I was rushing about, but I didn’t know where I was going

Silvia Mas, classics teacher, Lérida, Spain

September 29, 2009

Tags: Vocation Thanks to the example of generosity and optimism that I found in the writings of Saint Josemaria, my life took a radically new turn. I was just over sixteen. I was leading a very stressful life in a country town – I was always looking at my watch so as to get from place to place more quickly, and timing my steps to see how fast I could go. One day a question arose which made a deep impression on me: what did I hope for from life? I had no answer: I was rushing about, but I didn’t know where I was going.

When I heard that the founder of Opus Dei used to say that ordinary people in the street can be holy, my own ambitions suddenly looked very poor to me. I had to stop completely and give a whole new direction to my life. I couldn’t rush around aimlessly, when deep inside me I could hear God telling me that my time was his, it was for him. I had my whole life in front of me and I was filled with delight by being able to give God a present: to put my whole existence into his hands. I could give him the twenty-four hours of the day, my heart, my imagination, my mind, my capacity for work, and all my energy – that I had been spending just rushing around my home town – to serve God in Opus Dei.