Starting from questions and deep study of Theology, RC Bible seeks to understand and deepen how the Holy Spirit acts upon our lives.

What doubts does today’s young person have about how to pray? Can one really hear God through the Bible? These were the questions that seven brothers in Rome sought to answer within their Theology studies after an initiative presented to many ECYD members and young people from Regnum Christi sections. After six weeks, RC Bible “has helped me to be more attentive when reading or listening to biblical readings, because during this process I was able to realize how the Holy Spirit becomes present in the various readings to help me understand many things in my life,” Alejandra Vásquez from Valencia, one of the young people who participated in this course, tells us.

According to information published on the website of Regnum Christi in Spain, everything arose from a concern of some Legionary brothers who did practices in Spain to be able to teach how to pray using the Bible. Br. Daniel Fernández, L.C., one of them, pointed out to these young people that he is sure that “the Word of God is a living word, that wants to respond to your present, it is not a dead word. It is not a history or mathematics book, it is a book that wants to respond to many questions that young people have in their hearts these days”. This initiative has sought to give young people the foundation to have an encounter with the Lord through his Word, unlike other apostolates that offer reflections on the daily Gospel, but they are already-made reflections and, in the end, a true contact with the Word of God is not always achieved and, most importantly, responding in prayer to “what is it that God wants to tell me with that Gospel?”

A complete prayer course

This project began on Sunday, April 16, 2023, Divine Mercy Sunday, with a video call to the 80 boys and girls who wanted to participate in this project. Over six weeks, throughout Easter, each day a short audio of two or three minutes was sent about the context of the day’s Gospel where guidelines were presented on how the subsequent prayer could be directed after they themselves read the Gospel. They also presented other quotes from Sacred Scripture each day, such as parallel passages to complement the prayer.

Additionally, Thursdays have been “feedback Thursdays,” that is, each participant was invited through WhatsApp, audio or in person, to tell the spiritual director how they were doing with this prayer program: lights received, difficulties encountered, etc. And, finally, every Sunday they connected again to receive a twenty-minute formation capsule on topics that help learn to pray: “Children of the Father,” “Examination of prayer and examination of the day,” “Types of prayer” or “Life in the Spirit”…

“The project did not seek for them to remain dependent on daily reflections, that’s why it had its end,” explains Br. Daniel. “It was an impulse and the idea is that now, young people can begin to pray on their own. That they themselves take the Gospel of the day and can meditate on what God wants to tell them through the Word, what God wants to do with them”. From all of this, Alejandra Vásquez, from Regnum Christi Valencia, tells us about her experience.

How has RC Bible helped you in your prayer life?

It has helped me to be more attentive when reading or listening to biblical readings, because during this process, I was able to realize how the Holy Spirit becomes present in the various readings to help me understand something specifically.

And what motivated you to sign up?

Curiosity to learn more, but I must confess that the deadline to request being part of this process had passed, I started a day later. But it was my spiritual director, Fr. Sebastián Rodríguez, L.C., section director for young people in Valencia, who told me about this initiative and said it would be really interesting, and it was. Now I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit influenced from the beginning, both for Fr. Sebastián to tell me about this, and for Br. Daniel to let me be part of it.

What have you learned with this initiative about praying with the Bible?

I have learned many things, but one of the most important for me is to include the Holy Spirit at every moment of my life and be attentive to what he wants to communicate to me not only through the different chapters and verses of the Bible, but through every moment and experience of my daily life, because during the development of this initiative, He has communicated with me in various ways.

Now that this process has “concluded,” it is time to continue applying everything learned, since the brothers who have participated in our formation have shared various useful tools with us to apply mainly in our prayer moments, but also others to apply in our daily lives.

What did you think of the content they sent you, the feedback and the Sunday talks?

I thought it was a very good structure because personally I felt involved and part of something. The daily message reminded me of my “task,” maybe if they had sent me all the readings from the beginning or per week, I surely wouldn’t have finished them. On the other hand, the feedback with my spiritual director every Thursday reminded me that, as a human, I have doubts, difficulties and that it’s not wrong, on the contrary, I can count on someone to guide me in these doubts. And finally, I loved the formation capsules, I learned a lot because they served as a complement to understand the readings and I insist, to apply in my daily living.

I will never tire of saying that this has changed my life for the better and that I am very grateful for each of the people who made this initiative possible. As my favorite phrase says: “Every story has an end, but in life every end is a new beginning.” So now to begin one more chapter with the help of the Holy Spirit and everything learned.

With information from: Regnum Christi in Spain