Today June 26

Today is the feast of St. Josemaria Escriva, or at least it should be. He died on this date in 1975. Quite a modern saint! I don't know a lot about him (my two books give only a thumbnail sketch each -- the same one, in fact) other than that he had a doctorate in both law and theology, taught canon law, and most famously, founded Opus Dei, a "personal prelature" for lay and clerical people committed to serving God through "the richness of ordinary life." Opus Dei has now more than 60,000 members in 80 countries over 5 continents. None of this says so, but knowing he lived in Spain during a critical time, my guess is he supported the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War and was opposed to the Republic. It couldn't have hurt him in conservative and even most clerical circles, but, gee, c'mon, Franco? Way to kill your credibility. However, he loved God, focused on religion and not on politics, and truly followed his maxim that "God knows best."