The Collaborators of the Regnum Christi are an apostolic volunteer program for young people in the Movement. Regnum Christi who wish to give one or more years of their lives to God. On July 9, the introductory course for female collaborators began in Mexico. On July 14, the same course for men began in the State of Mexico. Both courses last one month.
Zenit interviewed Perla González and José Mateos, the program managers and directors of the introductory courses. The interview is reproduced below.
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Could you explain to us what is a partner of the Regnum Christi?
- José: A collaborator is a young person from the Regnum Christi who seeks a profound experience of the love of Christ, who responds to God by giving one or more years of his life to the service of the Church. They live the mission of helping others to come closer to God and to collaborate in the transformation of humanity through the works, apostolates and charism of the Church. Regnum Christi.
- Perla: These young people leave as collaborators when they finish high school or in the middle or after graduation and try to discover the mission of being an apostle in the life of collaborating in the Church..
This year, how many young people are preparing to begin this experience and where do they come from??
- Perla: This year in the Mexico workshop we had 52 young women who prepared themselves to have this experience of being collaborators. We have one Brazilian, there are six Salvadorians, including one Chilean because she is now living in El Salvador, and the rest are Mexican. There are also courses similar to this one in Europe, Venezuela and the United States where they are preparing to become collaborators..
- José: In the Mexico Cursillo for men we had 32 young people from Mexico, the United States, Germany, Colombia, Venezuela and El Salvador. In our case there is only one similar cursillo, which is in the United States..
What is it that moves a young person to give that period of his or her life to God??
- Perla: What moves a young woman to give this year is the fact of being able to give back to God all that He has given her in her life, gratitude to God for all that they have received and they want to give something back because they have known that they are very loved, because all that they have received they do not deserve and they want to give it. There are those who have also experienced, in a summer as collaborators of ECyD, the love that God has for them, the desire to give themselves to souls, the desire to do something for others. All this moves them to be able to give the year. And there are those who are also motivated to grow personally, to have a stronger experience of God in their lives and to give themselves to others..
- José: I have also seen that they are motivated by the desire to have a courageous experience of spiritual growth, an experience of maturity in the Regnum Christi and to grow as a person in this program that many have come to call: the university for life..
What does an employee do during the year??
- José: The main thing that sustains their activity is the spiritual life; that is why these young people dedicate a privileged time to prayer and spiritual growth. And they devote themselves full time to the apostolate in schools, international academies, universities and sections of the Regnum Christi, working mainly in the formation of adolescents and young people through the organization of activities such as missions, camps, retreats, social action and apostolate, accompanying adolescents and young people for their integral formation..
- Perla: Exactly, the main thing is the life of prayer, a life of encounter with God, of encounter with Jesus Christ, with His love, because she is aware that what she has received, what she sees and contemplates in her prayer, is the way to give it to others. And, as José says, they participate and support the apostolates of the Movement. Regnum Christi, Most of them work in the ECyD, which is a formation club for girls and adolescents, and in the Kingdom sections, which are the youth groups we have. They also help in the whole part of formation and the Christian environment in these places..
What do you find most difficult to be a partner??
- José: I think that for the collaborators it means temporarily letting go of their plans, leaving friends, girlfriends, graduation trips or family members. Also having to face the incomprehension and lack of support from their friends or society that does not understand and sometimes opposes them to give that year of their life. It is a break with a hedonistic culture to adopt a life of surrender, renunciation and generosity..
- Perla: What is most difficult for the female collaborators is to leave their family, not to start their career after finishing high school but to wait a year and delay or, sometimes, to leave their career in the middle, to leave their friends, to leave one environment to take on another where there is a schedule, a discipline and that is difficult for them, but at the same time it is something they value and that they like to do because they see that there is a benefit behind it..
What is your job as Program Manager throughout the year??
- Perla: My work as the person in charge of the girls' program throughout the year consists of supporting and following up, helping the collaborators who are already in their destinations, ensuring that they have this integral formation that the program offers on a spiritual, intellectual and apostolic level, and that they have a good experience during their year. I am also in charge of helping each one of the collaborators in charge of the different houses where the collaborators will be living so that they know what the program is like, so that any doubts they may have can be resolved. During the year I am also in charge of receiving or carrying out the admission process of all those young women who want to be collaborators, we help them so that they can receive their training, their training, and can be admitted to the program. I am also in charge of receiving all those collaborators who return from their year to help them get back to their homes, to the world, so that they can have a good experience on their return home..
- José: My work is very similar to that of Perla, only for men. It is to help the collaborators to have a profound experience of the love of Christ, to be formed as apostles, and to live their mission during this period; in a way that prepares them to live their Christian vocation to the full for life. To this end, the office of the Collaborators' Network offers, throughout the year, a one-month introductory course, follow-up visits to the collaborators in their destinations, national meetings of collaborators for their renewal and formation, one-week spiritual exercises, accompaniment to help them with the main difficulties that may arise during the year and to help them assimilate and make the most of this year's experience. We also organize the headquarters of the collaborators and assist the formators of the collaborators in their destinations..
