Today is the birthday of Bishop Javier Echevarría, Prelate of Opus Dei. He turns 75.

Bishop Echevarria was born in Madrid, Spain, on June 14, 1932, and began work as the personal secretary of Saint Josemaría Escrivá before being ordained to the priesthood for Opus Dei on August 7, 1955.

He was appointed the Secretary General of Opus Dei in 1975 upon the succession of Msgr. Escrivá by Father Alvaro del Portillo as Prelate, or head, of Opus Dei. Rodriguez later became Vicar General in 1982, when Opus Dei was elevated as a personal prelature of the pope.

With the death of Msgr. Alvaro del Portillo on March 23, 1994, a period of mourning followed. The Holy See subsequently named Father Echevarria Rodriguez as the second Prelate of Opus Dei on April 20, 1994, and Titular Bishop of Cilibia on November 21, 1994. He was consecrated a bishop by Pope John Paul II with Bishops Giovannia Battista Re and Jorge Mejía as co-consecrators on January 6, 1995.

Bishop Echevarria serves as the chancellor of the prestigious University of Navarra in Spain, and various other universities under the spiritual care of Opus Dei.

He participated in the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for America in 1997 and of Europe in 1999, and also of the General Ordinary Assembly of 2001 and 2005.

Works
He has written works on spirituality such as:

Memoria del beato Josemaría - reminiscences of Blessed Josemaria
Itinerarios de vida cristiana - reflections around the turn of the millennium on the ways of Christian life
Para servir a la Iglesia - a homily on serving the Church
Getsemaní -- about praying in union with Christ in his passion
Eucaristía y vida cristiana -- about the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of a Christian

Some excerpts from his works

Christianity is God’s nearness to man. It is a close friendship and an intimate relationship between God and man. It expresses the familiarity of a beloved son welcomed with indescribable joy, music, celebration and a great banquet (cf. Lk 15: 22-24).-- from Eucaristia y vida cristiana

Love is the substance of happiness. To love and to know oneself loved is the only true response to the ultimate anxieties of the human heart...Augustine of Hippo briefly expressed this in writing: “Pondus meus, amor meus”. My love is my weight, that which gives me solidity, attracts me and exalts me. It transmits to me height and depth, it is the origin of my peace.

"To all who received Him, He gave the power to become sons of God" (Jn 1:12). For a Christian, this is not just a way of speaking or calling. Awareness of divine filiation is rooted in a divine gift that transforms a person from within. St. John puts it this way: "See what love the Father has for us, that He has called us sons of God, and so we are!...We are truly children of God" (1 Jn 3:1-2). St. Josemaria concludes that "whoever is unaware of this is unaware of his innermost truth;" he has not yet discovered the deepest reality of his being, nor the meaning of his existence on this earth.

The secret of the apostolic zeal of a disciple of Christ is rooted in his love for the Master. This is what moves him to give his life for the others, to spend it in helping them know the divine Word and to live according to the imperatives of the Love of God. His zeal for souls is born from a love for Christ, which like all true love, implies identification with the person loved.