Founder of Opus Dei to be canonized by Pope John Paul II

by George Sim Johnston

On October 6, in St. Peter’s Square, Pope John Paul II will canonize Blessed Josemaría Escrivá, (1902-1975) founder of Opus Dei. Founded in Madrid on October 2, 1928, Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Catholic Church. Currently over 80,000 people from every continent belong to the prelature. Its headquarters are in Rome.

This canonization may well mark an epoch in the life of the church. On that day, the church will officially acknowledge a life of heroic sanctity. But more importantly, it will be pointing to the message of this new saint - a message that has been around since the time of Christ but which somehow got lost in the channels over the centuries. And this message is simple: That there is a spiritual grandeur in ordinary life; that the laity are called to holiness right where God has placed them as lawyers, housewives or bricklayers; that you can have a radical identification with Christ in the midst of ordinary work and family life.

It is a curious fact of history that when Blessed Josemaría first went to Rome with his idea that the laity are called to an active interior life and apostolate, and should not be regarded merely as "second-class" citizens in the church, a sympathetic Cardinal said to him, "You are a hundred years too early with this." Sixty years ago, the message seemed to be: If you want to be truly holy, become a priest or nun; otherwise, take a seat in the bleachers.

But then we had Vatican II, which gave us, the laity, our marching orders. It reminded us that there is a universal call to holiness; that a serious interior life and apostolate are not just for the clergy; and that the mission of the laity is to act as leaven in the world, especially since we are usually in places where priests and nuns are not.

Suddenly, the teachings of Blessed Josemaría, so contrary to the "clericalism" which pervaded much of the church, became a norm for all Catholics. But he insisted that all he was doing was recovering an important part of the "good news" - which is what the word gospel means - that was there from the beginning. If you read the Acts of the Apostles carefully, you will notice that the spread of Christianity in the first century very much involved lay people with names like Aquila and Prisca, Gaius and Cornelius.

If the Church is going to re-evangelize the world, we will have to recover this experience of early Christianity. This is what Opus Dei is all about. There will have to be a zealous, educated, well-formed laity penetrating all levels of society - a laity who regard the Catholic faith not simply as a checklist of obligations, but as an adventure in grace.

As a member of Opus Dei, I find that the teachings of Blessed Josemaría a tremendous help in the difficult business of daily life. I see my work and family life as paths to sanctity (but not, mind you, sanctimoniousness). Through prayer and the sacraments, I try to put God in control of these things. And I try to be alert to everyone around me, seeing them as souls in need of salvation. It is all very demanding, but the satisfactions run deep.

These days, people are focused on the crisis in the Catholic church and make all kinds of proposals, some helpful. Blessed Josemaría insisted that such crises are "crises of saints." Any crisis, especially in the church, is ultimately one of sanctity. And his message is that if we are to build the Kingdom of God in this world, each and every Christian should start by living the means that Christ gave us and try to "divinize" each moment of the day.

George Sim Johnston is a full-time free-lance writer.