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Mass held in Riga (Latvia) at St. James’ Cathedral for St. Josemaría Escrivá’s feast day

July 7, 2007

Tags: Holiness

St. James’ Cathedral (Riga, Latvia)

At the annual Mass held in St. James’ Cathedral, Riga (Latvia) for St. Josemaría Escrivá’s feast day, there was a crowd that would have pleased the saint himself. On June 26th, the church was filled with men and women of every age and walk of life. People from a wide array of different jobs and occupations all gathered together for the solemn celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which St. Josemaría had proclaimed to be “the root and center of the interior life.”

The main celebrant was His Eminence J. Pujats, Cardinal Archbishop of Riga. Fr. Pablo Gil Noges, a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei, gave the homily in which he explained a number of the fundamental teachings of the Founder of Opus Dei, including the universal call to sanctity and the need for the ordinary lay faithful to seek God in their ordinary work and duties. Eight priests concelebrated the Mass with the Cardinal.

In his homily, Fr. Noges referred to the constant teaching of the founder of Opus Dei that all ordinary activities can be sanctified, made into prayer and a means for bringing peace and joy to people’s hearts. Indeed, as he wrote in The Way (n. 301), “These world crises are crises of saints”, meaning that we ordinary people are the ones who are called to take up the challenge of holiness. That leads to a struggle for holiness in the middle of the world, in jobs that may seem ordinary but hold a divine element within them. St Josemaría also wrote, “Holiness does not consist of doing more and more difficult things, but of doing things with more and more love.”

This is a message that has found resonance with Latvian people. As one university student who attended the Mass said, “Reading Celš, (The Way) by St. Josemaría taught me to talk with God in my ordinary life. I consider him a spiritual father, a master.”

Video

Fill this land with love

"God will help us to be saints by working at our jobs out of a sense of justice. Not just fulfulling the duties of justice but those of charity too, which means putting our hearts into things."