FINDING CHRIST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD
Divine Filiation
"We have to be convinced that God is always near us. We live as though He was far away,
in the heavens high above, and we forget that He is also continually by our side...
...We've got to be filled with the idea that our Father...
is God who is both near us and in heaven." [St. Josemaría]
Opus Dei has taught me a lot about divine filiation, which is having a constant communion with Christ.
In family life there can be a lot of stresses – financial stresses, sickness, or whatever it is.
That aspect of divine filiation – being a daughter or son of God – is that God is always there for you.
It can be a hard thing, sometimes we like to be in control and we want to drive the car.
But unless we let go and let God take over and hold us, how do we ever know that he is going to do it?
There is a lot of peace that comes from that because you think
‘I can worry all I want over everything, all the family issues,
but if I just let go, He will take care of it.’
It’s about me and my talents that God has given me,
and trying to be the best person that I can.
Our Lord looks for the effort. He looks for the struggle.
The great thing about Opus Dei is it gives you the encouragement and that ‘don’t give up’ feeling.
I could not do it on my own.
I need the help, encouragement and support that The Work, Opus Dei, gives me.
The aim is to stop and talk to Our Lord as I’m going, and asking for his help.
The kids can hear me say sometimes, ‘my Lord and my God’ to help me keep my head down and keep going,
and try to be as nice as you can as well.
Our ultimate source of happiness is God and we’ll only find true happiness in Him.
Holiness is to strive for that.
The great thing about Opus Dei is that in a certain sense,
it teaches you how to do that in your daily life.
St Josemaria also taught us that we could keep presence of God,
that we could have times in the day that we would turn to Him – our plan of life.
Chile, 1974
God is in our daily life.
In our moments of each day
today, tomorrow, yesterday,
the day before, and the day after tomorrow.
He is in our lunch and our dinner.
In our conversations and our tears
and our smiles.
He is in everything.
God is a father without whom... If we want to go to Him, we can find Him at any moment.
St Josemaria always emphasised that God is a loving father,
who is intimately concerned with our lives.
What I’ve come to know over the years, is that when we listen to God our father
in the intimacy of our prayer, He always guides us along the path
even if we can’t see more than one step ahead.
Holiness to me is striving to be close to God.
Invite God in to your daily life, and consult with Him,
so you have a personal dialogue with God.
I think that really important – to run through all your little daily problems,
the problems of your family…
When I started doing that on a regular basis, I was amazed at how many insights I got.
It gives you an incredible peace that if you are faithful to God in your prayer
and you invite Him in and He inspires you, it gives you a lot of peace in life.
The Spanish-born priest had a powerful vision that deep spirituality
could infuse every aspect of people’s lives,
and they could live and serve God in their everyday work
with their families and friendships.
Living for God was not just for priests,
but that all people of every nation, race and social condition
could live the Christian life by striving to be holy.
FINDING CHRIST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD
St. Josemaría Escrivá, Founder of Opus Dei