|
2. The Church was founded for the purpose of spreading the kingdom
of Christ throughout the earth for the glory of God the Father, to
enable all men to share in His saving redemption,[4] and that
through them the whole world might enter into a relationship with
Christ. All activity of the Mystical Body directed to the
attainment of this goal is called the apostolate, which the Church
carries on in various ways through all her members. For the Christian
vocation by its very nature is also a vocation to the apostolate. No
part of the structure of a living body is merely passive but has a share
in the functions as well as life of the body: so, too, in the body of
Christ, which is the Church, "the whole body . . . in keeping
with the proper activity of each part, derives its increase from its
own internal development" (Eph. 4:16).
Indeed, the organic union in this body and the structure of the
members are so compact that the member who fails to make his proper
contribution to the development of the Church must be said to be useful
neither to the Church nor to himself.
In the Church there is a diversity of ministry but a oneness of
mission. Christ conferred on the Apostles and their successors the
duty of teaching, sanctifying, and ruling in His name and power.
But the laity likewise share in the priestly, prophetic, and royal
office of Christ and therefore have their own share in the mission of
the whole people of God in the Church and in the world.[5]
They exercise the apostolate in fact by their activity directed to the
evangelization and sanctification of men and to the penetrating and
perfecting of the temporal order through the spirit of the Gospel. In
this way, their temporal activity openly bears witness to Christ and
promotes the salvation of men. Since the laity, in accordance with
their state of life, live in the midst of the world and its concerns,
they are called by God to exercise their apostolate in the world like
leaven, with the ardor of the spirit of Christ.
3. The laity derive the right and duty to the apostolate from their
union with Christ the head; incorporated into Christ's Mystical
Body through Baptism and strengthened by the power of the Holy
Spirit through Confirmation, they are assigned to the apostolate by
the Lord Himself. They are consecrated for the royal priesthood and
the holy people (cf. 1 Peter 2:4-10) not only that they may
offer spiritual sacrifices in everything they do but also that they may
witness to Christ throughout the world. The sacraments, however,
especially the most holy Eucharist, communicate and nourish that
charity which is the soul of the entire apostolate.[6]
One engages in the apostolate through the faith, hope, and charity
which the Holy Spirit diffuses in the hearts of all members of the
Church. Indeed, by the precept of charity, which is the Lord's
greatest commandment, all the faithful are impelled to promote the
glory of God through the coming of His kingdom and to obtain eternal
life for all men-that they may know the only true God and Him whom
He sent, Jesus Christ (cf. John 17:3). On all Christians
therefore is laid the preeminent responsibility of working to make the
divine message of salvation known and accepted by all men throughout the
world.
For the exercise of this apostolate, the Holy Spirit Who sanctifies
the people of God through ministry and the sacraments gives the
faithful special gifts also (cf. 1 Cor. 12:7), "allotting
them to everyone according as He wills" (1 Cor. 12:11) in
order that individuals, administering grace to others just as they have
received it, may also be "good stewards of the manifold grace of
God" (1 Peter 4:10), to build up the whole body in charity
(cf. Eph. 4:16). From the acceptance of these charisms,
including those which are more elementary, there arise for each
believer the right and duty to use them in the Church and in the world
for the good of men and the building up of the Church, in the freedom
of the Holy Spirit who "breathes where He wills" (John 3:8).
This should be done by the laity in communion with their brothers in
Christ, especially with their pastors who must make a judgment about
the true nature and proper use of these gifts not to extinguish the
Spirit but to test all things and hold for what is good (cf. 1
Thess. 5:12,19,21).[7]
4. Since Christ, sent by the Father, is the source and origin of
the whole apostolate of the Church, the success of the lay apostolate
depends upon the laity's living union with Christ, in keeping with
the Lord's words, "He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much
fruit, for without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). This
life of intimate union with Christ in the Church is nourished by
spiritual aids which are common to all the faithful, especially active
participation in the sacred liturgy.[8] These are to be used by the
laity in such a way that while correctly fulfilling their secular duties
in the ordinary conditions of life, they do not separate union with
Christ from their life but rather performing their work according to
God's will they grow in that union. In this way the laity must make
progress in holiness in a happy and ready spirit, trying prudently and
patiently to overcome difficulties.[9] Neither family concerns nor
other secular affairs should be irrelevant to their spiritual life, in
keeping with the words of the Apostle, "What-ever you do in word or
work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to
God the Father through Him" (Col. 3:17).
Such a life requires a continual exercise of faith, hope, and
charity. Only by the light of faith and by meditation on the word of
God can one always and everywhere recognize God in Whom "we live,
and move, and have our being" ( Acts 17:28), seek His will
in every event, see Christ in everyone whether he be a relative or a
stranger, and make correct judgments about the true meaning and value
of temporal things both in themselves and in their relation to man's
final goal.
They who have this faith live in the hope of the revelation of the sons
of God and keep in mind the cross and resurrection of the Lord. In
the pilgrimage of this life, hidden with Christ in God and free from
enslavement to wealth, they aspire to those riches which remain forever
and generously dedicate themselves wholly to the advancement of the
kingdom of God and to the reform and improvement of the temporal order
in a Christian spirit. Among the trials of this life they find
strength in hope, convinced that "the sufferings of the present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that will be
revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18).
Impelled by divine charity, they do good to all men, especially to
those of the household of the faith (cf. Gal. 6:10), laying
aside "all malice and all deceit and pretense, and envy, and all
slander" (1 Peter 2:1), and thereby they draw men to Christ.
This charity of God, "which is poured forth in our hearts by the
Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Rom. 5:5), enables the
laity really to express the spirit of the beatitudes in their lives.
Following Jesus in His poverty, they are neither depressed by the
lack of temporal goods nor inflated by their abundance; imitating
Christ in His humility, they have no obsession for empty honors
(cf. Gal. 5:26) but seek to please God rather than men, ever
ready to leave all things for Christ's sake (cf. Luke 14:26)
and to suffer persecution for justice sake (cf. Matt. 5:10),
as they remember the words of the Lord, "If anyone wishes to come
after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me"
(Matt. 16:24) . Promoting Christian friendship among
themselves, they help one another in every need whatsoever.
This plan for the spiritual life of the laity should take its
particular character from their married or family state or their single
or widowed state, from their state of health, and from their
professional and social activity. They should not cease to develop
earnestly the qualities and talents bestowed on them in accord with
these conditions of life, and they should make use of the gifts which
they have received from the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, the laity who have followed their vocation and have
become members of one of the associations or institutes approved by the
Church try faithfully to adopt the special characteristics of the
spiritual life which are proper to them as well. They should also hold
in high esteem professional skill, family and civic spirit, and the
virtues relating to social customs, namely, honesty, justice,
sincerity, kindness, and courage, without which no true Christian
life can exist.
The perfect example of this type of spiritual and apostolic life is the
most Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Apostles, who while leading
the life common to all here on earth, one filled with family concerns
and labors, was always intimately united with her Son and in an
entirely unique way cooperated in the work of the Savior. Having now
been assumed into heaven, with her maternal charity she cares for these
brothers of her Son who are still on their earthly pilgrimage and
remain involved in dangers and difficulties until they are led into the
happy fatherland.[10] All should devoutly venerate her and commend
their life and apostolate to her maternal care.
|
|