We publish an interview that Father John Connor, L.C., gave to the communications office of Regnum Christi during his recent trip to the Northern Territory of Mexico.

Father John, what do you say to the Lord regarding your current mission in the Legion and in Regnum Christi? 

The Lord has spoken to me very clearly, especially over the past year during my spiritual exercises. What I heard from Him was from the book of Joshua, when the Lord tells him to be strong and courageous. I believe that is what He is asking of me, and not only of me, but also of my fellow legionaries, as a congregation, and I would dare to say, of the entire Regnum Christi.

This involves being firm and courageous in our vocation as apostles, men and women of the Kingdom, as we have gone through a period of many trials, which is why we continue to work hard on our preparation and formation for the current times.

How has the journey of the General Governing Board been so far? 

There is no doubt that starting a new government for such a large and global organization has its challenges, and during a crisis like the pandemic, the demands were even greater. However, it has been a blessing. Faced with these challenges, everyone responded with great generosity, availability, and good will, seeking initiatives to meet in person, to get to know each other, not only for work meetings but also to share bread, as we say.

A particular blessing has been the mutual understanding among the members of the board, especially the three general directors of the federated institutions. Although each of us has our own point of view, we have known how to stay open to the Holy Spirit and align ourselves on the fundamental principles.

We are all grateful to God for our vocation to Regnum Christi and convinced of our apostolic mission to form apostolic leaders for the Church. In that spirit, we wish to implement this way of governing, collegially, for the good of our common mission.

Father John sharing with several legionaries from the Northern Territory of Mexico during last Christmas.

We know he was present at the recent Friendship Tournament in Chihuahua. What was your impression of this event?

The experience of the tournament was one of the most important blessings of the year for me. Personally, I loved watching some matches, the professionalism of the tournament, the organization, and seeing everyone very happy. Celebrating 40 years of offering this experience to families and students is, for me, a sign that God is present among us.

I loved seeing the work and leadership of the laity, which would not be possible without them. Alongside the parents, the consecrated women, and the consecrated laity, it was very inspiring and charismatic for me. The motto: “Make a difference,” was very appropriate because I believe it is part of our mission—we want to help people make a difference in the world, with Christ.

At our Territorial Convention, the topic of formation and evangelization of leaders arose, and last April you shared a letter with the legionaries addressing this theme. Considering what you mention in that letter, why do you think the parable of the talents (Mt 25:15) helps us understand the concept of “leader”? 

This parable challenges us because it communicates the awareness that God has given us talents and asks for a response. He expects each of us to develop them, with our faith in Jesus Christ being the most important talent.

In my opinion, a leader is a person to whom God has given talents in an extraordinary way and expects fruits from those gifts. The man with talents has the ability to influence greatly in his field of expertise, and that influence can be positive or negative.

In Regnum Christi, we are aware of responding to God’s call and making the most of the talents He has given us, for Christ, for the Kingdom, for society, humanity, and to make a difference for Him.

What do you think is the main challenge when helping a person with talents to respond to God for the gifts received, with love and generosity?

The brief answer is humility. The greatest challenge is helping them to be humble and recognize that their talents come from God and not from themselves, that God deserves all the glory and praise for what He does and can do in their lives. When a leader is humble and recognizes God and others, it encourages others to open themselves to that same grace because man opens himself to humility.

And then motivate them in the courage to change personal mental schemes, work habits, and how they see the world. Be brave, preach the Gospel with humility, using their gifts and talents in the boardroom, with their family, their friends. Be brave in speaking about Christ, humility and courage to be different.

What advice would you give to the laity of Regnum Christi to achieve the evangelization of leaders? 

The first piece of advice is to assimilate and live the Statutes, especially number 33, which speaks very clearly about this aspect of our mission. Talk about this within my team, in my section, and then in the local community, aligning ourselves in the assimilation and living out of this aspect of our spirituality and mission. Assimilation of what God asks of us through the Statutes.

The second advice is to pay attention to personal formation. A member of Regnum Christi must develop their own leadership centered and illuminated by the Gospel. This must be a priority for each one, and as an organization, I believe we can improve everyone’s formation. They should have greater clarity on how a member of Regnum Christi trains in their own Christian leadership: intellectual, apostolic, human, and social.

Another piece of advice is that each one, each team, each section should ask themselves: what does the local church need in this area? Is there an effort by the local church to train laity in their leadership capacity? What can we contribute as members of Regnum Christi? With much humility, simplicity, and gratitude to God for our mission, what can we contribute?

We can make better use of our institutions to serve Catholics locally. How? That is the apostolic question, and there is much room in this area for Mexico and the world. Each one should bring this question to prayer, ask for light and grace from Christ, ask for courage and humility to launch ourselves.

The original note is available here..