Nothing disappoints more than misplaced hope. And maybe nothing is easier to misplace than our hope. From time to time we are all tempted to put our hopes for happiness, even for a kind of salvation, in people whom we idealize or future circumstances we imagine will be perfect.
Saint Josemaria portrays the Blessed Virgin as a unifying force or common bond among the children of God. What better image to have before us as we celebrate Mary as Refuge of Sinners…
Everyone is wounded by original sin and by subsequent personal sins. Everyone has been wounded by the sins of others. What we do with these wounds largely decides the depth of our inner peace.
Does everyone have a breaking point? A point beyond which too much pressure causes collapse?
With the meaningful expression “last romantic,” coined by St. Josemaría himself, Msgr. Mariano Fazio titles his book, St. Josemaría Escrivá: The Last of the Romantics.
That Christ has come to us with a heart made of flesh tells us a lot about how the Sacred Heart loves us, and about the kind of love we need. We are loved by any number of hearts during our earthly lives, but one alone among them we call Sacred.
Every time we think about a person who has passed away, we try to deepen their image in our imagination. Often, the easiest way to remember someone is to find people who had at least some contact with them. This applies even when the person we are trying to reconstruct is a saint.
Today, on the feast of Corpus Christi, we come together to consider the depths of our Lord’s love for us, which has led him to stay with us, hidden under the appearances of the blessed Sacrament.
On June 12, 1974, St. Josemaria Escriva went on a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, Patroness of Argentina.
The Church is rooted in this fundamental mystery of our Catholic faith: the mystery of God who is one in essence and three in persons.
On May, 28, 1974, St. Josemaria Escriva made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil.
Having just read in the Acts of the Apostles about Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit came down on the Lord’s disciples, we are conscious of being present at the great display of God’s power with which the Church’s life began to spread among all nations.
Once more the liturgy reminds us of the final moment in Jesus’ life among men, his ascension into heaven.
St. Josemaria desired to show an outward expression of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary during the month of May, which the Church traditionally dedicates to her.
On May 2, the Prelature of Opus Dei celebrates the anniversary of the dedication of the Prelatic Church of Our Lady of Peace.
St. Josemaria had been suffering from diabetes for about ten years. And it was on the feast of Our Lady of Montserrat, April 27, 1954, that he was cured of diabetes.
As a young boy, St. Josemaria Escriva learned a prayer for spiritual communion that he cherished and shared with others during his lifetime.
St. Josemaria made his First Communion on April 23, 1912 and would always observe with unabashed fervor the anniversary of that wonderful day.
Among the Saints, both ancient and modern, it has never seemed excessive to long continually for God’s mercy, and to plead for it on one’s own behalf, as well as for the whole world.
Like every Christian celebration, today’s is one of peace. The palm branches, with their ancient symbolism, recall a scene of the book of Genesis.
