*From the Fast Lane to the Right Lane


Lassi Viljakainen, Finland

March 23, 2013

“If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For he who would save his life shall lose it; but he who loses his life for my sake shall find it. For what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world at the cost of losing his own soul?” (Mt 16: 24-26)

My name is Lassi, I am married and a proud father of two wonderful daughters of 5 and 8 years. My choice of quote above reflects the man I was until a few years ago; finally understanding the full meaning behind it has converted my life into something very beautiful and meaningful. I was speeding on the fast lane of life towards the destruction of my soul; however thanks to St Josemaria’s teachings I managed to find the right exit to park myself and to find out whether even my direction was correct in the first place. Well, it was definitely not and it took some serious studying and priceless guidance to find the right way, God’s way. Nothing makes me happier nowadays than to know where I am heading towards, and most importantly, with whom.

Growing up in Finland
What a privileged childhood I had, growing up in the north of Finland with a family of a mother, a father, a little brother and two little sisters. I was raised as a Lutheran. My younger years were filled with love, nature and a very large amount of sports. Whether it was ice-hockey, soccer, snowboarding or windsurfing, my brother and I would be on it constantly. Our father was there to support us with the daily logistics of getting around and naturally in trying to come up with the resources to support all the equipment needed. A young excited boy at that age, I did not realize that money is also limited in every family and wallet. Our loving mother made sure we had our homework done, food in our stomachs and Christian faith in our hearts. She is a devoted Christian and played a big role raising us children with an understanding of God’s presence.

Making it on my own
Military service was the beginning of my independence and spirituality was very much pushed aside, as selfishness and the “I know everything” attitude kicked in. Some months into my time of military service I had an unsuccessful operation, and had my first close call in this earthly life. As I was not close to God at that point I did not even thank Him for my survival, although I very much should have. I chose the path of bitterness and self-confidence, of “making it on my own”. My family was there to support me and at that point I considered that was enough. The studying and early working years period of my life started making me into a busy man shuttling around the world and, although I did believe in God’s existence, I was too busy and selfish in my own little “earthly cube” and did not focus on my faith.

In 2003 I got married; our first daughter was born the year after. Life was shining and showing its best, work was stable and our daughter, as well as a great network of friends, kept us busy during the weekends. As my wife is a Catholic, we attended Mass most Sundays. Here I very much enjoyed the tranquility of the event, but I refused to let myself enter more deeply into investigating my own faith. My spiritual life continued on this manner for another 11 years; on Sunday Mass, I was there, but I was not really there.

The Change
Summer 2011, living in Riga, Latvia. Our family had been blessed with our second daughter and I was traveling extensively because of my work. The distance and other distorting matters had created serious problems in our marriage, resulting in a situation where both my wife and I had no energy left. It was then that she came to me and suggested that I would meet someone for a talk, a member of Opus Dei who lived in Riga. Although initially quite reluctant with the idea (remember: I can make it on my own), I met with a gentleman over a cup of coffee to talk about life. Well, that pleasant coffee moment and what followed changed my life and the life of my loved ones around me. We had further meetings over a coffee or over a run in the park and he guided me patiently with his advice. His words and references to St. Josemaria’s teaching created a tremendous urge in me to read, study and find my connection with God again. I felt something special was coming my way.

Some months passed by and our family made a relocation to Zurich, Switzerland in October 2011. I felt somewhat uneasy, since it was difficult to leave behind me the spiritual guidance that had already helped me a lot. My fear was unnecessary: this friend from Riga introduced me to another of the faithful of Opus Dei in Zurich, and soon I had the pleasure of meeting with my new friend here. It felt as if nothing had changed, the same tranquility, peace and faith in God was transmitted to me in our meetings, that became weekly.

It was during Autumn of 2011 when I also started studying the Compendium of Catechism and St. Josemaria’s books Friends of God and The Way. Soon after starting on the first pages of the English version of Friends of God, I was hooked and started reading it daily. Every page – actually every paragraph – conveyed such a strong and clear message to me that the reading became slower and slower. The reason for this was that I was getting a lot of pleasure in reading a few paragraphs and then meditating and thinking over them throughout the day. The messages of St. Josemaria in both books were reaching me deeply and I even noticed myself changing my way of living in my practical everyday life; I stopped swearing, became more punctual in my daily tasks and started taking moments to pray during the day. The impact was almost instant and very powerful in me, and it still has the same momentum as before. While reading St. Josemaria’s books, I may lose the page that I am reading and it does not matter; you can open any page in Friends of God and it feels as if you have never read it before. There is just so much guidance in the book, with the feeling of having St. Josemaria sitting next to you reading it aloud.

After studying the Catechism and spiritual reading, as well as receiving weekly guidance from one of the faithful of Opus Dei, on May 27th 2012 I was ready to join the family of the Church and convert into a Catholic. Having been raised as a Lutheran, like most Finnish people, I felt that the inner me was ready to take on the calling that was inside of me. During a small and beautiful ceremony at the Fluntern Residence in Zurich, I united myself with the Catholic Church and felt very peaceful and happy.

St. Josemaria and Opus Dei have had a strong impact in helping me finding God again. The journey is only in the beginning and will never finish; there is always more to learn, more to improve and more to do for others. It is a great feeling to know that you do not have to worry about all the daily things on your own. Likewise, it is very comforting to realize that this world is not about being young, or old, being born or dying. We are here for a visit and there is more beyond, every day is beautiful here

A couple of my personal favorites from St. Josemaria’s The Way: “Suffering overwhelms you because you take it as a coward. Meet it bravely, with a Christian spirit: and you will regard it as a treasure (The Way, #169). So now it’s tears! It hurts, doesn’t it? Of course, man! It was meant to. (The Way, #158)