The greatest crisis in the world today

By Drilling4Truth in Catholic Answers Forum. This is a reply to somebody who has come to understand that God has been calling him to discern joining the prelature of Opus Dei and who has been running away from it due to this skepticism and fear of being frowned on by his Anglican parents and sister.

Yes, thanks to Dan Brown's asinine portrayal of Opus Dei as a cult of religious fanatics and gun wielding monks, the Work has suffered somewhat.

I have done a few events with Opus Dei, mostly Days of Recollection and book discussions. So, I am not reaching in the dark when I say that Opus Dei is committed to bringing Holiness to the average person. This is why John Paul II himself so loved the Work. If there is one thing our dear late pontiff tried to teach us is that we are all called to Holiness. We are all called to be Saints. This is the charism of Opus Dei, helping people find God in their lives, no matter their vocation.

If this is where you feel God is leading you, please know that the world is desperate for men and women like you. The greatest crisis in the world today is the absence of God in our day to day lives. And Opus Dei is on the front lines of that battle.

Ex-member: I promise to tell the truth about Opus Dei

By Matt Collins in Trust the Truth. Matt's FAQ about Opus Dei was for many years one of the most well-read websites on Opus Dei.

1. Who are you, what makes you so knowlegeable about Opus Dei, and why should I trust what you say?

My name is Matthew Collins. I'm happily married with 3 children, live in Baltimore, MD and work at a hospital in Baltimore as a computer programmer.

I was a supernumerary member of Opus Dei for almost 27 years. I left Opus Dei on my own initiative for personal reasons, but remain friendly toward the organization, and am now a cooperator.

Why should you trust what I say? Well... read this FAQ, and if it seems to you I'm being open and honest, then believe me. If not, then don't.

Besides, I'm staking my reputation on it, and I'm putting everything I say out there for the whole world to see.

I promise to tell the truth about Opus Dei according to my perspective, and to acknowledge other perspectives. I don't apologize for it. I'm not embarassed by it. I'm just telling it like I see it.

One reader noted that because I live in Baltimore, where there is no center of Opus Dei, I may not be aware of some of the more subtle abuses Opus Dei is accused of. He has a valid point. However, I believe that over the 28 years I have known the Work (as Opus Dei is often called) I have received enough formation and been close enough to get a pretty good feel for how things work.

2. What is Opus Dei?

Opus Dei was founded in 1928 by a Spanish priest, Josemaria Escriva. Escriva died on June 26, 1975. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 6, 2002 amid some controversy.

Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Roman Catholic Church, composed of both laity and priests, whose purpose is to fulfill a specific pastoral mission under the jurisdiction of its own prelate, who may or may not be a bishop. Personal prelatures are sort of like dioceses, but they consist of people rather than territory. Opus Dei may operate in dioceses around the world, but only with the express permission of the diocesan bishop. Opus Dei reports directly to the Vatican Congregation for Bishops.

Personal prelatures are discussed in Canon Law, canons 294-297.

Personal prelatures were foreseen by Vatican II, largely through the efforts of St. Josemaria, who wanted a juridical structure in the Church which he believed suited Opus Dei better than the old structure of a secular institute. Currently Opus Dei is the only personal prelature in the Church. It was given this status by Pope John Paul II in 1983. Hopefully the Holy Spirit will make use of this relatively new and flexible organizational structure in the church and inspire the church to create other personal prelatures to address the various needs of the apostolate.

The specific pastoral mission of Opus Dei is to spread knowledge of the universal call to holiness and to offer its members and others who wish to take part in its activities the assistance they need to become saints in the middle of the world according to Opus Dei's spirit and practice.

One of the specific characteristics of Opus Dei is its emphasis on one's work, whatever it is, as a means of sanctification. We are encouraged to see all the circumstances and events of our lives as opportunities to grow in love for the Lord and to serve the Church.

In Opus Dei we are taught (and teach others) that holiness is not only for priests and nuns. It is the obligation of all Christians to seek holiness. And for lay Christians, we have to seek it right where we are, in the ordinary circumstances of our lives. We don't seek holiness despite the activities of our ordinary life as lay people, but precisely through those activities. The "stuff" that goes into being a lay person is the very "stuff" that can make us holy. As part of this path to sanctity, members of Opus Dei follow an intense "plan of life" which focuses on traditional methods of prayer, such as the Rosary, mental prayer, daily Mass, etc.

3. What's Opus Dei all about?

In a nutshell, and following up on the ideas in the previous question, Opus Dei is about spreading the universal call to holiness.

One of the basic responsibilities of ALL Christians is to spread the Good News. Opus Dei encourages its members and all Christians to take this responsibility seriously. The work people do in service to the Gospel message is called "apostolate". In Opus Dei, our apostolate is a "directed apostolate." That is to say, it is supervised by the directors of Opus Dei and is discussed with the member as part of his or her spiritual direction. The director may suggest topics to bring up with specific friends, ask us to invite someone to become a cooperator or member, suggest we invite someone on a retreat, etc.

Opus Dei emphasizes that members are ordinary Catholics. In terms of Canon Law (i.e., the law of the Church) this is true. Nevertheless, members of Opus Dei do have a contractual bond with the prelature that other Catholics don't have, which obliges them to perform certain duties and give obedience to the prelature in all that relates to the prelature's aims.

Stuff of daily living that takes on transcendent significance

By John Allen, Jr. in Opus Dei

At its core, the message of Opus Dei is that the redemption of the world will come in large part through laywomen and men sanctifying their daily work, transforming secularity from within.

“Spirituality” and “prayer,” according to this way of seeing things, are not things reserved primarily for church, a set of pious practices marked off from the rest of life; the real focus of the spiritual life is one’s ordinary work and relationships, the stuff of daily living that, seen from the point of view of eternity, takes on transcendent significance.

It is an explosive concept, with the potential for unleashing creative Christian energy in many areas of endeavor.

The ambition is nothing less than reaching across centuries of Church history to revitalize the approach of the earliest Christians—ordinary laywomen and men, indistinguishable from their colleagues and neighbors, going about their normal occupations, who nevertheless “catch fire” with the gospel and change the world.

Things Old and New

By Christopher Blunt in The Yeoman Farmer. A Seattle native, transplanted to rural mid-Michigan, finding the connection between farming, food, faith, family, community, and citizenship.

I just got home from an Opus Dei evening of recollection at a church in Ann Arbor, led by a priest who drives up from South Bend. We have these recollections every couple of months, and they always draw several dozen men from around the area.

We begin with solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance on the altar, and then the priest leads us in a half-hour reflection. He is then available for 45 minutes or so for confessions, followed by a second reflection. Finally, we close with solemn benediction, and the Blessed Sacrament is returned to the tabernacle. All in all, these are wonderful events and bring considerable spiritual fruit to those who attend.

I am usually tapped to help serve the exposition and benediction (Homeschooled Farm Boy, who is an altar server at our parish, thinks it's cool that Daddy is also an altar boy). Tonight, I managed the incense and another guy managed the humeral veil. But between the two of us, and the priest, everyone managed to forget to bring the book with the priest's prayers. He did have a song sheet which included most of what he needed, so we were fine during exposition and the first part of benediction. But only as he knelt to recite the divine praises did we realize we were missing something very important. We all looked around, but the book was nowhere to be seen.

As I retreated to one of the pews, to look to see if the misalette had what we needed, the priest began digging in his pocket. And produced...a Palm Pilot! As he removed the stylus and began tapping through various screens, he muttered, "I know it's in here." Sure enough, about a minute later (it felt more like ten minutes, with the whole congregation looking on), he cleared his throat and began, "Blessed be God..."

And so we went all the way through the divine praises, finishing with "Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints." The priest returned the PDA to his pocket, and we all began singing "Holy God We Praise Thy Name" as he reposed the Blessed Sacrament.

And as we processed off the altar, I couldn't help smiling at the wonderful mix of "things old and new" I'd just observed: solemn exposition and benediction, with bells and incense and wonderful Latin hymns, led by a priest dressed in a cope and humeral veil --- and packing a PDA with the divine praises as an emergency backup. You simply can't not love that. He only could've topped it by connecting to the internet and downloading the prayers as he recited them.

Back in the sacristy, I commented that I'd never before seen a priest lead benediction with a PDA. He chuckled and replied, "And I've never done it before. I'm just glad I have so much stuff on there."

I told him I agreed. And made a silent resolution to make sure I double-check that we have the Handbook of Prayers book at the altar next time.

Law, life and other miscellany

In Alcinous Banquet

I've been considering a change lately.

Last week marked my sixth year with the small but somewhat pretentious law firm that I've labored in since my abortive attempt at soloing.

I'm looking to make a change for a variety of reasons, but in short, they would center around a desire to have more control over my practice and a desire to support my family by making more money in the process.

I've long represented indigent clients -- mostly in the field of consumer bankruptcy, but other debtor-creditor matters including foreclosure and indebtedness defense as well. I like the work; it appeals to my desire to make a difference and be Christ to those I meet.

Which brings up my Catholicism and the particular expression of it that my life has followed.

Last summer I became a postulant with a third order Franciscan group known (then) as the Tertiary Franciscans of the Primitive Observance -- a third order closely associated with the Franciscans of the Primitive Observance (or TFPO and FPO, respectively). Since that time, the third order has been somewhat reformulated, and is now known as the Tau Maria (not a particularly eponymous handle, but hey -- I didn't pick it.)

What's all that have to do with my law practice?

Well, quite a bit. As I said, my practice is an extension of my faith. Okay, maybe I didn't actually say that, but I implied it.

It seems to me that we all live lives which are meant to be lived for some particular purpose. Of course there's the overriding purpose we learn (or for some, learned -- past-tense) in the Baltimore Catechism: "to know and love God in this life, and to serve Him in the next" (paraphrasing from a somewhat leaky 46 year old memory, here.) We all have that as a purpose.

But what I mean is an additional, more particular purpose.

Opus Dei has a wonderful take on this that I find particularly appealing, i.e., that we are called to sanctification through our vocational calling, whatever that may be. If you are called to be a surgeon, then you may attain holiness through the practice of surgery by offering your best "work" for God, as it were. If you are called to be a teacher, then by teaching for God. If you are called to work in a factory, etc., etc.

As a lawyer for the poor, I feel a certain calling to defend and counsel those who struggle with their finances. The importance of this work is or should be obvious in this consumption-driven culture, which upholds wealth as the greatest goal to be attained, and poverty as the worst evil to be avoided.

This may come as a shock to some people, but some believe that poverty is actually a virtue to be sought rather than an evil to be avoided at all costs. I know that the lawyer I ate lunch with a couple weeks ago certainly was (shocked, that it is.) I mentioned this in passing, and the reaction I got from him -- also a Catholic, and by all appearances a fine man -- was as if I'd calmly mentioned my being abducted by space aliens the night before.

Incredulous wouldn't be far from the mark.

Fools for Christ

By Oswald Sobrino in Catholic Analysis

I painfully know that it is true with me: I can't stand to look foolish before others or to imagine (often wrongly) that I might look foolish to others. Yet, here is St. Paul making the case for freedom even from this, yes, foolish but common anxiety:

We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.

1 Cor. 4:10 (ESV).

The context is Paul again, with great perseverance and patience, teaching his converts (notice how much of his teaching has to do with how to practically live in Christ and not so much with the abstractly theological which we humans love to play with at length in our leisure).

Paul, formerly Saul the proud Pharisee, was now set apart for a new task in which, for many, he would play the fool. Both Jews and Greeks saw him as foolish. Yet, that reality did not stop him. It should not stop us, either. St. Josemaria Escriva has a saying that I paraphrase as best as I can remember: the Christian should be able to step into any setting and any environment with a sure step. Why? Because the Spirit of truth, of reality, is aiding him moment by moment.

Let's do the logical analysis (appropriate enough since we follow the Logos). If we do good in word or action, either we will be thanked by others or rejected and maybe even ridiculed. The crucial fact is not the reaction but rather the objective goodness of the word or action. There are people who have gotten so used to lies and to the cold indifference of so many people (not infrequently beginning with their upbringing) that they just can't handle agape in action. Sometimes, I think that even simple generosity to strangers or mere acquaintances is as striking a miracle to many as parting the Red Sea was. Yet, that is precisely what the Christian is called to be and do: to make the difference in a very cold, indifferent, despairing, and truly foolish and confused world. Escriva also noted once, as I recall, how the presence of a Christian in any setting ought to raise the temperature of the room, not the temperature of anger or dispute but rather the higher temperature that reflects the warmth of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

The root problem that gives many of us such a dire fear of appearing foolish to others is that we are really seeking, in the end, to boast in ourselves, not in the Creator:

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord" [echoing Jeremiah 9:23, 24].

1 Cor. 1:27-31 (ESV; emphasis and bracketed reference added).

With the right attitude, we can end up saying, as Paul did:

10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Cor. 12:10 (ESV; emphasis added).

Taking that Pauline step breaches a new frontier of personal freedom for us and for many others with whom we come in contact.

Why Work is Holy

By Dave Williamson in The High Calling of our Daily Work. This article is not about Opus Dei but about spirituality of work which is at the heart of the message of Opus Dei. This was written in a Protestant website.

You will spend over 100,000 hours of your life working. This is more than anything else you'll do except sleep. What is the meaning or purpose of our working? Do we work because we have to, or because it is a "High Calling"?

Flying the friendly skies at 37,000 feet as I write this, I start wondering about the plane and the "high calling" of daily work. At 37,000 feet, I sure hope the pilot thinks of his or her work as a "high calling." I want that pilot to think highly of the safety of the folks flying. Is it a "calling"? Is it holy work?

What about the flight attendants? They, too, have considerable responsibility for the safety, enjoyment, and sense of well-being of the passengers in this airborne community. Is this also holy work, God's work? Does God care about the enjoyment and comfort of airline passengers? What about the critical workers on the ground—from mechanics to staff, ticket agents, and baggage handlers? Do they have a high calling? Does God have a purpose, and are God's purposes satisfied or limited by what they do and how they do it? Certainly God is interested in people traveling safely. Is God also interested in their enjoyment, satisfaction, return on investment, etc.?

Looking around the plane at my fellow passengers, I wonder which ones have a high calling in their daily work, a call from God to do what they do well, a call to love God through serving others. Guessing occupations (from my stereotyped impressions), I see someone who I assume is a pastor or Christian educator—reading religious material and writing notes. Certainly he has a high calling. We usually affirm that this is the highest calling, but that's a gross misunderstanding of "calling."

Another passenger has a laptop open with a screen full of mathematical material. She is an engineer of some sort, I assume. Does she have as high a calling? I notice a business executive, an attorney, a young soldier, a rancher, and a musician. Do any of them have a high calling? Is their work from God, and does it have anything to do with God's purposes?

You could ask the same question of the young mother with two small children in the row in front of me, the grandparent near the bulkhead, the retirees headed off for a vacation, or the college student headed home. Though none of them work for pay, do they have a high calling? Maybe theirs is the most important, the most sacred, the highest calling.

Just what makes work sacred? What is a high calling?

For some, the work we do five or six days a week is the means, the necessary evil, we must endure to enjoy one or two days of leisure, and "to put food on the table," we say. Do you ever work obsessively or feel like a slave to your work? Or, are you able to take time off for rest and renewal that enables you to put your energies back into the other five or six days? Do you say TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) or TGIM (Thank God It's Monday)? Does God ordain and call us to our work?

The word "call" comes from vocare. We get the word vocation (a "call" or "summons") from it. Biblically it is used primarily for our being "called" to live in Christ, in relationship with God through Jesus. We belong to Christ, and our work is to believe, to glorify and enjoy God. It is our "high calling," our highest calling. Our daily work, whatever that is, is also a high calling. It is to be directed toward fulfilling God's purposes.

WORK COMES FROM GOD

Work was God's loving idea from the beginning, in and through creation. After reporting the creation of male and female on the sixth day, the writer of Genesis quotes God as saying,". . . your descendants will live over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals. . . . Then the Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and guard it" (Gen. 1:28, 2:15).

The first glimpse we have of the human person in Scripture shows someone working as a farmer and manager of the rest of creation—joyously, purposefully tilling the ground and exercising respectful stewardship over all the earth.

The Bible portrays work as part of God's very nature. "If God is the worker," Elton Trueblood wrote in his book Your Other Vocation, ". . . then men and women, in order to fulfill their potentialities, must be workers too. They are sharing in creation when they develop a farm, paint a picture, build a home, or polish a floor." We are exercising our dignity as creatures made in God's likeness when we work. Our work is the dual task of continuing God's creative process and taking good care of what God has entrusted to us.

There is hardly a human occupation that does not in some way involve being a coworker, a cocreator with God. We are sharing in God's work. We are expressing God's image in our work.

WORK IS TO BE DIRECTED TO THE WELL-BEING OF SOCIETY

Our destiny as "made in the image of God" includes participation in God's work of developing, maintaining, and enhancing community. Our work is to benefit the civil society in which we live and work. In addition, we're called to be creative. What is the creative element of your work? What is the common benefit of your work? "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's hunger meet," Frederick Buechner wrote.

In the biblical understanding of work (for all of life for that matter), there is no separation between that which is sacred or secular. The sacred-secular distinction comes from Plato and Greek dualism. The Bible knows nothing of that distinction. All work is sacred since God created and uses that work to sustain God's creation and participate in God's purposes.

WORK IS A PRIMARY WAY IN WHICH WE HONOR AND WORSHIP GOD

Avodah is a Hebrew word that means both worship and work. Paul encourages the Colossians, "And whatever you do, . . . do it all in the name of Jesus giving thanks to God . . . whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord" (Col. 3:17, 23). It is a high calling!

Perhaps the most powerful expression of our giving thanks to God comes through the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Here we see bread and wine on the Lord's table. These elements, the products of many hands and minds, come to the table, are blessed by God, and become for us the body and blood of our Lord. When in that process did worship begin or cease? "Here is the perfect symbol of the unity of work and worship," wrote Alan Richardson, "the strange unbreakable link that exists between the bread that is won in the sweat of man's face and the bread of life."

Passing a construction site, a pedestrian asked three bricklayers what they were doing. The first said that he was earning a living to feed and clothe his family. The second said, "I'm throwing these bricks together to build a wall." The third responded, "I am helping to build a cathedral for the glory and worship of God." What a difference your perspective makes in giving meaning to your work!

What is your work? Is it a High Calling? You bet it is, every creative and caring and beneficial aspect of it. May we work hard and well and enjoy it more each day. Then we will be able to say, "Thank God it's Monday—and Friday—and Sunday!"