Meet the RC Renewal Delegates: Christina Campbell, delegate from Arizona/New Mexico
The Regnum Christi Movement has been an important part of my life since I incorporated in 2007. It has been my joy to find a group of likeminded Catholics who pray, study, encourage, and work together for the Kingdom. Two years after I joined Regnum Christi, I was diagnosed with an advanced form of breast cancer. I was 34 years old and had five children, ages 10 and under. I was blessed to be able to attend a Triduum of Renewal during treatment. I don’t remember much from that retreat, but I do remember one key message: “With the cross necessarily comes the Resurrection.” That statement became my mantra and my hope. I believed with all my heart that the resurrection would come. I honestly didn’t know if it would be recovery from my illness or resurrection to eternal life. Either way, the suffering would come to an end. Each day, I offered up my sufferings and looked forward to my personal resurrection.
I did recover, and I am happy to say that I have been cancer free for seven years. I moved from darkness into light in several respects. My family moved from cloudy Western Washington to Sunny Arizona. To my joy, I moved from being a cancer patient with sadness and death all around me to an obstetrics patient once again, surrounded by the happiness of new life. Since my illness, I have been able to conceive and bear three more children for a total of eight. My relationship with God has also grown. During my cancer year, my heart and mind went dark.
What a blessing it is to see the light of Christ through my prayer and in the faces of my children and others whom I have been blessed to serve. I have experienced the cross, and the Lord blesses those who suffer for him with Resurrection.
Now it is our turn. The Movement has experienced a heavy cross these last seven years. As a Regnum Christi family, we have experienced deep pain from the news of the duplicitous life of our founder in addition to what has resulted, such as the exodus of many members, scarred reputation and financial hardships. I still believe in the message, “With the cross necessarily comes the resurrection.” Now is the time. This renewal process is the gateway to our resurrection. Just as I did not know what form my resurrection would take, as I suffered my illness, I also do not know what the resurrection of Regnum Christi will look like. All I know is that I am excited to be in the middle of it. I am thrilled to have been chosen to be a delegate to the Territorial Convention, and I look forward with great anticipation to seeing what results from our International Convention. God has chosen to keep our Movement together, and he is about to show us what form it will take. Enjoy the ride!
