Opus Dei, What IS It?

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From the link that won’t work:

OPUS DEI****Fr John Trigilio
Fr. John Trigilio explains Opus Dei for CRNET

Opus Dei is neither a religious order, like the Dominicans, Franciscans & Jesuits, nor is it a Secular Institute or religious movement, like Cursillo or Charismatic. It is a Personal Prelature, 95% which is laity and only 5% clergy. It was founded by the late and recently beatified Blessed Jose Maria Escriva in the early thirties in Spain. Well before Vatican II taught the UNIVERSAL CALL TO HOLINESS of all the baptized, Msgr. Escriva sought to promote a spirituality for the laity. Previously, the only spirituality was that of the religious monks and nuns. The monastic life, especially the rule of St. Augustine and St. Benedict was the keystone of spirituality. The mendicant orders, Dominican & Franciscan, were a modification of these. The parish priest, i.e., the Diocesan (Secular) Priesthood was a further modification of those. Hence, all Priests, regular (religious) or secular (diocesan), must pray the Divine Office. The Liturgy of the Hours is designed in a monastic style, with the hours of the day broken up as the monks divided their day.

The laity had to adapt and dilute the already attenuated monastic spirituality for themselves. Consequently, laypeople had no spirituality which was uniquely their own. It was nothing more than a watered down version of a religious spirituality. Msgr. Escriva found this unacceptable, save for those laity who felt called to embrace the Third Order (tertiaries) of Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, et al. He devised a spirituality of and for the laity. OPUS DEI, the Work of God, is a means by which the Catholic Faithful sanctify themselves and the world in which they live and work. It is comprised of all walks of life, doctors, lawyers, homemakers, teachers, students, bus drivers, retirees, etc. The goal is for each member of Opus Dei to bring their Roman Catholic Faith into their WHOLE life, home, work & play. As leaven in the world, the laity being IN the world bring Christ and the Catholic Faith INTO that same world by the way they practice their Faith. The clergy’s function is to HELP the laity find their spirituality and to help them bring the FAITH to the world.

Opus Dei, then, is a vehicle by which its members sanctify the world by sanctifying themselves in whatever situation and condition and vocation they find themselves. The so-called “secret” of Opus Dei is that the members do not wear their religion on their armsleeves. They are very well read in the Magisterial teachings of the Church, are very loyal to the Holy See, and they quietly but effectively defend Church dogma and faithfully practice their Catholic Faith 24 hours a day without crediting it to Opus Dei, necessarily. Their absence of self-publicity breeds contempt from their enemies who see them as clandestine. In reality, it is nothing more than humility. Opus Dei members study the Faith and they INFUSE Catholic virtues into a secular world and secular society. Rather than selling out to the social mores of the pagan culture like modern sycophants, Opus Dei members uphold the moral and doctrinal teachings of the Church and encourage all men and women of all faiths to obey the Natural Moral Law. Due to their resistance of diluting Church law, many opponents accuse Opus Dei of being anti-ecumenical.

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All in all, Opus Dei is a superb method for any Catholic Christian to know their Faith more fully, to create a concrete strategy for Christianizing the world and to build up the kingdom of God via ALL members of the Church, lay and clergy. As it is more cerebral and intellectual, it may not attract everyone just as the Cursillo and Charismatic Movements are not for everyone either. It is fully legitimate and fully recognized by the Church, from the Roman Pontiff on down. All I can say is to check it out by attending a day of recollection, make a retreat or talk to some members of Opus Dei to see if it is for YOU. Read Msgr. Escriva’s monumental work, “THE WAY” and see if it helps you in developing a spirituality; a plan of life. If not, at least it won’t be a waste of time by any means.

Provided Courtesy of:
Eternal Word Television Network
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www.ewtn.com
 
This is an interesting thread, I’ve learned a lot here. I always wondered what Opus Dei is and so I checked out their website, too. Thank you to all the posters on this thread–I feel a little more informed, now! God bless! 🙂
 
What bothers me about Opus Dei is that the Soviet spy Robert Hanssen was such a devout member. I just can’t reconcile that, and his personal sexual behavior, with any favorable feeling about this order. I guess it’s no different from bad Catholics making the whole Church look rotten, but it leaves a bad taste just the same.

Story at archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/05/10/spy.hanssen/
 
Yes, this is true. Of course the devil will try and subvert anything good. I think some good questions to ask are if they are so bad then 1) why to liberals hate them 2) why does the Pope love them (and he does!) 3) why is their founder canonized (I’m sure we’ll hear from the rad-Trads that it was bogus)
 
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bear06:
Yes, this is true. Of course the devil will try and subvert anything good. I think some good questions to ask are if they are so bad then 1) why to liberals hate them 2) why does the Pope love them (and he does!) 3) why is their founder canonized (I’m sure we’ll hear from the rad-Trads that it was bogus)
:amen: Annunciata:)
 
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caroljm36:
What bothers me about Opus Dei is that the Soviet spy Robert Hanssen was such a devout member. I just can’t reconcile that, and his personal sexual behavior, with any favorable feeling about this order. I guess it’s no different from bad Catholics making the whole Church look rotten, but it leaves a bad taste just the same.

Story at archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/05/10/spy.hanssen/
Taking into consideration that he was a spy…what do spies do best?
They deceive!!! What better thing to hide behind than Opus Dei…very conservative, loyal to the Holy Father & Magisterium…all the signs of a devout Catholic:rolleyes: I’d say. He had a great cover.
I wouldn’t use his involment to cause you to be sceptical of Opus Dei though… Read some of the positive things and form your own opinion. It caused serious doubts in me as well when the story first broke…but I still became a Cooperator after sifting through it all. God Bless, Annunciata:)
 
Planned, organized, deliberate, sacrifice helps our souls focus on and become more like our holy spirit. It is not the opposite of temptation, but it is in the right direction. IHS Daryl
 
Bob Hanssen shouldn’t shock anybody - wasn’t Judas a member of an even more elite group?

Betsy
 
thank you so much, Annunciata and others, this is a great discussion. Reading her last post, the penny just dropped. This movement began in Spain in the 1930s by a very holy priest. Always the historian, I ask you to consider what was going on in Spain at that time. Fascist and communist wrangling over the government, culture and lives of the people, the Spanish civil war with priests, nuns and lay Catholics killed on both sides, the vicious intrusion of Nazi Germany into the conflict for its own purposes, turmoil in civic life and in the Church.Truly the Holy Spirit raises up people and movements to succor the Church in her hour of need. As Jesus himself counselled, great evil must be met with great means, especially prayer and fasting. From this description, that is what Opus Dei is all about.
 
Opus Dei came out of Spain. As such, it is highly influenced by a spirituality which is natural to that culture. Certain of these tendencies (such as a greater affectivity), however, tend to seem foreign to the sensibilities of people in the U.S. who have traditionally been shaped by different cultural approaches.
 
here’s my take on opus dei, for what it’s worth:
first a short testimony of my experience with them (you’re free to skip if you think this is not the place for a testimony)
i’ve been in contact with them for 7 years now. they have a missionary home close to my house. even after coming off to college, i used to go there. the priests there were my spiritual directors and i still consider them that coz i still go to them when i’m in town.
i found being with them a thoroughly positive experience. it was under the opus dei priest’s guidance that i had my first desire to know god mare and to live my life as he wanted me to. they constantly kept challenging me to give up the old and to live each day realizing that god is present all around us. they instilled in me the habit of frequent confession and the ideas of not spoiling one’s body by giving it al it wants though that is something i’m still struggling to do. they also showed me that catholics can worship in various ways as till then, i had only had exposure to the charismatic form of worship (it helped even out my views on styles of worship and i find myself as comfortable in loud praise and worship as in quiet contemplation). they also gifted me a deep devotion to the blessed sacrament. they’ve always been a source of answers for my doubts, i could go on and on…
now, here’s what i feel:
  1. they’re conservative catholics (that’s great as far as i’m concerned)
    2)a lot of the buzz about them started after the character assasination in “the da vinci code”. you should read opus dei’s official reply to that on their website “opusdei.org
    3)the book also mentions a site called “odan.org” which gives opinions of former members of opus dei on what is “bad” about them. frankly, i find it a decent site that i think is posted by faithful catholics who didn’t find their niche in opus dei. it’s not the typically spiteful and venomous site that usually results from someone out to vilify another person or institution. it’s not loud and sickening. i went through parts of it and, really, it didn’t change my opinions of opus dei at all.
    4)i think people misunderstand corporeal mortification. it has to be used in the right spirit. the intention should not be (as some posters here have suggested), trying to earn salvation or S/M pleasures. the intention of the several saints who lived their lives in mortification was to bring their bodily desires under control so that temptation would not get the better of them. thus, opus dei always uses these (i assume they have the cilice and discipline though i’ve never seen them) only under the direction of their spiritual director. besides, these things are only a smal part of mortification. their main intent in mortification is stuff that anyone can practice, like cold showers, giving up some little thing during a meal, the heroic minute, periods of silence… these are very good and beneficial to everyone. personally, i’m afraid to even think about using the cilice, etc. i can see that it requires courage and guidance but that does not mean i’ll criticize or demean what has been practiced by saints over the centuries.
pax kristus
 
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