The Church of the People

As I re-emphasise the role and duty of lay people in the Catholic Church, I would like to encourage you to pay a keen attention to my write-up. I also would like to hear from you, what you think about the laity in our Church in these modern times.

The theme that I chose for this is, “The Church of the People.” This theme is relevant to our times but has its root in Greek word laikos, which means ‘of the people’.

Never before in the history of the Church has the absolutely essential role of the layperson been so dramatically emphasised as it is now. Particularly since Vatican II, the Church has called for a renewal in the life and role of the laity. Yet among the faithful, there remains fundamental lack of understanding of the lay vocation and its role in the Church’s mission. For many, there is a notion that the only real vocation in the Church is the ordained or vowed priesthood and religious. They believe “the Church” is the ordained office and only people in habits or collars are called to serve. This is why, many think that since, there is lack of priests in our parishes, laity should take care of the parish. Many think that the role of the laity is to help out around the parish and that they are not called to play an integral part in the mission of the Church.

Lay vocation is not a substitute to vocation to the priesthood: It is obvious from the Catholic Teaching that God calls lay people not because there is lack of priests in the diocese but it is the duty and privilege as the member of the Church to mind the business of the Church. 

“The faithful, who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ and integrated into the People of God, are made sharers in their particular way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ, and have their own part to play in the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world.”

It is not wise to think that lay people have to take care and mind the Church because there are not priests but laypersons must execute their rights and privileges offered to them by baptism. If laypersons do not be integral part of the parish, which means, one is not living the promise of the baptism.

Lay vocation is very real: Lay people have a distinct and very real role in the spreading of the Gospel, which the Church desperately needs them to carry out with the authority, creativity and power that the Holy Spirit has given them in Baptism. This way the role of the laity is essential in accomplishing the mission of the Church. Church must be everyone’s business not only a select few. Lay people are called to engage in the affairs of the world and direct them according to God’s will. This is the real way the lay people live their baptismal commitments of priests, prophets and kings. So let us not merely sit back rather let us rise to our vocation as Christians to help the Church.

Being Church not merely belonging to the Church: Lay people bring Christ’s divine message of salvation to every aspect of life. Lay people take Christ’s message from the Eucharist to their families, work places and hitherto, become witness to the Gospel. This is called being the Church not merely belonging to the Church. Lay people discern every day in their lives, i.e. marital life, student life, professional life etc.

Laity in the mystical body: Bishops, priests and lay people make the mystical body of Christ, the Church who ministry is to teach, sanctify and govern. Precisely, the laity are the majority in the mystical body of Christ and certainly, can do the work of evangelizing, sanctifying and renewing the rest of the world beyond the sanctuary and the Church yard. Lay people need to permeate social, political and economic realities because they have the experience of living those realities. This makes lay people to be on the front line of the Church’s life, and by doing so, laity bring Christ’s message to the whole world in a substantial way.

Discerning laity: In order to fulfil one’s mission as a layperson, discernment is the single greatest discipline or skill necessary. That is, they must ‘read signs of the times’ in order to pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is calling them to do. Pope St John Paul II tells us, “to be able to discover the actual will of the Lord in our lives always involves the following: a receptive listening to the Word of God and the Church, fervent and constant prayer, recourse to a wise and loving spiritual guide, and a faithful discernment of the gifts and talents given by God, as well as the diverse social and historic situations in which one lives.” (Christifideles Iaici, 28).

I would like to conclude with Fr. Karl Rahner laymen’s duty; the lay man still has the duty – an old duty, but always needing to be re-emphasised – to educate himself in religious and theological matters up to a decent level, corresponding to his intellectual level in other fields. He must have a deep-rooted knowledge of where the fixed boundaries of his faith lie. Me must know something about Church history, so that he is not always ready to accept the latest thing, his own period’s ‘dernier cri,’ as the end of all wisdom. He must have a really clear understanding of the Church’s official teaching about all those matters, which, because of his position in life and his personal relationships with others, concern him most intimately. Catholics who want to take a real share in the development of a public opinion within the Church must live like true Christians and make the Church’s Mysteries the basis of their personal life. The lay people must do all they can to make their own personal contribution to the development of a public opinion within the Church, and its dissemination outside Her. 

St.Therese of Lixieux: Champion of life

It was in 2009, I witnessed a sea of people at the Westminster Cathedral in London. I was pleasantly surprised to witness so many people storming the church. It was the day when the relic of St. Therese of Lisieux was brought to the Cathedral. I had not known much about this saint. Hence, my curiosity grew after I witnessed the families at the Cathedral. I asked a priest to help me in this curiosity. He recommended that I read “The story of a soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux.” This was the beginning of an important phase in my Jesuit life. I ventured on reading and researching on the little flower of Jesus. This autobiography has been of great interest after, “The diary of a young girl” by Anne Frank and “My experiments with Truth” by M.K. Gandhi. I was touched by the humility in the title of the Autobiography as St. Therese named, “The story of the Springtime of a Little White Flower.”

I was deeply moved by this little flower and a little saint of Christ. It was indeed a profound experience after I read the diary of a child saint; profound, not in any theological or deeply mystical way, but profound in a realistic way. St. Therese must have inspired millions of people, including St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta who names herself after St. Therese of Lisieux, but every time I think about this saint, I am inspired profoundly as if I am experiencing for the first time. Every time, I come across her quote, I am thrilled and moved to be strong and at time even tears. Her dedication in struggles, her hope in frustrations, her integrity in confusion and endurance in pain is spellbinding.

St. Therese has some realistic lessons to teach us from her own real and honest life. Each of us can learn from her life and from her experience. Her lessons of life is for everyone across the board. If you are depressed in life, just know St. Therese’s life. If you are easily offended, then know that St. Therese had it all. There are many more lessons for our day-to-day life. I would like to reflect and share with you a few of them.

Total surrender to God’s love and confidence: St. Therese knew that God is in charge of her life. Even though she had her few hiccups in her faith, she knew to depend on God’s love which made her confident in her faith. Most often, we struggle in our faith because, either we dwell on our shortcomings and the past life or someone letting us down by judging us. In both these cases, we shy away from God’s mercy and love.

If you are in this situation of being constantly reminded that your no good because of your past or shortcomings, St. Therese is the model and example for you. She had her struggles till her last breath but she knew how to surrender herself to God’s mercy and love. God understands our failings and shortcomings.

Offer with simplicity: When St. Therese was about to give up on her vocation just before her final profession, her superior tells her, “the more come closer to God, the more simpler you will be.” Is this not true in our lives too, when we realise that God is the ultimate unmoved mover, we become simpler. We give up on our own ego and strengths and depend on God’s strengths.

St. Therese was a simple little girl who offered roses (flowers) to Christ. She served the Lord by offering flowers, this made her humble person who has nothing than a bunch of flowers from the nature. Don’t be afraid to be simple and humble before God. What have you to offer to Christ?

Praying in our own way: This is an amusing but profound real story of St. Therese prayer life. She found herself sleeping during prayers and after communion. She writes, “I should be distressed that I drop off to sleep during my prayers and during my thanksgiving after Holy Communion. But I don’t feel at all distressed. I know that children are just a dear to their parents whether they are asleep or awake and I know that doctors put their patients to sleep before they operate. So I think that God, “knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”

St. Therese knew that she failed but she kept trying. She wanted to be perfect but she failed again and again until she realised that failures in prayer or anything must be the reference point for the future.

Sense of Humour: St. Therese pictures show us her hidden cheeky smile and sense of fun in her eyes. Some might relate her as serious, suffering and sad person. But reading the “Story of a Soul,” would show us a flowery language with utmost realness of life. She makes sisters happy in her convent by her enormous sense of humour. In her “Story of a Soul,” she writes to her sister after her famous meeting with Pope Leo XIII, whom she begged to let her become a nun ages 15, she described “The good Pope is so old, one would think he is dead”, although he outlived her, so may be he got the last laugh.

Don’t let your sense of humour be hidden: If you are a humours person, show it and make others happy. Church is not only for serious and traditional prayers with grim faces but a place to be happy.

Bring family together: St. Therese is the perfect intercessor and model for our families. Her large family knew the pains of illness and death. She lost her mother and also her older sister, these deaths would have brought enormous sadness to her father St. Louis Martin and to her entire household. But, they never gave up on prayer and family meal. This kept the family together.

In our families too, let us appreciate each other and learn from the family of St. Therese to be faithful to prayer and to each other. Ultimately, we need our family to help us keep up with life.

Crisis management: St. Therese managed her crisis in life so well. She was an easily offended child while she was growing up. Her schoolmates bullied her and this made her to be sensitive and even depressed as a young teenager. St Therese knew and learnt in her life that no matter what shock happened or how much change she had to endure; the foundation of her life is the unchanging love of Christ.

Hence, when you are in crisis, a prayer to her will help us to hold fast and carry on.

St. Therese in depression: St. Therese was not free of scruples. She feared that her sins had offended God or that she had committed a mortal sin plagued her at different times in her life. Her childhood brought sorrow to her family with the death of her mother and loss of her sister, her ‘second mother’ Pauline. Harsh bullying at school and extremely sensitive nature made her scrupulous and depressed at the young age. Her extreme physical suffering

of tuberculosis at the end of her life also caused her to be extremely vulnerable to depression. But she constantly turned back to Christ, and kept firmly in the right way.

We know people who go into depression and mental illness; we can reach out to them reminding them of the need to turn back to Christ who is our refuge and comforter. St. Therese, through her own life has taught us to depend on God at all times, especially in times depression and illness. 

Conclusion: St. Therese has left a legacy for all of us through her own life experience, which are real and honest. Let us learn from the saint to be honest in our lives because honesty will generate truth and truth will generate love. I would like to refer to St. Therese as a saint for everything that we experience in life. Her simplicity and littleness must inspire us to be courageous when life does not give us what we longed. St. Therese pray for us.