Inaugural message at the Opening Ceremony of the symposium “Holiness and the World”

‘A song of praise to God arises from this vale of tears. Around God’s throne there is a growing choir of the redeemed, whose lives are now a selfless progress of love and glorification. Not only in heaven are these voices heard; they rise from [...]
Tags: Passionately Loving the World, Citizenship, Pope, Holiness

Document

Education which is Open to Society

I would like to consider the influence that saint Josemaría Escrivá has had in my life as an educator in Kenya. I will begin by talking about my childhood experiences because I am amazed that while they are so different from saint Josemaría Escrivá’s, I [...]
Tags: Citizenship, Education, Children, Opus Dei

Document

Freedom, politics and Opus Dei

The difficulties that the Work encountered in the sixties did not come just from the opposition of one particular person or group. The founder faced all kinds of resistance, as often happens with any institution of historic significance. Some of these have already been mentioned, [...]
Tags: Citizenship, History, Freedom, Opus Dei, Politics

Document

Echoes in the Press: June 26, 1975: Reactions to the death of the founder of Opus Dei

The following is a selection of press comments from around the world, after the news of the death of St Josemaría in the morning of June 26, 1975. “Mgr. Escrivá était un homme de Dieu dans toute l’acceptation du terme. D’une intelligence directe, plein d’humeur, il [...]
Tags: Citizenship, culture, Church

Document

Rome trip described as ‘the experience of a lifetime’

The Kerryman, a local newspaper in Ireland, published an article after the canonization with the different impressions and experiences of a few local businessmen from the area. Liam O'Connor and other friends recall the canonization and conclude that it was 'an experience of a lifetime'. [...]
Tags: Canonization, Citizenship, Church, Holiness

Document

Sowers of peace and joy

The contemporary world is a place full of hope, and yet it presents urgent challenges and difficulties which require a decisive response from Christians. For we cannot forget that Christ is our peace. While we have our eyes fixed on our heavenly homeland, Christians [...]
Tags: Joy, Charity, Citizenship, culture, Faith, Peace

Document

"Light, Salt, and Leaven": Lay people's role in the Church's mission

The early Christians, who had lived with Jesus and the Apostles or belonged to the next generation, were very conscious that their mission was to fill everything that they did with faith. In Tertullian’s words, “What the soul is in the body, that the Christians [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Apostolate, Citizenship, Presence of God, Early Christians, Work, Unity of life

Document

The right kind of anti-clericalism

Interview with Msgr Fernando Ocariz, Vicar General of Opus Dei, on Christians and politics as seen by Founder of Opus Dei. Msgr Ocariz outline the scope of Saint Josemaria’s words on the relationship between Opus Dei, the Church, and the world of politics, clarifying what [...]
Tags: Passionately Loving the World, Citizenship, culture, Naturalness, Responsibility, Holiness, Vatican II, Ordinary life

Document

The Roman Forum

The Roman Forum In the time of the Emperors, after a long period of peace and prosperity, the population of Rome had reached the impressive figure of one million people. A tiny minority of these lived in tranquil, spacious villas, while the most of the [...]
Tags: Passionately Loving the World, Citizenship, Places in Rome, Early Christians

Document

God's instrument for the Work

The life of the founder of Opus Dei was the most eloquent application of his message. The lesson of every saint becomes explicit in the coherence between his life, his preaching and his writings. Saint Josemaría spoke of "the mute eloquence" of works: "Love [...]
Tags: The Way, Citizenship, Contemplation, Faith, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Sacraments, Supernatural outlook, Vocation