An excerpt from a dossier on Opus Dei of Agenzia Fides, the press agency of the Vatican. Fides is a part of the Congregation of Evangelization of Peoples and is one of the first press agencies in the world, having been established in 1927.
In its early days, Christianity was spread through common people who lived the faith in a fervent manner, within their state in society. They were farmers, merchants, soldiers, widows, and others. Nothing distinguished them from the others, except for the fact that their entire existence was permeated by an authentic relationship with God.
They made the effort to live virtuously and were capable of bearing the weight of others. So much was this the case, that the pagans were impressed by how they loved each other. The spread the Gospel among their colleagues, their family members, and their comrades, through their example, friendship, and personal initiative.
When the married couple, Aquila and Priscilla, meet an intellectual of the time period named Apollo, who shows an interest in Christianity, they don't send him to a priest or a theologian. They form him themselves. They show that they are a living part of the Church and know well the fundamental message.
This is what the Work promotes: turning every Christian into a fervent Christian capable of acting directly in society and spreading Christianity through his example, with his work, with his life.
Thus, each one becomes an apostle in his own environment: with their colleagues, their friends, their relatives. It is an apostolate that becomes like an infinite ocean, because any human activity, from professional commitments to entertainment, can become an occasion to come in contact with God.
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