Nov 17 Fri
Opus Dei is an ‘unorganized organization’, firmly united.
"You know very well, my children, that our apostolic work doesn't have a specialized purpose. It includes every specialization, because it is rooted in the diversity of specializations of life itself. For it exalts and raises to the supernatural order all the services people offer one another in the heart of society, and turns them into an authentic work for souls.”
“Therefore, in the Work, all situations of present-day society are to be found. Intellectuals and businessmen, professionals and craftsmen, entrepreneurs and laborers; people in diplomacy, commerce, farming, finance, the humanities; journalists, people in the theater, cinema and the circus, sportsmen. Young and old, healthy and sick. It is an unorganized organization, wonderful like life itself; a true and authentic specialization of the apostolate, because every honest and noble human vocation becomes apostolic, divine."
St Josemaría called the Work a wonderful "unorganized organization", because while all members are united by a very small common denominator – the Catholic faith and fidelity to our charism and Norms – in everything else we are totally free. He wrote: "We are not a closed institution where everyone seems to be obliged to think the same way, to act like a herd. Rather, we are a specific divine organization, with the apparent disorganization of all living organisms. This is especially suited to secular institutions, where everyone's personality is fostered."
If personal freedom is important in the Work, so too is unity in the few areas that make up our "common denominator". During the ceremonies of the consecration of the oratory of Pentecost in Villa Tevere, St. Josemaría said: "In Opus Dei, we have present those words of Jesus, ‘consummati in unum’ (all perfectly one), so that all our hearts form a single heart… Those words from Scripture should become a reality among us: Multitudinis autem credentium erat cor unum et anima una (the company of the faithful were of one heart and one soul)."
Unity is what makes our apostolate, and our life, effective. "Therefore, above those double doors, I've had inscribed the system, the method, the only way to ensure our life abounds in supernatural fruit: omnes perseverantes unanimiter in oratione (all persevering unanimously in prayer)."
Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. Unity makes us effective; it ensures that, as free beings, we complement rather than hinder one another's efforts. And by divine will, the foundation for our unity, the cornerstone of the entire Work, the root of its apostolic fruitfulness, is the Prelate of Opus Dei. Unity for us means being united to him, to his intentions and desires.
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