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Theological Keys to the Teaching of the Founder of Opus Dei

The third volume of Vida cotidiana y santidad en la enseñanzas de san Josemaría has now been published by Rialp. The three volume work of spiritual theology, with over 1,800 pages, is the first in-depth study of the founder of Opus Dei’s teachings.

The authors, Ernst Burkhart and Javier Lopez Diaz, theology professors in Rome, have had access to all the writings of the founder, both the published ones and many still unpublished. Their study provides an overview of the possibility of holiness and apostolate and of transforming the world little known until now.

The two earlier volumes were published in 2010 and 2011. The first volume focuses on the vocation and mission of the laity, and on seeking the glory of God, the Kingdom of Christ, and the building up of the Church by personal sanctification and apostolate.

The topics of the second volume are no less central: divine filiation, the freedom of the children of God, and the theological and human virtues of the children of God. The Christian is seen as “another Christ,” or even more forcefully, using an expression of St. Josemaría, as “Christ himself,” because each Christian has to be able to say with St. Paul: “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

The third and final volume, now published, covers the sanctification of professional work and family and social life; the struggle for holiness; and finally, the means of sanctification and apostolate. It concludes with an epilogue on “unity of life,” a typical expression of St. Josemaría, in which the authors see a summing up of his teaching. As the founder of Opus Dei said: “Heaven and earth seem to merge on the horizon. But where they really meet is in your hearts, when you sanctify your everyday lives” (Homily of October 8, 1967, in Conversations, 116).

Romana, n. 56, January-June 2013, p. 103-104.

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