A practical sense of prayer

Mrs. Rack, home-maker

January 19, 2002

Tags: Opus Dei, Prayer Josemaria Escriva was an eminently practical person. What is practical is always realistic, useful, lasting. I am sure that his practical, concrete spiritual advice was a consequence of his great love for God and human beings, to whom he tried to transmit this same love. Prayer, talking to God in Opus Dei, was always something experienced as very real.

“Let us work. Let us work a lot and work well, without forgetting that prayer is our best weapon. That is why I will never tire of repeating that we have to be contemplative souls in the midst of the world, who try to turn their work into prayer” (Furrow 497).

When I joined Opus Dei, I discovered little by little that religious experience was not something that floated somewhere above or beside me; it was so close that I could touch it. I could find it in the things I did every day: in being with my family, doing the housework, being with my friends and acquaintances, shopping, resting, everything. Doing the ironing ceased to be a chore. In each shirt or T-shirt, in each pair of trousers, I discovered the possibility of saying a little prayer for the owner and wearer of the garment. Riding in a car or in the underground, I started to think of the many people around me, their concerns and problems, their joys, the important decisions that some of them would perhaps have to make. I prayed for them. When I climb stairs, I usually think about the path that takes me higher, towards Heaven. Little by little, step by step, I want to rise higher and higher, broadening my horizon. With Opus Dei, I have discovered that God can appear to me anywhere and in anything, no matter how insignificant. God is always transmitting: I just have to tune in my aerial!

I am also very grateful to the founder of Opus Dei because he knew that faith also means knowledge. As a disciple of Christ, he always sought to explain why the Church teaches this way and not another. Why prayer is the base on which faith is founded, what is the structure of Holy Mass and its marvelous workings, who the saints are, why the Sacrament of Reconciliation is such a gift from God, etc., etc. This transmission of knowledge, and his references to texts and writings taken from Christian authors all through history, have given me a reasoned knowledge of my faith, which I have been able to put to good use in many casual and unexpected conversations.

Another of St Josemaria’s traits was his good humor: for him, a grumpy Christianity was something inconceivable. Thus, through his teachings, he awoke in the people around him the desire to be “sowers of peace and joy” as behooves children of God.