“I no longer call you servants but friends” (Cf. Jn 15, 15)

Jesus Christ, passing along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, seeing and calling His disciples, led them not only throughout Palestine preaching the Gospel but also on an inner spiritual journey that culminated in the Last Supper, when the Lord Himself revealed to them the ultimate purpose of His call: I no longer call you servants but friends… (Cf. Jn 15, 15).

This is a story of friendship between Christ and a soul, my story.

I was born in Xalapa, Veracruz. I have a younger sister and my parents. At the time of my birth, my mom was the spiritual and human pillar of the home. The beginnings of my family were not easy. There were complex situations, but God’s help and my mom’s fidelity to her vocation as wife and mother bore fruit in my father having a profound encounter with Jesus Christ. This happened when I was about six or seven years old. This conversion of my father would mark his life and ours forever.

The first years of my childhood were normal: school, games, activities. The house where we lived was very close to the parish. There was a group of children who were the altar boys’ club of that place. Essentially, it functioned very similarly to the ECYD clubs. They were well organized with their formation meetings, activities, etc. And above all, there was a very pleasant environment among the children. I remember I loved going and being in the club, participating in activities, helping at Mass. In the parish, in the Church, I felt at home, and without realizing it, Jesus began to be someone in my life, my childhood friend.

“Master, where do You live? Come and see” (Jn 1, 37-38)

At the same time as I was experiencing all these things, my family was also gradually living its own spiritual experience. After my dad’s conversion, we had to rebuild ourselves, so to speak, walking as a family toward God, reconstructing the path together. On this spiritual journey, we went through some groups and movements. The first of these was the Christian Family Movement. I remember that we started praying as a family there; these were simple moments but that marked me deeply. Watching my mom and dad praying together to God was imprinted on my heart. Now I realize that from childhood I was very sensitive to these spiritual things, which at the time I didn’t fully understand; I simply lived them, and all those were seeds that many years later would bear fruit.

When I started high school, my parents entered the Neocatechumenal Way. As a family, we moved from an initial knowledge of our faith and prayer to a deeper and more committed spiritual journey. Especially my parents, who kept seeking God and His will for our family.

My high school was very good, but it was not Catholic. Although value formation was very important, the environment was indifferent to religious matters and to the question of God. Also, during those years, I became somewhat rebellious at home and didn’t want to hear about God or the Church. Outwardly, I rejected religious practice and questioned some aspects of the faith, but deep down I valued its importance because I knew that thanks to that faith, my family remained united.

At the end of high school, my dad invited me to participate in some retreats of the Neocatechumenal Way. I resisted a lot at first, but in the end, I participated. During those retreats, God was touching my heart and softening it. I remembered that Christ was not just a distant idea but a living person who wanted to be part of my life. I realized that God wanted us to walk together, to build a life project together. And I also wanted to, but I didn’t feel strong enough to be a witness in the world. The environment I lived in those years was very materialistic, superficial, and I felt I couldn’t do it alone.

“You are the salt of the earth…
You are the light of the world” (Cf. Mt 5, 13-14)

But something happened that marked my life forever. At the end of high school, my dad offered me the possibility to travel to Canada as a graduation trip. The trip included the World Youth Day in Toronto. Motivated more by the idea of traveling and having a fun summer, I signed up for this trip. When I arrived in Toronto and met young people from all over the world—normal and at the same time genuinely happy, joyful to share the gift of Faith—it was a completely new experience for me that totally changed my perspective. I realized that if I wanted to live my faith authentically, I was not alone; there were thousands, hundreds of thousands of young people worldwide seeking Christ, wanting to live as Christians and be “salt of the earth… light of the world” (cf. Mt 5, 13-14).

Another event deeply moved my heart and I still remember it as if it were yesterday. During the closing Mass on Sunday, a torrential rain was falling, and Saint John Paul II was there giving the homily under the rain, saying: “Listen to the voice of Jesus deep within your heart.” “Be salt of the earth… be light of the world… ‘Lord, to whom shall we go?’” “Only Jesus, the intimate Friend of every young person, has words of eternal life.”

At that moment, I clearly felt how Jesus Christ, through His vicar, was speaking directly to me. I realized how far I was from God, how superficial and vain many parts of my life were, and at the same time, I was deeply moved and happy to be there at that moment, receiving from God a new opportunity. I experienced deep inside a desire to be Christ’s and, together with all the young Catholics, to be “salt of the earth, light of the world.”

“If you love Jesus, love the Church!”

The Pope continued speaking, and in one of the most important moments of the homily, he exhorted us, with conviction and courage, to love the Church, reminding us that it is impossible to love Christ and ignore His bride, the Church. “If you love Jesus, love the Church!”

Saint John Paul II invited us to lift our eyes and look beyond the faults and sins of some of His children, to see “the vast majority of priests and religious generously committed, whose only desire is to serve and do good… stay close to them, support them.”

I clearly remember that at that moment I looked at a seminarian sitting there, shielding himself from the rain with his prayer book held close to his chest. And just then, the Pope said: “And if you hear that same call to the priesthood or the consecrated life resonating deep within your heart, do not be afraid to follow Christ along the true path of the Cross… In difficult moments in the history of the Church, the duty of holiness becomes even more urgent… and holiness is not a matter of age. Holiness is living in the Holy Spirit.”

And at that moment, I started to cry as I believe I never had in my life. Christ was entering my heart to give greater meaning to my existence; I wanted to be with Him forever, and the best part was that I experienced that He wanted even more to be with me, to be my friend, to be by my side forever, and to build a life project together. They were liberating tears, tears that meant both pain and comfort, pain because, for a moment, I understood that following Christ is indeed along the true path of the cross—leaving my family, my projects, my friends, the possibility of having my own family… all that weighed heavily on me, but on the other hand, I knew that Christ was inviting me to something more. He was inviting me to follow Him more closely, to walk together, to live united in mission, to love the Church passionately, to fight with her and for her, to defend and care for her as a wife…

A moment of grace from God, unforgettable, that marked me forever. A moment of immense joy and mercy.

My faith, our faith: The Regnum Christi

When I returned to Mexico, everything was in upheaval; I wanted to live a life closer to God, truly experience being a friend of Christ, to have friends with whom to share and live this new experience, and to invite others to be part of it. Somehow, I wanted to reproduce the experience of WYD Toronto in my ordinary life in Mexico but didn’t know where to start.

I participated for a short time in the pre-seminary of the Neocatechumenal Way, and although I admired some aspects of them and their desire to be authentic Christians, I didn’t feel identified with that charism.

Later, I participated in an apostolate that my parents wanted to start in Veracruz, promoting Marian spirituality, praying the rosary, etc. The entrance of Mary into my life and our family’s was very important during those years; it helped us a lot, renewed our family unity, and brought a fresh air of joy to our ordinary life of faith.

However, deep down, there was something more I was seeking. At that moment, I entered the Universidad Anáhuac Xalapa. I was able to participate in the Mega Missions and meet other young people at university who also sought to live their faith. Together, we formed the first Regnum Christi group at the university. Pope Benedict XVI said that we can only say “my faith” if it is lived and moved in the “we” of the Church, only if it is our faith, our shared faith in the one Church.

The encounter with Regnum Christi, with that small group of friends at the university, has been one of God’s greatest blessings in my life. It was the place of encounter with Jesus Christ—not only my personal encounter with Him but our daily encounter with Christ, every week, in formation, in apostolate, when we went out to have fun, between classes. Talking about God among us was the most normal thing, and with it, a great desire that many others at the university would meet Jesus and experience what we were living in Regnum Christi. I had found my place in the Church.

“How shall I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on His name” (Psalm 115, 3-4)

After years of studying at university and living the charism of Regnum Christi, the vocational question had been stored away in a drawer. I felt very happy with how I was and, deep down, I didn’t want to return to the vocational matter. Somehow, I thought that was already resolved—that it was Regnum Christi what God wanted for me and nothing more… at least, that’s what I thought, but there was something inside me that didn’t leave me at peace with this option. And I knew deep down that I was not being honest with myself or with Christ. What happened in my heart years ago at WYD Toronto I couldn’t just leave it there and interpret it on my own terms. It would be disloyal if I didn’t give my friend Jesus the chance to see together with Him what His plan was for my life, which over the years transformed into our plan.

In the last months of university, I felt again the closeness of Christ to my heart and saw clearly how generous He had been—not only with me but with my whole family. It was like seeing with new eyes how Christ and His Most Holy Mother entered my life and my family’s, how they rescued us and took us by the hand to be closer to God. That’s when I decided to give Christ a chance and participate in the candidacy of the Legionaries of Christ in Monterrey in 2007. It was really not I who was giving Him the chance; it was He who was giving me the great opportunity to live as His close friend and walk with Him forever.

“Cast out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Cf. Lk 5, 4)

For almost 12 years, that invitation from Christ I heard in my heart, that inner spiritual restlessness, gradually transformed through moments of joy like those of difficulty and struggle, into a certainty of faith, into a profound experience of His love and mercy for me. I feel every day mercifully chosen by Christ, who chooses me to be with Him and sends me to preach His love to men.  Miserando atque eligendo.

On the eve of my priestly ordination, this is my story I want to share with you. A story built over the years, in different places and countries, with many experiences of all kinds, accompanied by great friends, brothers and sisters in the Legion and Regnum Christi, with great trials and even greater blessings, and in everything, Christ who has always been there. I can tell you after all these years that Jesus Christ is truly the faithful Friend, and if you feel in your heart that He is inviting you to something more, give Him the chance, let Him speak to you, listen to His voice. I assure you, you will never regret opening wide the doors of your heart to Him.

Brother Ignacio Bello, LC was born on July 1, 1984, in the city of Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. He received baptism on December 8 of the same year. In 2002, he entered Universidad Anáhuac Xalapa, where he studied Law and joined Regnum Christi. In 2007, he entered the Legion of Christ. He did his novitiate in Dublin, Ireland, where he made his first religious profession in 2009. He completed humanistic studies at the novitiate center in Monterrey. From 2010 to 2012, he studied philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum based in Thornwood, New York, USA. From 2012 to 2015, he carried out his apostolic practices as a vocational promoter, first in Puebla and southeastern Mexico for two years, and in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica during his last year of apostolic practices. On August 15, 2015, he made his perpetual profession in the chapel of Universidad Anáhuac México.

From 2015 to 2018, he was part of the community of brothers in formation at the headquarters of the general leadership. During that time, he served as personal secretary to Father Eduardo Robles-Gil, LC, and completed his theology studies at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome.

On October 6, 2018, he was ordained deacon at Universidad Anáhuac México. He is currently an auxiliary member of the youth section of Regnum Christi in Guadalajara North and an assistant at the high school of the Instituto Cumbres San Javier.