The Encounters book and podcast consist of chapter-length biographical sketches of 14 members of Opus Dei who lived in very different circumstances.

One was a Harvard graduate from New Jersey who went from being pro-choice atheist to a member of Opus Dei and president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life. A second ran a fish shop in a small city in northern Spain and started social activities for impoverished coal miners in the region. Yet another was a plumber in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who discovered in Opus Dei that installing sinks and clearing clogged drains can be a way of discovering and serving God.

The sketches have in common that each person was able to find God in the nitty gritty of daily life. Encounters is written by historian John Coverdale.

The first podcast episode provides an introduction to Opus Dei and the message of Saint Josemaria, taken from the first chapter of the Encounters book.

Listeners who are already acquainted with Opus Dei and its spirit can skip directly to the next episode, about the life of Harvard graduate and pro-life activist Ruth Pakuluk.

Ruth was an extraordinarily warm, talented, and engaging woman. She entered Harvard University as a pro-choice atheist. After her conversion to Catholicism, she dedicated herself to raising her family and to pro-life activism. At age 33, Ruth was diagnosed with cancer, but she refused to allow the final eight years of her life to be dominated by the disease. Shortly before dying peacefully at age 41, she wrote to a friend: "I have loved the life God gave me. There is no other life I would rather have lived.”

The podcast is available for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other standard podcast platforms. Paperback and eBook versions of the entire book can be purchased from Scepter Publishers and Amazon.com. An audio version of the full book is available on Audible, iTunes and Amazon.com.