October 31, 2005
For Laypersons only...
The laity must wake up to the good news of Vatican II. For the first time in the history of the Church, a whole document is dedicated to us. I think if more lay people knew this more of us would read it. We are not just to “pay, pray, and obey”. Do we know we have a special mission that no priest, bishop or religious in the Church can do for us? Yes, we have an indispensable role in the Church, and I believe that if the majority of us understood this role, we would have a vastly different kind of Church. We do make up about 99% of the Church. Do you know what this role is?
I must admit I myself didn’t fully understand this until recently: Our mission as laypersons is the renewal of the temporal order!
We need to understand that Christ came to save mankind, the pinnacle of creation, and in the process the whole temporal ordered must also be renewed. We need to see that only we have this special position in life, both as Christians and as worldly citizens. The hierarchy does not engage with the world the way we do. At work and school, laypersons have countless opportunities for evangelization and sanctification, which the hierarchy does not have. We need to take responsibility and recognize this crucial mission of ours.
I am trying to keep this as short as possible, so hopefully the reader has gotten this far. For my final petition: please take the time to read the awesome documents of Vatican II. I would recommend starting with this document, which is written specifically for the average Catholic, and working your way to more central documents like Lumen Gentium and Dei Verbum. It isn't more difficult to read than your average Time or Newseek article. Most documents are quite short as well. As our wonderful recent popes have said, Vatican II is the compass that guides us through the specific problems of our times.
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Danny,
Good to hear from you! Shoot me an email when you get a chance. I am glad that you are exploring the riches of Vatican II. I hope you now appreciate more fully what we are attempting to do here.
In Christ,
Joe
That is a wonderful peice of writing. I'm a former Southern Baptist and if we as Catholics can learn something from them it's the zeal for evangilization. I think sometimes here in the south anyway where protestanism is dominant too many Catholics lay low and don't say anything. We need to stand up a be proud of our faith let the world know what we as Catholics believe and teach about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Maybe that way more people will see the beauty and light of Christ's church the Catholic church.
Posted by: Jackie at November 1, 2005 4:32 PMRight on, Joe. Except that I have always appreciated what deoomnisgloria.com is attempting to do.
:-)
Danny
Posted by: Danny at November 1, 2005 6:45 PMThanks for the comment, Jackie. I completely agree with you. The main reason many Catholics lay low is because of lack of knowledge of the faith and lack of its integration into our daily lives. Both are necessary. So we need to do our homework and seek intimacy with Christ. The more that happens, the less a Catholic can stay silent about the faith. I agree that Catholics can learn much from Protestant zeal, but to be fair, one thing Protestants can learn from Catholics is the various expressions it can have.
Danny
Posted by: Danny at November 2, 2005 5:58 PMThanks for the great info on the Vatican documents. Is there anywhere online we can access these documents or buy them? I'm trying to embrace my faith and this sounds like a great starting point.
Thanks!
Joe F.
I am glad to help.
For free online sources, check out the vatican archive web site at: http://www.vatican.va/archive/index.htm
You can also order it online on amazon, for example. I would recommend
"Vatican Council II: The Conciliar & Post Conciliar Documents" by Austin Flannery
This is the most commonly used edition.
Hope this helps!
Danny
Posted by: Daniel West at November 9, 2005 11:38 AM
