On Sunday, January 28, the religious Juan Pablo Álamos, LC, Gustavo Balestrin, LC, and Carlos da Rocha, LC, took their perpetual vows at the International College of the Legionaries of Christ in Rome. During the Eucharistic celebration, presided over by Father Eduardo Robles-Gil, LC, there was also a renewal of vows out of devotion. Some family members of the newly professed, the Legionaries of Christ from the houses in Rome, consecrated laity, consecrated members of the Regnum Christi, and friends attended.

Father Eduardo commented in his homily that the Gospel presents itself as a proposal that only the simple can understand and as a mystery that manifests in the world through generous souls who decide to bring His word to others. “The personal gifts that God has given us are of great value. Part of them we are asked to renounce, and part of them we are asked to use for the Kingdom. That choosing Christ, choosing God, is a renunciation, but only simple people can understand this,” he said.

«Simple people understand that there is family, community, that others exist, that the other exists. So they are capable of sacrificing themselves for others; that is the wisdom of simple people,» he added.

Later, he said: «Let us ask God that we have that wisdom of simple people. To see God in others, so that we serve Him; to see goods as means, but above all, never to put ourselves at the center. The wisdom of the Gospel consists in the fact that Christ is at the center, and we step aside to let Him have the protagonism.»

Gustavo Balestrin, LC, is from Brazil. He joined the Legion of Christ in 2007 at the Novitiate in Brazil and moved to the Novitiate in Medellín to complete his second year. He made his first religious profession on January 24, 2009. He studied two years of humanities in Cheshire, United States, and the bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome. During apostolic practices, from 2013 to 2016, he was a member of the formation team at the Vocational Center in Curitiba. In 2016, he returned to Rome to begin his licentiate in philosophy.

Juan Pablo Álamos Zegers, LC, is from Santiago, Chile. He completed his pre-university studies at Colegio Cumbres in Santiago and joined the Legion of Christ Novitiate in Brazil in 2007. He made his first religious profession on February 22, 2009, studied one year of humanities in Cheshire, and the bachelor’s degree in philosophy in Thornwood, United States. During his apostolic internship, he collaborated in youth ministry for Regnum Christi in Madrid, Spain, where he was a formation instructor at Highlands El Encinar School and a member of the auxiliary team of ECYD for males. In 2015, he returned to Rome to begin his first year of theology studies.

Carlos da Rocha, LC, is from Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He joined the Legion of Christ Novitiate in Brazil in 2008. He made his first religious profession on February 21, 2010. He studied one year of humanities in Salamanca, Spain, and the bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome. During his apostolic practices, he collaborated in the territorial secretariat of Brazil from 2013 to 2014, and as a member of the formation team of the novices in Arujá, São Paulo, from 2014 to 2016. In 2016, he returned to Rome to begin his licentiate in philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum.

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