Novels based on grand conspiracy theories regularly cast Catholic institutions as the villain. Dan Brown's best-selling "The Da Vinci Code" fits the mold. Catholicism is a centuries old hoax, and the Catholic institution Opus Dei is a misogynistic, anti-Vatican II sect.
Since the church is often unfairly portrayed in movies and fiction, Brown's novel is no surprise. But what has disappointed me is to see some Catholics buying into Dan Brown-style myths about Opus Dei. I have been a member of Opus Dei for 37 years and know from experience that the facts and myths could not be more different.
The real Opus Dei is an international Catholic institution, dedicated to helping ordinary lay Catholics come closer to God in their ordinary lives. From the time he first founded Opus Dei in Madrid in 1928, Saint Josemaria Escriva stressed an idea that was later popularized during the Second Vatican Council: All of us --- in particular, the laity --- are called to live holy lives and share in the evangelizing mission of the Church.
Pope John Paul II canonized Opus Dei's founder in Saint Peter's Square in 2002, before an audience of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. The Pope has called Saint Josemaria "the saint of the ordinary" and a precursor of the Second Vatican Council II.
As Pope John Paul explains it, Opus Dei "has as its aim the sanctification of one's life, while remaining within the world at one's place of work and profession: to live the Gospel in the world, while living immersed in the world, but in order to transform it, and to redeem it with one's personal love for Christ. This is truly a great ideal, which right from the beginning has anticipated the theology of the lay state, which is a characteristic mark of the Church of the Council and after the Council."
Saint Josemaria was also an early advocate of another key idea from Vatican II --- ecumenism. In 1950 Opus Dei became the first organization in the Catholic Church to create an official ongoing affiliation with non-Catholics. The "cooperators of Opus Dei" number in the hundreds of thousands around the world and include Jews, Muslims, Hindus and even non-believers.
Opus Dei's stress on finding God in work and daily activities applies equally to women, who make up half of its membership. Saint Josemaria was a pioneer in pushing forward the equal rights of women in all spheres of life, calling for their acceptance in universities and professions previously dominated by men.
The founder of Opus Dei also paid tribute to the value of the woman's work in the home, a concept often ignored by many developed nations, especially our own. This may help explain why many of Opus Dei's U.S. members are married women with children. In Opus Dei they find encouragement and spiritual support for the vital work they carry out daily in raising their children and maintaining a Christian home.
The activities of Opus Dei help people from all walks of life, in the home or in the workplace, achieve an intimate union with God every day. The key to this union is the conviction that God is a loving Father interested in each person.
Opus Dei encourages its members to live a generous plan of daily prayer: the morning offering of one's day to God, mental prayer, the reading of some spiritual book and the Gospel, a short visit to the Blessed Sacrament, praying the Rosary, attending Holy Mass, praying the Angelus, a brief spiritual examination of conscience, and small regular acts of thanksgiving, love, study, penance and contrition.
Regular reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, monthly days of recollection and a yearly retreat are also recommended. Through these spiritual practices, people are helped to live one day at a time, focused on offering all the little and big events of each day to God.
Members and cooperators of Opus Dei alike receive ongoing and personalized training in various areas of Christian life, such as study of Church teaching, spiritual development and evangelization, all of which helps them live every aspect of their lives in the presence of God. This is really what Opus Dei is all about. Enriqueta Villarreal, MD, is the director of Westfield Residence, a center of Opus Dei in Los Angeles. |