by Fr. Kevin Lixey LC
Through this school year, I have enjoyed accompanying a few of the Atlanta women’s teams who gathered monthly to work their way through all five themes of phase one of the renewal. It was like learning how to surf. We were patiently waiting, trying to balance our way through some deep theology in the hope that a big swell would develop and we could ride the wave to shore. We did! The intellectual effort exerted in reflecting on these themes eventually paid off. Once we “caught the wave”, we started engaging in some fabulous conversations sharing our lights from the videos and readings.
The excitement started to swell and take a hold of us. In fact, one cluster of three teams in the north, after gaining momentum with the completion of theme five, quickly took the initiative to ask Kerrie Rivard to give them a sneak peek into phase two (which she graciously did). For me, this beautiful spirit of initiative and interest swelling in the hearts of the lay members of Regnum Christi, as they take on more ownership of their renewal, is one of the most precious fruits of this process.
Catching this wave is contagious. Two “guest members” of one encounter team, who have been working their way diligently through phase one, have expressed to me their desire to be fully incorporated into Regnum Christi so that they can continue with phase two! I have also noticed the ripple effect this local enthusiasm for the renewal is having on members in some of the neighboring “diaspora cities” of Atlanta as they strive to catch up in order to be on track for phase two. I hope you also have caught the wave as phase two is here!