The Da Vinci Code, the Catholic Church and Opus Dei

The Da Vinci Code comes to the big screen on 19 May. Unfortunately, many who see the movie may be challenged and in many ways, not realizing that it's just a piece of fiction. I plan to blog more about the movie as time permits.

For my first DVC-related message, I'd like to tackle the nonsense about Opus Dei. The Opus Dei web site does an admirable job in debunking the nonsensical and absurd assertions about Opus Dei made in the DVC.

I'd like to close with a quote from the February 2006 issue of U.S. Catholic, an organ that is on the opposite spectrum of Opus Dei within Roman Catholicism:

"The spiritual foundation of Opus Dei, whose name literally means 'work of God,' is the sanctification of ordinary work. In other words, whether one is a barber, a stay-at-home mom, a banker, or a teacher, one can cultivate an awareness of God through one’s work and by following Opus Dei’s 'Plan of Life,' the structured daily spiritual schedule that includes daily Mass, meditation in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and prayer."

“It teaches laypeople how to be contemplatives in the middle of their workaday world,” says Father Michael Barrett, an Opus Dei priest in Houston. “It’s a coach for them to turn their work into prayer.”

“It’s like having a personal trainer in the spiritual life, helping you to keep fit,” says Cathy Hickey of New York. “People like me need the encouragement.”

This is hardly the way Opus Dei is portrayed in the DVC. Let me put it succinctly: It's all about acting like Christ, both at work and especially with those at your dinner table. Bottom line: Opus Dei is all about love and loving, in a very real-world, practical, hands-on way.