Actually, this is neither bad nor unusual in the Catholic Church. There are religious orders, associations of the faithful and institutes that exist for thier growth and the growth of their members. They function on a very simple principle, which is a dogma, the Communion of Saints. When one member becomes a saint, all benefit.
One can look at the Carthusians and say that they are not particularly interested in the rest of the Church. If one were to talk to them about things like COTT or EF vs OF, most would not know what the issue is and most would not be interested in the subject. It’s a moot issue to them. They sanctify the Church by becoming holy themselves. To them, these are questions and issues that are not very important. They have their system of doing things and the important thing is for them to do it their way.
If one reads the Rule of St. Francis and his Testament, one can walk away with the same mistaken impression. Francis focuses on three things and none of them have to do with helping people become better Catholics, at least not on the surface. His three passions are: poverty, obedience to him, and brotherhood toward the other members of the community. The only mention of ministry in his rule is to say that no one should preach in a diocese where the bishop does not allow it. He gives no instructions on what ministry we should do. He never mentions the rest of the Catholic Church, except when he speaks about obedience. The he mentions how he has exercised blind obedience to the pope and bishops; therefore, his sons are to do the same with him and his successors.
His focus is on poverty. He never really speaks about serving the poor. He speaks about living with the poor and working like the poor.
He does not mention the laity at all. He speaks about the brothers and the importance of the brothers loving each other in all things. He goes into great lengths to equalize the brothers, because clericalism was very strong in those days. He wants to make sure that we don’t fall into the pit of priests and lay brothers, but all are brothers, some ordained and some are not, but equally brothers, no lay brothers. Though this was tried later on and today it’s been banned. We’re back to all brothers, clerical and non-clerical. But that’s over and one with.
It’s when we read his biography that we see him in the service of the Church, not in his writings or in his final will for his brothers. His letters to the faithful focus on penance and conversion. That’s where we see him take an active interest in things beyond poverty, obedience, and brotherhood. His letters to the rulers of the world speak about social justice, something that many people believe is a Vatican II idea. Surprise, it’s as old as the Church. Francis goes on to bash civil authorities for their injustice toward their citizens. He takes it a step further by writing a rule for secular men and women that he gets the pope to seal to ensure that the laity follow his way of life in their homes and in their communities. In this letter he goes into details about how to live the Christian life and he binds the followers of that rule in matters regarding politics and economics, under pain of sin. Here is born the Secular Franciscan Order.
My point is that on the surface, an organization may look disconnected and self-absorbed, but in fact, it’s approach is simply very different. I believe this is the case with the Opus Dei. I’m not Opus Dei. I have read the works of St. Jose Maria Escriva and the focus is the sanctification of the world through the sanctification of the ordinary work of everyday life. There is no mission to go out and conquer the world for Christ. The mission is to sanctify the ordinary and the world will be sanctified in Christ and by Christ.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
