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En esta página se ofrecen testimonios de gran valor histórico. Es una recopilación de artículos publicados en la prensa internacional entre los años 1975 (fecha de fallecimiento del fundador del Opus Dei) y 1990, muy cerca ya de su beatificación por Juan Pablo II. Enlaces Romana (Boletín de la Prelatura del Opus Dei) Obras de San Josemaría Escrivá Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer - Fundador del Opus Dei Iniciativas sociales promovidas por personas del Opus Dei Documentos, artículos y testimonios sobre el Opus Dei y su fundador |
John Joseph Carberry, Arzobispo de Saint Louis, en The Priest (Huntington, Indiana), 6.79.
Texto
The Priest Huntington-Indiana 6.79 The Work Of God Since the death of Monsignor Josemaria Escrivá de Balaguer in 1975, more and more publicity has been given to the life and work of this saintly Spanish priest. The more I read about him, the more I am convinced that his life and teachings should and will become more widely known. He is truly one of the heroesof this century. While making a retreat in Madrid in October, 1928, the young diocesan priest, Father Josemaria Escrivá became convinced that God had a special task for him. He was to found an international Catholic lay association of men and women who would respond eagerly to God's universal call to sanctity. With the grace of God, they would sanctify themselves in and through their secular life, their daily work and their ordinary duties. Some people falsely believe that sanctity is for only a chosen few, or for priests and religious. Monsignor Josemaria Escrivá tried to correct this erroneous thinking.. He wrote: "Our Lord is calling all of us; He expects love from one and all. Yes, all of us, wherever we may be, regardless of our state in life, our profession or occupation. Let us never forget that everyday life, ordinary and unassuming- though it may be, can be a means of sanctity." Growing circles of students, artists, laborers and intellectuals, men and women, were attracted to Monsignor Escrivá. He explained to them the beauty and the depth of union with Christ to which they are called. One day a priest friend asked him: "How is that work of God of yours coming along?".Thus, did the association founded by Monsignor Escrivá come to be called: Opus Dei, the Latin for "Work of God." Throughout the Spanish Civil War, Monsignor Escrivá continued his work, imparting serenity and Christian optimism to those who formed part of the association. After the war, the Opus Dei movement spread to Portugal and to Italy, and in the years to come he sent men and women of the association to other countries of Europe and also to America. When the first members came to the United States in 1949, they brought with them the picture of Our Lady which had hung in a house. where Monsignor Escrivá, lived for some time during the Civil War. "I can give you nothing else, my sons," he told them. Surely, one of the miracles of our centuries is the rapid growth of'Opus Dei throughout the world. When Monsignor Escrivá died in 1975, 60,000 men and women of 80 nationalities had dedicated their lives to God, while continuing their "ordinary" tasks of life. The association has all the necessary approvals of the Holy See. It is interesting to note that only two percent of Opus Dei's members are priests. The association, as visualized by Monsignor Escrivá , is dedicated to the santification of men and women in the midst of the world, to make all people realize that God is calling them to intimate oneness with Him. A question many people ask concerning Opus Dei is: "What does the association do? Fundamentally, the work of Opus Dei is the very work and apostolate which its members carry out in their daily lives as Catholic laymen and laywomen. Whether housewives or politicians, factory workers or university ' professors, the basic task of Opus Dei is to imbue all its members with the love of Jesus, a love which will overflow upon all whom they may meet. The association does conduct some schools, training centers, clinics, etc., which some members (with the help of other people) conduct all over the world. It must be remembered, . however, that the activity of the association as such, consists in forming its members into the Spirit of Christ, in spreading the understanding and the living-out of "lay-spirituality." The goal of Opus I)ei is to foster in each one of its members an "integrated life," i.e.; a life where no false separation exists between daily tasks and life in Christ. Monsignor Escrivá put it this way in a sermon delivered in 1967: "1 wanted to keep them (students, workers, etc.) from the temptation of living a kind of double life. On the one hand, an interior life, a kind of relationship with God, and on the other, a separate and distinct professional, social and family life, full of small earthly realities. No! We cannot be schizophrenics, if we want to be Christians. There is just one life, made of flesh and spirit and it is this life which has to become in soul and body, holy and filled with God. We discover the invisible God in the most visible and material things." The body of Monsignor Josemaria Escrivá de Balaguer rests in a lovely crypt at the headquarters of Opus Dei in Rome. The fame of his sanctity has grown to such an extent that a steady stream of visitors comes to pray at his tomb. "Time is a treasure that flies, that comes and goes, that slips through our hands like water through the mountain rocks. Yesterday has passed, today is passing by, tomorrow will soon be another yesterday. Life is of very short duration but so much can be done in such a short while for the love of God," These words of Monsignor Escrivá de Balaguer are a splendid commentary on his own life, for he accomplished so much, with. such great love of God:, and in so short a time. -John Cardinal Carberry 17 Opus Dei: opiniones de protagonistas |
