My heart missed a beat

Fr. Masaharu Muraoka, Nagasaki, Japan

October 20, 2009

Tags: Holiness, diocesan priests I had been a priest for thirty years when in 1980 I was appointed to a parish in Nagasaki. A fellow-priest lost no time in introducing me to a priest of Opus Dei. We met a number of times.

When I began to read the works of Saint Josemaria, I became enthused. They had a refreshing impact on me. When I read that everyone has to be a canonizable saint, my heart missed a beat. While it’s always been clear to me that I have to be holy, being a “canonizable saint” means that I have to be a lot more demanding on myself.

When I told the Cardinal about how I had come across Opus Dei and the good I was getting out of meditating on The Way, he told me that he had known about the book and about Opus Dei since his time in Rome.