Polish Cardinal Wyszinsky, Pope John Paul II's late mentor, once said: "God allows men the free will to choose between various options. God goes along with these choices because in the end all human choices will be incorporated into His plan as grist into God's mill. This mill grinds slowly, but always grinds exceedingly fine."

Philosophers like St. Augustine have always pondered on the most mysterious reality of time. Is the past real? Should we even think about the future — something which has no real presence? What about the present? Anything we say or do immediately passes to the past. The future becomes the present and we are never able to detain the present from fading to the past.

Yet, caught as we are in this menagerie of time, we are always confronted with choices — the irrevocable definition of ourselves, the trace we leave others of our existence and the chain that binds us to our future.

We are all inescapably part of the coming and going of time. But the Lord of History always awaits and meets us where we least expect — in our ordinary everyday work.

"It is where Opus Dei has taught me to meet God," said Dominic Lin, a supernumerary member of what in English is called the Work. "By bringing to his presence the little decisions I make everyday, I convert my day into prayer."

This is the central message of Opus Dei (Latin for "Work of God"). Any noble human task can be the cistern where we ourselves store the grain to be transformed into grist for God's mill.

The reality of daily life — this is where we make the choices that the Lord of History gathers for his mill. Those choices make the difference between a work well done, with technical competence and the right intention, and one which ultimately causes harm to ourselves and others.

Roel Leuterio, a supernumerary member of Opus Dei said: "Opus Dei has helped me to be optimistic in life, to understand that when you pray, you always find hope to confront life's problems."

"Opus Dei reminds me that I must be serious in my work and that I must take care of my family," said the young securities analyst, father of two children.

A characteristic feature of Opus Dei is the atmosphere of a Christian family. This family atmosphere is present in the relationship of Opus Dei members (called "faithful of the Prelature") to each other and in the activities that the Prelature organizes.

It becomes tangible in the warmth of a home found in its centers, in the simplicity and confidence of the members in dealing with one another, and in a multitude of matters of service, understanding, and dedication in daily life.

"As Jesus, who is our Lord and Model, grows in and lives as one of us, he reveals to us that human life — your life — and its humdrum, ordinary business, have a meaning which is divine, which belongs to eternity," Blessed Josemaria, Opus Dei founder said in his book The Forge.

Opus Dei members strive to find divine meaning behind the most ordinary events and things in life. Arriving at work on time, doing your best so that whatever you do be done in the best way possible and then knowing that if you transform your intention in doing that work to prayer, that task becomes an offering to God.

"Such a mindset situates us human beings as of this world, but destined for eternity," said Fr. Rolly Sia, chaplain of Cheng Jung, the Opus Dei center in Taipei.

"It reminds us that nothing lasts in this world," said Lin, "but that God has entrusted the world to us to develop and to improve; and this means work."

Work which can at times be demanding, boring and stressful then becomes the way a Christian helps in the on-going task of redemption.

"No pain, no gain, everybody knows this cliché," said Fr. Sia. "For Opus Dei members, little disappointments in daily life are opportunities to grow in holiness."

Blessed Josemaria explained it this way in The Forge: "Like a grain of wheat, we too have to die in order to become fruitful. You and I, with the help of God's grace, want to open up a deep furrow, to blaze a trail. That is why we have to leave behind our poor animal man and launch out into the sphere of the spirit, giving a supernatural meaning to every human undertaking and, at the same time, to all those engaged in them."