Laity in the Church

Details: Written by Bro. Pedro Battistini, M.S.

Bronze of Mary speaking with the
children, in the actual place of the
Apparition, La Salette, France

(Editor: This summary document was prepared for the First International Encounter of La Salette Laity, held at La Salette, France from Sept. 1-10, 2011 and was based on Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation, Christifideles Laici [Christ’s Faithful People]. Reflection questions follow each of the two parts of the summary.)

The Tireless Devotion of the Laity

Anyone who knows the history and the spirituality of the apparition of Mary at La Salette is aware of two central elements. First of all, Mary's message is notably prophetic and therefore implies a mission that is not limited to Mary herself nor to the two children-witnesses; the words “make this known to all my people” challenge each of us personally as disciples of Jesus of Nazareth. Secondly, the missionary command is directed to laity, to two child shepherds with no ecclesial responsibilities. It's the parishioners of the valley who take on the mission of making the message known. Today, beyond the generous consecration of men and women as La Salette religious dedicated to take the message of reconciliation to the whole world, the La Salette event is known in great part due to the tireless devotion of laity.

For centuries the importance of the lay vocation was forgotten by a model of the Church that saw itself as the “Perfect Society,” absorbed with its internal organization and hierarchy. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries we have seen a return to the inspirations of the primitive churches. As Paul VI reminded us in Evangelii Nuntiandi, the Church exists for mission; its purpose is the proclamation of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. So besides the importance of ministers who serve the community of believers (ad intra) we need to appreciate the value of all the baptized, disciples who are called to make the Kingdom present in every culture and people (ad extra).

Group of La Salette Associates from France

In 1988 Pope John Paul II published his Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici (Christ’s Faithful Laity). (Future reference to the document will use the abbreviation CL). The pope's document gathers together the reflections from the 1987 Synod of Bishops whose theme was the vocation and mission of the laity in the Church and the world, twenty years after the Second Vatican Council. The biblical text that serves as the basis for the document is the parable of the workers of the vineyard (Matt 20:1-16).

The owner of the vineyard goes out at dawn to hire laborers, but he goes out again at nine, at mid-day, at three and even one hour before sunset. He needs all the workers and doesn't want any to just sit in the square. To everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord and becomes a disciple, the owner of the vineyard addresses the words: “You too are needed in my vineyard.” To be a disciple of Jesus implies a call and a mission; it never is meant to be an exclusively spiritual experience with no reference to service. You are also responsible for the harvest of the vineyard.

Despite all this, then, humanity is able to hope. Indeed it must hope: the living and personal Gospel, Jesus Christ himself, is the “good news” and the bearer of joy that the Church announces each day, and to whom the Church bears testimony before all people. The lay faithful have an essential and irreplaceable role in this announcement and in this testimony: through them the Church of Christ is made present in the various sectors of the world, as a sign and source of hope and of love. (CL 7)

We reflect: All the dimensions of my life – at home, at work, at the parish and in the neighborhood – are places where I am called to the mission of evangelization. What does this mean?

Co-responsibility of the Laity in the Gospel Mission

Without going into a detailed study of the whole document, it is worthwhile seeing how twenty years ago the Church valued the co-responsibility of the laity in the gospel mission. In the third part of the document called “I have destined them to go and bear fruit,” several aspects of co-responsibility are listed.

Missionary Communion and Proclamation of the Gospel (Cf 33): When we receive the sacraments of Christian initiation we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and we commit ourselves to announce the Good News to all creation. Today, in the face of a profound process of de-christianization, every disciple is urged on by St. Paul's words: “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! (1 Cor 9:16).”

Go out to all the world with a new evangelization (Cf 34): We are face to face with growing trends of indifference, secularism and atheism in countries that were formerly Christian, especially in the first world. The laity have the task of giving witness of how only Christian faith offers a fully valid response to life's many challenges.

Service to the person and to society and the promotion of the dignity of human beings (Cf 37): To rediscover and make others rediscover the inviolable dignity of every human person makes up an essential task, in a certain sense, the central and unifying task of the service which the Church, and the lay faithful in her, are called to render to the human family.

Venerate the inviolable right to life (Cf 38): The right to life is the first of rights, source and condition of the rest of human rights. When it comes to defending this right some laity have special responsibility as parents, working in the area of health or in political or economic realms. Today the development of bioethics and the concentration of power permit the manipulation of life and of the conscience of people. Many laity are in a privileged position in the area of bioethics and public policy to protect the right to life of every human being.

The Family (Cf 40): The family is the basic cell of society. It is the cradle of life and love, the place in which the individual “is born” and “grows.” Therefore a primary concern is reserved for this community, especially, in those times when human egoism, the anti-birth campaign, totalitarian politics, situations of poverty, material, cultural and moral misery, threaten to make these very springs of life dry up. Furthermore, ideologies and various systems, together with forms of disinterest and indifference, dare to take over the role in education proper to the family.

Charity is the soul and support of solidarity (Cf 41): Solidarity must always be a fundamental attitude in the Church. Love of our neighbor (charity) must always inspire and penetrate our actions of solidarity, just as Jesus asked of us (Luke 10:25-37, Matt 25:31,46).

Pope Benedict XVI with a background
of people from various cultures

We are all builders of a practice where the human being is the center of socio-economic life. (Cf 42): In order to achieve their task directed to the Christian animation of the temporal order, in the sense of serving persons and society, the lay faithful are never to relinquish their participation in “public life”, that is, in the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common good.

Evangelization of Cultures (Cf 44): For this reason the Church calls upon the lay faithful to be present, as signs of courage and intellectual creativity, in the privileged places of culture, that is, the world of education –

school and university – in places of scientific and technological research, the areas of artistic creativity and work in the humanities. Such a presence is destined not only for the recognition and possible purification of the elements that critically burden existing culture, but also for the elevation of these cultures through the riches which have their source in the Gospel and the Christian faith.

The privileged way at present for the creation and transmission of culture is the means of social communications.

We reflect: In the face of what we have just read from Christifideles Laici and in the light of the event of La Salette, what contribution can the La Salette lay vocation make to a Church that is characterized by communion and mission?