THE LAITY
"The laity is the foundation of the Church."
In religious terms, the laity constitutes those people who are not members of the clergy. In Christianity, the laity comprises lay persons -- the non-clergy, or those people who are not priests or nuns.
Years ago, the laity in the Catholic Church had a very small role. However, the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) gave new dimensions to the role of the laity, and broadened their involvement and responsibilities. Some members of the laity have also been required to carry out some of the roles previously performed by priests. As a result, the role of the laity in the Catholic Church has now changed form passive and dull to active and dynamic.
One of the main accomplishments of the Second Vatican Council was Gaudium et Spes (GS) that stands for "the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World"; the Latin title Gaudium et Spes means "Joy and Hope". This document focuses on family life and the role of the Christian family (laity) in the modern world.
GS #43 states:
"This council exhorts Christians, as citizens of two cities, to strive to discharge their earthly duties conscientiously and in response he Gospel spirit. They are mistaken who, knowing that we have here no abiding city but seek one which is to come, think that they may therefore shirk their earthly responsibilities. For they are forgetting that by the faith itself they are more obliged than ever to measure up to these duties, each according to his proper vocation. Nor, on the contrary, are they any less wide of the mark who think that religion consists in acts of worship alone and in the discharge of certain moral obligations, and who imagine they can plunge themselves into earthly affairs in such a way as to imply that these are altogether divorced from the religious life. This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age. Long since, the Prophets of the Old Testament fought vehemently against this scandal and even more so did Jesus Christ Himself in the New Testament threaten it with grave punishments. Therefore, let there be no false opposition between professional and social activities on the one part, and religious life on the other. The Christian who neglects his temporal duties, neglects his duties toward his neighbor and even God, and jeopardizes his eternal salvation. Christians should rather rejoice that, following the example of Christ Who worked as an artisan, they are free to give proper exercise to all their earthly activities and to their humane, domestic, professional, social and technical enterprises by gathering them into one vital synthesis with religious values, under whose supreme direction all things are harmonized unto God's glory."
Only by playing an active role in the work of the Church can the lay people know more about the Church, its nature, and various issues. Without this, there will be only confusion in the minds of laymen. Understanding the Catholic faith involves tremendous effort, search, and dedication, similar to exploring a dark, unknown continent. In this context, the observation of G.K. Chesterton - an English writer who converted to the Catholic faith - about the Catholic church is significant: "Discovering the Catholic faith is most pleasant and straightforward, easier than joining the Catholic Church and much easier than trying to live the Catholic life. It is like discovering a new continent full of strange flowers and fantastic animals, which is at once wild and hospitable."
We, the laity, therefore have a dynamic role to play. We have a lively task ahead, which is full of learning new things, practicing what we have learned, and dissipating our understanding of the Catholic Church.
|
|
|
Copyright © 2005, SyroMalabar.com. All rights reserved.
|
www.syromalabar.com - A Website on the Syro-Malabar Church
THE CHURCH | DIOCESES | PARISHES | CHURCHES | PRAYERS | LYRICS
|
