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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There's so much misinformation from people within this thread.

As someone involved with "The Work," Opus Dei is not a cult and I have never felt it to be "cult" like. It is no more secret than any other major organization, with members free to list their participation in The Work (which many often do). The Work, like most major organizations does not list their whole active member list (why should they?) and leads to people with too much free time to speculate and come up with theories on who's involved and to what extent. Cults and "secret" organizations don't run their own web page, social media presence, and YouTube videos where you can learn more. For local posters, Oakcrest and the Heights both mention on their webpage that they're affiliated with Opus Dei. Would a secretive cult do that?

The Work is not ultra-conservative like what many are proposing and in fact disavows many of the more conservative organizations involved in the Catholicism sphere. Why? Because St. Jose Maria was a big fan of Vatican II because it reinforced the central premise of Opus Dei (more on that later) and St. Jose Maria's respect to hierarchy within the Church, meaning we MUST respect the Pope and his decisions.

Opus Dei's central focus for lay people above all else is "sanctifying your everyday." St. Jose Maria had a radical concept (for the time which was then reinforced under Vatican II) that everyday people could be Saints; you didn't need to be a monk, nun, priest or pope, but the garbage collector, or the CEO could achieve Holiness just by sanctifying their everyday.

This is where a misconception comes in that Opus Dei targets the rich: untrue. Hardworking, ambitious, PRACTICING Catholics naturally will flock to an organization that promotes working hard at your job because God has endowed that ability upon you.

As for the allegations of "human trafficking," and other ridiculous assumptions critics make, they fail to view Opus Dei as a religious order. It is no different than a person who joins an order like the Dominicans or Jesuits, in the sense that you do not control your own finances but rather you trust your order (or in Opus Dei's case,a Prelature) to handle everything for you. None of this is a surprise and no one is "duped" into signing up for this and then forced to stay. Similar to a job you may be told a promotion is on the horizon and then the company gets hit with a bad Q3 and suddenly there's no longer a promotion. You may feel duped but sometimes things out of your control affect your life. Again, like most of the critiques against Opus Dei, it comes from a vengeful, misinformed place. There's no cabal of people looking to maliciously harm and stifle people. From a purely selfish perspective,  it would be more harmful for Opus Dei to limit its member's success rather than boost their success. Again, the critiques don't make logical sense.

I want to also address the "you are harassed if you leave." You are not harassed, I know folks who have left and it is not harassment to message or check in a friend who you used to see bi-weekly or monthly and suddenly not see anymore. If you played basketball with someone every two weeks for say 10 years and they suddenly stopped coming wouldn't you check in on the person? Now imagine in the context of religion where you believe that this person may have fallen away from the faith and thus possibly damming themselves to hell then you would definitely want to check in and see how you can help.

Popular media and misinformation has unfortunately destroyed the reputation of Opus Dei and I, alongside many of my friends have found it to be nothing but a great organization. There's a lot of diversity, solid church teaching offered to non-religious folk, supportive people, and a strong sense of integration and respect to Rome. Is Opus Dei for everyone? No, clearly not, the same way being a Jesuit or a Freemason isn't for everyone and many unfortunately realize that later in life and may feel slighted that they spent so much time contributing to Opus Dei, the same way how many people in other organizations leave and then complain about said organization. There are thousands of people who leave Opus Dei every year and you never hear about "horror" stories from these folks. [/quote]

The thing that got to me about Opus Dei was the stuff I read about "self-mortification" - where you suffered, trying to mimic Christ on the cross, by wearing heavy chains under your clothes.[/quote]

The traditional penitential practice to which you refer is the use of the “cilice,” a light chain with small protrusions designed to be annoying without causing real injury. It is roughly akin to a “hair shirt.”  It is not a “heavy chain.”

The point of physical penance is not “trying to mimic Christ on the cross.”  It is to gain mastery over physical desires by strengthening the will. In this sense it is much like a diet and a great deal like the physical exercise so many people enthusiastically participate in to improve their physical and mental condition.

The tradition of physical penance is hardly unique to Opus Dei, Catholicism, or even Christianity. It is most prudently practiced under the supervision of an experienced spiritual director. The point is not “suffering” per se, but to concentrate the mind and will on higher things. Hence it is important to avoid excesses. [/quote]

This response seems to be defending sick extreme behaviors that all religions are susceptible to. There are a few posts like this that are probably the same person. 
This is an example of extreme behavior that is not the norm for devout “practicing” Catholics. 
I am a devout Catholic and consider this behavior not within the realm of normal or religious. I do think “offering up” something to those less fortunate is virtuous. But this action is not the same as willingly inflicting self suffering. 
Organizations like Opus Dei are necessary for religious extremists to validate this behavior. It not only validates, it also emboldens a sense of superiority. 
WWJD. Not this. [/quote]

How crudely judgemental can a person get. Minor physical penances are not the lurid nonsense depicted in bad movies. You don’t know what you’re talking about.

How about fasting?  What are your feelings on that?  Yom Kippur, Ramadan, are those “extreme” and just for “religious extremists” to feel “superior?”[/quote]

You say "I am a devout Catholic and consider this behavior not within the realm of normal or religious". Well, maybe you should, because some catholics are doing it, in the name of catholicism. Maybe you're not a real catholic.[/quote]

Some Catholics are doing a lot of things in the name of Catholicism.  It doesn't mean that all of them are within the mainstream.  If the Pope says it's normal or required then it is.  If some schmo in the hinterlands does it, that just makes it a thing some people do.[/quote]

Correct.  Only if the Pope approves is it truly Catholic.  Thus it has always been with Catholics.[/quote]

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