Women of Opus Dei: In Their Own Words - Softcover

Oates, M. T.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 082452425X ISBN 13: 9780824524258

Verlag: PublishDrive, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

A doctor, a professor, a dancer, a stay-at-home mom, and a marketing executive are some of the inspiring women portrayed in this collection that describes the women of Opus Dei, a Roman Catholic organization composed of clergy and lay members dedicated to fostering Christian principles at all levels of society. Each essay, interview, and profile in this compilation explores facets of Opus Dei that are unfamiliar to many. The DaVinci Code and other popular entertainments have whetted the interest in this controversial organization, and promulgated many assumptions that members of the organization contest. The women portrayed in this collection encompass an inspiring—and, for some, surprising—segment of a Catholic institution that encourages women around the globe to develop their skills and talents to the fullest and to be engaged in the world. Single, celibate women and those raising families describe their first encounters with Opus Dei, what made them decide to join, and how it transforms and orders their daily lives. Relevant information on the organization and workings of Opus Dei, its structure, and some of the key practices of the members are also discussed.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

M. T. Oates is a writer and communications consultant. Her writings have appeared in numerous publications including The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, and The Washington Times. She lives in New York City. Linda Ruf is a certified public accountant and an authority on The Da Vinci Code as it relates to the teachings of the Catholic Church and Opus Dei. She is the mother of six and lives with her husband and family in Chicago, IL. Jenny Driver, MD, is a staff physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She lives in Boston, MA.

M. T. Oates is a writer and communications consultant. Her writings have appeared in numerous publications including The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, and The Washington Times. She lives in New York City. Linda Ruf is a certified public accountant and an authority on The Da Vinci Code as it relates to the teachings of the Catholic Church and Opus Dei. She is the mother of six and lives with her husband and family in Chicago, IL. Jenny Driver, MD, is a staff physician at Brigham and Women&;s Hospital and an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She lives in Boston, MA.

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Women of Opus Dei

In Their Own Words

By M.T. Oates, Linda Ruf, Jenny Driver

The Crossroad Publishing Company

Copyright © 2009 M. T. Oates, Linda Ruf, and Jenny Driver, M.D.
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-8245-2425-8

Contents

Foreword by Susan Mangels, President of Lexington College, Chicago, 
Acknowledgments, 
Preface by Barbara Kay, Columnist for the National Post of Canada, 
Introduction, 
1. Children of Their Father God: The Equality of Men and Women, 
2. From Toxicity to Transcendence: St. Josemaría and Contemplation in the Workplace, 
3. Called to Seek Holiness Everywhere and at All Times, 
4. "From Street Cleaners to Presidents of Universities": Interview with the National Director of Human Resources for Opus Dei's Women's Programs in the United States, 
5. "I Want to Love God with All My Heart": The Story of a Founder of the U.S. Hospice Movement, 
6. How Opus Dei Serves People, 
7. Dancing Hula in the Quest for Holiness: By a Stanford Graduate and Mother of Six, 
8. Intellectual Humility: By a Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 
9. In the Presence of God: Interview with a Top Marketing Executive, 
10. One Way among Many in the Universal Call to Holiness, 
11. Making the Ordinary Extraordinary: Interview with a Wife, Mother of Four, and Business Owner, 
12. The Preeminence of the Christian Family, 
13. What God Wants Me to Do: Interview with a Cuban Refugee, Harvard Graduate, Wife, Mother of Twelve, and Executive Director of a Crisis Pregnancy Center, 
14. Loving God and Serving Others: By a Hospitality Professional, 
15. The Role of Married Women: Supernumeraries, 
16. Living the Beatitudes: Interview with a Peruvian Immigrant and Childcare Provider, 
17. All Professions Are Open, 
18. Changing Diapers for God: MIT Graduate Who Raises Her Eight Children Full-Time, 
19. Prayer, the Sacraments, and the Christian Spirit of Sacrifice and Poverty, 
20. What Happened? From Atheistic Radical Feminist to Stay-at-Home Catholic Mom, 
21. Apostolic Celibacy, 
22. Finding a Vocation: Interview with a Hospitality Professional, 
23. "Every Single Thing Matters to Him": Interview with a Retired New York City Public School Teacher, 
24. Conclusion, 

CHAPTER 1

Children of Their Father God

The Equality of Men and Women

To begin with, it must be clearly stated that the equal treatment and value of women and men is established in Opus Dei's statutes and all the formal documents describing Opus Dei. Women and men in Opus Dei share:

* the same vocation and the same plan of Christian formation (that is, ongoing group and individual formation, comparable in many ways to professional development programs, provided to the faithful of Opus Dei);

* the same practices of piety, the same Christian customs and warm, family outlook proper to Opus Dei;

* the same expectations that Opus Dei has for all its faithful. Each woman and man in Opus Dei is expected to: (1) strive to become saints by struggling each day to live their vocation to Opus Dei in his or her personal circumstances; and (2) to take advantage of the ongoing classes of instruction and supports provided to them by Opus Dei.

This equality is rooted in the Bible and stems directly from God's fatherhood. "God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them" (Gen. 1:27). Jesus, especially in the Gospel of St. John, speaks clearly and beautifully about God as a loving Father. "For the Father himself loves you" (John 16:27). "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matt. 6:8). There are many more references made expressly by Jesus attesting to the Fatherhood of God.

This concept, known as divine filiation, is the foundation of a vocation to Opus Dei and is derived from Catholicism's emphasis on God the Father as Creator and first person of the Blessed Trinity. In Christ Is Passing By, no. 64, St. Josemaría puts it this way:

Awareness that God is our Father brings joy to our conversion: it tells us that we are returning to our Father's house. This divine filiation is the basis of the spirit of Opus Dei. All men are children of God. But a child can look upon his father in many ways. We must try to be children who realize that the Lord, by loving us as his children, has taken us into his house, in the middle of the world, to be members of his family, so that what is his is ours, and what is ours is his, and to develop that familiarity and confidence which prompts us to ask him, like children, for the moon!

A child of God treats the Lord as his Father. He is not obsequious and servile, he is not merely formal and well-mannered: he is completely sincere and trusting. Men do not scandalize God. He can put up with all our infidelities. Our Father in heaven pardons any offence when his child returns to him, when he repents and asks for pardon. The Lord is such a good Father that he anticipates our desire to be pardoned and comes forward to us, opening his arms laden with grace.

Do I always work with the joy of one who knows he or she is a child of God? This is a question all members of Opus Dei try to reflect on at least once a week.

Understanding and having a firm conviction that God is a loving Father is what allows Christians, and therefore persons in Opus Dei, to flourish in living their vocation. It is the source of joy as well as their source of interior peace and strength.

CHAPTER 2

From Toxicity to Transcendence

St. Josemaría and Contemplation in the Workplace

Jenny Driver, M.D., is an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a numerary member of Opus Dei. She gave this presentation at a conference entitled "Passionately Loving the World" in Toronto, Canada, in January 2003. The conference was held to commemorate the centennial of the birth of St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei.

I am a physician, not an expert in theology or philosophy, and I never knew St. Josemaría personally. I do, however, consider myself an expert in one thing: stress. Like many of my colleagues, I am a connoisseur of stress. We have an ice cream shop in the United States called Baskin-Robbins. It has thirty-one flavors. If stress came in thirty-one flavors, I would have tasted each and every one of them. A recent poll listed medical internship as one of the top five most stressful jobs in the United States.

On July 1, the first day of internship, the only people in teaching hospitals more nervous than the new interns are the patients who know that they are being cared for by green recruits, fresh out of medical school. My first night on call I was awakened by a page from an anxious-sounding nurse who said, "Come quick. Mr. Jones's heart rate is in the 200s and I can't find his pulse." I sped off toward the unit, flipping through the little book that tells me what to do in emergencies, my heart rate rivaling that of Mr. Jones. Much to my embarrassment, I tripped on a wire and made the final leg of my journey on my stomach as if "sliding into home plate." I glanced at the EKG, then gave my first order as a physician. "Let's get ready to shock him." Much to my relief, my resident calmly walked in and shepherded me through the resuscitation.

That was the beginning of a love-hate relationship with my pager. On busy days my pager would go off forty to fifty times, calling me to emergencies or asking for sleeping pills or...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: PublishDrive
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 082452425X
• ISBN 13: 9780824524258
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 224
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: preigu; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; 49078; Deutschland