It’s Time for the Laity to Step Up

Jan Brueghel the Younger, The Bad Shepherd (1616)
Jan Brueghel the Younger, The Bad Shepherd (1616)
Jan Brueghel the Younger, The Bad Shepherd (1616)
Jan Brueghel the Younger, The Bad Shepherd (1616)

The French writer Léon Bloy (1846-1917) seems to be a particular favorite of Pope Francis: he quoted Bloy in both his first homily as pope and his recent apostolic exhortation, for example. As a writer, Bloy had few rivals, and he wasn’t afraid to set his sights on what he saw as the bad bishops of his day:

Msgr. Bolo belongs to a different school and makes me think of one of our bishops, he too of the fireside brand, who, with his feet up before a good fire and smoking a fat cigar after a copious meal, would merrily belch these truthful words: “To think we are the successors of the Apostles!”

(Pilgrim of the Absolute, p. 219).

I was reminded of that word-portrait in Mass today, during the powerful First Reading from Ezekiel 34:2-6,

Thus says the Lord God: Ho, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

Both Bloy’s belching bishop and Ezekiel’s predatory shepherds feel far too recognizable to Catholics today. We’ve seen too many of our flock devoured – by pedophile and sexually deviant priests, by secularism, even by indifference – while our shepherds sat contented by the fireside…. or even slaughtered a few fatlings themselves. To be sure, such a critique is not true of all bishops (I’m grateful to God that I have an archbishop I can trust). But it’s true of enough bishops today and recently that the bishops have lost a great deal of credibility in the public square.

So it’s fitting that the First Reading was followed by a Responsorial Psalm reminding us that the Lord is our Shepherd (Psalm 23) and a Gospel from Matthew 20:1-16. It’s the parable that begins this way (Mt. 20:1-4):

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place; and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went.

Pope John Paul II, reflecting on the line “You go into the vineyard too,” wrote the following words to the Christian laity:

You go too. The call is a concern not only of Pastors, clergy, and men and women religious. The call is addressed to everyone: lay people as well are personally called by the Lord, from whom they receive a mission on behalf of the Church and the world. In preaching to the people Saint Gregory the Great recalls this fact and comments on the parable of the labourers in the vineyard: “Keep watch over your manner of life, dear people, and make sure that you are indeed the Lord’s labourers. Each person should take into account what he does and consider if he is labouring in the vineyard of the Lord.”

The Council, in particular, with its rich doctrinal, spiritual and pastoral patrimony, has written as never before on the nature, dignity, spirituality, mission and responsibility of the lay faithful. And the Council Fathers, re-echoing the call of Christ, have summoned all the lay faithful, both women and men, to labour in the vineyard: “The Council, then, makes an earnest plea in the Lord’s name that all lay people give a glad, generous, and prompt response to the impulse of the Holy Spirit and to the voice of Christ, who is giving them an especially urgent invitation at this moment. Young people should feel that this call is directed to them in particular, and they should respond to it eagerly and magnanimously. The Lord himself renews his invitation to all the lay faithful to come closer to him every day, and with the recognition that what is his is also their own (Phil 2:5) they ought to associate themselves with him in his saving mission. Once again he sends them into every town and place where he himself is to come (cf. Lk 10:1).”

When we hear that “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2), our first impulse is to think of vocations. And that makes sense. The first time Jesus utters these words, it’s because “when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt. 9:36). But both Luke 10:2 and the words of Popes Gregory I and JP II remind us the shepherds aren’t the only workers in the vineyard.

You, too, are called to evangelize.

And remember, that was back in 1988. Since that time, it’s become increasingly clear that we can’t just say “Father will do it,” or “the bishop will do it” about the task of evangelization. The bad shepherds won’t do it, and the good shepherds often can’t. Why not? Because they’re busy, because they’re viewed by non-Catholics (and even many Catholics!) with suspicion, and because they’re called in a different direction. Much of the time of parish priests is spent on the parish – that is, on those already in the pews – such that they often have little time for those who aren’t in the pews, and little access to them in any case.

Consider your non-believing friends, co-workers, relatives. How many priests are they friends with? Probably none. But you know who they do know? You. You may literally be the only person in their lives who understands the Gospel and its importance, so if you’re not doing it, chances are good that nobody is.

John Paul II described the global situation this way in 1990:

The number of those who do not know Christ and do not belong to the Church is constantly on the increase. Indeed, since the end of the Council it has almost doubled. When we consider this immense portion of humanity which is loved by the Father and for whom he sent his Son, the urgency of the Church’s mission is obvious.

On the other hand, our own times offer the Church new opportunities in this field: we have witnessed the collapse of oppressive ideologies and political systems; the opening of frontiers and the formation of a more united world due to an increase in communications; the affirmation among peoples of the gospel values which Jesus made incarnate in his own life (peace, justice, brotherhood, concern for the needy); and a kind of soulless economic and technical development which only stimulates the search for the truth about God, about man and about the meaning of life itself.

God is opening before the Church the horizons of a humanity more fully prepared for the sowing of the Gospel. I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church’s energies to a new evangelization and to the mission ad gentes [to the nations]. No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples.

So things are bad, and are getting worse. But that very fact creates a situation for the Church that is at once urgent and fertile. Those trajectories have only amplified in the 3 decades since. Much of our culture centers around meaninglessness, leaving people desperately hungry for meaning in their lives. Our responsibility – and indeed our privilege – is to share the life-saving and life-altering Gospel with them. As Pope Francis says, “The Lord asks everything of us, and in return he offers us true life, the happiness for which we were created. He wants us to be saints and not to settle for a bland and mediocre existence.”

The Church has been calling the laity, just as Christ has been calling us, to evangelize. Too many of us aren’t. My question for you: if you’re not evangelizing, why not? And what would it take to get you to change?

16 comments

  1. Another layer – even of laity, professionally trained in sexual assault – under The Church may not be warranted. Reporting sexual abuse in all its forms to the police IS what’s finally required.

    1. I’m talking about how the laity are called to evangelize. That call is always there, but it seems particularly pressing now when the clergy find themselves in such a compromised position.

      1. Joe, this would have been a great article a month ago, or even a few weeks ago. However, at this time, those of us actively trying to evangelize are made to look like fools by the clergy, the bishops, and the entire hierarchy. Any evangelization attempt can be shut down easily by referencing these never ending scandals. They are indefensible and trying to defend them will only make the Church look worse. And there are only so many times one can try to differentiate the sins of particular Catholics/priests from the holiness of the Church. This doesn’t fly with those who are not inclined to believe in the truth of the Catholic faith in spite of the scandals that never seem to end. My faith is strong, but I cannot blame those outside the Church who won’t even listen. I sometimes wonder if those involved (priests/bishops/Cardinals!)know or care how many souls may be lost due to their actions? Until something changes, evangilization will be extremely difficult in this country especially. So is there a way that the laity can step up in other ways? Maybe a lay organization for the purpose of protecting our children and doing what the Church won’t? I can assure you if one of my children is ever abused, my first call will NOT be to the bishop.

        1. Vincent, I echo your concern, “I sometimes wonder if those involved (priests/bishops/Cardinals!) know or care how many souls may be lost due to their actions?” Something not talked about as much is how many of these victims end up taking their own lives. Such an avoidable tragedy.

          I know of at least one priest and 4 seminarians who left the church due to their first hand witness of inaction after they reported sexual abuse. A close friend, very active in the church, just told me he “can no longer be complicit” and has left the church. How can I effectively evangelize when I am on the fence about leaving the church myself?

          I think more lay people would step up if the church hierarchy was not actively driving us away.

  2. “The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest.”

    This saying seems to pretty much sum up the dilemma of evangelization.

    Why are the laborers so few? Might it be because the potential laborers of Christ see that the harvesting task is so monumental and vast….that they think that the addition of their meager labor won’t really make a difference, and so they erroneously choose to not bother wasting their time?

    Yet, Jesus at least asks these discouraged laborers, if they themselves won’t work… to merely petition God that He send OTHERS to do the labor. Will they even do this little request of Jesus, or will they think that even this effort is a waste of time? And, if they actually take the time to petition God for OTHERS to do the laboring, can they not also understand that doing ANYTHING AT ALL for the harvest is better than doing nothing? Moreover, pretty much anyone who prays can also work a very little, and that very little might actually add up to something someday…even if it is something as little as telling another person that there is abundant and excellent Catholic Radio broadcasting available called ‘Relevant Radio’. Or, maybe, an excellent Catholic podcast site called ‘The Catholic Podcast’. Or also, great Catholic websites such as ‘New Advent’, ‘First Things’ and ‘Shameless Popery’.

    These are all very simple things that anyone can do for the sake of obeying Jesus’ desire that we all be ‘fishers of men’.

    But, what is most discouraging is when abundant ‘fish’ are swimming up river in great hoards, even as an Alaskan salmon run, and swimming so thick that they can actually be picked up by hand…and yet..laborers/’fishers of men’ won’t even bother to put down a cheap 5 dollar hand net into the water to let the fish jump into it?

    I say this, because almost any college campus in the USA is like such a river, swollen and filled with multitudes of such ‘fish’. On pretty much any one hour of handing out almost anything Catholic, whether it be rosaries, pamphlets, holy pictures, lists of Catholic websites, Catholic Radio advertisements, Biblical sayings, etc… about 5 to 10 students will accept what you give to them, and many will also engage in conversation, regardless of their own particular religious affiliations. Pretty much every time I do such campus outreach/evangelization, I end up talking with as many as 35 students in less than 3 hours and give out about 40 to 50 articles of literature and other Catholic information. And, it’s pretty amazing that SO MANY students just like to casually chat on topics of spirituality…again…regardless of their own religious history. It always seems that they find it very refreshing, and satisfying, as it’s actually quite difficult to discuss religion with even family and friends these days. So, it seems that so many of these students are very happy that someone is actually out there on campus willing to talk about God in a peaceful way.

    Yet, I have never seen another Catholic, except people I bring with me, out trying to catch these ‘fish’ on public college campuses.

    It is a huge shame that such great social and ‘free speech’ resources and fishing spots…filled to the brim with enthusiastic and open minded youth…is almost completely ignored; and wherein so many of our fellow Catholic’s seem to maintain their argument: “Nothing can be done”….”It’s a waste of time”…..”It will never work”.

    As Donald Trump might say: “It’s sad.”

  3. In the past the laity did step-up and was stepped-on by men like Pope Saint John Paul lI who was wildly wrong in his claims about the many benefices of Vatican Two.

    There were uncountable members of the laity who routinely and passionately petitioned him not to permit altar girls and he promised, we were told by Saint Mother Theresa, that he would never permit it.

    He did permit them and that was an unforgivable act which was the ice pick in the back of the brain of masculine traditionalists who tried their level best to both succor the Pope and to war against the destruction of the Roman Rite.

    Sadly, Pope John Saint John Paul II was a liturgical revolutionary and so he was pleased when the Roman Rite of Tradition was destroyed and the laity who had been working tirelessly to promote tradition and love of the Real Mass , once again, were accustomed to have the back of a Pope turned against them.

    The best that could be do for them was to issue an Insult for them to assist at the Real Mass. Think of that; first one Pope, Paul VI, destroyed the Roman Rite, and then a subsequent Pope told the faithful – Yeah, you can go to the old mass even though it is illegal (That is the essence of an Insult).

    To go to the Mass that hundreds of your progenitors has gone to for over a thousand years to was suddenly deemed illegal !!!! Give me a damn break. That is NOT Catholic praxis. That is Heteropraxy, plain and simple and it is evil. EVIL.

    That’s the thanks the laity got for loving and succoring the Real Mass. They were treated as criminals for loving the Mass of Catholic Tradition. That is how evil the praxis of our Hierarchy has become and no amount of Lay action will change that because the laity have no power and unless the Real Mass is restored as normative and the revolutionary rite ia abrogated, nothing of substance will change.

    The centralising of power in Rome has been a disaster – who could have believed fiddy years ago that today we would have such a destructive Pope as Francis- and any appeal from the laity will fall upon his angry ears as he has made it blatantly clear he hates laity who are soi disant traditionalists; he calls them Pharisees.

    Hell, even the Cardinal can’t get him to respond to the Dubia and it has been well over a year since he received it.

    Go on, try and explain to a protestant that Adultery is a sin and a knowledgeable one will quote A. L. back to you in which Pope Francis tried to teach that living in a state of adultery is living in a state of sanctifying grace.

    We are in a bad place and it is going to get worse as the Catholic Church will continue to collapse unto its reaches the coterminous point where the AntiChrist will appear.

    The great apostasy is upon us and y’all are on your on your own as ABS has known he has been since 1965.

    O, ABS is still a Catholic and he is lucky enough to have kept the Bonds of Unity – even though he has to drive 90 miles one way for The Real Mass – but he suspects that’ll not last forever.

  4. My brother went through RCIA. He told me no one has their theology together as well as Catholics, when it comes to a completely logical cohesive framework. And that he would never consider becoming a Catholic, because of the abuse scandals and the way the bishops have dealt with them. How am I supposed to evangelize in that situation?

    1. Elizabeth,
      “How am I supposed to evangelize in that situation?” = A wise man once said, “Don’t leave Peter because of Judas”. Your brother already sees apparent contradiction (the superior theology of the Catholic Church – Peter, and the problematic behavior of some of its constituency – Judas). Reinforce this idea, pointing out that this crisis is not new, nor it will be the end of the Church. Many times in the past the Church has had to confront internal and external enemies (think of the various heretic movements, the Borgias, or the so-called Reformists), and she has always emerged stronger than ever before.
      Ultimately Jesus promised that “…the gates of Hades will not prevail against it (His Church)”. As easy as is to give in to pessimism sometimes, “…for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”.

      1. Dear LLC. Were ABS a protestant and you said that to him, ABS would think you think the sexual crimes committed against adolescent males was no big deal. ‘What happened in the past was worse’

        You should consider the crimes more seriously and maybe think differently about the works of those who committed them. This is an unmitigated disaster of the first order and one can already see (By what Pope Francis said) that is is going to be business as usual from Pope down to the local ordinary.

        https://www.traditioninaction.org/Cultural/D031_Goodheart_2.htm

        1. ABS,
          Please re-read my suggestion to Elizabeth, and be objective; do not assume or presume what I didn’t say nor suggested (“the sexual crimes committed against adolescent males was no big deal” and “What happened in the past was worse”).
          Her brother has already realized that the theology of the Catholic Church is superior. I recommended that she reinforces this idea; the current crisis is not the first nor will be the last ones that the Church must face.
          Regardless of what you and everyone else thinks of the current situation, the Church is supported by Jesus’ promises. One either believes in Him or doesn’t. Again, “…for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”.
          Finally, one last word of caution: when crimes (and yes, when proven beyond reasonable doubt, these are crimes and must be punished) are reported as perpetrated by a member of the Catholic Church, is always a good idea to ask, “cui prodest?”.

    2. Joe’s next OP reinforces LLC’s view below.

      Scripture teaches that we are to love our enemies and pray for them. Despite a bishop being evil, despite our extreme detestation of what he has done, despite his actions disappointing, disgusting, and disheartening us, despite those actions dealing solid slams to the Corpus Mysticum, his consecration of the host (so long as he performs the rite in proper form) is valid. The Church still lives, and Christ still dwells with us.

      We follow Christ. We worship Christ. We do not worship our bishop, even if we believe him a saint. Even if a Pope teaches erroneously, his words alone (and their insertion into the Catechism even) do not make that teaching an automatic dogmatic truth. (Benedict as Ratzinger and JPII as Pope both said so when they promulgated the CCC in 1992.)

      We are to hate the sin while loving the sinner. We are to pray for the sinner and make reparation to the Lord for sin which led Christ to die so that ALL sinners may have a chance at life eternal. As things now stand, some appear not to have such a good chance. That includes us all when we despair. Christ is larger than ANY AND ALL SINS. We believe in His goodness, His power, His love, and his Words, not ours. Let Him grow in you.

      Last, it bears reminding that the secular press has reasons for its skin in this game. Read with caution. Don’t believe everything you read and hear. Say and remember these verses while exposing oneself to secular news: ◄ 1 John 4:1 ►
      Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
      I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

  5. I found this article pretty idealistic. Our pastors – in many dioceses – have not taken the salvation only available through the True Faith as seriously as they should have.

    When is the last time you brought a non-Catholic to Mass and they felt they could become a Catholic, and if they repented their sins they would live forever in the presence of a God who loved them so much He died for them?

    Bring them to a good Eastern Rite Divine Liturgy and they will know it. It’s worth the drive.

    Through the prayers of the Mother of God (& St. Joseph) may our Savior save us!

    Rick / Oregon

    1. Many (most?) prots would be comfortable and familiar with the revolutionary rite because six protestants helped write it with the goal of making it as close to a protestant service as possible.

      The new Rite was artificially created to make it acceptable to those who reject us rather than maintain the traditional rite which is Theocentric and pleasing to God.

      The revolutionaries did not reach out to those closest to us– The Eastern Orthodox – to help write the new rite because the E.O would have laughed at them for attempting such a thing – destroying tradition

  6. After 1500 years or so of training the “laity” to do only what they are told and think only what they are taught, and above all not to presume read or interpret Holy Scripture for themselves, what exactly do you expect?

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