One of the great things I get to do as vocation director is travel around to check out various seminaries, meet with our current seminarians, and chat with potential seminarians.
I'm typing this while in the middle of one such adventure. One of the remarkable things I've seen during this trip is the excitement that many of our young peple have for the faith. While one would expect that from the seminarians, I see it in the lives of many of our young people.
I wonder sometimes where our excitement is for our faith. The Second Vatican Council reminds us that the laity are called to be a leaven in the world. The laity are called to take Christ to their work places, to their schools, to their places of recreation. The laity are called to make sure Christ is truly present in their homes.
I think so many times, many members of the laity are confused about the roles they are called to in the Church. Many times priests have helped to blur those roles. The true role of the laity is not to take the place of the priest in the liturgical life of the Church, but to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Each of us has to ask ourselves what we are doing to preach the Gospel. Are we the voice of the unborn crying out for justice? Are we the helping hand for the widow or orphan trying to make it through life? Are we the support that is needed by one trying to overcome addiction? Do our friends at work or school know that we are Catholic?
These are the signs the laity is a leaven in the world. The young people I've been around the past week are trying to make a difference in the world. What are you doing?
1 comment:
Thanks, Father. It's so perilously easy to get in the habit of blaming priests and other 'professional Catholics' for not doing their jobs right, and so easy to forget that I too have a job to do. Bless you.
Post a Comment