Posted on 04/07/2010 6:04:10 AM PDT by marshmallow
Members attend daily Mass and set aside prayer time. Not all engage in corporal mortification, and those who do say it's nothing like in 'The Da Vinci Code.'
Julia Boles, 46, lives in Arcadia with her lawyer husband and their nine children, ages 5 to 20. She also manages to attend Mass daily, set aside two times a day for prayer and, with her children, pray the rosary.
"People say, 'Nine kids? How do you handle that and go to Mass?' I say, 'How could I do this without the Mass?' "
Boles is a member of one of the most talked about, least understood Catholic organizations in the world: Opus Dei, which means "work of God" in Latin.
Although the face of Opus Dei in "The Da Vinci Code" is a murderous masochistic monk -- a fiction, the group's members say -- it is Boles who typifies the group's American demographic: She's a woman. The majority of the 190 members in L.A. are women, as are slightly more than half of the 3,000 members in the U.S.
There are no monks. And only 2% of the organization's nearly 90,000 members worldwide are priests, one of whom was Jose Gomez, the newly named successor as archbishop to Cardinal Roger Mahony. Gomez is the only priest to come up through Opus Dei who has been made a U.S. bishop.
Yet, even ignoring the distortions of "The Da Vinci Code," critics have pointed to the group's historic connection to right-leaning governments and its secretiveness. Brian Finnerty, spokesman for Opus Dei in the U.S., said the group takes no political positions.
Seton Hall law professor John Coverdale said the organization's goal is to offer lay Christians a path toward a holier life, without becoming a priest or a nun.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I think they've figured out that the Mahony era is about to come to an abrupt end.
The LA Times is terrified of the New Bishop
I have a friend from South America who was part of this movement, and lived in a convent. She was abused, and when she tried to escape they gave her horse tranquilizers to keep her captive. Some time later, after she left that dangerous group, she came to Christ and is now married. I don’t have much respect for Opus Dei.
Nuns live in a convent. There are no Opus Dei monks or nuns, contrary to what Dan Brown might have you believe.
There are celibate members, called "numeraries," who may or may not live with other numeraries of the same sex. There are also non-celibate members, called "supernumeraries".
As you can probably tell, I have tremendous respect for Opus Dei.
It’s not a bad idea to have an order for laypeople, but not this one. Another exclusive organization to feel superior about, like talking in Latin.
Nothing “exclusive” about it, AFAIK.
Except that you have to be invited to join. Weren’t you aware of that?
Opus Dei Seeks to Make Everyday Life Holier THAN THOU.
Fixed it.
I had a friend in Opus Dei. Never any mention of being invited to join.
The only thing I didn't like about it was that she didn't have as much time to hang out, shop, do lunch as before because the requirements of Opus Dei took so much of her time. Praying, Adoration, Daily Mass-those works of God things.
Though I was glad for the peace, holiness, and order it brought into her life, I, being a selfish jerk was not happy that it took time from our friendship and all the gossipy, running around stuff that was replaced by Opus Dei.
I don’t know anything about what Dan Brown has said. I only know that my friend considered herself a nun, and was kept in a convent against her will, and drugged when she tried to escape. She *did* escape, in a drugged state, to a friend’s home. She eventually made it to the States, free from that group.
This is **first hand** information, not something I read somewhere or something a friend of a friend told me. This is Maria’s personal experience in the convent-like home she stayed in in Latin America.
Perhaps you weren’t personally aware of the abuse that takes place within such Opus Dei homes.
Are you sure?
**The LA Times is terrified of the New Bishop**
LOL! What Bishop doesn’t attend daily Mass?
And to think, he might encourage the faithful of LA to attend daily Mass too? Horrors! (/sarcasm off
They are graspoing at straws.
Pray for Archbishop Gomez!
One thing I do find about talking to Opus Dei members is that most think that the flood of Mexican/Central American immigrants are "good" for America, even if they at the same time condemn the Islamist invasion of Europe. I should point, out, however, that these are the personal opinions of the members I've known over the years, NOT official DOGMA.
Most/all stuff that Opus Dei does, in my experience, is open to anyone who shows up, and in fact, most of the people I know who are involved have no formal, official relationship to Opus Dei.
Anyone who wants to go to a retreat can sign up. Anyone who shows up at holy hour is welcomed. Etc.
Someone has to be "invited" to be a supernumerary in the same way and sense that someone has to be "invited" to join a religious order. It's a vocation discernment process.
You were invited if you lived in the house. Not everyone can join. People got to know you first (and then how could they resist? : )
The door should be open if it is a Christian thing. No tickets to Saint Patrick’s (well, except for special events).
One anecdotal report of abuse doesn't make me "aware of the abuse that takes place in such homes". One report is just that, one report.
What I meant to say is that I went to daily prayers after contacting the Midtown Center in Chicago, volunteered for activities, and then went to live in the house. I got along wonderfully with the priests, less so with the lay members (aside from a very good friend).
Donlan, 72, says people interested in joining are shepherded through stages of determining whether they are truly committed to this intense way of daily life.
Campion, you say as much in reply 15.
I know people who are real snotty about belonging to it. Totally antithetical to the Christian spirit, which is catholic in the lower-case sense of the word.
I have often thought there should be communal dwellings for laypeople who are interested in such a thing. That would be nice. It would mean you don't have to make a choice between (1) forming a traditional family if you don't want to, or (2) living alone, or (3) living with roommates who fight about the orange juice. You can live with other Christians and go about your lay vocation. Wow. A Christian way of life that does not add to the population! (or require a vow a celibacy). It couldn't be exclusive but it would have to have rules.
She was part of Opus Dei, and lived in a group home with other women, and she was abused by the head of the home, and drugged with horse tranquilizers to prevent her from leaving. She explained to me that such abuse was common, and systemic. Again, this is **first hand** information, not mere “anecdote” heard from “somewhere.”
Just because the facts don’t jibe with your notions about Opus Dei doesn’t mean that the facts should be dismissed.
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