It is refreshing to find holiness in my daily work

By Kathleen Miller in The Daily Grotto

I discovered Opus Dei just after my reversion to Catholicism about 11 years ago. A friend (my youngest daughter's godmother) invited me to a women's evening of recollection and it was there that I learned how this great saint founded Opus Dei by divine inspiration on October 2, 1928.

Going to these recollections given by an Opus Dei priest and some of its members opened a whole new world for me which included going to daily Mass, frequenting the Sacrament of Confession, making visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and growing in my love for the Eucharist, and Our Lady.

Saint Josemaria Escriva, a priest from Barbastro, Spain was canonized by John Paul II on October 2, 2002. Seeking "sanctity" in your ordinary day was something this saint strove for daily.

In his own words St. Josemaria Escriva points out "Your daily encounter with Christ takes place right where you work, where your aspirations and your affections are. There we must seek sanctity, in the midst of the most material things of the earth, serving God and all humankind. Heaven and earth seem to merge, my daughters and sons, on the horizon. But where they really meet is in your heart, when you strive for holiness in your everyday lives."-St. Josemaria Escriva, from the homily Passionately Loving the World, October 8, 1967.

I would love to spend time in a monastery and pray for hours and hours on end. But that is not what I am called to do. There are meals to cook, bills to pay, floors to mop, a husband and children to care for. It is refreshing to me that I too can find holiness in my daily work.

To learn more about this wonderful saint whom I hope that you will turn to for intercessions go to St. Josemaria Escriva.