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Sayanz
Guest
Might it not be unfair to attribute to one whole organization of 87000 people the comment of one person?
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Neil_Anthony
Guest
A part of the teachings of St. Josemaria and the role of Opus Dei is to teach people to serve God through their work. The members aim to excel in their professions in order to glorify God in that way. So that’s probably what you were noticing. It might not be appropriate for everyone but I think that doing good work is a valid way to glorify God.
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occupant
Guest
people in opus dei here are nothing but friendly. i have some college experience, due to certain circumstances i can’t return yet to finish, and a mediocre job and yet… hold on… they are still friendly to me! in fact when i met them all they asked was about school and what i did for a living and that was about it. nothing my aunt doesn’t ask me when she flys in from egypt. i have never had the impression that they only go for the smart types that have money. st. josemaria preached to everybody, not just the fortune 500 types. his examples on life are mostly of Our Lady. she wasn’t rich and probably didn’t get a college degree! granted, i don’t go to very many meetings since there is no OD center in NC, so a priest comes around once every three monthes to charlotte. but the actual members that i meet with are nice people who love Christ and who feel called to be saints in the middle of the world. what’s wrong with that? i’m sure if something was up with OD then the Church would do something about it.
I suggest reading some of st. josemaria’s books. very good insights. i know it has helped me greatly.
BTW, st. thomas aquinas avoided women like the plague.
I suggest reading some of st. josemaria’s books. very good insights. i know it has helped me greatly.
BTW, st. thomas aquinas avoided women like the plague.
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occupant
Guest
exaclty.
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Jimzz12
Guest
Opus Dei is an excellent group of Catholics. I am not however Opus Dei.
There are some misgivings. It will happen. No order is perfect as there is sin in the world.
Opus Dei tends to be associated with the well-to-do. This does not mean it is bad in itself. They tend to have the belief that what you have gifted to you from God you give to others.
As far as the oppulence. Many wealthy people give works of art to the order. These works of art are often a prayer in themselves. Think of the woman annointing the feet of Jesus. The apostles protested the money can be given to the poor. It’s actually a relief to hear of an order that isn’t having members excommunicated for liberation theology and focusing on charity outside of Christological perspective. Alms are given to glorify Jesus. He is our focus. Sometimes when we focus on the poor we can forget Jesus is among them.
Opus Dei and many others seek to create a conducive atmosphere. The run a beautiful Pontifical University of Navarra, Spain. St. Josemaria Escriva is an AWESOME saint. Read his writings. Moreover, the Scepter Press is the Opus Dei press. They are mainline good old Catholic and trustworthy. They print the Navarra Bible which is good to go.
If you seeking to participate in an order or group – I might suggest the SOLT that Fr. John Corapi is a member of. Or, if you’re from an area with a big city – help out the Franciscans.
There are some misgivings. It will happen. No order is perfect as there is sin in the world.
Opus Dei tends to be associated with the well-to-do. This does not mean it is bad in itself. They tend to have the belief that what you have gifted to you from God you give to others.
As far as the oppulence. Many wealthy people give works of art to the order. These works of art are often a prayer in themselves. Think of the woman annointing the feet of Jesus. The apostles protested the money can be given to the poor. It’s actually a relief to hear of an order that isn’t having members excommunicated for liberation theology and focusing on charity outside of Christological perspective. Alms are given to glorify Jesus. He is our focus. Sometimes when we focus on the poor we can forget Jesus is among them.
Opus Dei and many others seek to create a conducive atmosphere. The run a beautiful Pontifical University of Navarra, Spain. St. Josemaria Escriva is an AWESOME saint. Read his writings. Moreover, the Scepter Press is the Opus Dei press. They are mainline good old Catholic and trustworthy. They print the Navarra Bible which is good to go.
If you seeking to participate in an order or group – I might suggest the SOLT that Fr. John Corapi is a member of. Or, if you’re from an area with a big city – help out the Franciscans.
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allan_frederick
Guest
I will give my experiences and knowledge to the group and each one can form thier own opinion. I am not a member of OPUS-Dei but on the other hand have know them for the last 25 years. Actually I came to know about them when I worked in Spain. My company had sent me overseas as Financial Director for our Spanish operation. As you know OPUS-DEI was born in Spain. They are a traditional faithful to the Magisterium. By this i don’t mean ultra conservative by traditional i mean that they are faithful to the Heiarchy of the Church especially the Holy Father, The Church Tradition and Scripture. Their charism is forming the faithful so that they can go out into the world (world meaning thier families and professional occupation and social life) and take the Good News of Jesus Christ into the world. The reason they ask thier members for money is in order to further their charism which is to educate the laity in Theology and Philosophy and other Catholic education to empower them for Evangelization. There is nothing extreme about this group. They are very committed to the Faith and to the works of the Church. They don’t vacilate in their doctrine. They are solid Catholic recognized by the Church by Pope John Paul II and by the current Pope Benedict XVI. So there you have it.
I am a Seminarian at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Wisconsin. Mt current spiritual Director is a Priest of OPUS DEI
i personally recommend anyone to go and meet and learn. They are not a cult or have witch craft. They strictly follow Catholic Doctrine and are trying to build a better Christian world.
I am a Seminarian at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Wisconsin. Mt current spiritual Director is a Priest of OPUS DEI
i personally recommend anyone to go and meet and learn. They are not a cult or have witch craft. They strictly follow Catholic Doctrine and are trying to build a better Christian world.
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utunumsint
Guest
I’m not a member, but my spiritual director is an Opus Dei priest.
Like anything new, I had my suspicions. I think this is a natural response. Escriva may be canonized, but that doesn’t mean individual members of his movement can’t be pushy, fanatical, or downright elitist. You should never allow yourself to be influenced by a person or an organization before you’ve tested the spirits, so to speak. And often times you may simply not like an organization because you clash with some other person’s attitudes or personality. This is human nature.
I think what scares people about Opus Dei is that they want to focus on your entire life, including your professional life, and your family life. In our society, people want you to separate your professional life from your personal life. Its almost the mantra of relativism. They want you to leave your faith at home, and exclude it from conversations at the office, in our hospitals, in our governments.
To add insult to injury, they also encourage their members to evangelize!!!
God forbid that any religious person seek to share the gospel! This fact alone automatically puts you in the position of a fanatic in popular opinion.
But my experience so far is that Opus Dei truly wants you to be fully Catholic. In terms of spiritual direction, that means the application of doctrine to my life. My spiritual director is a spiritual doctors, so to speak. He finds places where my life is not in conformity with Catholic teaching, and he points it out to me, suggest ways in which I can improve, and grow closer to God. Its not judgemental, but more of a conversation with a friend. He makes no commands.
I started going to him in November, and since then I’ve seen him every month, and its been good.
I also started going to their monthly recollections. Its like a mini retreat once a month. Its really good because they can say things that you rarely hear during a homily, mostly because a homily is not the appropriate place for comprehensive catechises and moral formation.
It was a little intimidating at first because many of the members are successful business men, some are polititians, or ex-politicians. Some a doctors or lawyers, or phychiatrists, or psychologists. I found out that I knew many of these men in other contexts and never knew they were part of Opus Dei.
Anyway. These are my thoughts about it, for what its worth.
God bless,
Ut
P.S. Here are my thoughts before I started seeing the spiritual director and going to recollections from last year in June.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=245197&page=3&highlight=Opus+Dei
If you read them, you will see some big changes in my attitude. Most of my fears expressed in that thread have been totally dispelled by my positive experiences with them since then, and up until now.
Like anything new, I had my suspicions. I think this is a natural response. Escriva may be canonized, but that doesn’t mean individual members of his movement can’t be pushy, fanatical, or downright elitist. You should never allow yourself to be influenced by a person or an organization before you’ve tested the spirits, so to speak. And often times you may simply not like an organization because you clash with some other person’s attitudes or personality. This is human nature.
I think what scares people about Opus Dei is that they want to focus on your entire life, including your professional life, and your family life. In our society, people want you to separate your professional life from your personal life. Its almost the mantra of relativism. They want you to leave your faith at home, and exclude it from conversations at the office, in our hospitals, in our governments.
To add insult to injury, they also encourage their members to evangelize!!!
God forbid that any religious person seek to share the gospel! This fact alone automatically puts you in the position of a fanatic in popular opinion.But my experience so far is that Opus Dei truly wants you to be fully Catholic. In terms of spiritual direction, that means the application of doctrine to my life. My spiritual director is a spiritual doctors, so to speak. He finds places where my life is not in conformity with Catholic teaching, and he points it out to me, suggest ways in which I can improve, and grow closer to God. Its not judgemental, but more of a conversation with a friend. He makes no commands.
I started going to him in November, and since then I’ve seen him every month, and its been good.
I also started going to their monthly recollections. Its like a mini retreat once a month. Its really good because they can say things that you rarely hear during a homily, mostly because a homily is not the appropriate place for comprehensive catechises and moral formation.
It was a little intimidating at first because many of the members are successful business men, some are polititians, or ex-politicians. Some a doctors or lawyers, or phychiatrists, or psychologists. I found out that I knew many of these men in other contexts and never knew they were part of Opus Dei.
Anyway. These are my thoughts about it, for what its worth.
God bless,
Ut
P.S. Here are my thoughts before I started seeing the spiritual director and going to recollections from last year in June.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=245197&page=3&highlight=Opus+Dei
If you read them, you will see some big changes in my attitude. Most of my fears expressed in that thread have been totally dispelled by my positive experiences with them since then, and up until now.
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baltobetsy
Guest
I have been close to Opus Dei for nearly 30 years. I have been to retreats, workshops, recollections and classes and I have found them to have the following characteristics:
Absolute fidelity to the Magisterium.
Encouraging each person to the highest level of holiness possible.
Deep, intimate personal prayer.
Excellent spiritual direction which respects what God is doing in and for each individual. I know a couple of people who discerned vocations to religious orders through their direction from the Work.
Cheerfulness and optimism.
Amazing common sense.
Here is a good informative thread from the Vocations forum.
Betsy
Absolute fidelity to the Magisterium.
Encouraging each person to the highest level of holiness possible.
Deep, intimate personal prayer.
Excellent spiritual direction which respects what God is doing in and for each individual. I know a couple of people who discerned vocations to religious orders through their direction from the Work.
Cheerfulness and optimism.
Amazing common sense.
Here is a good informative thread from the Vocations forum.
Betsy
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