Why Opus Dei Is Conservative

At breakfast today, June 26, the feastday of St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, I had a light talk with Winnie, a numerary who works in the catering department of one of our centers here in the province. We were commenting how, in a recent article, Opus Dei was tagged again as a 'strong' conservative group of the Catholic Church, with the word 'conservative' bearing more negative hues than positive.

Has the word conservative evolved into something to be embarassed about? Has it become an uninspiring idea to be conservative in the 21st century? Is it a nightmare to be one?

To be conservative is taken to mean the following: to be traditional, conventional, conformist, unadventurous, old-fashioned, a disciple of the old-school, as opposed to being liberal, modern, experimental, or avant-garde, a follower of the new school.

While it may possibly have its downsides, being conservative has its 'upsides' to it as well.

As there is much talk now on thinking critically, may I invite you to practice it now by also considering why conservatives are the way they are? This, assuming that you have more leanings on the liberal way of life, which, by the way, is not something negative to begin with.

This article attempts to explain why Opus Dei is conservative.
It is my spiritual family. And I feel that some light must be shed on this today, the feast of my spiritual father.

The Negros Museum Initiative: Communicating Culture

I was fortunate to be in a two-day seminar at the Negros Museum last May 21-22, 2012, with Ms. Jeannie E. Javelosa, museum curator of the Yuchengco Museum, a columnist of the Philippine Star and a culture and sustainability advocate. She was with Mr. Nico Reyes, Business Development and Marketing Manager of EON, a leading public relations firm in the Philippines that provides communication consultancy services to some of the top brands and organizations in the country.

We were given an interesting lecture on Culture as basis for development and communication, with a focus on Branding. This is where we learned the 4 Cs i.e. the Core of the Philippine Brand which are collaborative, caring, colorful and creative. We talked about brand personality and what characteristics sets a company or organization apart from the rest, meaning we identified the unique and outstanding qualities there could be in the organizations we represent.