JOHN PAUL II: TRANSFIGURE EVERYDAY LIFE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 12, 2002 (VIS) - This morning in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope received in audience 5,000 participants in the international congress held in Rome to mark the centenary of the birth of Blessed Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, the founder of Opus Dei.

The Holy Father recalled that during the congress, which was held from January 8 to 11, consideration was given to "the greatness of everyday life as a path to sanctity." He affirmed that, from the beginning of his ministry, Blessed Escriva preached that "all the baptized are called to the fullness of charity, and that the most immediate way to reach this common goal lies in the normality of daily life."

"For all baptized men and women who wish to follow Christ faithfully," he continued, "the factory, the office, the library, the laboratory, the workshop, the home can all be transformed into places for meeting the Lord. ... For us too, daily life ... can acquire the magnitude of a supernatural dimension and, in this way, become transfigured."

John Paul II emphasized that by "sanctifying their work while respecting objective moral norms, the lay faithful make an effective contribution to building a society more worthy of man. ... Thus, they cooperate in molding a human race more attentive to the needs of individuals and of the common good."

He went on: "Following the in footsteps of your founder, continue your mission with zeal and faithfulness. In the daily struggle, show that Christ's love can shape the curve of existence, enabling the ideal of 'unity of life' to be attained; the ideal that, as I reiterated in the Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation 'Christifideles laici,' is fundamental in the commitment to evangelization in contemporary society.

"Prayer, work and the apostolate, as you learned from Blessed Josemaria, come together and unite if they are lived in this spirit. He always encouraged you to 'love the world passionately,' adding, though, an important clarification: 'Be men and women of the world, but do not be worldly men and women.' In this way, you will avoid the danger of being conditioned by a worldly mentality that conceives spiritual commitment as something that can be relegated to the private sphere and, consequently, irrelevant to public life."

"The earth," he concluded, "as your founder recalls, is a path to heaven and the existence of each believer, each with their own burdens and limitations, must become a true temple wherein dwells the Son of God made man."

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