A special day

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

OCTOBER 2 is a special day for me. First, because it is the memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels to whom we should try to have a great devotion. That’s because they actually are very helpful in our daily affairs, since they are our direct link to God. Christ said that the angels see and attend to God face to face. (cfr. Mt 18,10) They serve as his agents and messenger to us. They give us a lot of help.

Even in our material needs, we can ask them to facilitate things. It may just be a matter of looking for a parking space in a crowded place, or of asking for safety and security when we travel. We should not hesitate to ask them for help. It’s their pleasure to be of help.

Second, October 2 marks the anniversary of the foundation of a Church institution to which I intimately belong—Opus Dei. It was on this day in 1928 that St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder, saw what God has been hinting at him since he was still in his teens.

It was during a retreat for diocesan priests that he attended when, after Mass, he returned to his room and began to put his notes in order. Suddenly, he said, he “saw” what God wanted him to be and to do.

He said that what he saw were people of every nation and race, of every age and culture, seeking and finding God right in the middle of their ordinary life, their work, their family, and their friendships.

He said that he saw people who looked for Christ in order to love him and to live a holy life until they were completely transformed and made into saints—saints in the middle of the world, as in a tailor saint, for example, a baker saint, and in the context of current circumstances, a “habal-habal driver saint, and even a politician saint. Indeed, what a gratifying prospect that would be!

He said that he saw ordinary persons as saints, deeply identified with Christ, and who direct all their activities to God, who sanctify their work and thus sanctify themselves in their work and sanctify others through their work.

Third, it was on a day like this when I, at 18, and having been exposed to these considerations, decided, for reasons I did not quite understand, said yes to a lifelong vocation of total commitment to give myself completely to live the spirit of Opus Dei and carry out its mission.

At first there was no intention of becoming a priest. I would just be a committed layman, working in the middle of the corporate world, and trying the bring the message of Opus Dei there. This involved living in apostolic celibacy so that I could give myself more wholeheartedly to the mission of Opus Dei.

It was only when I was 35 when I was asked if I would like to become a priest, to which I immediately said yes. I was sent to Rome and Spain to finish my ecclesiastical studies, and finally got ordained when I was almost 40.

As an anniversary, every October 2 gives me reasons to be truly joyful and thankful, as well as an occasion to renew my commitment of love and to see if I am still on the right path toward my final destination.

Indeed, October 2 is a very special day for me!

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com