Motu proprio "Ad charisma tuendum": some reflections

"The only ambition, the only desire of Opus Dei and each of its members is to serve the Church as the Church wants to be served, within the specific vocation God has given us," stressed St. Josemaria, the Founder of Opus Dei. 

Pope Francis, the vicar of Christ, has just issued "Ad charisma tuendum" for the Opus Dei Prelature which literally means "to safeguard the charism."

The charism of Opus Dei that needs to be safeguarded, the Pope says, includes its "task of spreading the call to holiness in the world, through the sanctification of work and family and social commitments.” He also wanted "to promote the evangelizing action carried out by its members in the world." 

Some points I would like to note: 

• Filial acceptance by the Opus Dei Prelature. Because Opus Dei loves the Pope and its own God-given mission, it received the Motu Propio like a good son. Its Prelate, Msgr. Fernando Ocariz, declared that "we filially accept" the decision and asked the people of Opus Dei to make the Pope's invitation "resonate strongly in each and every one of us." To resonate, the dictionary tells us, means to continue to produce a loud, clear and deep sound for a long time. St. Josemaria teaches: "Your deepest love...your most complete obedience and your warmest affection have also to be shown towards the Vicar of Christ on earth."
• Basis of the decision. The Pope makes decisions based on in-depth studies and this decision, he says, is "in harmony with the testimony of the Founder, St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, and with the teachings of the conciliar ecclesiology regarding personal prelatures." The Vatican has been studying personal prelatures and the relationship between hierarchical gifts and charismatic gifts, which as the Q&A of the prelature points out, are used by the Holy Spirit to guide the Church. In the Vatican study of 2016, they refer to Benedict XVI who said that "essential institutions are also charismatic and the charisms, in one way or another, must be institutionalized." Also, the Pope means well for Opus Dei. Pope Francis, as a famous Jesuit intellectual described his background upon his election, is "a friend of Opus Dei." When a journalist asked Pope Francis about the intent of the Motu Proprio, which some have interpreted negatively, Pope Francis said: "I’m a very close friend of Opus Dei, I love them a lot and the good they do is very great." He also explained that canon lawyers of Opus Dei worked on this with the Vatican.

• A feature of the original charism is that the prelate is not a bishop. I have always heard from the previous prelates what the present prelate has said: "the episcopal ordination of the Prelate was not and is not necessary for the guidance of Opus Dei." Remember: The Founder was not a bishop, and he is the model for all the future heads of Opus Dei on how they are to lead. Bl Alvaro, his most faithful successor, even wanted to resign "if it was deemed necessary that the Prelate be a bishop," until he was convinced by St Pope John Paul II. (See Javier Medina, Alvaro del Portillo, Rialp) This implies that he never heard St. Josemaria—the person who received the charism—expecting the future prelates to be bishops. This is a feature of the charism that the Pope wants to protect. The only time the Pope specified the idea of protecting the charism is when he said: the Motu Proprio is intended "to strengthen the conviction that, for the protection of the particular gift of the Spirit, a form of governance based on charism more than on hierarchical authority is needed. Therefore, the Prelate shall not be honoured with the episcopal order." This is the feature of the charism that "must be institutionalized" in the words of the principle enunciated by Pope Benedict XVI. 
• Nothing changes in the nature of Opus Dei. When the governance reform of the Roman Curia came out, the Prelate pointed out that this "in no way modifies the essential nature of the Prelature of Opus Dei." The Q&A at the Opus Dei website points to the specific area affected: "The change is in the Prelature’s relations with the Holy See. The Motu Proprio does not directly introduce modifications in the governance of the Prelature, nor in the relations of the authorities of the Prelature with the bishops." As Bp. Juan Ignacio Arrieta, a member of the Curia and of Opus Dei, explained: Curial organization often changes, but it does not change the nature of what is administered. Shrines will always be shrines; seminaries will always be seminaries, but the Curial department assigned to oversee them keeps on changing. Opus Dei's shift to the Dicastery of Clergy, said the Prelate, is due to the "many matters" related to clergy that the prelature brings up to the Curia. And Praedicate Evangelium, the very reform document of the Curia, indicates that the various dicasteries  are "all juridically equal."
  

• Stress on charismatic dimension strengthens Opus Dei's family atmosphere and the fatherhood of the prelate. This is the key point that the present Prelate, Msgr. Fernando Ocariz, focused on in his response: the Prelate is "above all, a father."  This means all the other aspects of his role, such as guiding and ruling, are secondary. One of the beautiful gifts of God for Opus Dei is its family atmosphere, where its head is affectionately called "Father," and he truly acts like a father to his children: sending them heart-warming letters regularly, teaching them as a father talks, caring for them with the love of a father, etc. So when the Pope says in the document that "a form of government based more on charism than on hierarchical authority is needed," he is strengthening this fatherly love and Opus Dei's family character. And as I wrote in my book, Jesus-Centered, following the thought of St. Thomas: "In the family, we can develop the most important virtue of love in the easiest way." And love is the essence of the call to holiness that Opus Dei is called to spread, through its charismatic gift from the Holy Spirit who is Love in person. 
• Stress on charismatic dimension does not remove the prelature's hierarchical nature. The prelate—appointed by the Pope, the highest hierarchical authority—is necessarily a priest, and therefore will always be part of the Church hierarchy, because the "hierarchical priesthood", as the Catechism indicates, is "of bishops and priests." (CCC 1547). By definition, a prelate is "incumbent of...an ecclesiastical office with special and stable jurisdiction in the external forum and with special precedence over other ecclesiastical offices," and therefore always part of the hierarchy. 
• As Supernumerary Apostolic Protonotary, the prelate is a "member of the highest college of prelates," according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. As such he belongs to the Papal Household, specifically to the Pontifical Family, which includes key dignitaries such as the Substitute of the Secretariat of State (which John Allen calls "the single toughest job in the Catholic Church" after the Pope), the Secretary for Relations with States, and the President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.

• Hierarchy is "totally" for holiness. Still, it is important to stress what the Catechism teaches: Mary is more important than Peter; holiness is more important than hierarchy. "The 'Marian' dimension of the Church precedes the 'Petrine.'" That is why "the Church's structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ's members." (CCC 773) Power and authority are all in the service of what Christ calls "the one thing necessary"—a relationship that unites with him. (Lk 10:42) What is most important for the Church is that all Christians become saints—persons centered on Jesus. What is most important is the humility, simplicity and the be-it-done-to-me of Mary. The homemaker of Nazareth lived without any "human glory" so that all glory goes to God alone. This is the ideal that St. Josemaria said is God's design for Opus Dei—a point he put in Opus Dei's Statutes. (89. § 1) Any move that further bolsters the true sanctification of Catholics is good for the Church and for Opus Dei. 

 

For more clarifications, please take a look at the Q & A prepared by the Opus Dei Prelature. 

Note: I wrote this commentary in my personal capacity as a theologian and author of Jesus-Centered: Guide to the Happiest Life. 

Relevant articles:

Answer to some attacks against Pope Francis

Opus Dei: God's work to sanctify the world from within - an explainer on Opus Dei mainly using the words of St. Josemaria

STRATEGIES FOR A GREAT FAMILY

Discover the wisdom-filled principles revealed by Jesus through his Church’s Catechism and his Vicars, the Popes

This one-page leaflet can be downloaded here. 

BEAUTY OF MATRIMONY

Marriage and its mission. God who is love and who created man and woman for love has called them to love. By creating man and woman he called them to an intimate communion of life and of love in marriage: “So that they are no longer two, but one flesh” (Mt 19:6). God said to them in blessing “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28).

The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church [with self-sacrifice]. In the joys of their love and family life he gives them here on earth a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Entrust self to Jesus. “To spouses, God the Father gives his Son Jesus, not to condemn them, but to save them: if they entrust themselves to him, he will bring them healing by the merciful love which pours forth from the Cross, with the strength of his grace that renews and sets married couples and families once again on the right path. The love of Christ can restore the joy of journeying together.” (Pope Francis)  

True love, not feelings. “You can’t base a marriage on feelings that come and go. But rather on the rock of true love, the love that comes from God. When we pray ‘Give us this day our daily Bread’, when it comes to marriage, we can say: Give us this day our daily love. Being in love means saying three phrases more often than not: May I?  Thank you and I’m sorry. It’s important to acknowledge that your spouse is a gift from God. When you receive a gift from God, you say Thank You. There is no such thing as a perfect husband or wife. It’s us who do exist, sinners. Jesus tells us a secret: Never let the day end, without apologizing…A small gesture is enough.” (Pope Francis)  Love means “willing the good of the other” (Aristotle and St. Thomas) and “self-giving” (John Paul II).

PARENTS:  PRINCIPAL EDUCATORS

Your children are God’s. Parents must regard their children as children of God.  Every spiritual soul is created immediately by God. It is not “produced” by the parents. Showing themselves obedient to the will of the Father in heaven, they educate their children to fulfill God’s law.

Teach Jesus’ greatest commandments. God has loved us first. The ten commandments then make explicit the response of love that man is called to give to his God. Jesus said: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  (Mt 22: 36-39)  

First school of Christian life and human enrichment. All members of the family exercise the priesthood of the baptized in a privileged way by the reception of the sacraments [frequent confession and Sunday Eucharist] , prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life, and self-denial and active charity. “The breakdown in the way Catholics pass down the Christian faith is caused by a lack of opportunity for dialogue in families.” (Francis)

Educate in right use of reason. Parents’ respect and affection are expressed by the care and attention they devote to bringing up their young children and providing for their physical and spiritual needs. As the children grow up, the same respect and devotion lead parents to educate them in the right use of their reason and freedom.

Spiritual over material. Interiority over instincts. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones. The home is the natural environment for initiating a human being into solidarity and social responsibilities.  Large families [are] a sign of God’s blessing and the parents’ generosity.

Give good example and discipline. Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them.  

Live in the truth. Men could not live with one another if there were not mutual confidence that they were being truthful to one another. “Parents must actively ensure the moderate, critical, watchful and prudent use of the media [and] train the conscience of their children.” (JP II)

Family catechesis and choice of school. Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith. As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators.

Virtues and chastity. Education in virtues requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery – the preconditions of all true freedom. It is imperative to give suitable and timely instruction to young people about the dignity of married love [and]  the value of chastity.

First vocation: follow Jesus. Family ties are important but not absolute:  “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:37). Parents must support with joy their children’s choice to follow Jesus in whatever state of life. [“Now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me” (Gen 22:12).]

Domestic church and family prayer. The family is the “domestic church” where God’s children learn to pray “as the Church” and to persevere in prayer. “How much peace would flow into family relationships if the family would begin again to pray the Rosary” (JPII). “Read the Bible often, especially on Sundays, husband and wife, parents and children” (Pope Francis).

This one-page leaflet can be downloaded here. 

How to practice charity while disagreeing

There is one decisive test for charity: to love the very person who goes contrary to us. -- St. Gregory the Great, Homily on the Gospels 2

Don't judge without having heard both sides. Even persons who think themselves virtuous very easily forget this elementary rule of prudence. -- St. Josemaria, The Way 454

To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:

Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another's statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved (St. Ignatius de Loyola) -- CCC 2478

Boasting or bragging is an offense against truth. So is irony aimed at disparaging someone by maliciously caricaturing some aspect of his behavior. -- CCC 2481

Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty:

- of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;

- of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;

- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them. -- CCC 2477

Let us be slow to judge. — Each one sees things from his own point of view, as his mind, with all its limitations, tells him, and through eyes that are often dimmed and clouded by passion.

Moreover, as happens with those modernist painters, the outlook of certain people is so unhealthily subjective that they dash off a few random strokes and assure us that they represent our portrait, our conduct.

Of what little worth are the judgments of men! Don't judge without sifting your judgment in prayer. -- St. Josemaria, The Way 451

Charity does not consist so much in 'giving' as in 'understanding'. Therefore, seek an excuse for your neighbour — there is always one be found, — if it is your duty to judge. -- St. Josemaria, The Way 463

Seek first to understand then to be understood. We often prescribe before making a proper diagnosis when communicating. We should first take the time to deeply understand the problems presented to us. -- Steven Covey

It is no wonder that pride gives birth to dissension while love generates unity. -- St. Augustine, Sermon 46 on Pastors

"Among the proud there is always strife". (Prov 13:10): because he who has high concept of himself and looks down on others cannot bear their faults. -- St. Thomas Aquinas, About Charity 1.c.

Never correct anyone while you are still indignant about a fault committed. Wait until the next day, or even longer. And then, calmly, and with a purer intention, make your reprimand. You will gain more by one friendly word than by a three-hour quarrel. Control your temper. -- St. Josemaria, The Way 10

When you correct someone — because it has to be done and you want to do your duty — you must expect to hurt others and to get hurt yourself.

But you should never let this fact be an excuse for holding back. -- St. Josemaria, Forge 567

When they take their little children in their arms, mothers —good mothers— make sure they do not have any pins in their clothes which could hurt them. When we deal with souls, we should have the same gentleness, together with all the determination required. - St. Josemaria, Furrow 959

Carefully avoid anything that can hurt other people’s hearts. -- St. Josemaria, Furrow 807

If bare justice is done, people may feel hurt.

—Always act, therefore, for the love of God, which will add to that justice the balm of a neighbourly love, and will purify and cleanse all earthly love.

When you bring God in, everything becomes supernatural. -- St. Josemaria, Forge 502

Nothing makes us resemble God more than being always disposed to forgive. -- St. John Chrysostom, Homily on St. Matthew 19

It is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they love one another; how they are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves will sooner put to death the other. -- Tertullian, Apologeticum 39,7

The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends. Whether something is proposed for belief, for hope or for action, the love of our Lord must always be made accessible, so that anyone can see that all the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from love and have no other objective than to arrive at love (Roman Catechism) -- CCC 25

When we Catholics defend and uphold the truth, without making concessions, we have to strive to create an atmosphere of charity, of harmony, to drown all hatred and resentment. -- St.Josemaria, The Forge 564

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. -- 1 Cor 13:4-7

It should be noted that blessedness is granted in proportion to charity and not in proportion to any other virtue. -- St. Thomas Aquinas, About Charity 1.c.

Without these fasts, all others will not be accepted - St. Bernard

Let the eye fast from beholding objects, which are only calculated to excite curiosity and vanity; that being now humbled, it may be restrained to repentance, which before wandered in guilt.

Let the ear fast from listening to idle stories and words that have no reference to salvation.

Let the tongue fast from detraction and murmuring, from unprofitable and sacrilegious discourse; sometimes also, out of respect to holy silence, from speaking what appears necessary and profitable.

Let the hand also fast from useless works, and from every action that is not commanded.

But above all, let the soul fast from sin and the doing of its own will.

Without these fasts, all others will not be accepted by the Lord.

St. Bernard of Clairvaus, Serm. 2 de Jejun. Quad

http://haydock1859.tripod.com/id20.html
http://acontinualfeastcontinued.blogspot.com/2010/03/advice-on-fasting-from-st-bernard-of.html

Why was it necessary to suffer to save the world?

by Benedict XVI, Val D'Aosta 2009.

Why was it necessary to suffer to save the world?

It was necessary because there exists in the world an ocean of evil, of injustice, hatred, and violence, and the many victims of hatred and injustice have the right to see justice done. God cannot ignore the cries of the suffering who are oppressed by injustice. To forgive is not to ignore, but to transform.

God must enter into this world in order to set against the ocean of injustice a larger ocean of goodness and of love. And this is the event of the Cross: from that moment, against the ocean of evil, there exists a river that is boundless, and so ever mightier than all the injustices of the world, a river of goodness, truth, and love.

Thus God forgives, coming into the world and transforming it so that there may be a real strength, a river of goodness wider than all the evil that could ever exist.

So our address to God becomes an address to ourselves: God invites us to join with him, to leave behind the ocean of evil, of hatred, violence, and selfishness and to make ourselves known, to enter into the river of his love.

Ratzinger: Basis and goal of reality: love and reason

At the most profound level, [Christianity's] content will necessarily consist--in the final analysis, just as it did then--in love and reason coming together as the two pillars of reality: the true reason is love, and love is the true reason.

They are in their unity the true basis and the goal of reality. -- Truth and Tolerance, p. 183.

I soared so high, high above that I at last caught my prey

By Saint John of the Cross


Full of hope I climbed the day
while hunting the game of love,
and soared so high, high above
that I at last caught my prey.

In order to seize the game
-- the divine love in the sky --
I had to fly so high, high
I floated unseen and became
lost in that dangerous day;
and so my flight fell short of
height -- yet so high was my love
that I at last caught my prey.

Dazzled and stunned by light
as I rose nearer the sun,
my greatest conquest was won
in the very black of night.
Yet since love opened my way
I leapt dark, blindly above
and was so high, near my love,
that at last I caught my prey.

In this most exalted quest
the higher I began to soar
the lower I felt -- more sore
and broken and depressed.
I said: None can seize the prey!
and groveled so low, so low
that high, higher did I go,
and at last I caught my prey.

By strange reckoning I saw
a thousand flights in one flight;
for hope of heavenly light
is achieved by hoping now.
I hoped only for this way
and was right to wait for love,
and climbed so high, high above
that at last I caught my prey.

Love alone makes us happy

Benedict XVI: The strongest proof that we are made in the image of the Trinity is this: love alone makes us happy because we live in a relationship, and we live to love and to be loved. Borrowing an analogy from biology, we could say that imprinted upon his "genome", the human being bears a profound mark of the Trinity, of God as Love.

Teachings of Benedict XVI; a summary

Here are my contributions to the section on Teachings in the article on Benedict XVI in Wikipedia.

"Friendship with Jesus Christ"

According to commentators, during the Inaugural Mass, the core of the Pope's message, the most moving and famous part, is found in the last paragraph of his homily where he referred to both Jesus Christ and John Paul II. After referring to John Paul II's well-known words, "Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors for Christ!", Benedict XVI said:

"Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to Him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us?...And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation....When we give ourselves to Him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life.”

"Friendship with Jesus Christ" is a frequent theme of his preaching. He stressed that on this intimate friendship, "everything depends." He has also said: "We are all called to open ourselves to this friendship with God... speaking to him as to a friend, the only One who can make the world both good and happy... That is all we have to do is put ourselves at his disposal...is an extremely important message. It is a message that helps to overcome what can be considered the great temptation of our time: the claim, that after the Big Bang, God withdrew from history." Thus, in his book Jesus of Nazareth, his main purpose was "to help foster [in the reader] the growth of a living relationship" with Jesus Christ.

He took up this theme in his first encyclical Deus Caritas Est. In his personal explanation and summary of the encyclical, he stated: "If friendship with God becomes for us something ever more important and decisive, then we will begin to love those whom God loves and who are in need of us. God wants us to be friends of his friends and we can be so, if we are interiorly close to them." Thus, he said that prayer is "urgently needed...It is time to reaffirm the importance of prayer in the face of the activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work."

"Dictatorship of Relativism"

Continuing what he said in the pre-conclave Mass about what he has often referred to as the "central problem of our faith today", on 6 June 2005 Pope Benedict also said:

“Today, a particularly insidious obstacle to the task of education is the massive presence in our society and culture of that relativism which, recognising nothing as definitive, leaves as the ultimate criterion only the self with its desires. And under the semblance of freedom it becomes a prison for each one, for it separates people from one another, locking each person into his or her own ego.”

He said that "a dictatorship of relativism" was the core challenge facing the church and humanity. At the root of this problem, he said, is Kant's "self-limitation of reason". This, he said, is contradictory to the modern acclamation of science whose excellence is based on the power of reason to know the truth. He said that this self-amputation of reason leads to pathologies of religion such as terrorism and pathologies of science such as ecological disasters. Benedict traced the failed revolutions and violent ideologies of the twentieth century to a conversion of partial points of view into absolute guides. He said "Absolutizing what is not absolute but relative is called totalitarianism."

In an address to a conference of the Diocese of Rome held at the basilica of St. John Lateran 6 June 2005, Benedict remarked on the issues of same sex marriage and abortion:

The various forms of the dissolution of matrimony today, like free unions, trial marriages and going up to pseudo-matrimonies by people of the same sex, are rather expressions of an anarchic freedom that wrongly passes for true freedom of man...from here it becomes all the more clear how contrary it is to human love, to the profound vocation of man and woman, to systematically close their union to the gift of life, and even worse to suppress or tamper with the life that is born.

Christianity as religion according to reason

In the discussion with secularism and rationalism, one of Benedict's basic ideas can be found in his address on the "Crisis of Culture" in the West, a day before Pope John Paul II died, when he referred to Christianity as the Religion of the Logos (the Greek for "word", "reason", "meaning", or "intelligence"). He said:

“From the beginning, Christianity has understood itself as the religion of the Logos, as the religion according to reason...It has always defined men, all men without distinction, as creatures and images of God, proclaiming for them...the same dignity. In this connection, the Enlightenment is of Christian origin and it is no accident that it was born precisely and exclusively in the realm of the Christian faith....It was and is the merit of the Enlightenment to have again proposed these original values of Christianity and of having given back to reason its own voice... Today, this should be precisely [Christianity's] philosophical strength, in so far as the problem is whether the world comes from the irrational, and reason is not other than a 'sub-product,' on occasion even harmful of its development—or whether the world comes from reason, and is, as a consequence, its criterion and goal...In the so necessary dialogue between secularists and Catholics, we Christians must be very careful to remain faithful to this fundamental line: to live a faith that comes from the Logos, from creative reason, and that, because of this, is also open to all that is truly rational.”

Benedict also emphasised that "Only creative reason, which in the crucified God is manifested as love, can really show us the way."

Encyclicals: Love and hope

Pope Benedict has to date written three encyclicals, Deus Caritas Est (Latin for "God is Love"), Spe Salvi ("Saved by Hope"), and Caritas in Veritate ("Love in Truth").

In his first encyclical, "God is love", he said that a human being, created in the image of God who is love, is able to practice love: to give himself to God and others (agape), by receiving and experiencing God's love in contemplation (eros). This life of love, according to him, is the life of the saints such as Teresa of Calcutta and the Blessed Virgin Mary, and is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them in Jesus Christ.