The work of the laity: to build God’s kingdom

The old Catholic adage has it that the laity’s role in the Church is to pay, pray and obey. The Second Vatican Council changed all that. Today, those who sit in the pews are an integral part of the Church. The role of the laity is to share the responsibility for the growth and future of the Church for it does, after all, belong to us all.

Vatican II’s dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium called the laity to activism: Upon all the laity, therefore, rests the noble duty of working to extend the divine plan of salvation to all men of each epoch and in every land. Consequently, may every opportunity be given them so that, according to their abilities and the needs of the times, they may zealously participate in the saving work of the Church (33).

Fr Barney McAleer of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference’s office for Evangelisation, pointed out that before Vatican II, the laity, their role and their potential in the Church was neglected. Today, he said, it is very clear the lay person has a mission and a very important responsibility in the Church: the mandate to evangelise.

The laity exist in the areas of politics, economics, social and cultural life. This is where the Kingdom will be built. We need good Christians to make a mark on the world. The mission of the lay person is to build the Kingdom of God in the hearts and minds of society during the week and to come to Church on Sundays to be inspired in order to go back out in the world and continue building the Kingdom.

Professor Emmanuel Ngara of the Lead and Inspire School of Leadership in Pretoria echoed the notion that the mission for the lay person is to evangelise, adding that lay Catholics are uniquely equipped to do so.

Prof Ngara, who writes a monthly column on Christian leadership in The Southern Cross, said that the laity has been called to do God’s work, much like religious have, but in different areas.

The Church has a hierarchy, but each area within the structure relies strongly on the other, he said. The Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People calls on every Catholic to go about their lives in a way that bears clear witness to Christ and helps forward the salvation of men. Vatican II made it clear that the Church belongs to all in it and therefore the responsibility of furthering the Church also belongs to all within it.

Paddy Kearney, director of the Denis Hurley Centre in Durban, described this mission as very exciting.

My parents were very active in the Church and so I grew up in an atmosphere that encouraged participation. But he said the roles available for lay people were limited and not very exciting at all.

“But then everything changed”, he said. “When the Second Vatican Council was underway, Durban’s Archbishop Denis Hurley would visit local universities and report back to the students on the way the Church was changing. You couldn’t help but be influenced by him. He was very excited by the prospect of involving the laity. He urged us all to get involved”, recalled Mr Kearney, who later would become the archbishop’s biographer.

In 1968 Durban held the first Diocesan Synod which represented a new opportunity for lay Catholics to express their concerns and opinions. All races and ages were invited and, for the first time, given the opportunity to speak.

“The local Catholic Church took huge leaps forward at that time, including new commissions for ecumenism, justice and peace, and liturgy  all opportunities for us to get involved with,” Mr Kearney said.

“We learnt from Vatican II that we were co-responsible for the Church,” Mr Kearney said. “Along with bishops and priests and nuns, because of our baptism we were equally responsible – an enormous encouragement to do far more in the world,” Mr Kearney said.

Coming from a different generation and background, students at St Francis Xavier Orientation Seminary in Cape Town had a similar perspective.

As young men who are currently in the process of moving from the ranks of the laity to the consecrated life, the aspiring priests have a good understanding of what is expected of both.

Sanele Mbambo from Mariannhill said it is necessary for lay Catholics to contribute their talents to the Church  and for the Church to recognise these contributions. They can make a huge difference and that’s what we want and need. The laity just need encouragement to do this.

Senzo Mofokeng from Eshowe added that there are areas where many more people can get involved. “The youth don’t have anything to do during the week. The Church could always keep them busy, but we need people. We need to bring the love of the Church to them.”

The SACBC’s Fr McAleer said the mission of the lay person is exciting. “People are called to mission and to create dynamic models of Church where all Catholics know how they can change the world around them. That’s exciting!”

He added the second phase of the SACBC Interdiocesan Consultation aims to encourage just that. “We want to help people to understand what it means to be a Catholic and what their role is in the Church.”

He said this is an exciting time when local Catholics will be encouraged to be active in their communities as part of their mission to build the kingdom of God. “The aim is to bring together the People of God to share and reflect on the present reality, their faith experience and how to live it and respond to it in their daily lives.”

Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria said in the introduction to Phase II of the Interdiocesan Consultation that the Church exists to evangelise. “The reason for the existence of the Church at all is that it has to continue with the work of Jesus in the world.” Since the Church is made up of everyone baptised, we are all responsible for its work.

“All of us have this privilege and responsibility to be a missionary, to be the person who witnesses to our faith in Jesus,” Archbishop Slattery said. “There was a perception that evangelisation or witness to the presence of Jesus in our lives was the work of priests only. No, everyone is called. It is just that we do it differently.”

Anne Sekoai, a parishioner of Johannesburg’s Christ the King cathedral parish, said her work as a lay person was done through sodalities and her work at the cathedral. And this, she said, every lay Catholic can do.

“We help the Church where we can afford to. There are many avenues and organisations we can get involved with to go out into the townships and communities and make a difference.”

Ms Sekoai added that the laity should also make financial contributions where they can afford to but also “we should put our hands in and make an effort socially. That is something we can all do”.

Lay people are no longer confined to the pews. There are multiple avenues for active involvement which will further the work of God and help grow the Church for the future.

“Whatever our circumstances, we have received talents from God and each and every one of us should discover his or her talents, cultivate them and use them for the deepening of the Church’s mission of evangelisation,” Ms Sekoai said.

And with that role comes a lot of responsibility. As the seminarians put it: the laity are the Church.

While opportunities for the laity have increased, there are still areas that make people feel distant.

“The implementation of the new liturgy distanced some from the Church. That could have been done better. Lay people want to be involved and want to feel needed  which they are,” said Mr Kearney.

Further encouragement to increase lay involvement will benefit both the people and the Church, he said.

“Fr Stephen Tulley of the Cathedral parish in Durban has made the parish remarkably different from when I attended as a young boy,” said Mr Kearney.

“Lay people are given responsibilities previously held by other priests, deacons and nuns. He provides training for lay people to carry out their responsibilities properly and he encourages them. Lay people feel they are being taken seriously and feel they are contributing to the Church. They feel a sense of belonging.”

As a result, there is an enormous number of people involved in Church activities in the parish.

The model of Church many Catholics are used to is institutionalised, but the future of the Church is a dynamic model where every Catholic  lay or religious  knows their role.

Vatican II made it clear that the place of the lay person in the Church is not confined to the pews. The laity’s role in the Church must be played out in the world where they lead their daily lives.

The Church is missionary by nature and the laity are the missionaries who are called to evangelise to ensure the future of the Church – a big responsibility indeed, but an exciting one.