Josemaría Escrivá
Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (9 January 1902 – 26 June 1975) was a Roman Catholic priest from Spain who founded Opus Dei, an organization of laypeople and priests dedicated to the teaching that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. He was canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II, who declared Saint Josemaría should be "counted among the great witnesses of Christianity."
Josemaría’s father’s textile business failed in 1915, so the family relocated to Logroño, where José found other work. It was in Logroño that Josemaría sensed his vocation for the first time. After seeing some bare footprints left in the snow by a friar who had walked that way a short time earlier, he felt that God wanted something from him, though he did not know exactly what. He thought that he could more easily discover what it was if he became a priest, so he began to prepare for the priesthood, first in Logroño and later in Saragossa. Following his father’s advice, he also studied for a law degree at the University of Saragossa. His father died in 1924 and Josemaría was left as head of the family. Ordained on March 28, 1925, he began his ministry in a rural parish, and afterwards in Saragossa.
In 1927, with the permission of his bishop, Fr. Josemaría moved to Madrid to work on his doctorate in law. There, on October 2, 1928, God showed him clearly the mission he had been hinting to him for several years; and he founded Opus Dei. From that day on he worked with all his energies to develop the foundation that God asked of him, while he continued to fulfill the various priestly responsibilities he had at that time. These brought him into daily contact with sickness and poverty in the hospitals and the poor districts of Madrid.
When the civil war broke out in 1936, Josemaría was in Madrid. The religious persecution forced him to take refuge in a variety of places. He exercised his priestly ministry in a clandestine fashion until he was finally able to leave Madrid. After escaping across the Pyrenees to southern France, he took up residence in Burgos.
At the end of the war in 1939 he returned to Madrid. In the years that followed he gave many retreats to lay people, priests, and members of religious orders. In the same year, 1939, he completed his doctorate in law.
In 1946 he took up residence in Rome. There he obtained a doctorate in theology from the Lateran University and was named consultor to two Vatican Congregations, as well as honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, and prelate of honor to His Holiness. He followed closely the preparations for the Second Vatican Council and its various sessions (1962-1965), keeping in touch with many of the council fathers. From Rome he frequently went to different countries in Europe, including Britain and Ireland, to spur on the apostolic work of Opus Dei. It was with the same objective that, between 1970 and 1975, he made long trips to Mexico, Spain, Portugal, South America, and Guatemala, holding catechetical gatherings which large numbers of men and women attended.
He died in Rome on June 26, 1975. Thousands of people, including many bishops (a third of all the bishops in the world), requested that the Holy See open his cause of beatification and canonization.
On May 17, 1992, Pope John Paul II beatified Josemaría Escrivá. He proclaimed him a saint ten years later, on October 6, 2002, in St. Peter’s Square, in Rome, before a great multitude. In his homily on that occasion, the Pope said: “Following in his footsteps, spread in society the awareness that we are called to holiness, without distinction of race, class, culture or age."
“After seeing how many people waste their lives, their whole lives (tongues wagging, wagging, wagging, and all the inevitable consequences), silence seems preferable to me, and more necessary than ever. And I well understand, Lord, why we have to give an account of all our idle words.”
“What conversations! What vulgarity and what dirt! And you have to associate with them, in the office, in the university, in the operating-theatre..., in the world.Ask them if they wouldn't mind stopping, and they laugh at you. Look annoyed, and they get worse. Leave them, and they continue.This is the solution: first pray for them, and offer up some sacrifice; then face them like a man and make use of the 'strong language apostolate'. — The next time we meet I'll tell you — in a whisper — a few useful words.”
“You're bored? That's because you keep your senses awake and your soul asleep.”
“Singkatnya: rasa terima kasihmu harus diwujudkan ke dalam suatu niat yang konkret.299 Kristus wafat bagimu. Engkau apa yangharus kaulakukan bagi Kristus?300 Pengalaman pribadimu—kekesalan, kegelisah¬an, kepahitan itu—mengajarkanmu suatu kebenaran sabda Kristus: Tidak seorang pun dapat mengabdi kepada dua majikan.”
“282 Paradoks: Kesucian itu lebih mudah dicapai daripada ilmu pengetahuan, tetapi lebih mudah menjadi orang terpelajar daripada menjadi orang kudus.283 Hiburan sekadar untuk mengalihkan perhati-an: Engkau memerlukannya! Buka matamu lebar-lebar sehingga gambaran-gambaran segala benda masuk, atau tutuplah matamu sebagai akibat dari kepicikanmu.Tutuplah matamu terhadap segala hall Miliki ke-hidupan batin dan engkau akan melihat keajaiban dari dunia yang lebih baik, dunia baru dengan segala warna dan perspektif yang tak pernah terbayangkan sebelumnya dan engkau akan mengenal Allah. Engkau akan dapat merasakan kelemahan-kelemahan¬mu, dan engkau akan lebih menyerupaimu Allah ... dengan keilahian yang akan membuatmu lebih me¬rupakan saudara-saudaramu sesama manusia, ketika engkau menjadi lebih dekat dengan Allah Bapamu.284 Cita-cita: supaya aku menjadi balk, dan agar orang-orang lain menjadi lebih balk dari diriku.285 Pertobatan adalah suatu usaha sekejap. Penyucian adalah suatu usaha untuk seumur hidup.286 Tak ada sesuatu yang lebih baik di dunia ini, selain daripada hidup dalam rahmat Allah.287 Kemurnian dalam niat: engkau akan selalu memilikinya, bila engkau selalu dan di dalam segala hal berusaha untuk menyenangkan Allah.288 Masuklah ke dalam luka-luka Kristus yang tersalib. Di situ engkau akan belajar menjaga indramu, engkau akan memiliki kehidupan batin dan dengan tak henti-hentinya engkau mempersembahkan kepada Bapa penderitaan Allah kita Yesus Kristus dan pen¬deritaan Bunda Maria, untuk menebus dosamu dan dosa semua manusia.289 Ketidaksabaranmu yang mulia untuk meng-abdi Allah tidak mengecewakan-Nya. Akan tetapi, ketidak-sabaran itu akan menjadi sia-sia bila tidak disertai dengan penyempurnaan yang efektif dalam tingkah lakumu sehari-hari.290 Memperbaiki diri. Sedikit demi sedikit setiap hari. Itulah yang harus menjadi usahamu yang tetap jika engkau benar-benar ingin menjadi orang kudus.”
“How I wish your bearing and conversation were such that, on seeing or hearing you, people would say: 'This man reads the life of Jesus Christ.”
“God is here. This truth should fill our lives, and every Christmas should be for us a new and special meeting with God, when we allow his light and grace to enter deep into our soul.”
“Don't judge without having heard both sides. Even persons who think themselves virtuous very easily forget this elementary rule of prudence.”