The apostolate of the laity is the mystical body of Christ in the world, which means it is comprised of Catholics who have been baptized, who profess their faith in the risen Lord, and who are governed by the pope. These terms may sound heady or intellectual, but actually the way they look when lived out each day is very simple and uncomplicated. To be a member of the apostolate means you accept your vocation as a Catholic Christian, and you devote your life to living out the teachings of Jesus. You are committed to being salt and light in a dark world.
According to a document of the Second Vatican Council, “Apostolicam Actuositatem,” the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, the Church can never be without the laypeople who comprise the greatest segment of the Church. Therefore, if laypeople are not living out the faith each day, in simple and tangible ways, the world will not have the infusion of values that is intended for transforming the culture.
We are called to be salt and light in a secular culture that is rife with immoral influences at every turn. The salt is to preserve and flavor our world with Christ’s love and the light is to bring the message of his love to every darkened space on the Earth. That is the mission and duty of the laity, and it is the vocation to which we have been called.
We all have our occupational vocations, but we also have a spiritual vocation. As the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity proposes, “God’s plan for the world is that men (and women) should work together to renew and constantly perfect the temporal order,” (section 7). The document explains that the initiative of the entire Church is to work together through Jesus to rectify the distortion and degradation of our world.
The priests, deacons and those of the consecrated life cannot do this on their own. The size of the task is enormous. They infuse laypeople with the passion and desire to serve God in this way, and we are then to go out into the world and transform it by the way we live each day. Whether at work sites, when shopping, at games for our children and grandchildren, and all other venues within the secular world, we may be the first persons to introduce the temporal world to Christ.
This is not only a duty, but a privilege. First, we must know what we are to speak about. Then we must understand how we are to portray the virtuous, holy life. Finally, we must accept that when we interact with others, they not only meet us, but they also meet Christ. As some people say, we may be the only Christian a person meets; are we prepared to demonstrate, with authenticity and genuineness, how to live a truly Christian life? To do that, we must understand it first. And in this lies the fundamental basis of our apostolate.
ACTION STRATEGIES
- What is the easiest first step you can take this summer to understand our work in the lay apostolate? Could you read the document from the Second Vatican Council?
- What is one simple thing you could do this coming year to go beyond the basic step of attending Mass on the weekend, which is the bare minimum of being a Catholic? What else could you do to grow in your faith?
In its common life, the whole family is to provide an apprenticeship for the apostolate. Adults are to live honest, upright lives that offer an excellent example of virtue for children and adolescents. Children and adolescents are to strive to understand and live the Decalogue, or the Ten Commandments, each day with their friends and classmates, infusing their world with holiness. Grandparents are now support staff, or auxiliary personnel, for their busy adult children by offering rides, attending programs and offering a warm hug whenever it is needed.
The lay apostolate was written about throughout the 20th century by the popes of those decades. The Second Vatican Council clearly defined the term and articulated it for the generations that would follow. Ours is a busy time, perhaps busier than anyone imagined human beings could be. Unless we permeate our culture with holiness and the mystique of the sacred, we risk becoming a completely secular culture, now and into the future. This is our time, Father John Ricardo purports in his book “Rescued: The Unexpected and Extraordinary News of the Gospel.” We must embrace it!
Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus and a member of St. Ambrose of Woodbury.
