Abriendo Horizontes. Semblanza de Jose Maria Hernandez Garnica

By: Jose Carlos Martin de la Hoz

BookNo.: r038

Asunto: highlights

Fecha: 16/03/12

• Very brief biography.
• Madrid 1913- Barcelona 1972
• Joined Opus Dei in 1934 or 35, few days after Don Alvaro.
• Civil war: prisoner, suffering, condemned to death, saved by a whisker.
• Days of darkness in San Sebastian. (vocation, fidelity)
• Fully given to Opus Dei.
• 40's: director, Engineering studies, trips, priestly studies.
• Ordained in 1944.
• The work with women of Opus Dei in Spain, then France, Rome, Germany, throughout Europe.
• Capacity and eagerness to adapt himself. (self-giving, generosity)
• Never gave up looking at the difficulties of apostolic task... God would put the rest. (apostolate , fortitude)
• "Secret of Christian life is that the more you give, the more you have" (self-giving, generosity)
• Utter fidelity to St Josemaria's spirit... He would dissappear next to him.
• Respect for freedom... Long hair people.
• Suffering due to illness, especiallywhen no more celebrating the Holy Mass... Increased intensity of norms of piety...
• He would complain of the expenses and say he was a bad investment... But would allow others to take care of him. (docility, poverty)
• Tags: Garnica, Chiqui, Fidelity, Opus Dei, Suffering, Fortitude, Apostolic expansion, cheerfulness
• Listen to audio file.

Verbum Domini part 3 section 2

VERBUM MUNDO
The Word of God and commitment in the world (99 onwards)

• We tend to halt in a superficial way before the importance of the passing moment, as if it had nothing to do with the future. The Gospel, on the other hand reminds us that every moment of our life is important and must be lived intensely

• To all those who take part in political and social life. Evangelization and the spread of God's word ought to inspire their activity in the world, as they work for the true common good in respecting and promoting the dignity of every person (politics, human dignity )

• It is primarily the task of the lay faithful, formed in the school of the Gospel, to be directly involved in political and social activity.

• Christ "is our peace", the one who breaks down the walls of division.

• Religion can never justify intolerance or war. We cannot kill in God's name ! Each religion must encourage the right use of reason and promote ethical values that consolidate civil coexistance.

• We should never forget that "love -caritas- will always prove necessary even in the most just society... Whoever wants to eliminate love is preparing to eliminate man as such."

• From St Paul... Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

• Youth is a time when genuine and irrepresible questions arise about the meaning of life and the direction our own lives should take. Only God can give the true answer to these questions.

• If we let Christ into our lives, we loose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are t e doors of life opened wide... When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return.

• If human words seem to fall silent before the mystery of evil and suffering, and if our society appears to value life only when it corresponds to certain standards of efficiency and well being, the word of God makes us see that even these moments are mysteriously "embraced" by God's love.

• Those who suffer should be helped to read the Scriptures and to realize that their condition itself enables them to share in a special way in Christ's redemptive suffering for the salvation of the world.

• We also need to recognize and appreciate the fact that the poor are themselves agents of evangelization.



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