My dear children: may Jesus watch over my daughters and sons for me!
On October 2nd, we will celebrate another anniversary of the founding of Opus Dei. It will be a day for special thanksgiving and (this will also be our desire) an opportunity to renew our commitment to bring the Work forward in order to better serve God, the Church and society.
Saint Josemaría often said that the entire work of Opus Dei is summed up in providing formation. A formation that “does not concern only one part of the person, but the entire being: it has to reach equally the intellect, heart and will” (Letter 15, no. 91). And therefore it is a human, spiritual, doctrinal-religious, professional and apostolic formation.
The upcoming feast of the holy archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, to whose intercession we entrust all this work of formation, can also help us to reflect again on the ultimate goal of this effort: identification with Christ.
The various means of formation – classes, meditations, personal conversations, etc. – are based on what most directly identifies us with our Lord: the sacraments (especially the Eucharist and Penance) and prayer, nourished above all by the Gospel.
Over time, the means of formation may not provide us with anything substantially new, although they help to keep that content alive in our hearts. Therefore it is very important to foster an attitude of active listening: to confront, in each means of formation, what we hear again with the reality of our daily lives, stirring up “the eagerness of the first time,” as our Father suggested. Naturally, those who give these means will also strive to transmit ever better the beauty of a life close to Christ, taking into account the specific people and their circumstances.
To the extent that this formation more effectively tends towards a progressive personal identification with Christ, it will also lead us to sense ever more deeply that the joys and sorrows of the whole world are also our own. As Saint Paul said: “All things are yours; you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s" (1 Cor 3:22-23).
Let us continue to pray for the work of revising the Statutes, the final phase of which (as I have already informed you) is in the hands of the Holy See.
Your Father blesses you with all his affection.
Rome, September 20, 2025