national-eucharistic-congress-god-wanted-this-for-the-united-states/

Here’s a link of the talks on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9CQlldupc5-TAMz3fOlJwyBO3zWLQFVv&si=lSlUYXhpXk3sHuPM

Heaven on Earth (a song many RC members have been saying is in their hearts after the event): https://youtu.be/GFP_YBn1DnE

It’s our 10th episode! We had the grace to interview Eileen Wick, a spiritual director, public speaker, retreat director, and, most importantly, as she says, beloved daughter of God. Eileen, originally from Edmonton, Canada, has lived in California for over 20 years with her husband and six children.

Eileen's story begins with a profound sense of God's presence from a young age. She recalls a powerful spiritual encounter at the age of six, which instilled a deep sense of belonging and belovedness in her. This early faith was nurtured through her involvement with Regnum Christi during her teenage years, where she found a personal and passionate relationship with Christ.

Eileen's desire to serve others led her to spiritual direction and, eventually, to founding her own company. "Direction for Your Soul" offers integrated healing approaches, including spiritual direction, coaching, inner healing prayer, and mental health referrals. The ministry aims to address the whole person—spiritually, intellectually, and physically. Eileen also founded "All Things Women," a community that supports women seeking deeper intimacy with God and each other through retreats, pilgrimages, and other forms of formation.

Eileen's ministries emphasize the importance of recognizing and nurturing the unique gifts and potential within each woman. Through retreats like "Sacred Stories," which focuses on the examen prayer and discernment of spirits, Eileen and her team aim to help women grow in their faith and healing. Our conversation highlights the significance of women supporting each other, championing and calling each other to greatness, and living out their God-given missions.

Find out more about Eileen’s ministries at:

www.directionforyoursoul.com

www.allthingswomen.org

If you enjoyed this episode, follow us on Instagram @forthismomentpodcast

We’re excited to welcome our first married couple to the podcast! Colin and Jean are long-time RC members who’ve combined their psychological and military backgrounds to serve a joint mission and passion: a ministry to support and strengthen marriages!

Jean uses her gifts in counseling and Colin uses his strategic strengths to come up with a tool to help serve married couples, as there is a clear attack on marriage in our modern world. The online course they offer, Holy Union Blueprint, helps couples cultivate a deeper connection with God and their spouse.

The recent Regnum Christi General Convention highlighted the importance of pastoral work with married couples in all its stages: “Strengthen pastoral care for marriage and the family, as it is the basic nucleus of society and the natural place where the person discovers themself, develops, and learns to love. We want the structure of Regnum Christi to respond better to the needs of marriages and to elaborate formative itineraries that accompany the vocation to love along all its stages and situations: dating, marriage prep, marriage, families with children, old age, and widowhood, as well as separation or divorce when it unfortunately occurs. We want to form and project true apostles of marriage and the family.”-Communique n. 27

Thank you, Jean and Colin, for responding to the need with your time and talent!

Links mentioned in the show:

Holy UNION Blueprint course: https://www.holyunionconnect.com/course

Jean’s marriage reflections: https://www.holyunionconnect.com/dailyreflections.

Jean’s article “Discerning God’s Voice Through Emotional Awareness”: https://www.thecatholicbest.com/blog/discerning-god%E2%80%99s-voice-through-emotional-awareness-and-regulation

Boys and girls camps mentioned: Arcatheos: https://www.arcatheos.com/ and Captivenia: https://captivenia.com/

Check them out on Instagram @ holyunionconnect.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow us on Instagram @forthismomentpodcast.

We are honored to sit down with Helen Yalbir today as she shares her experience attending the RC General Convention in Rome! Before diving into what it was like at the Convention, Helen shared a little about how she first met Regnum Christi and felt called to consecrated life. We chat about everything from her work as a spiritual director and serving young adults in Dallas, Texas, to her unique Turkish culture and all the many ways God has prepared her for this moment.

In the hope-filled conversation, Helen describes the family spirit and profound listening, prayer, and discernment that imbues her experience of the RC General Convention. She does a great job of explaining the structure, process, and some key takeaways. We highly encourage you to check out the links below, especially the communiqué with the conclusions—a worthwhile and powerful read!

May we all live this spirit of prayerful discernment as we ponder what God desires for each one of us in our own countries, localities, and families. One particular line from the communiqué stuck out as we continue to journey, listening to the stories of RC members around the world:

“This is the time of God’s grace for us, our kairós; it is time for the spiritual joy of the here and now, the moment to express redeeming love to all. We can regard the past without nostalgia or fear as it is the memory of God with us. We can look to the future with theological hope and without fantasies of earthly greatness.”

Truly, this is a time of God’s grace, a time for each of us to step out bravely in mission, a time for us to individually respond to what God may be asking us for this moment, for such a time as this.

To see photos and read day-by-day summaries of the RC General Convention: https://www.regnumchristi.com/en/the-2024-general-convention/

RC General Convention Communiqué: https://www.regnumchristi.com/en/regnum-christi-general-convention-communicates-apostolic-priorities-for-the-next-six-years/

Some apps Helen mentions (which RC members in Dallas created):

https://seekdirection.app/#/home

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.holyhabits&hl=en_US&pli=1

If you enjoyed this episode, follow us on Instagram @forthismomentpodcast!