My son was invited to work in an Opus Dei school in the South Brox

By Ridgerunner at Catholic Answers Forum

While my son was a freshman in law school, he was invited to work for the summer in an Opus Dei school in the South Bronx.

Well, the South Bronx is a far cry from Murray Hill. The purpose of the school was to tutor young black and Latino toughs in some academic subjects, athletics and lessons on character. I have no idea how they recruit the students; with the parents perhaps. I suspect some are told by the juvenile office to go, or else.

The living conditions were spartan, and the neighborhood where the kids came from and where the staff lived, was beyond awful. The kids were tough and street-smart. The "teachers" were expected to set a no-nonsense example of what it is to be a man...but a man of character. They first had some intensive schooling themselves. Some of the kids washed out. Some expressed to my son at the end how it had made a difference in their lives, including one kid who had tried to rough him up during athletics and learned he had made a mistake.

Kids who successfully completed the program were allowed to then attend, for free, a school in New York, run by Opus Dei, the academic excellence of which is beyond question. "Crotona" I think is the name of it.

Every once in awhile, the "teachers" were invited to Murray Hill. They were served an excellent but sparing meal in the dining room there, then repaired to a very nice lounge where various Opus Dei members would expound on various topics; religion, business, the law, physics, government...everything imaginable, and all from first-hand experience. Some of their credentials were incredible. He met the guy who designed the chapel at Murray Hill; a very accomplished architect named Henry Menzies. You can google his website. Those "discussion sessions" are a regular feature of life at Murray Hill, and my son felt privileged to be able to even be at them. The people he met were anything but removed from the "real world".

My son admired the people in the various levels of participation. Never did he feel anybody was being coerced into anything. Never did he feel he, himself was being coerced or bamboozled into becoming a member. But he knew from the beginning that this was a life that required a lot.

At the end, he could understand how people would do it. He likened it to being a Marine in a way. You could get there, but it would take every bit of effort you had. The Marines want particular sorts, and are unashamed in that. So, I guess, does Opus Dei. You really have to want to do it in order to do it. Some people don't. Some people think they do, then figure out that they don't.

At my son's graduation, one of his close friends' sisters, a very accomplished and wonderful young lady, mentioned that she was going to join Opus Dei shortly. After talking to her a bit, I could picture her making it. She explained to me how she had an interest in perhaps working in a school Opus Dei operates for young black women, where they're taught to be professional caterers, hoteliers and accomplished chefs. Not the worst project anyone could think of.

That's it. Everything I know about it is second hand. But one can't say anything bad about Opus Dei to my son without challenge.