Call and Demands: Theological Basis
- Main articles: Universal call to holiness; Novo Millennio Ineunte
In his opening message for the theological symposium Holiness and the World, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger stressed that the teachings on sanctity of the founder of Opus Dei are "Christ-centred".
The message Opus Dei is called to proclaim, that all Christians can and should become a saint, is grounded in the following premises: Christians believe that (1) they are "poor creatures" made of nothing "whose pride leads (them) to rise up against God;" (2) Christ is the almighty God, who "has created us and maintains us in existence," and is the "only one who can satisfy the longings of the human heart;" (3) Christ is a Savior who is "madly in love" with us and who is the one most interested in that we live in communion with him in infinite bliss: "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, to be saints and blameless in his sight" (Eph 1:4). Through his love and redemption, he has given us the immense dignity of being "children of God"; (4) "This Christ who is alive is also a Christ who is near," says Ratzinger of Escrivá's thought, "a Christ in whom the power and majesty of God make themselves present through ordinary, simple, human things."
The theological basis then is a God who is always at work in the world, who waits as a Merciful Father in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and personally searches for man through the Eucharist. This God makes himself "totally available," says Escrivá, to nourish the Christian so as to become "one single thing with him." Given the gift of this "divinization" in grace, "a new principle of energy," and with the support of "Christ's family," the Church, Escrivá states that the difficult ideal of becoming a saint, another Christ, is "also easy. It is within our reach." For this, he refers to Christ's famous "My yoke is easy and my burden light." (Mt 11:30) Thus, according to Ratzinger (2002), becoming a saint is shunned when there is a "mistaken concept of holiness...as something reserved for some 'greats'...who are completely different from us ordinary sinners. But this is a wrong perception which has been corrected precisely by Josemaría Escrivá." Even if he "can be very weak, with many mistakes in his life," a saint has heroic virtue "because he has been transparent and available for the work of God. In other words, a saint is nothing other than to speak with God as a friend speaks with a friend...the Only One who can really make the world both good and happy," according to the theological analysis of the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. As Pope he stated: "it is not a burden to be carried by a great love and a revelation, but it is like having wings."
Sanctification is a repayment of love for God's tender fatherly love and is the work of the Holy Spirit, Infinite Love, according to Catholic doctrine. This person resides in a Christian who is willing to correspond, and thus the human spirit which was created to love, says Escrivá, is led along an "inclined plane," which starts with the fervent repetition of short prayers and then "gives way to intimacy with God, looking at God without needing rest or feeling tired." And so, one of his favourite teachings is the biblical injunction that all should love God with their whole heart, soul, might, and mind. This is a love which does not keep anything back, a kind of love which parents are supposed to transmit all day long to their children (Deut 6:4-9: Shema Yisrael), and which Christ called the "greatest commandment" (Mt 22:37-40). Escrivá also points to Jesus' "new commandment" to love one another "as I have loved you" (Jn 13:34), "greater love" than which "no man has" for he "lays down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). According to the Catechism, this "effective self-offering" is "our model of holiness" (no. 459). For Escrivá this is "the level of what can be demanded" of all Christians.
Affirming that the "Church's first purpose is to be the sacrament of the inner union of men with God" (CCC 775), John Paul II, in the Apostolic Letter At the Beginning of the New Millennium, placed sanctity, "this high standard of ordinary Christian living," as the single most important priority of all pastoral activities in the universal Church "for all times." And for this, Catholics are to live a "life distinguished above all in the art of prayer" and should proclaim God's word "without ever hiding the most radical demands of the Gospel message."
However, some critics refer to the late Hans Urs von Balthasar, considered one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century, who discussed Opus Dei in an article entitled "Fundamentalism." There he described it as "a concentration of fundamentalist power in the Church." (article in Wort und Wahrheit, 1963). He based his negative views on his reading of some points of Escriva's main book, The Way, which von Balthasar did not consider of sufficient spiritual depth for its worldwide goals. On the other hand, V. Messori, who studied the von Balthasar issue, says that the theologian later retracted his views after more in-depth study and after meeting members of Opus Dei. He even defended Opus Dei against attacks.
Read more about this topic: Teachings Of Opus Dei
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