2 Opus Dei followers on trial in France

[Busy_bee]

Here is a former numerary and spiritual director’s testimony of how he was asked to direct though he didn’t now what he was doing.

Much of Opus Dei advice - that you are encouraged to believe is from God - is an immature and inexperienced person with inconsistent/conflictual opinions. No one should give major responsibility over one’s life to someone who doesn’t know what they are doing.

I can imagine that would be a hard question to answer. The job of the director that holds greater importance is to discern vocations to Opus Dei and to guide one in the adapting to the spirit of Opus Dei. The spirit of Opus Dei is ordinary life. Directors are not trained in the extra ordinary (visions, dreams etc)

Are you saying they should be?

 

[Faithdancer]

FYI, the trial in France ended with a complete exoneration of Opus Dei and the school.

See opusdei.us/art.php?p=46221

(Full disclosure: I work in the press office of Opus Dei.)

Deo gratias, BrianFinnerty, thank you so much for the update!

I am going back this month for my 3rd and 4th Evenings of Recollection. I expect they will be much like my 1st and 2nd Evenings of Recollection, last month- lots of silence, great pious devotion, lots of kneeling. In other words, zealously Catholic. Then I will exchange a few pleasantries with other attendees over cookies, and drive home. I won’t even watch in my rear view mirror for malevolent Albino monks, lol!

And, as an aside, I wonder about those who might think our brilliant theologian and philosopher Pope Benedict XVI is somehow uninformed about Opus Dei. Make no mistake, the current pope is highly informed about everything that goes on in the name of the Church- of which he will undoubtedly be a Doctor some day!

 

[Rafaela]

I am going back this month for my 3rd and 4th Evenings of Recollection. I expect they will be much like my 1st and 2nd Evenings of Recollection, last month- lots of silence, great pious devotion, lots of kneeling. In other words, zealously Catholic. Then I will exchange a few pleasantries with other attendees over cookies, and drive home. I won’t even watch in my rear view mirror for malevolent Albino monks, lol!

I have never seen any either in my over three years.

Despite some problems with one member in another country, I have not entirely abandoned my wish of one day being a supernumerary. For now though, since this year and the next will be very busy in terms of finishing my MA, my husbands PhD, and God willing, welcoming a new baby to our family, I am seriously contemplating of becoming a cooperator. :juggle:

 

[Faithdancer]

I have never seen any either in my over three years.

Despite some problems with one member in another country, I have not entirely abandoned my wish of one day being a supernumerary. For now though, since this year and the next will be very busy in terms of finishing my MA, my husbands PhD, and God willing, welcoming a new baby to our family, I am seriously contemplating of becoming a cooperator. :juggle:

Good for you, Rafaela- may God bless and preserve you and your family, and bring you all joy and happiness!

 

[jaaraf]

Deo gratias, BrianFinnerty, thank you so much for the update!

I am going back this month for my 3rd and 4th Evenings of Recollection. I expect they will be much like my 1st and 2nd Evenings of Recollection, last month- lots of silence, great pious devotion, lots of kneeling. In other words, zealously Catholic. Then I will exchange a few pleasantries with other attendees over cookies, and drive home. I won’t even watch in my rear view mirror for malevolent Albino monks, lol!

And, as an aside, I wonder about those who might think our brilliant theologian and philosopher Pope Benedict XVI is somehow uninformed about Opus Dei. Make no mistake, the current pope is highly informed about everything that goes on in the name of the Church- of which he will undoubtedly be a Doctor some day!

Albinos-- none that I know of… The only thing you may find out of ordinary in the center I go to is the female numerary, a director who has 3 piercings in each earlobe. :bounce:

Disclosure: I’m an associate of Opus Dei, have been so for the past 11 years.

 

[LovePatience]

I can imagine that would be a hard question to answer. The job of the director that holds greater importance is to discern vocations to Opus Dei and to guide one in the adapting to the spirit of Opus Dei. The spirit of Opus Dei is ordinary life. Directors are not trained in the extra ordinary (visions, dreams etc)

Are you saying they should be?

If they aren’t, then doesn’t Opus Dei mislead? If you watch The Way it is clear that St. Josemaria Escriva is portrayed as a person with many extraordinary experiences.

Yes, they should be. If they aren’t willing to do so, they should refer the person to another order that is trained such as the Carmelites or Jesuits or an individual priest with training or simply say they don’t know, not make something up. As rcspiritualdirection says, “the essence of spiritual direction is solid advice.” If there are going to be passages in St. Josemaria Escriva’s book that require absolute obedience to the spiritual director in all things even the very smallest, then it is a requirement that the spiritual director be competent in their advice. This is also important when Opus Dei gives people advice on marriage, job choice, etc. If you don’t know more about the subject than the person you are advising, it is better that they advise themselves.

And a question is: why was he himself pressured into giving spiritual direction when he was unprepared? Blind leading the blind.

 

[brianfinnerty]

Deo gratias, BrianFinnerty, thank you so much for the update!

And, as an aside, I wonder about those who might think our brilliant theologian and philosopher Pope Benedict XVI is somehow uninformed about Opus Dei. Make no mistake, the current pope is highly informed about everything that goes on in the name of the Church- of which he will undoubtedly be a Doctor some day!

Yes, Pope Benedict knows Opus Dei quite well.

For example, here is an article Cardinal Ratzinger wrote about Opus Dei and its founder, Saint Josemaria Escriva, on the occasion of the canonization of Saint Josemaria:
opusdei.us/art.php?p=12481

And here is a nice quote from Pope Benedict’s apostolic exhortation “Verbum Domini”, in which he includes Saint Josemaria among some of the great witnesses of the Gospel:

“Every saint is like a ray of light streaming forth from the word of God: we can think of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in his search for truth and in his discernment of spirits; Saint John Bosco in his passion for the education of the young; Saint John Mary Vianney in his awareness of the grandeur of the priesthood as gift and task; Saint Pius of Pietrelcina in his serving as an instrument of divine mercy; Saint Josemaria Escrivá in his preaching of the universal call to holiness; Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, the missionary of God’s charity towards the poorest of the poor, and then the martyrs of Nazism and Communism, represented by Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), a Carmelite nun, and by Blessed Aloysius Stepinac, the Cardinal Archbishop of Zagreb.”
vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20100930_verbum-domini_en.html