The field for lay mission

“Ganito Noon;
Paano Ngayon?”
The Dignity and Mission of the Laity

Part 7

Sharers of the priestly, prophetic, and kingly functions of Christ, the laity have a responsibility for the “mission of the whole Christian people with respect to the Church and the world.” (cf. AA 1, 10). The Second Vatican Council attempted to delineate the laity’s proper mission by way of description rather than by proper definition. The missionary activity of the laity encompasses both the Church and the world. In other words, the lay mission has two focuses: involvement in the Church and its growth; and involvement in the world and its transformation (CL 51ff).

As regards mission in the Church, the laity participates in the ministry of the word as parents, educators, or catechists –both parochially and as missioners (AA 9). They contribute time and money to every type of apostolic endeavor sponsored by their local, diocesan, national communities. Lay men and women also offer support and advice to their pastors and bishops. They serve at councils where, among other things, they bring to attention contemporary problems that are in nee of Christian interpretation and resolution (AA 10). The laity may even be given a direct mandate “by the hierarchy to exercise church functions for a spiritual purpose.” (LG 33).

As regards mission to the world, the laity do this implicitly by preparing the world for the seed of the Gospel by means of the example of their own lives, by their labors to construct a more just society, and by imbuing the temporal order with Christian values (LG 31). They have the critical task of renewing the temporal order. They are obliged to exercise proper stewardship of the created world. Lay talent and expertise must be put to use to develop created realities and bring their potentialities to their rightful completion and to prepare them for the Kingdom (GS 43). The laity must renew the human social order that has been permeated by sin; reform social institutions and reconstruct them in such a way that they operate more effectively for the advancement of all (GS 37); see to it that every person has access to at least a minimum of culture’s benefits (CL 44ff), i.e., to a job, a living wage, education (GS 60, 67; cf CL 34). Lay mission toward the world also includes charitable activities on behalf of the needy, involvement in the media (Inter Merifica 13) and participation in politics (GS 75; AA 14; CL 42ff). Social outreach is “so much the duty and responsibility of the laity that cannot be properly performed by others” (AA 13:1 ).

But the major task of a laity which was in the mind of Vatican II is family life. The Council teaches that the laity’s development of family life is their principal responsibility and contribution to the resolution of one of the most urgent problems facing humanity today (AA 11; cf CL 40). The Council calls the laity to develop their own family spirituality and to make their families into schools of holiness (LG 35), of social virtues (Gravissimum educationis 3), of ministry (LG 32), and of social defense of family values (GS 52). Laity should make their families into domestic church (LG 11) and gather with other families for mutual support (AA 11:6).

Explicitly, the laity make the Church present in the world by bringing the good news of the Gospel to unbelievers: by explaining and defending the Christian principles to society at large (AA 13). As early as 1988, Blessed John Paul II already hinted the role of the laity in the re-evangelization, also known as new evangelization, of peoples (CL 34 ff).