Holistic

Unity of life, as Opus Dei sees it, is about discovering a lens through which all of one's life can he seen as a single, whole thing. This, members say, is what transforms a series of random or isolated movements, the end-less string of hours, days, and years that make up a life, into a meaningful unity—a work of art. The spirit of Opus Dei is supposed to transform a multitude of different steps and contrasting movements into a single dance, so that at any given moment one realizes that one is always one and the same person. Sometimes, in religious contexts, people speak of their "spiritual life," referring to their prayers and practices of piety. But for Opus Dei, the "spiritual life" must include work, friendships, social life, family—everything. Naturally, this is supposed to have an impact on how Opus Dei members do whatever they do. Ultimately, the "spiritual life" is nothing more or less than human life. Nothing falls outside that. There are no compartments that aren't labeled "God's business."

One of the consequences of being "contemplatives in the middle of the world," as Opus Dei understands it, is that it tends to evaporate the "religious" as a distinct category of experience. One's most "religious" experiences may be in the office, on the playing field, in the kitchen, on the street, in the bedroom or in the hospital. Escriva once said that his monastic cell was the street, meaning that an Opus Dei member is supposed to walk out of church for the same reason they walk in—to be in union with God.

from-JOHN L. ALLEN JR. is the Vatican Correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and the author of several books about the Catholic Church, most recently 'Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic church' (Doubleday).