opus dei in NC

[deb1]

I joined the Columbiette’s recently and although I love the group, I would like to belong to some group that offered more spiritual guidance.

I am only moderately familiar with Opus Dei. I know Dan Brown disliked them and that seems a point in their favor.

I thought that I would look up chapters of Opus Dei in my church. I have never heard anyone talk about this group at my church so I don’t think that my parish has any members.

When I put the words "Opus Dei in NC’ into the search engine I found so many negative articles that I was surprised.

Is it difficult to find Opus Dei members? I’d like to do some research before I contact such an organization but everything on the web seems anti-Opus Dei. Are their any neutral sites?

 

[Red_Meg]

Hi Deb!

You won’t find any Opus Dei “chapters” in different parishes because it isn’t organized that way. Opus Dei is a personal prelature-- individual persons, like myself, who are incorporated into the prelature. So even if there were people in Opus Dei in your parish, they wouldn’t be listed in the bulletin in any fashion.

If you’d like to find out if there are, indeed, members of Opus Dei anywhere nearby you running activities, your best best would be to contact info@opusdei.org with the name of your town. They could put you in touch with people nearby, if there are any.

Sadly, though, the US is a very large country and the Work is quite small. You may be quite some distance from anyone else, or from a center or retreat house. You also may wish to inquire about retreats-- if you are looking for something spiritually substantial, the retreats are just phenomenal. It might well involve a long car ride or short plane trip, but it would be well worth it.

In the meantime, if there’s anything specific you want to ask about, please fire away. There are a few people around the Forums who are in contact with Opus Dei. I’m not sure how much time I’ll have for the forums over the next few days myself, but I’ll try to check in if I can…

Best,

Margaret

 

[Contarini]

I joined the Columbiette’s recently and although I love the group, I would like to belong to some group that offered more spiritual guidance.

I am only moderately familiar with Opus Dei. I know Dan Brown disliked them and that seems a point in their favor.

I thought that I would look up chapters of Opus Dei in my church. I have never heard anyone talk about this group at my church so I don’t think that my parish has any members.

When I put the words "Opus Dei in NC’ into the search engine I found so many negative articles that I was surprised.

Is it difficult to find Opus Dei members? I’d like to do some research before I contact such an organization but everything on the web seems anti-Opus Dei. Are their any neutral sites?

Where are you in NC? There are a group of Opus Dei folks in Durham (I don’t know what level of involvement, but I think there are at least some supernumeraries), and a priest (Fr. DeoGratias Rosales) comes down from D. C. every month to do an evening of Recollection (at least that’s what they call it) and hear confessions. It seemed to be mostly a guy thing the one time I attended, but it wouldn’t hurt to contact them. I get email from the contact guy every so often–I never took my name off the mailing list. I generally delete the emails since I no longer live in the area, but if I find an old email I’ll PM you the address. I could PM you the guy’s name anyway and you could write and say that you were interested in finding out more about “The Work.”

Or I could put you in touch with an old friend of mine and his wife. He is a former Scott Hahn student now teaching at the diocesan seminary in Denver. He’s involved with Opus Dei and could give you a lot of info on them. He gave me a copy of JoseMaria Escriva’s *The Way, *which is a great (if stern and demanding) little devotional book.

FWIW, my own perspective on Opus Dei (having several friends and acquaintances who are involved, and having visited two different Opus Dei houses and met with two different Opus Dei priests) is that they’re very stern and old-fashioned, and from my (admittedly non-Catholic) perspective a bit too uptight and authoritarian, but not the sinister figures many make them out to be. Admittedly I’m biased in their favor because I respect the three guys I’ve known who had Opus Dei connections. But shucks, that’s as good a reason as any to form a judgment about a group.

I’ll share with you Fr. Deo’s one bit of pastoral advice to me. He said that in order to get my spiritual life in order and discern what I should do about Catholicism, the first thing I should do was go home and clean up my room (I had admitted that I had a big problem with disorganization). . . .

I tried to follow his advice, but I quickly backslid, alas. I think this one statement gives you a pretty good sense on what Opus Dei are like. They’re the drill sergeants of Catholicism.

If I ever became Catholic they wouldn’t quite be my cup of tea, but they are an interesting bunch.

Edwin

 

[Ahimsa]

Where are you in NC? There are a group of Opus Dei folks in Durham (I don’t know what level of involvement, but I think there are at least some supernumeraries), and a priest (Fr. DeoGratias Rosales) comes down from D. C. every month to do an evening of Recollection (at least that’s what they call it) and hear confessions. It seemed to be mostly a guy thing the one time I attended, but it wouldn’t hurt to contact them. I get email from the contact guy every so often–I never took my name off the mailing list. I generally delete the emails since I no longer live in the area, but if I find an old email I’ll PM you the address. I could PM you the guy’s name anyway and you could write and say that you were interested in finding out more about “The Work.”

Or I could put you in touch with an old friend of mine and his wife. He is a former Scott Hahn student now teaching at the diocesan seminary in Denver. He’s involved with Opus Dei and could give you a lot of info on them. He gave me a copy of JoseMaria Escriva’s *The Way, *which is a great (if stern and demanding) little devotional book.

FWIW, my own perspective on Opus Dei (having several friends and acquaintances who are involved, and having visited two different Opus Dei houses and met with two different Opus Dei priests) is that they’re very stern and old-fashioned, and from my (admittedly non-Catholic) perspective a bit too uptight and authoritarian, but not the sinister figures many make them out to be. Admittedly I’m biased in their favor because I respect the three guys I’ve known who had Opus Dei connections. But shucks, that’s as good a reason as any to form a judgment about a group.

I’ll share with you Fr. Deo’s one bit of pastoral advice to me. He said that in order to get my spiritual life in order and discern what I should do about Catholicism, the first thing I should do was go home and clean up my room (I had admitted that I had a big problem with disorganization). . . .

I tried to follow his advice, but I quickly backslid, alas. I think this one statement gives you a pretty good sense on what Opus Dei are like. They’re the drill sergeants of Catholicism.

If I ever became Catholic they wouldn’t quite be my cup of tea, but they are an interesting bunch.

Edwin

Yes, cleaning up one’s room is a prerequisite for any serious spiritual adventure. I know exactly what you mean.

My impression was that Opus Dei had a policy of ‘Don’t call us; we’ll call you’.:bigyikes:

 

[Caesar]

My Spiritual Director is an Opus Dei priest. He is extremely orthodox and very intelligent. My only regret is that I can only meet with him twice a month

 

[deb1]

Where are you in NC?

I live around the Fort Bragg Army Base.

It seemed to be mostly a guy thing the one time I attended, but it wouldn’t hurt to contact them.]

I don’t even know yet if Opus Dei is what I am looking for. I would like to be involved in a group that put more emphasis on prayer life and spiritual growth. The Columbiettes that I belong to are great. They do a lot of social work, which I love. But I’d also like some help with some inner development.

Or I could put you in touch with an old friend of mine and his wife. He is a former Scott Hahn student now teaching at the diocesan seminary in Denver. He’s involved with Opus Dei and could give you a lot of info on them. He gave me a copy of JoseMaria Escriva’s *The Way, *which is a great (if stern and demanding) little devotional book.

That would be great. I would like to do some research about the group before I contact anyone.

Thank you!

 

[dumspirospero]

I wish there was an Opus Dei group down here in Louisiana…it seems like there would be since we have such a dense Catholic population, but I have contacted them on several occasions, and they keep telling me the closest thing they have is in Houston, TX…does anyone know any individual members or groups in the Baton Rouge, LA are I could possibly get involved with? Thanks, Sonny

 

[dumspirospero]

Bump up…no one knows any Opus Dei members residing in the Louisiana area?

 

[Kelly]

Bump up…no one knows any Opus Dei members residing in the Louisiana area?

I recently moved to Mobile, AL and have been looking for Opus Dei here as well. I contacted the National Office and was told the same thing as you, that the closest group is in Houston, TX.

Does anyone know of any members the Mobile/Pensacola area?

 

[Malcolm_McLean]

I am only moderately familiar with Opus Dei. I know Dan Brown disliked them and that seems a point in their favor.

When I put the words "Opus Dei in NC’ into the search engine I found so many negative articles that I was surprised.

Is it difficult to find Opus Dei members? I’d like to do some research before I contact such an organization but everything on the web seems anti-Opus Dei. Are their any neutral sites?

Dan Brown did them a huge favour. Unfortunately the reality isn’t such fun. You won’t be sent around with a dagger and a white habit on mission to bump off enemies of the Church.

Opus Dei are basically what they say they are on the website. A Catholic society for working people, with their own rules of discipline. These are quite strict and difficult to follow. I don’t want to discourage you from joining, but there are many other Catholic organisations that admit laypeople and might well be more suitable. You don’t have to believe that an organisation is bad to not want to be a member.

 

[baltobetsy]

Opus Dei are basically what they say they are on the website. A Catholic society for working people, with their own rules of discipline. These are quite strict and difficult to follow. I don’t want to discourage you from joining, but there are many other Catholic organisations that admit laypeople and might well be more suitable. You don’t have to believe that an organisation is bad to not want to be a member.

Members of Opus Dei would probably disagree on the bold sentence. I once spoke with a member who told me that the vocation to Opus Dei should give you wings - set you free to have the relationship with God that is meant for you.

The rules of discipline are strict and difficult to follow for people who are not called to them. One should not reject the Work without investigating it personally, just in case it would give you wings.

And just to be clear, one does not simply join Opus Dei, as one would join the Knights of Columbus. It is a vocation, just as valid as a vocation to priesthood or religious life, even though you remain a lay person. There is a process of discernment to be done.

Betsy

 

[Chancellare]

I’ll share with you Fr. Deo’s one bit of pastoral advice to me. He said that in order to get my spiritual life in order and discern what I should do about Catholicism, the first thing I should do was go home and clean up my room (I had admitted that I had a big problem with disorganization). . . .

I tried to follow his advice, but I quickly backslid, alas. I think this one statement gives you a pretty good sense on what Opus Dei are like. They’re the drill sergeants of Catholicism.

If I ever became Catholic they wouldn’t quite be my cup of tea, but they are an interesting bunch.

Edwin

Although the analogy is hardly an accurate one, ever wondered what sort of soldiers we would have without the drill sergeants performing their roles?

Opus Dei is perhaps one of the (if not THE) most misunderstood group witihin the Catholic Church today. For a clinical analysis of what it is and what it’s not, I recommend John Allen’s book entitled “Opus Dei” (Penguin Books). With a journalist’s eye and a layman’s curiosity, this author provides by far the most definitive and authoritative work on the subject. Anything short of this, we may be like a bunch of blinds arguing ourselves who has the right description of how an elephant looks.

 

[Chancellare]

Yes, cleaning up one’s room is a prerequisite for any serious spiritual adventure. I know exactly what you mean.

My impression was that Opus Dei had a policy of ‘Don’t call us; we’ll call you’.:bigyikes:

The best argument for cleaning up one’s room is the one used by Jesus against the Pharisees: we don’t want to be like a bunch of tombs: immaculately clean on the outside but full of maggots inside. I guess that’s the most plausible cause of our difficulty in putting our live’s priorities in order.