Teachings of Opus Dei: Encyclopedia II - Teachings of Opus Dei - Lay spirituality in ordinary life

Teachings of Opus Dei - Lay spirituality in ordinary life

One of the distinctive features of Opus Dei is it's stress of lay spirituality - a spiritual life for lay people living an everyday life and doing ordinary work. Escriva takes decided position against the concept of having an interior spiritual life and a separate "not spiritual" professional, social, and family life. According to Opus Dei, Opus Dei's spirituality commits lay people to sanctify themselves in the same place where they were before they met Opus Dei and their place in the world is the means for their sanctification. .

"There is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations," Escriva preached, "and it is up to each of you to discover it."  [1]

According to Escrivà, Christians can (and should!) become saints and apostles right there where they work and live. Whatever work they do is to be done with a spirit of excellence as an effective service for the needs of society. Their work then becomes a fitting offering to God. Sanctifying work means to work with the spirit of Jesus Christ, to work competently and ethically, with the aim of loving God and serving others, and thus to sanctify the world from within, making the Gospel present in all activities whether they be outstanding or humble and hidden. In the eyes of God what matters is the love that is put into work, not its human success.

While lay spirituality is one of the features for which Opus Dei is widely appreciated in the Catholic church, some former members say that the teachings regarding work are also used to propagate a lower position for women, especially the assistant numeraries who have to do all the menial tasks in the center. ^[2]

Teachings of Opus Dei - Love for freedom

Escriva preached that Christians should love freedom because God the Son himself, on becoming man, took on human freedom. He sanctified mankind through love: by freely giving himself, "obeying" his Father's will throughout his ordinary life, "until death on the cross." (Phil 2,8) Escriva notes that Jesus "gave himself, because he wanted to." (Is 53,7) Through his freedom, each man controls and shapes his life, being responsible for cooperating or not with God's loving plan of holiness. Recognizing such great dignity, Christians should therefore delicately respect the freedom of others, be open to a pluralism of opinions, and give themselves, with full freedom and personal responsibility, to God and neighbor. [3]

Teachings of Opus Dei - Prayer and mortification

Love, the essence of sanctity and apostolate, is nurtured by constant child-like prayer which is supported by norms of piety involving the Eucharist, the Bible, and the Virgin Mary. Mortification, "prayer of the senses," is especially done by striving to practice all the human virtues, such as being kind, hardworking, sincere and cheerful despite difficulties and failures. "Do everything for Love. Thus there will be no little things: everything will be big...[4]'Great' holiness consists in carrying out the 'little duties' of each moment." [5]) These actions are co-offered in the Holy Mass, the same redeeming sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Sanctifying grace flows down especially through communion and confession.

Teachings of Opus Dei - Charity and apostolate

Christians are to give the highest importance to the virtue of charity: being understanding and caring for each person. Included are service towards the needy in society and the practice of human courtesy, refinement, warmth, affection and fraternal correction. [6] Love, which should be orderly, starts by performing one's duties well and is first directed towards the Pope. And it overflows when one generously gives the best to people, bringing them closer to their Father God, source of peace and joy.

To meet Christ is to find a treasure that one cannot stop sharing. Christians are witnesses to Jesus Christ and spread his message of hope among their companions, with their example and their words. “Side by side with our colleagues, friends and relatives and sharing their interests, we can help them come closer to Christ,” wrote St. Josemaría. The wish to make others know Christ, which is a direct consequence of charity (that is, the love of God above all things and of one’s neighbour as oneself), cannot be separated from the desire to contribute to finding solutions to the material needs and social problems of one’s surroundings.

Teachings of Opus Dei - Unity of life

A Christian who practices these teachings has no double life, a life of faith divorced from daily work. Instead, he has a "unity of life" -- a profound union with Jesus Christ, both fully God and fully man, one person in whom divine power is fused with ordinary human activity. A Christian's work should be God's work, opus Dei. This Christian, despite all his defects, which he humbly tries to remove, is alter Christus, ipse Christus, another Christ, Christ himself. [7]

St Josemaría explained that Christians working in the world should not live “a kind of double life. On the one hand, an interior life, a life of union with God; and on the other, a separate and distinct professional, social and family life.” On the contrary: “There is just one life, made of flesh and spirit. And it is this life which has to become, in both soul and body, holy and filled with God.”

Teachings of Opus Dei - Foundation: divine filiation

According to Escrivá, the foundation of Opus Dei's spirit is a personal awareness of the Christian's "divine filiation". [8] Divine filiation is the Christian's fundamental state as a daughter or son of God in Christ, a deep awareness of which brings about immense happiness: [9] "Joy comes from knowing we are children of God." [10] Opus Dei, in the words of Escrivá, is "a smiling asceticism." (See [11])

Thus the formation provided by the Prelature seeks to foster among the Christian faithful a deep awareness of their being children of God, and helps them act accordingly. It fosters confidence in divine providence, simplicity in their dialogue with God, a deep awareness of the dignity of each human being and of the need for fraternity among all people, a truly Christian love for the world and for all human realities created by God, and a sense of calm and optimism.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Lay spirituality in ordinary life", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki