During his address to the First Friday Club of Cleveland on Thursday, September 2, Fr. Norman Douglas asked the overwhelmingly lay audience, “Do you think most Catholic laity would agree that
- The major teaching of the Second Vatican Council regarding the role of the laity was to emphasize that lay people could now get involved in ministries at church one reserved only to the priests and nuns – such as becoming a Eucharistic minister, teaching religious education, and experiencing leadership through parish pastoral councils and commissions.
- An active Catholic lay person is someone who spends a great deal of time in church sponsored activities and ministries.
To both statements, the consensus was a strong “yes.”
And then Fr. Douglas disagreed. He quoted from the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium): “But the laity, by their very vocation, seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God. They live in the world, that is, in each and in all of the secular professions and occupations. They live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of their existence is woven. They are called there by God that by exercising their proper function and led by the spirit of the Gospel they may work for the sanctification of the world from within as a leaven. In this way they may make Christ known to others, especially by the testimony of a life resplendent in faith, hope and charity. Therefore, since they are tightly bound up in all types of temporal affairs it is their special task to order and to throw light upon these affairs in such a way that they may come into being and then continually increase according to Christ to the praise of the Creator and the Redeemer.” (#31)
Lay Catholics are certainly called to be active in their parishes and share in church ministries.
But there is an even greater call: to live in the world, working in all the professions and occupations, in family life, in social life, to be like leaven and make Christ known to others, especially through lives filled with faith. Serving God is not only – or primarily – the “religious” acts people do; lay Catholics serve God in the activities of everyday life — work life, family life, community life — lived with faith, with hope, with love.
Some reflection questions:
- Do you consider what you do at work to be holy work? Why or why not?
- What value or meaning do you find in your work?
- Is your work setting a situation in which the Gospel values are lived? Which ones? How?
- How does the work you do everyday contribute to the building of the kingdom of God?
For more thoughts and resources about this topic, go to www.livingfaithatwork.org
Work and Faith: A Reflection for Tuesday after the Labor Day Weekend
During his address to the First Friday Club of Cleveland on Thursday, September 2, Fr. Norman Douglas asked the overwhelmingly lay audience, “Do you think most Catholic laity would agree that
To both statements, the consensus was a strong “yes.”
And then Fr. Douglas disagreed. He quoted from the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium): “But the laity, by their very vocation, seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God. They live in the world, that is, in each and in all of the secular professions and occupations. They live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of their existence is woven. They are called there by God that by exercising their proper function and led by the spirit of the Gospel they may work for the sanctification of the world from within as a leaven. In this way they may make Christ known to others, especially by the testimony of a life resplendent in faith, hope and charity. Therefore, since they are tightly bound up in all types of temporal affairs it is their special task to order and to throw light upon these affairs in such a way that they may come into being and then continually increase according to Christ to the praise of the Creator and the Redeemer.” (#31)
Lay Catholics are certainly called to be active in their parishes and share in church ministries.
But there is an even greater call: to live in the world, working in all the professions and occupations, in family life, in social life, to be like leaven and make Christ known to others, especially through lives filled with faith. Serving God is not only – or primarily – the “religious” acts people do; lay Catholics serve God in the activities of everyday life — work life, family life, community life — lived with faith, with hope, with love.
Some reflection questions:
For more thoughts and resources about this topic, go to www.livingfaithatwork.org