Marquette Alumnus Writes on Opus Dei

Opus Dei, for those who don’t know, is the conservative Catholic movement portrayed as some sort of sinister conspiracy in the movie “The Da Vinci Code.”

Now Scott Hahn, a former Presbyterian minister and Marquette alumnus who is also a member of the organization has written a book about it. According to a review:

Hahn’s first encounter with Opus Dei occurred while his reading of Scripture and the Church Fathers were bringing him closer to the Catholic Church. He was pursuing graduate theological studies at Marquette University, hoping to resolve his questions about the validity of Catholic teaching.

At Marquette, Hahn developed friendships with members of Opus Dei, who impressed him with their knowledge of the Bible and the way they embraced their Christian calling in the midst of their ordinary everyday lives.

“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,” he writes. “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.”

Hahn describes the key moment when he first “got” Opus Dei. As Hahn grew closer to the Catholic Church, he had long theological arguments with his wife, Kimberly, a devout daughter of Presbyterian minister. Hahn would spend hours preparing explanations for her of Catholic doctrinal points, but his efforts only backfired, placing a strain on their marriage.

Finally, 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.

Hahn got some really good advice there.

Added to the recent news that three Marquette alumni have joined the Jesuit order, one might get the impression that Marquette is a Catholic university or something.