1. Christifideles Laici The Vocation of the Lay Faithful I am the vine, you are the branches. (Jn. 15:5)

2. “The Age of the Laity” Time and again this has been called the “age of the laity.” It’s a beautiful thought. But the success of a real age of the laity, whenever one finally arrives, won’t be measured by how many people get involved in lay ministries, as commendable as such involvement often is. It will be measured by quantitative and qualitative growth in the intensity of prayer, sacramental participation, and apostolic fervor on the part of the laity. And as that kind of growth takes place, it will lead inevitably to the transformation of the contemporary culture into one that faithfully reflects Christ’s teaching as mediated by the Church. -Fr. John C. McCloskey & Russell Shaw Good News, Bad News: Evangelization, Conversion and the Crisis of Faith

3. The “secular” character of the laity. –CF 15 Contributing to the sanctification of the world as from within like leaven. –CF 15

4. Two Temptations In particular, two temptations can be cited which they have not always known how to avoid: the temptation of being so strongly interested in Church services and tasks that some fail to become actively engaged in their responsibilities in the professional, social, cultural and political world; and the temptation of legitimizing the unwarranted separation of faith from life, that is, a separation of the Gospel's acceptance from the actual living of the Gospel in various situations in the world. ( CL, 2)

5. Holiness We come to a full sense of the dignity of the lay faithful if we consider the prime and fundamental vocation that the Father assigns to each of them in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit: the vocation to holiness. –Christifideles Laici, 16

6. Holiness We do others far more good when we ourselves are close to God. We bond with others more readily and are good for them to the precise degree of our immersion in God who is love. Husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, can do more for each other and for their children when they become men and women of burning prayer. Their effectiveness multiplies and snowballs; their influence is deeper and eternal. The same is true of the priest at the bedside or in the confessional or in the pulpit. –Fr. Thomas Dubay, Prayer Primer

7. Baptism: sacrament of incorporation Incorporation into Christ through faith and Baptism is the source of being a Christian in the mystery of the Church. CL, 9 It is no exaggeration to say that the entire existence of the lay faithful has as its purpose to lead a person to a knowledge of the radical newness of life that comes from Baptism… CL, 10

8. Members in the Body Baptism symbolizes and brings about a mystical but real incorporation into the crucified and glorious body of Christ. –Christifideles Laici, 12 Thus with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation, the baptized share in the same mission of Jesus as the Christ. –Christifideles Laici, 13

9. “We’re on a mission from God.” With this Exhortation the lay faithful are invited to take up again and reread, meditate on and assimilate with renewed understanding and love, the rich and fruitful teaching of the Council which speaks of their participation in the threefold mission of Christ. –Christifideles Laici, 14

10. The participation of the lay faithful in the threefold mission of Christ as Priest, Prophet and King finds its source in the anointing of Baptism, its further development in Confirmation and its realization and dynamic sustenance in the Holy Eucharist. –Christifideles Laici, 14

11. The Eucharist More than just statically receiving the incarnate Logos, we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving.“ Jesus "draws us into himself.“ The substantial conversion of bread and wine into his body and blood introduces within creation the principle of a radical change, a sort of "nuclear fission," to use an image familiar to us today, which penetrates to the heart of all being, a change meant to set off a process which transforms reality, a process leading ultimately to the transfiguration of the entire world, to the point where God will be all in all (cf. 1 Cor 15:28). –Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, #11

12. What is the mission of Christ? What is the mission of the members of His body? PRIEST / PROPHET / KING

13. You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.

14. Head and Members For if he is the head, we are the members, he and we together are the whole man…The fullness of Christ then is the head and the members. But what does “head and members” mean? Christ and the Church. –St. Augustine (CCC, 795) Head and members form as it were one and the same mystical person –St. Thomas Aquinas (CCC, 795) About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they’re just one thing, and we shouldn’t complicate the matter. –St. Joan of Arc (CCC, 795)

15. Whole Christ / Unique Christ Classic Distinction: –Saint John Eudes –Blessed Isaac of Stella Q: Who gives birth to “the Body of Christ”?

16. St. Paul’s “Theology of the Body” As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ…Now you are Christ's body, and individually parts of it. 1 Cor. 12:12,27 For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another. Romans 12:4-5

17. C.S. Lewis on “Membership” “Membership” as homogeneous: all members the same –Chairs –Lightbulbs “Membership” as organic: members essentially different from but complementary to one another –Body –Team The unity of the Church is not uniformity, but an organic blending of legitimate diversities.John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte, 46

18. Members of the Body: 1 Cor 12: 15-21, 27

19. Complementary Roles [T]he new evangelization will become a reality only if ordained and lay members of Christ’s faithful understand their roles and ministries as complementary and their purposes joined to the one mission and ministry of Jesus. –USCCB, Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium

20. The value of unity

21. Why is there a “hierarchy”? 1) There is a body –members 2) The body has a structure –Gk: archê (principles) What happens when there is no structure… -in cell division? -on a team? -in an orchestra?

22. Are there different KINDS of gifts? Are there different DEGREES of gifts? Where do the differences come from?

23. 1 Cor. 12: 4-11 The Holy Spirit… Eph. 4: 11-13 Christ gave… 1 Cor. 12: 14-19 God placed the parts…

24. 1) There is a body. 2) The body has a structure. -arche 3) The structure is sacred. hier-

25. “Gifts of the Spirit” Good TeachersGood Friends