CWIB Book Review: “Holiness for Everyone”
“All the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (“Lumen Gentium”).
Probably like many people, I first heard of Opus Dei when I read and watched “The Da Vinci Code.”
Fortunately, the real Opus Dei doesn’t have much in common with the way it is portrayed by Dan Brown. And its founder, St. Josemaría Escrivá, has a lot to teach laypeople about holiness, whether or not we are members of Opus Dei.
I’ve been wanting to read his writings for a while—to be honest, mostly because I see lots of his quotes on Instagram, and they always pack such a punch. “Holiness for Everyone: The Practical Spirituality of St. Josemaría Escrivá,” a new book by Eric Sammons (editor of Crisis Magazine), is an excellent introduction to his life and work.
The Universal Call to Holiness
“The universal call to holiness” is a phrase that comes out of “Lumen Gentium” (“Light of the Nations”), one of the main documents from the second Vatican Council. It clarifies the truth that it’s not just priests and religious that are called to be saints—it’s all of us.
Before Vatican II, though, was St. Josemaría, who believed so much in this universal call to holiness that he created an organization—Opus Dei—designed to help laypeople answer that call. As Sammons writes, “near the end of his life, the Church officially proclaimed the message he had been insistently preaching,” in “Lumen Gentium.”
Sammons writes about St. Josemaría’s life—his call to the priesthood, his visions, and the founding of Opus Dei. Those visions included one of a women’s branch of Opus Dei. “He realized that since both men and women were called to holiness in the midst of the world, his work would benefit both,” Sammons writes, adding that St. Josemaría later wrote, “I said, ‘I don’t want women in Opus Dei!’ and God said, ‘Well, I do.’”
Sammons emphasizes that the foundation of all of St. Josemaría’s preaching was the idea that we are children of God. Because we are his children, we must imitate him and surrender to him. “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect,” Jesus said (Matthew 5:48). St. Josemaría believed that we must model our lives on the perfect life of Jesus, surrendering in humility to the Father’s will and uniting everything we do to the Cross.
“Contemplative Souls in the Midst of the World”
“There will always be persons of every profession and position who seek sanctity within their state of life, within that profession or position of theirs; contemplative souls in the midst of the world” (St. Josemaría Escrivá in a 1932 letter).
In addition to telling the story of St. Josemaría’s life, Sammons shares practical ideas from his teaching on “holiness for everyone.” Holiness is achieved by being a “contemplative soul in the midst of the world”—by staying in union with God in the midst of our daily labors. He notes that before the fall, God gave Adam and Eve a commandment to work, which means that work is not a result of the fall but something that men and women were always meant to do.
Priests offer the Eucharistic sacrifice, Sammons writes; those of us who are not ordained priests must still offer sacrifices, and “we do this by offering our work to the Lord; thus, our desk, our workbench, our kitchen counter—these become the ‘altar’ on which we offer our work to the Lord. Work, therefore, is not an obstacle to holiness; rather, it is the means by which holiness is achieved.”
Parents may be familiar with this idea; we are often told that marriage and family life is sanctifying, that changing a diaper for our child is also changing a diaper for Jesus. If you have a career in a secular field, however, it might be a mindset shift to consider your work an offering to the Lord. Fortunately, Sammons (by way of St. Josemaría) offers concrete ways to make that mindset shift.
He writes:
“Even those who are serious about their faith can end up living a ‘double life’—on the one hand they have their secular activities—work, recreation, and family life—and on the other hand they have their ‘sacred’ life—church, prayer, and charitable work. They believe that it is in their ‘sacred’ lives that they are closer to God, and in their secular lives they just try to avoid falling into serious sin.”
When we live life this way, Sammons says, we are not living an integrated life, and we are not making a full offering to God. Or, as St. Josemaría wrote, “There is just one life, made of flesh and spirit. And it is this life which has to become, in both soul and body, holy and filled with God. We discover the invisible God in the most visible and material things.”
I do plan on reading St. Josemaría’s “The Way,” hopefully soon. In the meantime, though, I will be drawing on the insights I learned in “Holiness for Everyone” as I strive for holiness in my own work at home and outside of it.
Taryn DeLong is a Catholic wife and mother in North Carolina who encourages women to live out their feminine genius as co-president and editor-in-chief of Catholic Women in Business and a contributor to publications for Catholic women. She enjoys curling up with a cup of Earl Grey and a good novel, playing the piano, and taking walks in the sunshine with her family. Connect with Taryn: Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • LinkedIn • Blog