Pope Leo XIV and Opus Dei: In 2022 he highlighted 3 teachings of San Josemaría

Pope Leo XIV, when he was a bishop of Chiclayo (Peru), presided over a Mass on June 27, 2022 in which he highlighted three teachings of San Josemaría, founder of Opus Dei, with whose maximum current leader met this Wednesday, May 14 at the Vatican.

The future Pontiff presided over the Mass in the Cathedral of Santa María about two weeks before the publication of the motu proprio To make a charisma (To protect the charisma), which Pope Francis signed on July 14, 2022 and in which he asked Opus Dei, among other things, the modification of his statutes.

That June 27, one day after the San Josemaría party that is celebrated on 26, and in the presence of parents and students of the Algarrobos and Ceibos schools, linked to Opus Dei, Mons. Robert Prevost began his homily with a joke, since being an American birth, he said that the students of those schools “speak English better than me, but we will try to communicate in the common language”.

After “thanking God for the gift he has granted to the Church in the person of St. Josemaría”, known “as the saint of the ordinary”, then Bishop Robert Prevost said that the readings of that day invited to reflect on “the most important teachings of the legacy of St. Josemaría: the sanctification of work, the divine filiation of the Christian and the apostolate.”

1. The sanctification of work

“The first reading, taken from Genesis, shows that the human being was created by God of the clay of the soil and placed in the Eden to work and cultivate it. The gift of work appears from the first moment of the existence of man on earth,” said the now Pope Leo XIV.

“It is at the well -done work where man becomes the visible sign of the providence of God that manifests his love care for creation. This is what St. Josemaría constantly preached,” he continued.

“Ordinary work is a meeting place with God. It is a place of sanctification for oneself and for others,” said Mons. Prevost.

In that sense, “said the now first American and Peruvian Pope in the history of the Catholic Church,” finding God in our daily professional work demands, therefore, carrying out our work with the greatest demand and perfection to offer it to the Lord as a pleasant offering. “

“What San Josemaría recalled is fulfilled: sanctify work, sanctify themselves at work, sanctify others with work,” he said.

2. The divine affiliation of the Christian

The second reading, taken from the letter from St. Paul to the Romans, recalled “the dignity we all have. We are children of God by adoption. Divine affiliation is the basis of all the preaching of St. Josemaría,” said Bishop Prevost.

“The awareness that we are children of God drives the Christian to a total abandonment in divine providence, to total confidence and simplicity in treatment with God in daily prayer, a deep meaning for the dignity of every human being and fraternity among all men. In addition, a Christian love to the world already the realities created by God and a serene optimism.”

The now Pope Leo XIV stressed that “in being children of God is the reason for the joy of the Christian. The Christian is never alone. He feels part of the immense family of the children of God. Divine filiation makes us even more value the immense gift of the human family, cradle and school of faith.”

“The awareness of being children of God also helps us to know how to live the painful situations of life. When the Christian finds the cross on his way, he also knows the son of God, he knows how to join Christ on the cross, he knows how to be crucified with him,” he added.

3. The apostolate

As Saint Peter, who obeyed the Lord when he encouraged him to row the sea, “Jesus calls us equally to serve, to give our lives in service to others. We are all called, as Saint Josemaría remembered. Win souls for Christ in the midst of daily work. Make others find Christ and join Him in the day to day,” said the then bishop of Chiclayo.

Bishop Robert Prevost said that “whether at school, either at the work of being teachers or at the work of being students, whether at the work that each one develops, because we are all called to be saints and to share through our testimony of life, faith, this devotion, this desire to follow Jesus Christ, to always trust him despite the difficulties.”

“That this celebration in honor of St. Josemaría Escrivá helps all of us to respond by trusting the Lord, offering to serve, imitating the example of Jesus Christ that came not to be served but to serve,” he concluded.

Pope Leo XIV received this morning at the Vatican to the prelate and maximum leader of Opus Dei, Mons. Fernando Ocáriz, who was accompanied by his vicar, Mons. Mariano Fazio.

“The Holy Father, among other things, asked about the current study of the statutes of the Prelature. Leo XIV listened greatly the explanations that were given to him,” said a Communication del Opus Dei.

According to the text, it was “a brief encounter, in which the Pope expressed his closeness and his love.”

The process of reviewing the statutes of the work, as its members call Opus Dei, had to be postponed after the death of Pope Francis on April 21, two days before the General Congress of the Prelature in Rome began, in which the final draft that would be delivered to the Vatican would be presented, but where the participants finally focused on the renewal of the positions of the central council and the general advice.

The late Pontiff had asked Opus Dei to modify his statutes through motu proprio To make a charisma July 14, 2022.