The beauty of St. Josemaria’s teachings is that it is so human

By Jose Sison

Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Catholic Church composed of lay people, both men and women, and priests. It undertakes ministries subject to the authority of its own bishop, not the bishop of the diocese where they are carried out. While there are different levels of membership, all members have a “plan of life” under the guidance of a spiritual director to fully equip them in resisting the growing tentacles of secularism and paganism as they live out God’s call in this world to sanctify themselves and, in the process sanctify others, by doing their work well (with greatest possible human perfection) just as Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter’s son has done everything well.

The spirit of Opus Dei is mainly set forth in St. Josemaria’s books, particularly The Way. In fact I would say that I “met” him through this book. The Way is the modern road map to salvation because it has laid down a specific path to travel with the Lord all the way for all the weary and confused travelers on this earth. Each day of our journey on earth is a day full of crossroads, of daily challenges. As we reach every crossroad, The Way gives us the right direction so that we will not be sidetracked by the numerous attractive signs leading to perdition.

The beauty of St. Josemaria’s teachings is that it is so human. He does not abhor or condemn anybody because of his weaknesses and iniquities that are part and parcel of man’s fallen nature. Instead he encourages persons to accept all these imperfections and un-holiness as the springboard to sanctity. He realizes that human as we are, we are bound to fall again and again so he encourages us to begin again and again through the Sacrament of Reconciliation that entails the humble act of acknowledging our sins and our sinfulness and asking God’s forgiveness and grace to be strong so that we will not fall again.

The greatest legacies of St. Josemaria are his simplicity and humility. It is like a fresh wind in this modern world where the pursuit of happiness is equated with the accumulation of power, wealth and influence. Because of his simple ways, ordinary simple folks could easily relate and identify with him. And because of his humility he has shown us the way to sanctity.

From: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=82332