Legatus, the sacraments and you

There’s no way to comprehend the power of the sacraments, essential to Legatus chapter events . . .

Patrick Novecosky

If you’re paging through this magazine thinking that you’ve received someone else’s publication … look again. Welcome to your newly redesigned membership magazine! For the first time in six years, we’re introducing a new look.

Beyond the new style, we’ve changed the flow of the magazine with editorials up front and apologetics near the back. We’ve also introduced a couple of new departments and renamed others.

Designer Shawna Kunz of Lime Design and yours truly worked with redesign expert Ed Henninger of Henninger Consulting to come up with a more polished publication. Our goal was to bring you a more professional-looking magazine without compromising content. We hope we’ve succeeded in that regard, and we welcome your feedback.

We’re launching the redesign in synch with Legatus’ 25th anniversary year. The year-long celebration begins with our annual Summit from Feb. 2-4 and continues through to our 2013 Summit.

To be sure, Legatus’ anniversary year will be one of looking back at how God inspired one man to rally Catholic business leaders to go deeper in their faith — and how those business leaders responded with tremendous enthusiasm. Tom Monaghan realized that in their “busy-ness,” captains of industry often climb the corporate ladder by sacrificing the spiritual aspect of their lives. He tapped, in the hearts of these men and women, a deep-seated longing, which Legatus continues to nurture a quarter century later.

Legatus’ influence today is felt most deeply by individual members who, transformed by God’s grace, wield a positive influence in their families, parishes, businesses and communities. That influence has never been more needed in our increasingly secular nation. We have a great responsibility to bring Christ to a world hungry for truth, but we must never forget that we can’t give what we don’t have. Simply put, we must be transformed daily by meeting Christ in prayer and the sacraments. The Eucharist is our spiritual fuel to live grace-filled lives, and Confession is, in a sense, our “reset button” to be reconciled again with the Lord Jesus who loves us beyond all comprehension. (Click here for a related story.)

The original vision for monthly Legatus events was to begin with the rosary, Confession and Mass. That template still holds today. In his address to our newly chaptered chapters (click here for a related article), Monaghan stressed the value of regular Confession and how it’s essential to remain in a state of sanctifying grace. That sacrament’s value is inestimable because, as we all know, our ultimate goal is to get to heaven and to bring as many people with us as possible. And that’s the reason Legatus exists.

Patrick Novecosky is Legatus magazine’s editor.