Day 125: Vocation of the Laity (897-903)

• It’s Day 125!!

• Today we get to talk about THE LAY FAITHFUL

• WHICH IS A GRACE!!

• What is the LAITY?

• Paragraph 897 says, “‘The term ‘laity’ is here understood to mean all the faithful except those in Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious state approved by the Church. That is, the faithful, who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ and integrated into the People of God, are made sharers in their particular way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ, and have their own part to play in the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world.’”

• THE VOCATION OF LAY PEOPLE

• THE CALL OF EVERYONE IS TO BE A SAINT!!

• BUT…

• There is a SPECIAL vocation

• Paragraph 898 says, “‘By reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God’s will…It pertains to them in a special way so to illuminate and order all temporal things with which they are closely associated that these may always be effected and grow according to Christ and may be to the glory of the Creator and Redeemer.’”

• Basically, the role of the laity is to SANCTIFY THE WORLD

• We talked about the SANCTIFYING OFFICE of the bishops and priests is THROUGH THE EUCHARIST

• THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• The Church is saying that the laity should take the grace from the Sacraments and the teaching they have received through the teaching office of the Church and BRING ALL THAT OUT INTO THE WORLD

• The laity should employ the teaching they have received through the teaching office of the Church into EVERY AREA OF THEIR LIFE

• The laity should take the grace they receive through the Sacraments and through prayer into EVERY AREA OF THEIR LIFE

• IT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• IN FACT…

• There are places that the lay faithful MUST bring the Gospel that would never see the Gospel if the lay faithful doesn’t bring it

• There are places that priests and bishops and religious sisters and brothers don’t have access to

• BUT…

• YOU HAVE ACCESS TO!!

• If you don’t bring the Gospel to those places, the Gospel will NEVER reach those places

• THE PARTICIPATION OF LAY PEOPLE IN CHRIST’S PRIESTLY OFFICE

• Remember the threefold office of our Lord Jesus

• THE PRIESTLY OFFICE

• THE PROPHETIC OFFICE

• THE KINGLY OFFICE

• aka

• THE TEACHING OFFICE

• THE SANCTIFYING OFFICE

• THE GOVERNING OFFICE

• Every lay person is called to participate in Christ’s Priestly Office

• Why?

• Because you are anointed a kingdom priest

• Every lay person is called to participate in Christ’s Prophetic Office

• Why?

• Because you are anointed at your Baptism

• Every lay person is called to participate in Christ’s Kingly Office

• Why?

• Because you are anointed at your Baptism

• Today we are only talking about the PRIESTLY OFFICE

• So let’s pray!!

• Let’s call upon the Holy Spirit that came upon you when you were Baptized

• The Holy Spirit that anointed you and made you into a son or daughter of the Father so that you will be a kingdom priest in this world bringing the Gospel and Light of Jesus and Grace of Christ to every corner of your life

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father, we lift up our voice to you. Father, we lift up your name. We praise you right now. We thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ. We thank you for all of our brothers and sisters who have been incorporated into the Body of Christ through Baptism. We thank you for every person who lives out in the world and works out in the world and constantly just brings a little bit more of you into their corner of the world. We thank you. We ask you today if they are beginning their day as they are hearing these words, we ask that you please help them to bring your grace to their little corner of the world. And Lord God, if they are listening to this in the middle or end of the day, we ask that you please help them to bring your grace to the corner of their world that is their home or their apartment. We ask that you please help all of us bring your Gospel to wherever it is that we live. To bring your Light to wherever it is that we live. And to bring you wherever it is that we live. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• THE VOCATION OF LAY PEOPLE

• Paragraph 898 says, “‘By reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God’s will…”

• MAN!! (OH MAN!! 😉)

• We can ask the question, “God, how do you want me to be a saint? God, how do you want me to serve you?”

• If you are a lay person, not in Holy Orders and not in consecrated life, it belongs to you to SEEK THE KINGDOM OF GOD

• TO BRING THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO THE EARTH

• TO BECOME A SAINT BY ENGAGING IN TEMPORAL AFFAIRS AND DIRECTING THEM ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL

• Basically, by living your life out in the world and bringing the Gospel there

• Paragraph 899 says, “The initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the matter involves discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life.”

• Sometimes too many people look to the priests and ask what to do when it comes to politics, economics, education, etc.

• There are some priests who are really intelligent when it comes to that

• The Church has even declared some principles when it comes to economics, politics, and those kinds of things

• BUT…

• “The initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the matter involves discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. This initiative is a normal element of the life of the Church…”

• THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ORDINARY

• Pope Pius XII says in Paragraph 899, “Lay believers are in the front line of Church life; for them the Church is the animating principle of human society. Therefore, they in particular ought to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to the Church, but of being the Church, that is to say, the community of the faithful on earth under the leadership of the Pope, the common Head, and of the bishops in communion with him. They are the Church.”

• No one goes off on their own and says, “I am the Church and I’m going to do this because I am a Christian”

• “I’m doing this UNITED with my bishop…college of bishops…the Holy Father etc.”

• Paragraph 900 says, “Since, like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth.”

• When we talk about the dignity of all Christian believers there is this INCREDIBLE RIGHT to go out and live that priestly, kingly, and prophetic office

• BUT…

• YOU ALSO HAVE THE DUTY TO DO THIS!!

• To do what?

• To work so that the message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth

• Sometimes we say it is the bishop’s job or it’s the priest’s job

• Yes, that is PART of their job

• BUT…

• The Church is saying, “Guys, it’s your job!!”

• Paragraph 900 continues, “This duty is more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ.”

• There are places that your bishop cannot go

• There are places that Fr. Mike cannot go

• These are places that you live

• Think about this…

• This DUTY is more pressing when it is only through YOU that men can hear the Gospel

• YOUR LIFE may be the ONLY BIBLE that someone EVER READS

• Paragraph 900 continues, “Their activity in ecclesial communities is so necessary that, for the most part, the apostolate of the pastors cannot be fully effective without it.”

• The priest or bishop on his own cannot do what needs to be done in this world 

• THE VOCATION OF THE LAY PEOPLE is to BRING IT TO THE WORLD

• THE PARTICIPATION OF LAY PEOPLE IN CHRIST’S PRIESTLY OFFICE

• Paragraph 901 says, ‘“Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvellously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them. For all their worlds, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit-indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born-all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

• Think about this…

• Since you have been anointed a KINGDOM PRIEST

• What do priests do?

• Priests OFFER THE SACRIFICE

• So the Church is saying that your WHOLE LIFE, because you participate in Christ’s PRIESTLY OFFICE, every aspect of your life GETS TO BE OFFERED

• Every aspect of your life CAN BECOME A SACRIFICE

• Every aspect of your life CAN BECOME A PARTICIPATION IN THE EUCHARIST!!

• Go read Paragraph 901 again because Fr. Mike is repeating it all over again

• EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE…

• EVERY MOMENT…

• EVERY BREATH…

• You can unite it to the celebration of the Eucharist and offer it to the Father, along with the Body of the Lord

• Paragraph 901 continues, “And so, worshiping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives.”

• Your cubicle at work becomes an altar

• Where you change the baby becomes an altar

• On your hands and knees cleaning the bathroom floor becomes an altar

• There is something about all this that cries out for our attention

• All of us who have not been ordained and are not in consecrated life, the Church is saying that YOUR LIFE is meant to be the life of an EVANGELIST and the life of a MISSIONARY and the life of someone who is ALL OFFERED TO THE LORD

• St. Francis de Sales had a teaching, “Whenever you do anything, think of three words: ASK, OFFER, ACCEPT.”

• You ASK God to be present to you

• You OFFER God a sacrifice

• Whether it is work, working out, watching tv, offer it as a sacrifice

• THEN…

• You ACCEPT whatever comes from that moment

• When we ASK God to be present…

• EVERY MOMENT becomes a SACRAMENT

• He is present there

• His Grace is present

• When we OFFER every moment…

• Every moment becomes a moment of WORSHIP 

• When we ACCEPT whatever God brings…

• Every moment becomes a moment of FAITH, TRUST, and RELYING UPON GOD’S PROVIDENCE

• That is what the Church is inviting all of us to do in this moment

• There is NO PART of our life that cannot be offered to God

• So we ASK God to be present

• We OFFER God this

• We resolve to ACCEPT whatever comes out of this

• THIS IS A HIGH CALL!!

• IT IS A GREAT TASK!!

• AND IT IS YOUR VOCATION!!

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!