Conditions for grasping the novelty of the pastoral phenomenon of the Work

For this reason, the novelty of Opus Dei cannot be judged fairly with the mentality of those who are used to studying only the problems of clerical or religious life, and are not accustomed to investigate or meditate on the secular reality, on the life of ordinary Christians, who must live detached from the world, but at the same time in the world, loving it, involved in temporal affairs, doing the work which gives them a living and, in our case, on which they would have lived were they not members of Opus Dei.

False interpretations

With such a mentality, it is easy to interpret your perseverance in your professional work, without succumbing to fatigue or tiredness, as an ambition for promotion or influence, when it is only a question of seeking sanctification in that work, carrying it out with the greatest possible perfection – including human perfection – for the love of God and to bring souls closer to Christ and to his Church, in a self-sacrificing, difficult and humble mission of friendship and of service.

Nor can they look upon our work as if it were a hobby, as do some religious and priests who exercise secular jobs or cultivate secular sciences as a sideline, and in doing so, in some cases distort more or less their priestly or religious vocation, and even that same scientific or professional work which is alien to them.