Isn’t it interesting how we discussed the new parish-wide events just last week and Our Holy Father decided to give us all a pep talk on how the future of the Catholic Church rests on the shoulders of all of us, including the majority of people in the Catholic Church, called the laity. Did you know you are part of the laity? The Second Vatican Council states:
The term laity is here understood to mean all the faithful except those in holy orders and those in the state of religious life specially approved by the Church. These faithful are by baptism made one body with Christ and are constituted among the People of God; they are in their own way made sharers in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly functions of Christ; and they carry out for their own part the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world. – LUMEN GENTIUM, Section 31
It is our responsibility as the laity to involve ourselves in our church and to spread the joy and love of the Catholic faith to all those around us. That is why we put such special emphasis here on our mission and ministerial works, from JOP and Knights of Columbus, to the Simple Gesture food pantry support and Saint Vincent DePaul Society. Pope Francis spoke about this focus and drive for the laity on Friday in a powerful speech on the future of the Catholic Church. Please forgive my Italian translation skills, as the speech is so new that the Vatican has yet to provide an official English version:
In light of this path taken, it is time to once again look with hope to the future. Much remains to be done by widening the horizons and gathering new challenges that reality presents…
You too, then, look up and look “out” to many “distant” of our world, to the many families in trouble and in need of mercy, to the many fields of apostolate still unexplored, the many lay people of good heart and generosity who willingly put at the service of the Gospel their energy, their time, their skills if they were involved, valued and accompanied with affection and dedication on the part of pastors and church institutions. We need well-trained lay people, animated by a sincere faith and limpid, whose life has been touched from the personal and merciful love of Christ Jesus. We need lay people who take risks, who get their hands dirty, who are not afraid of making mistakes, who go forward. We need lay people with a vision of the future, not confined to the little things of life. And I told the young people: we need lay people with experience flavor of life, who dare to dream. Today is the time when young people need the elders’ dreams. This culture does not become accustomed to discard the elderly! I urge, urge you to dream of and – as the prophet Joel – “have dreams”, the ability to dream, and give us all the strength to new apostolic visions. – Pope Francis 6/17/2016
The ministries here at St. John, along with the new events we discussed last week, do not take a lot of individual sacrifice if our entire Parish Family works together. If we can come together as a Parish Family, with all the time, talent, and treasure we have, we can change the world. For example, we plan on making 20,000 meals on August 4, as part of the Helping Hands Catholic Relief Services event. Our efforts for 1 ½ hours could literally change the lives of an entire refugee camp, saving them from starvation. Please join our Parish Family as laity living out both our Pope’s vision and our mission.