Madonna M. Murphy is Professor Emerita at the University of St. Francis where she taught education, ethics, theology, and character education courses for thirty years. She currently teaches doctrine classes in various centers of Opus Dei throughout Chicagoland. She is an author and international speaker on philosophy of education and character education. These include presentations and articles on St. Josemaría’s philosophy of education including an entry in the Diccionario de San Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer. Her most recent area of research is the Catechetical trips of St. Josemaría.
| SKU/ISBN | 9781594175695 |
| Product Number | 75695 |
| Size | 5.5 x 8.5 |
| Format | Paperback |
| Pages | 208 |
I have always been grateful that we have so much video of St. Josemaria. And yet the very nature of video--which gives us an intimate feel for his presence, his emotion and laughter, the response of souls to his presence--can be a barrier to absorbing his words in an enduring way, especially for those who do not understand Spanish. Madonna Murphy's A Treasure for the Church gives our minds and hearts access to an unexplored source of wisdom, published for the first time in English, from this "Saint of Ordinary Life."
I’m grateful that Madonna Murphy wrote this book. At a time when Marriage is under attack on so many fronts, it takes St. Josemaría’s teaching and brings it right into the living room. It reminds us that sanctity isn’t reserved for monasteries—God meets spouses in the ordinary activities of married life. This is a wise, encouraging read for any couple who wants their home to become more peaceful,
more joyful, and more holy.
Ever wonder what the ‘gift of tongues’ looks like in print? Well, this is it! What struck me most reading Madonna Murphy’s A Treasure for the Church is how incredibly timely the advice from St. Josemaria is for parents and educators. It is as if he were commenting directly on our dilemmas today, to allay our specific daily fears for these younger generations. St. Josemaria’s words of advice will indeed be treasured by parents and educators, advice about how to walk those fine lines to raise children with freedom and responsibility, without too much comfort but with plenty of unconditional affection, with one’s parental aspirations as well as with God’s dreams for them. One can learn volumes about how to respect the freedom of young people by reading St. Josemaria speaking directly to groups of teenage students as well as about them. It’s about time this invaluable and practical advice made it to the English-speaking population! I wholeheartedly recommend reading and re-reading this “Treasure for the Church”!
“As the family goes, so goes the Church. And as the Church goes, so goes society.” No one knew those lessons better than St. Josemaria, the charismatic founder of Opus Dei who realized from his vast practical pastoral experience that the greatest obstacle to human flourishing is “lack of knowledge”, or what we used to call “just plain ignorance.” He grew up in a very happy family, not without the sufferings of the early deaths of his three sisters, and from his experience he set out to evangelize the world in the final years of his life with public get togethers filled with passion and practical advice on how to live. Today the proof of his wisdom and effectiveness is seen in many happy, healthy, holy families across the world who were taught early on the wisdom of moral Christian living, transforming their homes and families into havens of “joy and peace.” Madonna Murphy has done us a favor by collecting and presenting these words of wisdom given by St. Josemaria. This book should be on the shelf of every Catholic Home.
The centenary of Opus Dei is fast approaching in 2028. From the preparatory listening sessions for this anniversary, some ideas have emerged, as Fr. Fernando Ocáriz explains: “Young and old, members of the Work, cooperators, friends, and many people who were part of the Work at some point in their lives, have paused to consider how to embody today, with dynamic fidelity, the spirit that St. Josemaría received from God to serve the Church.” From the results of this participation, three themes stand out as key to living the vocation to the Work today: family, work, and formation. This book deals precisely with these three themes: family, formation, and the special work of a
teacher. And it does so with a vital approach: what did St. Josemaría say on his pastoral journeys to America regarding these topics? The author has explored them in depth and shares them with us.
