Apostolate: Be a light that transforms

The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam Actusitatem, promulgated by Pope Paul VI at the Second Vatican Council, defined the mission of the lay Christian faithful. The laity’s role in the mission of the Church, their “apostolic activity” as the “people of God” derives from their Christian vocation, which the Church can never be without. Such activity, its spontaneity and fruitfulness, was at the very beginning of the Church.

Nevertheless, the apostolate is a great challenge to us. This is precisely because it is a constant battle: both within ourselves and between ourselves and the world to be won. We cannot expect to escape any of the vast complexity of combat that is interweaved into the Christian life: the struggle between the spirit and the flesh, the kingdom of God and the temptation of Satan, the Church and the world. As the decree notes, today “new problems are arising and very serious errors are circulating which tend to undermine the foundations of religion, the moral order and human society itself.” It is for these reasons that there is an incredible need of preparation for this abiding challenge. Thus here are some fundamental reflections on the nature of the apostolate: its theoretical basis, a spiritual preparation for it and perseverance in the mission.

The apostolate is an extension of the Christian life as a whole, deriving its character in some integral fashion from the very posture of a member of the faithful toward the world. Apostolicam Actusitatem expresses, “The Christian vocation is, of its nature a vocation to the apostolate as well.” Certainly the Council wishes for the laity to understand that they are “assigned to the apostolate by the Lord Himself." Taken as a whole, the Council Fathers identified three concrete objectives of the apostolate. First, the evangelization and sanctification of men: “in this way their temporal activity openly bears witness to Christ.” Second, renewal of the temporal order: “the mission of the Church is not only to bring the message and grace of Christ to men but also to penetrate and perfect the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel.” And third, charitable works and social aid: these enterprises must reach out to all persons and all needs and it is an obligation imposed upon every prosperous nation and person. All together, the Council seriously exhorts the laity to take a more active part in the explanation and defense of Christian principles.

The apostolate is a serious calling rooted in the effort to respond wholeheartedly to the will of God. Yet, I don’t think anyone would presume such a response to be automatic or even easy. Therefore, one can say apostolate comes with a willingness to grow and enter into one's own unique mission of sanctifying the world to Christ. When I was considering the "spiritual preparation" of apostolate, my mind led me to the thought of St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican order. St. Dominic had a tremendous passion for the salvation of souls. This passion came from his intense love for Christ and the Church. He sought to form himself in Christ's trust as to become a more effective witness of the Truth. His apostolic life, and those of Dominicans, is where the call to preach is set in motion, and the benefits of one's prayer, study, and community are infused into their work. 

As mentioned earlier, every lay apostle will experience a certain level of isolation and ridicule in one way or another because of the strong defense he/she sets out of their Catholic values. Minor and major versions of these sufferings arise from the various realities of man. The point is that these difficulties are common to the apostolate if only because the work to be accomplished is always vast, while the resources with which to accomplish it can appear almost vanishingly small. Circumstances may frustrate us, and indeed, we may sometimes be under fierce attack in a whole variety of trivial ways. In these times trust in God alone can see us through, for perseverance is not a matter of circumstances, which are most usually difficult, but of grace, which is always good.

Despite challenges, we must continue to proclaim what we are. The lay apostolate is an apostolate of sanctity. Goodness flows from it almost without speaking and holiness is comes forth from our charity. Any member of the laity is worthy of such a call to engage in the apostolate using their own gifts and talents. It is these individuals whose presence in the world is the leaven that Christ wants to use to bring millions of souls into his divine heart and to his eternal kingdom.  

Whose plan is it anyway?

Emerging Models of Lay Ministry

The Second Vatican Council yielded great changes in the roles of laypeople with the Catholic Church. In the 40 years since Vatican II, the role of Catholic laity within the Church community has transformed dramatically. Lay people, who previously viewed themselves as less than the clergy or religious, today respond to their baptismal call to holiness and sharing their faith in both word and action. More and more individuals claim their genuine roles as God’s children, Church members and especially as apostles to the secular world. All the baptized are given this active vocation of being stewards of the Church’s mission.

Today, parishes of all types and sizes, have large numbers of lay Catholics serving as lay ministers. These roles include leaders of Bible study groups, catechists, and planning committees. Lay members make up pastoral councils and parish finance committees. Other roles include ushers and greeters at Sunday masses, sponsors of other adults going preparing for the rites of Christian initiation, choir members, cantors, readers and Extraordinary Ministers of Communion. Today, lay members are also in leading roles at Catholic institutions outside the parish too – in dioceses and hospitals as well universities, colleges and schools. Amid all of this, most uphold critical responsibilities at home, at work and in their civic lives. As members of the body of Christ, lay members are actively attempting to integrate their faith into all facets of their life.

For myself all of this hardly sounds surprising. Mostly for the reason that I was not around to witness the Church before Vatican II. However, the reality is all of this represents a tremendous turnabout in Catholics’ awareness of their individual roles. None of these activities were open to lay women and men, or didn’t exist at all, a mere fifty years ago.

As hinted before, in addition to lay ministers, today there are those who are called to lay ecclesial ministry. “Lay ecclesial ministry” addresses the ministry of lay people in the church that has resulted from appropriate discernment of God’s call, been shaped by strong human skills formation and theological education and confirmed through authorization by recognized church leaders. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recognizes it as “the working of the Holy Spirit” in the Catholic community (Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord). So who are lay ecclesial ministers? Well, one example, who follows Christ’s example, is dedicated to healing, saving and transforming the world through their mission in the Church, is my mother.

My mother is Parish Services Director at my home parish in Pennsylvania. She supports and assists the pastor in the pastoral care of the faith, aids him in the planning and implementation of parish programs and all related activities. She works together with other staff members, volunteers, and organizations within the parish. She attends all Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Council meetings as an advisor to the pastor. Her responsibilities include developing and implementing various adult catechetical and evangelization programs for the parish, being a member of the RCIA team, instructing the parish’s Adult Faith Formation, leading the parish Lenten scripture study series, conducting small group retreats and faith sharing groups and aiding in the formation liturgies for various parish services.

As Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord suggests, lay members of the Catholic Church have been undertaking a wide variety of roles in Church ministry. Many of these roles presume a significant amount of preparation, formation and professional experience. The document is a confirmation of those who serve in this way. My mother undoubtedly is a supreme example of the opportunities available to lay members. She is truly a remarkable woman and a model in her ministry to the Church.

Go out and discover the opportunities embraced by Catholics who educate, evangelize, and minister as they accept a call to holiness. 

Courageous defenders of the Truth

Typically there is the strong notion and tendency of considering politics and the Catholic faith as a dichotomy. Yet this dichotomy is false and not one to be adopted. We must live our Catholic faith in every facet of our lives including our influence in politics. Grounding our citizenship in our religious beliefs is not just a right but also a moral duty and a gift to American democratic life. Therefore, it is safe to say that there is a Catholic linkage between personal faith and public action.

Why the obligation to partake in shaping the moral character of society through politics? It is a requirement of our faith. It is a vital part of the Royal Mission we have received from Jesus Christ, who presents us a vision of life revealed in Catholic Sacred Scripture and Tradition. Christ, being “the Word made flesh” showed us the supreme love of our Father. He showed us what it truly means to be human. This love that Christ has for us lets us realize our human dignity with clearness and forces us to love our neighbors as he has loved each of us. What is true and good is shown to us by Christ; meaning that which is in accord with our human nature as free and intelligent beings created in the image and likeness of God. Furthermore each of us has been endowed by the Creator with dignity and rights.

The baptized and the Church individually and together exercise their Royal Mission through their involvement in politics. The baptized are to work towards restoring to creation all of its original value. The Church serves as a leaven and as a kind of soul for human society. In addition, the Church works towards a heavenly city penetrating the earthly city “through her individual matters and her whole community” (GS 40). Together their Royal Mission to the world is the promotion of the dignity of the person, which Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia has stated, “the Catholic church cannot stay, has never stayed and never will stay out of politics.” Restoring the value of the individual who is not to be treated or viewed as an object is the ultimate concern of a Catholic’s involvement in public life.

The lay faithful, for the sake of achieving the task directed to them, being members of the worldly order, in the way of serving persons and society, must never abandon participation in public life. This is through “the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common good” (CL 42). The way for achieving a public life that is true to human development as its goal is solidarity. “Solidarity is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far” (CL 42). Solidarity is seeing others – whether it be a person, people of a nation, not just as an instrument, but as one’s neighbor, to be made a sharer, on par with one another, “In the banquet of life to which all are equally invited by God” (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 39). Solidarity is both a social principle and a moral virtue. We are one human family regardless of national, racial, ethnic, gender, ideological or economic boundaries. 

Pope Benedict XVI recently highlighted the American hostility towards Catholicism when he stated, “It is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres.” As Catholics, bringing our moral convictions into public life does not threaten democracy or pluralism, but enriches the individual and the nation. We have a duty to teach about human life and dignity, marriage and family, war and peace, the needs of the poor and the demands of justice. 

God's Word is Sweet

When shall it be that we shall taste the sweetness of the Divine Will in all that happens to us, considering in everything only His good pleasure,

 by whom it is certain that adversity is sent with as much love as prosperity,

 and as much for our good?

When shall we cast ourselves undeservedly into the arms of our most loving Father in Heaven,

leaving to Him the care of ourselves and of our affairs,

and reserving only the desire of pleasing Him,

and of serving Him well in all that we can?

-St. Jane Frances de Chantal

"And follow me."

In our culture today when someone says to you “follow me” they usually mean on Twitter. It would be a little probably be a little strange if the person meant to physically follow them on their daily outings.

This picture came up on my "faith related" Pinterest following
and inspired me to write this post.

On Twitter you can follow people you don’t even know personally but you enjoy knowing about their lives. For instance, I am a huge fan of Top Chef Master Rick Bayless. Have I met the man? Nope. Boy wouldn’t that be nice. But I enjoy seeing his tweets about one of his restaurant’s latest mouthwatering dishes. For others you or I follow but don’t know personally, you have the ability to skim through your Twitter feed and read only what you want to read and know about. 

In this continually on-the-go and growing technological age, we have a tendency to treat our relationship Jesus as if we can just find His Twitter profile page, click follow and boom all is great and we have a free pass into Heaven. Jesus is not looking for people to just click his follow button or in other words simply say, “I follow Jesus” and that they are saved and that’s it. It’s very different from that. And yes much more dense than that too…

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mark 8: 34-35)

Jesus is looking for those who will turn away from their self-centeredness. Following Jesus involves “denying oneself.” This self-denial is not a denial of one’s unique personality or to withdraw from all the things of this world. It is self-denial in the sense of disassociating ourselves from our own self-interest in order to serve a higher purpose. Denying oneself is a result of true (lived) faith. It leads us forward into a life in Christ. In taking up our cross, an instrument of death, we as disciples are to die to ourselves. We are then born again as a result of living for Him. In order to be a follower of Jesus we must not live for our own desires and self-interests. We must do what Jesus wills us to do. “And follow me.” This does not mean we say simple say a prayer, bless ourselves, or attend a mass and that is all there is to being a Catholic. Rather it requires active participation and a distinct consciousness. Being a true follower of Jesus enables us to recognize what His will is. And consequently, we accept and do His will.

Keep in mind that for Jesus we do not have to send a request to follow him. He came for everyone and he invites everyone to enter into a growing relationship with Him.

Oh and while you’re here, know that you can follow me on Twitter! @SMorris228 

Put Out Into the Deep

One of my favorite Bible passages comes from the Gospel of Luke: Peter and the Miraculous Catch of Fish. Simon Peter had been working tirelessly all night, using every trick of the trade to catch a fish and he has no success. Jesus tells Simon Peter, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. (Luke 5: 4-6)

Jesus invited Peter to “put out into the deep” for a catch: “Duc in altum” in Latin. Peter shared his doubts but he did not hesitate to obey. The miracle catch of fish dramatically transforms Peter and he immediately gains a deeper realization of who Jesus was. He was aware of his own vulnerability and sinfulness before the Lord. This passage indicates how Jesus performed this miracle to demonstrate his power and help the fisherman understand him and what was the come. Immediately, Peter, Andrew, James and John leave their boats and nets and follow him. They understand now that Jesus is capable of providing for them. 

I find myself coming back to this lesson in my own life. I am constantly seeking for a greater way of silencing my mind and allowing Christ to speak to me, hoping I can respond with obedience to God’s way. Had Peter not responded with obedience, he would have failed to experience the miracle and the blessings that resulted. We must strive to serve, sacrifice, and be a witness to Him. He is there 100 percent of the time; he will not fail to provide for us. He will not act contrary to His word. We must not resent the opportunity to invest time, effort, talent and energy when God calls on us to do so.

When we fully surrender our lives to Jesus and obey him, our lives will be full beyond our imagination. The abundance of fish, symbolizes the abundance that Christ bestows on us. In our obedience, God will bless us beyond our expectations. In the case of the disciples in this passage, Jesus’ teaching affected their livelihoods. Like them, worship and service are to make up major parts of our lives and we must consistently maintain righteousness in both.

In his Apostolic letter “Novo Millennio Inuente”, Blessed Pope John Paul II stated the significance of these words, “Duc in altum.” He wrote “These words ring out for us today, and they invite us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm and to look forward to the future with confidence. Duc in altum tells us to look beyond ourselves and put into lively motion Jesus’ very words. He, who became incarnate two thousand plus years ago, is at work today. He accompanies us on our way and enables us on our way and enables us to recognize him. 

Golden Key of Prayer

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