By Abbey Hugo
LINCOLN (SNR) - The second annual Christus Foundation Golf Tournament will support a number of charitable causes Sept. 18.
Regnum Christi is hosting the event at Crooked Creek Golf Course in Lincoln to raise funds and awareness for several of its apostolates, including the Knights of the Holy Eucharist, Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House, Helping Hands Medical Missions and Extreme Mexico Missions.
Regnum Christi is a group dedicated to drawing people together and deeper into their faith, Gary Roberts, the organizer of this event, said. He said the apostolates are the fruit of that mission.
“It’s a group of people who share a love of Christ, share a love for wanting to learn more about their faith,” Roberts said. “It’s basically deepening our faith outside of the normal ‘checking the boxes’ of Sunday Mass that a lot of people do — just trying to learn more about what your faith is and getting to know other people.”
On a regular basis, this includes Bible studies, speakers or evenings of prayer. Generally, it’s not a group that will publicly advertise. Instead, it relies on “the laws of attraction,” as Roberts put it, emulating Christ meeting with his disciples.
People are often introduced to Regnum Christi by participating in one of its retreats, events or mission trips. Regnum Christi’s Christus Foundation financially supports its apostolates, charitable or evangelistic activities. To provide more generously, it hosts fundraisers such as the upcoming golf event.
Roberts, who originally proposed the idea, said it was a way to utilize his unique skills and interests to contribute to the organization. A couple of years ago, the Christus Foundation was asked to donate funds for hurricane relief in Texas. The desired amount was nearly three times the annual budget. That’s when Roberts decided he needed to take action.
“That struck me as we’re being called to do something different, and I enjoy golf, so golf to me was maybe an avenue where we could raise awareness for the Christus Foundation, raise awareness for some of the missions we support,” Roberts said. “As future people come to us and have similar types of needs, we have a pool of resources and can apply those resources accordingly.”
Some beneficiaries of this year’s event have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House in Waverly.
Father Gary Coulter, director of the retreat house, said it’s been a challenging time, but the retreat house is doing all it can to continue to provide a peaceful place for prayer. It’s been hosting smaller in-person retreats and providing virtual retreats this summer, with plans to open the fall retreats within current limited, distancing guidelines.
“We want to offer a place and sanctuary for prayer, mostly through weekend retreats for laity,” Coulter said. “It is our desire and goal to help people have a place where they can encounter God and make that time to have silence and prayer with him.”
The money will help the retreat house continue to offer weekly retreats and hopefully improve those experiences, whether that’s through capital improvements or affording nationally-known retreat leaders.
Helping Hands Medical Missions, another beneficiary, offers mission trips in underserved areas around the world. Volunteers and medical personnel set up clinics in these areas, providing care and supplies such as medications, eyeglasses, physical therapy and sometimes as many as 50 surgeries a week. Due to current travel restrictions, travelling abroad will likely be impossible.
Dr. Mike O’Donnell is the medical director for Helping Hands’ trip to El Salvador. He said that if the group is unable to go to El Salvador, they will work with the on-site group there to determine how to help remotely. This could include monetary donations or shipping medical supplies. In previous years they’ve ordered more than $15,000 in medications and supplies. Funds may also go toward next year’s trip.
Those are just a few of the organizations that will benefit from the fundraiser. Golfers can register for the tournament at https://thechristusfoundation.org/events. The cost is $125 per person or $500 per team.
