"I have always been struck by the interpretation which Josemaría Escrivá
gave of the name Opus Dei — an interpretation which we could call
biographical and which allows us to understand the founder in his
spiritual dimension. Escrivá knew that he should found something, but he
was always aware that it was not his work, that he had not invented
anything, that the Lord had simply made use of him. Thus it was not his
work, but Opus Dei [Latin for "work of God"]. He was only an instrument
with which God had acted.
While I was pondering this fact, there came to mind our Lord's words in
the Gospel of John (5:17): “My Father is always working.” These are
words spoken by Jesus in the course of a discussion with some religious
specialists who did not want to recognize that God could act even on the
Sabbath. This is a debate that is still going on, in a certain way,
among people and even Christians of our own time. Some people think that
after creation God “retired” and no longer has any interest in our
everyday affairs. According to this manner of thinking, God could no
longer enter into the fabric of our daily life. But the words of Jesus
affirm the opposite. A man open to the presence of God discovers that
God is always working and still works today: We should, then, let him
enter and let him work. And so things are born which open to the future
and renew mankind.
All this helps us to understand why Josemaría Escrivá did not consider
himself “founder” of anything, but only a person who wants to fulfill
the will of God, to second his action, the work, precisely, of God. In
this sense, the theocentrism of Escrivá, in accordance with the words of
Jesus, means this confidence in the fact that God has not retired from
the world, that God is working now and we ought only to put ourselves at
his disposal, to be ready, capable of reacting to his calling. This,
for me, is a message of greatest importance. It is a message which leads
to overcoming what could be considered the great temptation of our
times: the pretense, that is, that after the "big bang" God retired from
history. God’s action did not “stop” at the moment of the "big bang",
but continues throughout time in the world of nature and the world of
man.
The founder of Opus Dei said: I am not the one who invented anything;
there is Another who acts, and I am only ready to serve as an
instrument. So the name, and all the reality which we call Opus Dei, is
deeply bound up with the interior life of the founder. He, while
remaining very discreet on this point, makes us understand that he was
in permanent dialogue, in real contact, with Him who created us and
works through us and with us. The Book of Exodus (33:11) says of Moses
that God spoke with him “face to face, as a friend speaks with a
friend.” I think that, even if the veil of discretion hides many details
from us, still from some small references we can very well apply to
Josemaría Escrivá this “speaking as a friend speaks with a friend,”
which opens the doors of the world so that God can become present, to
work and transform everything.
In this light one can understand even better what holiness means, as
well as the universal calling to holiness. Knowing a little about the
history of saints, and understanding that in the causes of canonization
there is inquiry into “heroic” virtue, we almost inevitably have a
mistaken concept of holiness: “It is not for me,” we are led to think,
“because I do not feel capable of attaining heroic virtue. It is too
high a goal.” Holiness then becomes a thing reserved for some “greats”
whose images we see on the altars, and who are completely different from
us ordinary sinners. But this is a mistaken notion of holiness, a wrong
perception which has been corrected—and this seems to me the central
point—precisely by Josemaría Escrivá.
Heroic virtue does not mean that the saint performs a type of
“gymnastics” of holiness, something that normal people do not dare to
do. It means rather that in the life of a person God’s presence is
revealed—something man could not do by himself and through himself.
Perhaps in the final analysis we are rather dealing with a question of
terminology, because the adjective “heroic” has been badly interpreted.
Heroic virtue properly speaking does not mean that one has done great
things by oneself, but rather that in one’s life there appear realities
which the person has not done himself, because he has been transparent
and ready for the work of God. Or, in other words, to be a saint is
nothing other than to speak with God as a friend speaks with a friend.
This is holiness.
To be holy does not mean being superior to others; the saint can be very
weak, with many mistakes in his life. Holiness is this profound contact
with God, becoming a friend of God: it is letting the Other work, the
Only One who can really make the world both good and happy. And if,
then, Josemaría Escrivá speaks of the calling of all to be saints, I
think that he is actually referring to this personal experience of his
of not having done incredible things by himself, but of having let God
work. And thus was born a renewal, a force for good in the world, even
if all the weaknesses of mankind will remain ever present. Truly we are
all capable, we are all called to open ourselves up to this friendship
with God, to not leave the hands of God, to not neglect to turn and
return to the Lord, speaking with him as if speaking with a friend,
knowing well that the Lord really is a true friend of everyone,
including those who cannot do great things by themselves.
From all this I have better understood the inner character of Opus Dei,
this surprising union of absolute fidelity to the Church’s great
tradition, to its faith, and unconditional openness to all the
challenges of this world, whether in the academic world, in the field of
work, or in matters of the economy, etc. The person who is bound to
God, who has this uninterrupted conversation, can dare to respond to
these challenges, and no longer has fear. For the person who stands in
God’s hands always falls into God’s hands. And so fear vanishes, and in
its place is born the courage to respond to today’s world."
