Gustavo, Spain: "God's plans for me were more creative than my own"

At fifteen, Gustavo was a restless teenager, his head full of projects and the sense that his life could have a deeper meaning. His first experience with Opus Dei was unconvincing; after a conversation with someone who invited him to reflect on his vocation, he disappeared for nine months. “I had no desire at all to join the Work,” he admits. But then something unexpected happened: a tense argument between his father and brother about God shook him to the core. That same afternoon, before the Tabernacle in a church, he felt with absolute clarity that God was asking for his whole life.

“I walked out of that church knowing my life belonged to Him,” he recalls. Without rushing, with maturity, he took a few months to let that intuition grow. Finally, he wrote a letter and took the first step. In 1993, he sealed his commitment forever. “This wasn’t like deciding to buy a mobile phone,” he says with a smile. “It was a serious decision. Of course it was daunting.”

Gustavo has lived his vocation with freedom and fullness. “God’s plans for me were more creative than my own,” he confesses. Far from limiting his growth, the Work helped him explore professional options, discover his talents, and find his true professional vocation in creativity and communication.

"I go through life as a man in love. I'm in love with god. I'm in love with the Virgin Mary."

Life in a centre of Opus Dei, he explains, is not without its challenges, but it is a source of profound human growth. “I’ve learned to love people I didn’t naturally connect with, to pray for them, to live as in a big, diverse family.”

When it comes to celibacy, he is straightforward: “I am still attracted to women, but my heart is fulfilled.” And when faced with criticism of the institution, he responds with honesty and empathy: “I pray for those who have suffered. Opus Dei needs to learn from those stories.”

The highest point of his life was the day he helped Pope Benedict XVI send his very first tweet. And the most difficult was embracing his father before he died. Although Gustavo’s father initially opposed his vocation, by the end of his life, he recognized his son as a man faithful to his vocation. “I chose to follow that path. And God has repaid me a hundredfold.”