Romana

For the feast day of St. Josemaría, the Prelate of Opus Dei, Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz, celebrated a solemn Mass in the basilica of St. Eugene, in Rome. The homily is included in this issue of Romana. Hundreds of Eucharistic celebrations took place around that date in cities throughout the world. We note some below.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan was the main celebrant at the Mass on the feast day of St. Josemaría, which took place in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. In his homily, making reference to the passage about the miraculous catch of fish (Lk 5:1-11), he said that “St. Josemaria encourage all of us to find sanctity, to cast out into the deep, not in some exotic apostolates, not just in faraway missionary lands, not just in cloistered convents, or sanctuaries of cathedrals—no, to cast out to the deep, to pursue perfection, to go after sanctity in our professions, in our work, in our labor. An insight that seems so simple that it is downright profound. So he, anticipating the great teaching of the Second Vatican Council, would be the poet of the universal call to holiness. Everyone is called to holiness and sanctity, everyone is called to the pursuit of perfection, in whatever walk of life we find ourselves.”

In the Cathedral of Milan, Italy, Archbishop Mario Delpini told those participating in the Mass in memory of St. Josemaría that “holiness is not the measure of the impossible; it is not the end of a climb that tests our strength, and that only the strongest, the most intelligent, the bravest can reach.” “Holiness,” he insisted, “is not the conquest of a goal but a docility that offers no resistance to the loving breath of the Spirit of God. We have learned this from the testimony and teaching of St. Josemaría, and we try to put it into practice each day, making of our life a ‘sail’ open to the wind of the Holy Spirit leading us to a safe port.”

Bishop Hermann Gletter, bishop of Innsbruck, Austria, celebrated a Mass in the church of the hospital in that city. The memorial of St. Josemaría, he said, “encourages us to undertake a new and broad reflection on the call to holiness, particularly after the recent Papal exhortation Gaudete et exsultate.” He reminded people that, in the words of the founder of Opus Dei, “‘great’ holiness consists in fulfilling the ‘small duties’ of each moment.”

In the Cathedral of Cordoba, Spain, Bishop Demetrio Fernandez stressed that “Saint Josemaría has infused into the Church a great hope: that holiness is within reach, that it is possible. For God has called us to live as his children, to be happy here on earth, with the hope of the children’s inheritance: Heaven.” “Holiness is nothing other than aligning our will with God’s will,” he said in his homily.

The archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, celebrated a solemn Mass in the parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace in the Irish capital. “St. Josemaría,” he said in his homily, “had the special gift of guiding men and women along a path of holiness that yields fruit in a life immersed in daily realities. Faith does not separate us from the realities of life. A Christian spirituality—that of any missionary disciple of Jesus—permeates our daily commitment in the world.” “I am very happy,” he added, “to be with all of you, who have found strength and support in the spiritual heritage of St. Josemaría. We give thanks to God because he has helped us—both priests and laity—to experience a trusting intimacy with the Lord, and we ask the Spirit to inspire us to become joyful disciples, missionaries of Jesus Christ to the world of our time.”

On Saturday, June 23, the Mass for the feast of St. Josemaría Escrivá was celebrated for the first time at the Saxum Visitor Center in Abu Gosh, Israel, an initiative promoted by faithful of the Prelature in the Holy Land. Those attending included families from Jerusalem and pilgrims. In the homily, Bishop Joaquín Paniello—Vicar of Opus Dei in the Holy Land—said: “Saint Josemaría reminds us that God calls all of to live our Christian faith in our daily life by doing our professional work as well as we can and by being kind towards others.” Before and after the Mass, visits were made to the multimedia center, giving many of the local families the opportunity to become acquainted with this new resource about the sacred places. The Visitor Center offers historical, geographical and biblical information about the most important events in salvation history, through multimedia resources. It also has a chapel for groups who want to celebrate the Eucharist.