Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: finnerty@sal-sun64.usc.edu (Brian Finnerty) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Opus Dei Message-ID: Date: 1 Oct 90 00:54:53 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA Lines: 30 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu (I joined Opus Dei about five years ago, shortly after I graduated from Cornell. I am currently on educational leave of absence from IBM, doing graduate studies in computer science at the University of Southern California.) Opus Dei is a Roman Catholic organization of lay men and women and priests which attempts to further the ideal of the universal calling to sanctity. It was founded in 1928 by Msgr. Josemaria Escriva, who was recently declared venerable by the Pope. Opus Dei teaches that all men and women, not just priests and religious, are called to strive for sanctity. We can do this by living by trying to imbue with a Christian spirit the ordinary things of our everyday lives. By doing our work well, by being a good friend, by being loving with our families, by doing all of this motivated by a love for Christ and grounding all of this on intense prayer and sacramental life,... this is how we can encounter Christ in our ordinary lives. That's the basic idea. To carry it out, the members of Opus Dei practice certain norms of piety which include (daily) mental prayer, mass, rosary, reading of the gospel and some spiritual book, weekly confession, and a yearly retreat. Just as important, they try to live their ordinary activities (work, personal relationships) with a Christian spirit. For example, Opus Dei teaches that by doing my study well, motivated by a love for Christ who lived and worked in obscurity for thirty years, an hour study can be like an hour of prayer. The Pope is very fond of Opus Dei, and, of course, the members of Opus Dei have a deep affection for and loyalty to the Pope. Brian Finnerty