The present time, as was the time when Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities, is also, perhaps, the best of times and the worst of times. 

It is easy to point out many failings in  ourselves and in the Church, but there are also very positive signs.

Some time ago the pastor of the parish I attend hosted a dinner for almost 150 parish helpers: choir, readers, extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, members of the Parish Council , the St Vincent de Paul Society, etc.  It was a wonderfully successful night and the pastor paid tribute to all who gave their time and talents freely to the parish.

In the future  with the decline in clergy the Church will rely more and more on the laity.  It was encouraging to see so many involved in one parish and the goodwill among all those participants.

The role of the laity has only been discussed recently; perhaps Yves Congar was the first to raise the issue seriously.  Vatican II, particularly in Lumen Gentium, focused on the role of the laity and the common priesthood of all the baptized people of God.

In your experience  is  the laity being encouraged to participate in the life of the Church?  Are you happy with your role in the Church’s apostolate?  Are you optimistic about the future, with very few priests, but more committed lay folk?

Loretta

I think I have a suspicion of your views.

I think you might agree with the following:

Cardinal Newman has been amply vindicated by subsequent teaching on the role of the laity, promulgated by Pope Pius X (1903-1914), Pope Pius XI (1922-1939), and Pope Pius XII (1939-1959).

These three Popes were the outstanding promoters of participation of the laity in the mission of the Church, together with St. Vincent Pallotti (1795-1850), the founder of the Society for Catholic Action.

In our own day the teaching of the second Vatican Council on the laity and the revised Code of Canon Law have undoubtedly leaned heavily on the preliminary work done by theologians such as Yves Congar, O.P., Raymond Spiazzi, O.P., and Cardinal Jerome Hamer, O.P. Nor can we forget the influence of Monsignor Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei, and his successor, Alvaro Del Portillo.

As early as 1932 Monsignor Escrivá made the following statement: The prejudice that ordinary members of the faithful must limit themselves to helping the clergy in ecclesiastical apostolates has to be rejected. There is no reason why the secular apostolate should always be a mere participation in the apostolate of the hierarchy. Secular people too have to have a duty to do apostolate; not because they receive a canonical mission, but because they are part of the Church. Their mission... is fulfilled in their professions, their job, their family, and among their colleagues and friends. (Reported in the book, Conversations with Msgr. Josermaría Escrivá, Dublin, 1968, p. 32).

Contemporary Church Teaching.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) spoke so frequently about the laity -- especially in the "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church" (Lumen Gentium), the "Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity" (Apostolicam Actuositatem), and the "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World" (Gaudium et Spes) -- that it has been called "the Council on the Laity."

At the same time it presented a new approach to ecclesiology by discussing so frequently the vocation and mission of the laity and by reviving the concepts of the Church as a mystery, a sacrament and the People of God. http://www.domcentral.org/study/aumann/xianlaity.htm.

God bless,


NoelFitz.
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In necessariis, unitas; in dubiis, libertas; in omnibus, caritas.
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Gabriel

You are very welcome here. 

Thank you for your clear and robust statement on the position of the laity in the Church.  You express completely what I believe, but you express in much better.

You have given the key quotation:

 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,? in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (NRSV, 1 Pet 2:9).

The common priesthood is shared by all baptized, even priests.  The ministerial priesthood of the ordained does not detract from our priesthood.  

I have been reading From Trent to Vatican II and in it there is a brilliant chapter on The Laity by Paul Lakeland (who teaches in Fairfield University in Connecticut).

He considers that the first developed theology of the laity was in 1953 (Yves Congar).  For 1500 years prior to that ecclesiology left the laity invisible. The duties of the laity were “to pray up, pay up and shut up” http://www.ewtn.com/library/Theology/NEWMNLAY.HTM.  

In the very early Church it was not so. Everyone was a member of the People of God, with his or her own unique gifts, flowing from baptism.

Then Vat II came along and we now have three great documents on the Laity, Lumen Gentium, Apostolicam Actuositatem  and Gaudium et Spes.

However some fear that the ideas in these documents were never implemented. Others consider  they went  too far or they did not go far enough. Others fear  the Church is rowing back from Vat II on the role of the laity.

My belief is that as in the west the Church will be a clergy free zone (almost). Thus  lay people will have opportunities and obligations to participate more fully.

But no one ever gives up power/authority willingly, so there will be problems.

But, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church will be renewed, as it was reformed after Trent.

Interesting.  First I'm very happy in my parish and in my role as a catechist.  But I feel strongly the urge to do more.  Just what I will do next has yet to be decided.

I feel that the laity has an extremely important role in today's Church not just because of the decline in the clergy, but because it is a natural step for us to take as Christians in Christ's Church.  As a convert I can't comment on why the laity taking on more roles in the church is a "new" concept.  But, it is also good in that it allows our clergy to concentrate on more critical matters.

But in a way part of this is distressing.  Have you noticed that in many parishes (mine included) it seems that the same group of lay people do more and more?  The tasks or duties that the lay people take on needs to be spreader across a broader spectrum of the parish population.  This year in my parish we lost two excellent catechists due to simply burn out after 15 plus years of teaching.  Our DRE has struggled to find steady replacements for them.  And my parish is the second largest in the state of Alabama.

We need fewer "pew warmers" and more "energized parishioners"

Tarheel (Dave)

Personally I feel I'm a long way spiritually from becoming a deacon.  But it is admittedly a dream.  With family life and work (just where I happen to be while answering this) I don't have the time.  I know I do want to expand my role as a teacher.  Not just to children but to adults also.  I always have had a strong call to tell others about our wonderful Catholic faith.  Most of the people I tell about it are friends of my two son's who are Catholic and non-Catholic.

I receive a great deal of pleasure and peacefulness from Marian Devotions.  So the majority of my reading focuses about that.  The rest of reading is geared towards apologetics.  I especially like how Keating writes.  I also like Hahn and Weigel.

Deacon?  If called I will answer.

Tarheel (Dave)

Tarheel, Of course you are a long way from becoming a Deacon however the reason training is provided is to close that gap. Time will be given to you by God Himself in order to accomplish the training. You will be surprised to find that when you commit your time to God, He gives you all the time in the world and some time thereafter. I am praying for your realization of a dream come true.

May the road rise to meet you, the wind be always at your back and the Lord hold you in the palm of his hand, until we meet again.

I am grateful to all who contributed to this discussion.

There seems to be general agreement.

However perhaps it is important to clarify what we mean by clergy.  In the old days members of the church were divided into clergy, monks and laity.  This was ambiguous as monks may be clerical or lay.  Then it was claimed that the tonsure made one a clergy member, this has gone, as has the old idea of minor orders (porter, exorcist, reader and acolyte) and major orders (sub-deacon, deacon and priest).  Now laity are those baptized who are not deacons, priests or bishops and clergy are those who are.  

 Nuns (enclosed) and religious sisters are not clergy, neither are brothers or members of secular institutes (lay ecclesial movements) (usually) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directory_of_International_Associations_of_the_Faithful. 

Today at Mass the priest pointed out that St John of God,  the founder of the Order of Hospitallers of St John of God (http://www.stjohnofgod.org/, was a lay man. 

St Francis of Assisi was also a lay man.

So lay people have contributed to the Church throughout history.

God bless,


NoelFitz.
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In necessariis, unitas; in dubiis, libertas; in omnibus, caritas.
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