Advice Needed!

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Fergal

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Hi Friends,

Let me keep this very short!
Well after years of praying asking God’s light for the right spiritual direction for me I have received three invitations almost simultaneously.
  1. Invitation to join Opus Dei - Have been attending Recollection, have a priest of the Prelature assigned as Spiritual Director - Deeply love their orthodoxy and solid teaching - Receiving so much from it.
  2. Invitation to join OCSD - Order of Secular Discalced Carmelites - Has always been dear to my heart since I visited Fatima in 1992 have wanted to join the lay Carmel and never got the chance until now - Only now has a new group started to form and I am amongst them I am so excited about this.
  3. Invitation to join Knights of Saint Columbanus - received an invitation today after Mass from an elderly man who has been ‘looking out for me’ for some time. Has asked me to ‘take his place’ as he would be so happy to move aside knowing I would be taking his place. This is such a privilege as you can only join if commended by a present member. The Order was founded in Belfast in 1915 by James K Cannon O’Neill.
    He was greatly influenced by the social teaching of the Church and particularly the encyclical “Rerum Novarum”.
Along with this I have been asked again to renew my dedication and committment to the Extraordinary Ministry of Holy Communion. I have just finished a 3 year term and am requested by the Parish Priest to renew for another 3 years.

Is it too much to follow all together?

Oh what to do… I know I need to continue praying. I am asking you to pray for me and any advice you may give would be very much appreciated.

God Bless you all.
 
Can you be a member of more then one? I don’t know about the St. Columbanus group, but if it is like the K of C’s here it shouldn’t be a problem. However, being in Opus Dei and a Third Order might be a problem. You are only supposed to belong to one. However, you can be a Cooperator of Opus Dei and belong to other groups. Maybe that is a solution? But perhaps you must simply make a choice. Pray about it and take your time.
 
My mother said, pick one thing and do it well. All of your choices are commendable. I am sure, that one probably speaks louder to your heart. At the risk of burnout, select one and stick to it for a while and see if this is the path the Lord has led you too. Like anything…in order to discern…Pray, pray and pray somemore!
 
why don’t you PM Annunciata who has familiarity with the first two
 
I was an Opus Dei cooperator and a member of the Legion of Mary ( door knocker ). It was a conflict. In the end I chose Opus Dei. You should pray on it for a good while before you make any changes. Not all inspirations etc come from God. The thing that led me to embrace Opus Dei’s spirituality completely was it had it all. Where as all other apostolates etc here did not. I found that every single priest of Opus Dei was truly holy, very orthodox and completely loyal to the pope and church. There were recolllections throughout the city of Sydney. I had a cooperator circle. And spiritual direction. A priest comes near my home to hear confessions twicw a week. I can drive 35 mins to see a priest for confession any time within reason. The parents involved in Opus Dei have started schools around Sydney. Brilliant schools. Opus Dei is big on spiritual and doctrinal formation. Many others are not as big on really getting to know your faith. There are shrines set up around the city for pilgrimages. I became a cooperator 16 yrs ago and the benefits of being involved in this movement have been tremendous. Too many to list. Ittruly is the work of God. It is demanding, much more so than any other movement for laymen, but so is God. It pushes the message that all are called to be Saints. Not just a chosen few. Opus Dei is changing my city. They now have a priest who was appointed by cardinal Pell to run the Catholic Adult Education program in Sydney. And for years the priest have been working hard to increase vocattions, and are heavily involved with the seminary. A seminary which is now producing orthodox priests. Through the schools Opus Dei is influencing 1000’s of good people in Sydney. Kids are trained in the virtues, learn their faith and most regularly grow up to be good Catholics. unlike the Catholic schools where at least 95% kids leave the Church when they leave school. St Josemaria will one day be declared a doctor. His teachings were not new, but his ability to get the message through to all was. I felt that my best chance of ever becoming a Saint was to mix with Opus Dei priests etc. This and many other reasons led me to get fully involved with Opus Dei. My 2 brothers, ones wife and 5 kids are at the school now with 1 starting soon. And the other brothers kids are going and soon to go to the schools. Many people have come closer to God since my older brother, then me etc etc got involved with Opus Dei.
At the risk of sounding one eyed, perhaps the enemy wants to throw a spanner in the works to get you away from Opus Dei. You need to consider every possibility you know.
 
I am an Opus Dei Cooperator myself. But it is not for everyone. I don’t think the devil would generally encourage someone to become a Carmelite tertiary, lol. There are a variety of vocations for a reason. I happen to also be a Benedictine Oblate. I haven’t had any conflict and see it as complementary. If I went farther into Opus Dei though I could see there being a problem. I applaud Opus Dei, obviously, but my Aussie friend is a bit enthusiastic. Understandable of course. St. Jose Marie Escriva would not have said that Third Orders were somehow wrong. They are different and for those called to them they are their way to holiness. That is what we ALL are seeking.
 
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cestusdei:
I am an Opus Dei Cooperator myself. But it is not for everyone. I don’t think the devil would generally encourage someone to become a Carmelite tertiary, lol. There are a variety of vocations for a reason. I happen to also be a Benedictine Oblate. I haven’t had any conflict and see it as complementary. If I went farther into Opus Dei though I could see there being a problem. I applaud Opus Dei, obviously, but my Aussie friend is a bit enthusiastic. Understandable of course. St. Jose Marie Escriva would not have said that Third Orders were somehow wrong. They are different and for those called to them they are their way to holiness. That is what we ALL are seeking.
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Hi there cooperator,
You are right. I thought I might sound one eyed. What I was saying about the enemy is that he will try to throw a spanner in the works if someone is going well in their spiritual life. I’ve got no problem with other orders/ apostolates. But you need to watch out for the divide and conquer tactic. Maybe it’s God bringing these opportunities into existence. I don’t know. Maybe it isn’t.
You are best off finding one apostolate and form of spirituality and dedicating yourself to it with your whole heart. St Josemaria talked about the members and friends of Opus Dei being a disorganised organisation. Thus you are free to do Gods work in many ways. Join the pro life movement etc. But the spirituality should not be bits and pieces of your own making. Who knows what plan the enemy may be hatching. Look at Medjugore- millions have wasted there time and money going there. How many will be scandalised by the Church’s rejection of the authenticity of the apparitions? The enemy gets beginners in the spiritual life to try and do way more prayer and penance than they are capable of because he knows he can’t stop them doing these. But he can get them to overdo it, and fall in a heap. He hopes they will get discouraged and give up all together. Prayer and penance are great. And yet the devil will use these pillars to his advantage. He even gets people who are very enthusiastic to disobey their director in the same way. He is cunning. I hope this clarifies where I was coming from. Thanks for enabling me to make it clearer. I probably did come across a bit one eyed.
 
hi, fergal, my irish friend.

i wish i had some sage wisdom to throw your way, but i have not. what i do have i give you - my prayers.

be assured of them.
 
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cestusdei:
Can you be a member of more then one? I don’t know about the St. Columbanus group, but if it is like the K of C’s here it shouldn’t be a problem. However, being in Opus Dei and a Third Order might be a problem. You are only supposed to belong to one. However, you can be a Cooperator of Opus Dei and belong to other groups. Maybe that is a solution? But perhaps you must simply make a choice. Pray about it and take your time.
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cestusdei is correct, as far as the groups go, if you are a member of a third order, you can only be a member of one of them (you can not be a third order Franciscan AND and Third order Carmelite)
I am an aspirant to the OCDS and not officially part of them yet…I think it is good to stick to the old faithful groups rather than the new ones (Opus Dei). I all reality, if you stick with the truth in the OCDS, it is probably better than Opus Dei anyway since it has been around so long…also, you are in the company of Three of the doctors of the church with the OCDS!!! Also, I am in the KofC and it is not an “order” so you can be in that as well. KofC is more about corporal works and OCDS is more spiritual, so it works out to be a win win situation. You will have to find out from the OCDS if Opus Dei disqualifies or not.
Please don’t think you will become holy by joing more groups:rotfl: …I am in those two and I feel like a sinful incompetent slug…but hey, it helps to have the assistance.
I have a hard time with so many orders these days they are hard to keep up with…I woner why the church keeps allowing so many?
 
John,
I understand. The Work is a great way to grow in holiness. But I have met good Benedictines who would make lousy Dominicans and vis versa. Each persons vocation is unique. The Opus Dei vocation is unique in and of itself. It is wonderful when someone is called to it, but if through spiritual direction they determine it is not for them then that is okay too. I believe that Opus Dei will continue to grow as more people discover it. I find being a Cooperator is a great way for me to participate in so far as I am able. Some religious communities are also Cooperators, including some Carmelite convents. There is room in the Church for all legitimate groups. I am very glad to hear how Opus Dei is helping the Church in Australia. Maybe we should start a Pell for Pope campaign at the next conclave?
 
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flick427:
… I am in the KofC and it is not an “order” so you can be in that as well. KofC is more about corporal works …
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If I am not mistaken, the Knights of Columbus (which I am a 4th degree member of) is a seperate organization from the Knights of Saint Columbanus.
 
Sir Knight:
If I am not mistaken, the Knights of Columbus (which I am a 4th degree member of) is a seperate organization from the Knights of Saint Columbanus.
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Oh, at second glance, you seem to be right about that…that is what I get for reading too fast…
Well, how about we recommend he joins the Knights of Columbus also! 😃
 
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