Scott Hahn on Opus Dei

Scott Hahn, former Presbyterian minister and celebrated convert to Catholicism, has written a book about Opus Dei and its influence on his life. Drawing on insights from his own biblical studies as well as his own personal experiences, Scott Hahn, Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace (Doubleday 2006) is a lively, 155-page book that providing explanations of key aspects of Opus Dei, including "divine filiation" (the idea that we are sons and daughters of God, the foundation of Opus Dei’s spirituality), work as a way of imitating Jesus and a sharing in God’s creation and the redemption of the world, Opus Dei as a “personal prelature” and its role in the Catholic Church, and the important role of genuine friendship in spreading Christ’s message.

Hahn’s first encounter with Opus Dei occurred during his graduate studies in theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee, where his reading of Scripture and the Church Fathers were bringing him closer to the Catholic Church and he was hoping to resolve his questions about the validity of Catholic teaching. During his studies at Marquette, Hahn developed friendships with members of Opus Dei, who impressed him with their biblical knowledge and their sense of Christian vocation in the midst of their everyday lives in the secular world.

"Opus Dei became for me a beacon, a lighthouse that promised the end of my long voyage, a first glimpse of a land I had only encountered in books," writes Hahn "There were then, as there are now, so many other great movements and institutions in the Church. But for many reasons, Opus Dei was someplace where I could begin to feel at home."

Those familiar with Hahn's journey to Catholicism from Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism, a book he wrote with his wife, Kimberly, will recall the wrenching tensions between them provoked by Scott's initial interest in Catholicism (he converted before she did). It is in view of this quandary that Scott Hahn describes the key moment when he first “got” Opus Dei. As Hahn grew closer to the Catholic Church and the tensions and arguments with his wife began to mount, he would spend hours preparing explanations for her of Catholic doctrinal points, but his efforts only backfired, placing a strain on their marriage. Finally, when Hahn asked a friend in Opus Dei for counsel, the friend suggested he “turn down the apologetics” and “turn up the romance.” The effect on his marriage was “electric”, Hahn writes, and his wife was eventually received into the Catholic Church. “‘Turning up the romance’ accomplished what endless debate could never force,” Hahn writes. “And that, to me, is Opus Dei.”

Well, of course, there's much more to Opus Dei than romance; but understanding romance is a big step towards understanding the romance of Opus Dei.