Evidence of growing devotion to St. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei, was apparent as nearly 700 people arrived in Vancouver from across Canada and the U.S. to take part in celebrating the June 26 feast of this “saint of everyday life.” The celebration honoured the so-called “ordinary” activities of life, which are not trivial or meaningless because they are valuable means for achieving union with Christ.

The feast day of this new saint, just canonized in 2002, was observed in many places across the country. Coadjutor Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, of the Archdiocese of Vancouver offered Holy Mass at Corpus Christi Church in Vancouver. Many lay faithful and priests came together to give thanks to God for the gift of the Eucharist and to further their commitment to seek sanctity in the ordinary affairs of each day. 

In his homily on the sanctification of the everyday the archbishop said, “For every baptized person who desires to follow Christ faithfully, the factory, the office, the library, the laboratory, the workshop, and the home can be transformed into places for an encounter with the Lord.”

Opus Dei holds that Christians should maintain a constant state of prayer whether at work or play, and within their family lives. Opus Dei offers the opportunity for the entire family to learn and to grow in faith together in body and in spirit, whether at work or at play.

It’s very much a family-oriented Catholic organization. The role of sanctity in the “family of the everyday” was truly evident, and could be measured by the sheer number of families who arrived to fill Corpus Christi’s pews.

“Opus Dei gets at the heart of Christ’s call for each and every Christian to launch out into the deep of apostolic service,” said Archbishop Miller.

With permission from the B.C. Catholic Newspaper, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, British Columbia