"Ordinary gals"

By Sheila Liaugmina in Inforum Blog

If only their spirit of love and service and sacrifice were ordinary.

The trumped up ’secret society’ myths of Opus Dei (read any Dan Brown over the past few years?) are farthest from the truth. But the truth is hard to get at when the laymen and women who make up the personal prelature are known for not talking the talk, but walking the walk.

The Women of Opus Dei tell(s) the story. It’s more extraordinary than they admit.

As part of the Catholic Church, Opus Dei exists to help lay men and women find and love God through their work — whatever that may be — and the everyday events that fill a normal life. But having a vocation to Opus Dei does not change the fact that members are still simply lay faithful, the same as other lay faithful in the Catholic Church.

People in Opus Dei do not wear their vocation to Opus Dei on their sleeves. In general, they try to focus on being an “ordinary guy or gal” with their colleagues, family and friends, all the while trying to be more like Christ in their work and with everyone with whom they come in contact. In this way, each one strives to personally give glory to God and to give Christian witness through the way they do their work and through their personal relationships.

Interviewer Miriam Diez asks….is there a prototype of a woman of Opus Dei?

No. As readers will see, the women featured in “Women of Opus Dei: In Their Own Words” are all unique.

The women in the book, just like all the women — and men — in Opus Dei, come from all walks of life. Four of the 15 women featured in the book are converts to Catholicism. Three of the women featured are of African American heritage; several come from Asian and Hispanic backgrounds. Several are stay-at-home mothers — an important professional work esteemed as such by St. Josemaría Escrivá. Several are mothers who raise their families and have other professions they carry out.

There’s a scientist, a couple of medical doctors — including one of the founders of the Hospice Movement in the United States, hospitality services professionals, a childcare professional, several educators, the president of a women’s college, the executive director of a non-profit organization, etc.

The majority of the women are married, some are single. What they share in common is their vocation — which is the same calling regardless of their different circumstances.

Do they tend toward a particular political affiliation?

Members of Opus Dei, as free human beings, are encouraged to be responsible citizens, to vote, to take an interest in the public policies that affect them and others within their various countries and communities.

That said, members of Opus Dei are completely free in the realm of voting, public policies, political party affiliation, etc. Opus Dei is totally non-political. Its ends are completely spiritual. People in Opus Dei tend to be all over the map in their politics — some are liberal, some are conservative, some are moderate, etc. As devout Catholics, they often share similar points of view on moral “hot button” issues like abortion, euthanasia, sexual ethics, social justice, bioethics, etc. — all of which have political repercussions.

Still, they are encouraged to approach and decide on those and other issues of public policy in accord with their conscience. There’s no one approach that people in Opus Dei adopt when considering those and other public policy matters. As Christians, they pray about and ponder the matters, and then come up with their own political decisions based on the options available to them.

Do these women represent what the founder of Opus Dei intended?

Probably, if he had them in a room all together, he would not congratulate them for being in Opus Dei, rather he would challenge them to be more valiant women. He would encourage them to try to be more generous in their love of God and spirit of service. He would urge them to dream apostolically with a world vision, to continue struggling to be better, to convert daily.

That’s a far more gripping mission than any melodrama concocted in neo-Gnostic fiction.