English
Documentation
Holiness is for all
Msgr. Kevin Manning
Msgr. Kevin Manning, Bishop of the Diocesis of Parramatta (Australia) has published an article about the canonization of Josemaria Escriva in the monthly newspaper Catholic Outlook. He relates the canonization to the 40th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. The Council underlined the universal call to holiness, a central message of the Founder of Opus Dei.
The crowd that spilled out of Saint Peter’s Piazza in Rome and overflowed down the Via della Conciliatione on Sunday 6 October was testimony to the immense appeal of Saint Josemaria Escriva, whose constant teaching was that holiness is for all.
It is especially fitting that the new saint’s canonisation has taken place in 2002, the same year in which we mark the 40th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. This Council put before us the idea of the universal call to holiness: each one of us is called to holiness.
Saint Josemaria offered a way to holiness that is accessible to all. His central teaching was that “any human activity can become a place of meeting God” (From the Apostolic Brief regarding the Beatification of the Venerable Servant of God, Josemaria Escriva).
His message is simple but effective: the laity are called to holiness in those areas where God has placed them, whether they be fathers, mothers, politicians, lawyers, labourers or dog trainers. It also says to ordinary men and women who want to be saints: you must identify with Christ in the ordinariness of your lives.
In this case, a close identification can be noted between the teaching of Saint Josemaria and that of Yves Congar, Cardign and the other architects of lay theology that flowed in Vatican II.
In the early days of his priesthood, the saint was regarded as a radical because of his ideas about the laity. In those times, it was perceived that only priests and nuns could be holy.
The idea that we can be holy through fidelity to our daily responsibilities is founded on a profound acceptance of the will of God in our lives.
As a young man and as a young priest Saint Josemaria’s frequently repeated prayer was: “Lord that I may see, Lord that it may come to me”. For the grace to “see” and the grace to put what he saw into practice, Josemaria relied on the power of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“The ordinary life of a Christian who has faith,” wrote the saint, “when he works or rests, when he prays or sleeps, at all times, is a life in which God is always present” (Josemaria Escriva, Meditations, 3 March 1954).
Of course, we must seek this presence in our lives and St Josemaria insisted on two means by which we could make God’s presence real in our lives: prayer, especially the Eucharist, and the acceptance of the Cross of Christ.
Not only does prayer give honour to God, it unifies our lives: prayer brings us to God, everything becomes prayer and every kind of work becomes prayer.
For one who lives the Christian life, the Cross of Christ is a present reality. We accept the cross as a way of purification, knowing that it will lead us to light, peace and joy.
In founding Opus Dei, the saint planned for a zealous, well-educated, well-formed, well-adjusted, well-placed laity penetrating every level of society, a dedicated laity who would strive for personal holiness by placing Christ at the heart of all human activity and who would accept the mandate to evangelise the world.
It is especially fitting that the new saint’s canonisation has taken place in 2002, the same year in which we mark the 40th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. This Council put before us the idea of the universal call to holiness: each one of us is called to holiness.
Saint Josemaria offered a way to holiness that is accessible to all. His central teaching was that “any human activity can become a place of meeting God” (From the Apostolic Brief regarding the Beatification of the Venerable Servant of God, Josemaria Escriva).
His message is simple but effective: the laity are called to holiness in those areas where God has placed them, whether they be fathers, mothers, politicians, lawyers, labourers or dog trainers. It also says to ordinary men and women who want to be saints: you must identify with Christ in the ordinariness of your lives.
In this case, a close identification can be noted between the teaching of Saint Josemaria and that of Yves Congar, Cardign and the other architects of lay theology that flowed in Vatican II.
In the early days of his priesthood, the saint was regarded as a radical because of his ideas about the laity. In those times, it was perceived that only priests and nuns could be holy.
The idea that we can be holy through fidelity to our daily responsibilities is founded on a profound acceptance of the will of God in our lives.
As a young man and as a young priest Saint Josemaria’s frequently repeated prayer was: “Lord that I may see, Lord that it may come to me”. For the grace to “see” and the grace to put what he saw into practice, Josemaria relied on the power of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“The ordinary life of a Christian who has faith,” wrote the saint, “when he works or rests, when he prays or sleeps, at all times, is a life in which God is always present” (Josemaria Escriva, Meditations, 3 March 1954).
Of course, we must seek this presence in our lives and St Josemaria insisted on two means by which we could make God’s presence real in our lives: prayer, especially the Eucharist, and the acceptance of the Cross of Christ.
Not only does prayer give honour to God, it unifies our lives: prayer brings us to God, everything becomes prayer and every kind of work becomes prayer.
For one who lives the Christian life, the Cross of Christ is a present reality. We accept the cross as a way of purification, knowing that it will lead us to light, peace and joy.
In founding Opus Dei, the saint planned for a zealous, well-educated, well-formed, well-adjusted, well-placed laity penetrating every level of society, a dedicated laity who would strive for personal holiness by placing Christ at the heart of all human activity and who would accept the mandate to evangelise the world.
Prayer
RSS