JUNE 26 is the
feast of St. Josemaria Escriva who was
raised to the altar by Pope, now St., John Paul II in 2002.
In his
prayer card, he is said to have been chosen by God, granting
him
countless graces, to found Opus Dei, a way of sanctification
in daily
work and in the fulfillment of the Christian’s ordinary
duties.
The first time I
met Opus Dei, I did not know it was Opus
Dei I was getting into, and much less was I aware of the
role of St.
Josemaria in it. I was only 17 then, studying in De La Salle
College
Manila when the school was still an exclusive boys school.
I had no intention
of becoming a specially spiritual
person engaged in the spiritual affairs of people, and much
less, a
priest. A true-blooded ‘provinciano,’ I was excited with the
idea that
I was given a chance to study in Manila because of a
scholarship grant
and all I had in mind was to conquer Manila and perhaps the
world
later.
I remember that in
grade school back in the province
(Bohol), the nuns were always running after me to enter the
seminary.
When I graduated from there, I asked my father if I could
enter the
seminary. The answer was a flat no. And that was for me at
that time
the end of any possibility to enter the seminary. I was not
interested
anymore in becoming a priest. I was focused on more mundane
goals.
In high school,
still in the province, the priests running
the school also ran after me, egging me to join them. I did
not give
them any attention at all. I was focused on my academic
pursuits and
my worldly goals. In college, this time in Manila, the
religious
brothers again tried to invite me to be like them. No way, I
said.
But a college
classmate of mine one day invited me to a
place that later on I realized was a center of Opus Dei. I
remember
that day well. When I entered the place, I felt differently.
I was
impressed by the cleanliness and the orderliness of the
place.
More than that, I
was struck by the warmth of the people
there whom I found to be very nice and friendly in a natural
way. At
that time, I was kind of aware of being able to discern
whether one’s
niceness and friendliness is genuine or fake. It was my way
of
protecting myself in a big city where the good and the bad
can look
the same.
I remember that I
spontaneously asked the people there how
I can be part of that place. And they just told me to come
around as
often as I wanted. And I was happy with that invitation
because at
that time, I could not study in my boarding house. My
boardmates began
to study, if at all, only after midnight, after a session of
monkeying
around and drinking.
So I frequented
the place and got to know more about Opus
Dei and its founder. Little by little, it dawned on me that
I was
meant for something else in my life. And when they told me
to consider
the possibility of a vocation, one in which I had to give
myself
totally in apostolic celibacy, I don’t know what happened
but I just
said yes. I did not anymore consult my father or anyone
else. I was
quite sure of what I said.
What made me say,
yes? No, it was not the cleanliness and
orderliness of the place, nor the niceness and friendliness
of the
people, though they surely helped. It was what I learned
from St.
Josemaria who taught about sanctification of my daily work
and my full
responsibility over my Christian’s ordinary duties. I was so
drawn to
that teaching I was willing to change my plans drastically.
That’s how
I met Christ!
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