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.
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.
On June 12, 1974, St. Josemaria Escriva went on a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, Patroness of Argentina.
On May, 28, 1974, St. Josemaria Escriva made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil.
On May 2, the Prelature of Opus Dei celebrates the anniversary of the dedication of the Prelatic Church of Our Lady of Peace.
As a young boy, St. Josemaria Escriva learned a prayer for spiritual communion that he cherished and shared with others during his lifetime.
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.
During this week which Christians traditionally call holy week, we are given another chance to reflect on and to re-live the last hours of Jesus’ life.
The whole Church recognizes St Joseph as a patron and guardian. For centuries many different features of his life have caught the attention of believers. He was a man ever faithful to the mission God gave him.
We are at the beginning of Lent: a time of penance, purification and conversion. It is not an easy program, but then Christianity is not an easy way of life.
“The holy Virgin Mary, Mother of Fair Love, will bring relief to your heart, when it makes you feel that it is of flesh, if you turn to her with confidence.”
The Lord promised Simeon that he would not see death before he had seen the Christ of God. The fulfillment of that promise alone was enough to justify an entire lifetime of waiting and contemplating.
Let us not be afraid. The Church, which is the Body of Christ must indefectibly be the path and the sheepfold of the Good Shepherd, the strong foundation and the way open to all men.
It hardly needs to be said that finding God in daily life is one of the keynotes of Saint Josemaría’s spirituality. But do we ourselves want to be found by God in daily life?
Not too long ago I saw a marble bas-relief representing the adoration of the child Jesus by the Magi. The central figures were surrounded by four angels, each one bearing a symbol: a crown, an orb surmounted by the cross, a sword and a scepter.
