I have been absent (from this blog) for a few days. Just been busy with numerous projects. We have received the advance copies of Russell Shaw's new book, "Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church" depicted on the sidebar! Release date for the book is 1 November, All Saints Day. We are actually taking most of the Holy Day off to celebrate, but orders will still be accepted and shipped within 24 hours. That would put us on November 2nd, All Souls Day.

Speaking of All Souls Day...the previous posts, among other things, have talked about the apostolates and spirituality of the laity-one thing all the laity (and in fact all the Church Militant has in common), is the duty to pray for the Church Suffering-the holy souls in purgatory. (Requiem Press took its name recalling the prayer of the Church (Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen. — that is: Eternal rest grant to them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.) to foster devotion to the holy souls. In fact our first publication was a booklet (tried to upload image, but blogger is finicky this morning) which has a prayer for each day of the week for the holy souls in purgatory. (You can see it at Requiem Press, scroll to the bottom. It is on sale for large quantity orders until November 2nd).

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Getting back to Russell Shaw for a moment, he is giving a presentation: "Vatican II Series: Apostolicam Actuositatem (Apostolate of Lay People)" at the Catholic Information Center (1501 K Street NW, Washington, DC) on November 3 at 12:45 PM. If you are in area, be sure to stop by.

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We wonder how this country has gotten to its present state of immorality, faithlessness, and political corruption; how we can legally kill 4000 babies a day and starve Terry Schiavo to death. If there are so many good people who share a moral code, (as evidenced for instance by the series of referendums in which homosexual marriage was soundly defeated in the last election cycle) how is it that things have gotten to the present state of affairs? I recall reading in "Years of Crisis" by James Hitchcock (Ignatius Press) many years ago the following:

At the heart of moral conservatism is a contradiction which the traditionalist dimly senses and which increases his irritation. For if the nature of traditionalism is the preference for a settled, stable, and placid personal life, then this life will necessarily be disrupted by the very act of defending it....What is involved here is not mere laziness. Moral traditionalists often involve themselves deeply in the activities of their churches, their children's schools....In other words, the traditionalist prefers to give himself to activities which are directly relevant to the family, while liberal activists see political goals, fought for in the public arena, as alone worthwhile. (emphasis added)

I think there is much truth here. Additionally, large families demand more time at home as opposed to political fund-raisers and rallies, etc. - although sometimes these can be family activities themselves. Also, I tend to think that many Americans in normal times trust those whom they elected, and only come up for air to see if a change is needed at election time. They don't participate in the political process on an ongoing basis. So what are we to do?

The first place of course is with personal holiness. (I have heard that Mother Teresa would make her nuns complete their morning prayer time before engaging in their care of the homeless and sick.) A priest at our old parish used to preach that all apostolic activity should arise from our prayer life.

The example of living a virtuous life, being open to discussions with friends and neighbors on the important things - simply, sanctifying our daily life and activities-are basic things we must do. Many want to do or be part of something BIG-that is something the world sees as BIG. What we often fail to recognize is that the simple attention to our prayer life and trying to sanctify the temporal order by living each moment in the presence of God REALLY IS something BIG.

Then there will be other things that come along.

I think the "Catholic blog community" is a group apostolate of sorts. We have several people looking and talking about what a Catholic worldview-based political party would look like, (see here). We have others discussing Land Use, surburbia and Catholicism (see here). There is a philisophical forum (here). A group of Catholic lawyers post on political issues (here.) Catholic writers, librarians, publishers, priests, and every sort of laity post daily or weekly on issues of Catholic interest in open forums. Most Catholic bloggers probably don't look at their blogs as apostolates, but individually and collectively this can viewed as an apostolate itself: discussion of the important ideas in a public forum to search for the truth-unabashedly Catholic and orthodox.

Sanctification of Work

When we think of vocation, we think primarily of the priesthood and religious life. Sometimes we think of marriage as the vocation of those who don't have a real vocation, if you know what I mean. That leaves single people who aren't religious with no vocation at all. Of course this isn't true, but many, even if subconsciously, believe this.

I was fortunate in my youth to be exposed to Opus Dei and learned early on the importance of every vocation. Part of the universal call to holiness is sanctifying our daily work, whether we be priests, religious, married, or single. This teaching is not new, but needs emphasis and 'restoration':

"...it is through the preaching and example of the Founder of Opus Dei that they have learned that their cares of their work and their family life can be converted into real service to God and others....It must be clear, however, that this way of looking at christian living is not confined to a particular historical period. It is by its nature universal, because as long as there are men on earth they will have to work; so that, with and from work, a way of sanctity has been opened up for all men of all times and cultures. It is not necessary to change places to seek sanctity....To sanctify work requires a respect for the natural order of created things and for legitimate autonomy in temporal matters, because the kingdom of God, far from being a theocratic notion, is a reality in the hearts of all Christians, who give life to the soul of the whole society when they strive to make Christ reign in the centre of their everyday lives." (Msgr. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer - A Profile of the Founder of Opus Dei by Salvador Bernal)

The Lay State

I am going to go back to 'Two Towers' by John Meehan (Requiem Press) this morning:

The lay state has a basis and a character of its own; it is one of personal responsibility while living in the temporal order. The lay state has a canonical status in the Church, taking the form of a vocation, apostolate, and spirituality which is distinctly secular. Far from ignoring the things of the earth, the laity are called to enlighten them so that they may be developed in accordance with God the Father's plan and restored fully in Jesus Christ. In other words, the laity are called to impregnate earthly realities with a Catholic spirit in order that "In everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 4:11)

Is this something new? Since the close of the Vatican Council II was 30 years ago, many of us have come of age since that time. We have been hearing about the 'age of the laity' - and sometimes in words similar to those proffered above. But in action, in reality, what have we seen of the this 'age of the laity'? Mostly we have seen the laity take on ministries formerly executed by clergy. And so we don't get excited about these words.

But there are other things going on also, which give more life to these words. In the 70's several Catholic colleges were founded by laymen in this country (Christendom College (VA) and Magdalen College (NH) to name two). We see apostolates like CatholicExchange.com and others, started and run by laymen who want to help us sancitify our lives and the world.

Have we seen in our lives or in the lives of other Catholics we know (even if only a handful) deeper prayer life, spirituality, and committment to the mission of the Church? Maybe there is a long way to go. But the range of apostolates which have been started independently from the hierarchical Church structure (but often with guidance of a spiritual director), all of which are trying to sanctify the world, is totally amazing-and unprecedented.

If you read George Weigel's biography of John Paul II Witness to Hope, you get the idea that young Bishop Karol Wojtyla foresees before Vatican II the coming age when the Church is going to need the laity to take a more active role in carrying out the Church's mission-especially in taking it to the world.

Lay Saints, Prayer, Sanctity....

To expound upon two points mentioned yesterday: that of prayer and that of lay saints, I was drawn to my favorite lay saint this morning: that being St. Thomas More. The irony is that Thomas More thought perfection or better put, sanctity was out of reach for him because he was a layman. Yet he gives the lawyer, politician, father, husband, and layman one of the greatest examples of achieving holiness in the lay state.

This morning in particular, I write of St. Thomas More because of the mention of prayer. In his book, The Sadness of Christ (Scepter Press), More makes several observations about prayer. I quote from The King's Good Servant But God's First (who in turn quotes More)[James Monti, Ignatius Press].

The prayer of Christ in the garden serves as the point of departure for one of the most delightfully human passages in the De Tristitia Christi. For More launches upon an extended discussion of a problem all Christians are all too familiar with-that of distractions in prayer:

I wish that sometime we would make a special effort, right after finishing our prayers, to run over in our minds the whole sequence of time we spent praying. What follies will we see there?...Indeed we will be amzaed that it was at all possible for our minds to dissipate themselves in such a short time among so many places at such great distance from each other, among so many different affairs, such various, such manifold, such idle pursuits.

Of course to even get to these distractions, we must first make the effort to pray. I don't think Thomas More is discussing distractions encountered saying a few Ave's or Pater Nosters. He is talking about meditation and contemplative prayer. Thus we would suspect that Thomas More (with John Paul II) was not content as a layman "with a shallow prayer that was unable to fill his whole life".

One of the best articles I read in last few years on the priest scandal in the Church and the solution was written by Fr. Roger Landry (read it here on Catholic Exchange). His proposal: personal holiness:

"This is a time in which all of us need to focus ever more on holiness. We're called to be saints and how much our society here needs to see this beautiful, radiant face of the Church. You're part of the solution, a crucial part of the solution. And as you come forward today to receive from this priest's anointed hands the sacred Body of your Lord, ask Him to fill you with a real desire for sanctity, a real desire to show off His true face....Now's the time for real men and women of the Church to stand up. Now's the time for saints. How do you respond? "

I think that this sanctity can not even be approached without this deep prayer life which Thomas More and John Paul II recommend for all Christians-even the laity.

To Continue from yesterday....

John Meehan continues his discussion from yesterday of Vatican II and the laity (from Two Towers):

"The 'special vocation' of the laity, (See Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, no. 31) assumes that almost every baptized person is, first of all, a layman called to live a life of personal holiness, without which no apostolate can be effective, and no spirituality genuine. The life of personal holiness is the intimate and vital bond that holds together the new People of God-that is, the life of the Holy Spirit, Who dwells within each member, and thus binds together the members of the Mystical Body of Christ."

I think this is key to our living our vocation-personal holiness, which starts with a deep prayer life.

John Paul II (the Great) writes in NOVO MILLENNIO INEUNTE "But it would be wrong to think that ordinary Christians can be content with a shallow prayer that is unable to fill their whole life."(my emphasis)

UPDATE: To the point above, just read a post here (at Ad Altare Dei) which quotes John Paul II on the need for lay saints.

Two Towers....

In John Meehan's Two Towers-the de-Christianization of America and a Plan for Renewal, (Requiem Press), he proposes that the documents from Vatican II have not yet been implemented as intended (inspired?) by the Council-especially with respect to the laity, catechesis, and the liturgy. Being concerned here with the former of the three, over the next few weeks we will occasionally excerpt from Two Towers with respect to Mr. Meehan's proposals concerning the role or actually, the vocation of the laity. Below we have the first of these excerpts.

"The Council Fathers for instance, affirmed without equivocation, qualification, or reservation the baptismal integrety and ecclesial status of every member of the People of God. In doing so, they highlighted the vocation, apostolate, and spirituality of the largest number of citzens in the Church-the laity. Indeed, this was something new!

"The reality of that 'new thing', however, has not been transmitted effectively to the lay people of the Catholic Church in America. Since the close of Vatican Council II in 1965, there have been persistant attempts to clericalize lay people by having them assume ecclesiastical functions or engage in 'ministerial' activities that are not essential to the lay state....."

Of course then, the question becomes, exactly what did Vatican Council II mean with respect to the "special vocation" of the laity? Stay tuned...or make your comments below.

"Guiding Principles of the Lay Apostolate"

It is ironic that some months before we had seen Russell Shaw's manuscript on the Catholic Laity, (by the way we managed to get the book image in the sidebar - courstesy of some technical help from Josh Snyder of Katolik Shinja), I had been gathering material to write an article that would explore both the role of the laity in the Church and attempts to "clericalize" lay apostolates-these attempts being denounced by John Paul II several times. (I am sure this will be discussed eventually on this blog.) I never finished writing the article, but do have some interesting excerpts from papal documents and audiences to share here from time to time.

Here the first. It is an excerpt from an address of Pope Pius XII to the Second World Congress of Lay Apostolate in 1957. (You can get the entire text here.)

Consecration of the World Is Laymen's Job

Furthermore, aside from the small number of priests the relations between the Church and the world require the intervention of lay apostles. The consecratio mundi (consecration of the world) is essentially the work of the laymen themselves, of men who are intimately a part of economic and social life and who participate in the government and in legislative assemblies. In the same way, only the workers themselves can establish the Catholic cells which must be created among workers in every factory and bring back to the Church those who have strayed from her.

....The lay apostolate consists, in this, that laymen undertake tasks deriving from the mission Christ entrusted to His Church. As we have seen, this apostolate always remains a lay apostolate, and does not become a hierarchial apostolate even when it is exercised through the mandate of the Hierarchy.

Much of this talk was directed to Catholic Action which was a lay apostolate directed by the Church hierarchy. However Pope Pius XII also goes on to say:

Catholic Action always bears the stamp of an official apostolate of laymen. Two remarks must be made here: the mandate, especially that of teaching, is not given to Catholic Action as a whole, but to its specially organized members according to the will and the choice of the Hierarchy. Catholic Action must not, moreover, claim a monopoly of the lay apostolate, for along with it there remains the free lay apostolate. Individuals or groups can place themselves at the disposal of the Hierarchy and be entrusted, for a fixed or indeterminate period of time, with certain tasks for which they receive a mandate. It might therefore be asked whether they do not also become members of Catholic Action. The important point is that the hierarchical Church, the bishops and the priests, can choose lay coworkers for themselves when they find persons able and willing to help them.

Pope Pius XII goes on to list areas of lay apostolate needing attention: Formation of youth, in the parish, the press (he includes publishing houses), radio, movies, television, the working world, etc.

What do you think? What are some areas most needing lay apostolate today? Are most lay apostolates simply an outreach of the hierarchy as in the Catholic Action model, or are they truly run by the laity? What are some good examples of lay apostolates?

The Laity at the Synod of Bishops....

The Auditors had interventions at the Synod on Wednesday. Some of these auditors are leaders of lay movements in Church around the world. I have excerpted a few below. Comments and excerpts posted in the comment section about these at Amy Welborn's Open Book are also very interesting.

AUDITION OF THE AUDITORS II

After the reading of the Report after the discussion, in this Sixteenth General Congregation, the followingAuditors intervened:

"There is a testament of the martyrs to be opened in the context of Eucharist. The bond between Eucharist and martyrdom is a source of trust and hope..."--Mr. Andrea RICCARDI, Founder of the Sant'Egidio Community (ITALY)

"But in a culture of materialism, secularism and relativism where can one find the reality of true love? In our increasingly post-modern culture of the West, philosophical reasoning has less and less persuasive force. Yet all people still search for love, since the vocation to love is written in the heart of each person.We know that the love for which we search is available every day in Our Lord's living sacrifice of himself present to us in the Eucharist. "--Mr. Carl Albert ANDERSON, Supreme Knight of the Order of the Knights of Columbus (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)

"....10 years ago together with friends of the same generation I prepared a book and a TV series entitled "Children of Vatican II ask questions". The phrase we chose - "children of the Council" - became quite popular in Poland as a name for those Catholics who were born together with II Vatican Council and who do NOT remember any other liturgy but the one in our native language, for whom things discovered anew by the last Council as universal call to holiness, ecumenical openness, dialogue with other religions and with non-believers - are by no means novelties, but a part of the obvious Church's official teaching, part and parcel of Tradition......Especially lay Christians of today do need a new understanding of relations between the Eucharist and their everyday life. The Eucharist - as a sacrifice, as a presence, as a meal, as a memorial - says something very important and very concrete to our daily decisions, to what we do in our marriages, in our families, in our offices, in our kitchens, in our bedrooms, in the social life. It says: the more you give yourself to others, the more you'll find yourself; the more you love, the more you should sacrifice; the more you give, the more you'll receive. This is the Eucharistic attitude, in this way you become a truly Eucharistic person, even if you do not participate in the Holy Mass everyday. In this way Mary was a woman of the Eucharist - yet before it was established!" --Mr. Zbigniew NOSOWSKI, Director of the Catholic monthly "Więź", Warsaw; Member of the National Council for the Laity in Poland (POLAND)

To Commence ...

This blog is a outreach of Requiem Press. It is inspired by our latest title, (due for release on November 1st), by well-known Catholic author and commentator, Russell Shaw. (You can read some of his work here.)

The bookjacket below is what this blog, Catholic Laity, will be exploring....What is the mission of the Catholic laity in the Church? And especially, how is this mission being carried out?

Four areas we are hoping to cover in this blog:

1. Examples of lay apostolates;

2. Lay spirituality;

3. Lay evangelization and sanctification in the daily life and the workplace; and

4. An overall view of what the special vocation of the laity is - the role of the laity in the Church.

We hope to have many guests who will contribute posts in these areas to keep the reading fresh, informative and inspiring!

Thanks for stopping by.