The Call of the Laity and Evangelisation.

The call of the Christian is one of service, to build up the Body of Christ. It is based on a Servant Centred Spirituality which has at its core a call to holiness through a life of prayer and Eucharistic involvement. This is achieved by participation in the life of the Christian Community and expressed at the Liturgy. {“Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity” No 1 # 4} The role model for the Christian as disciple, one who enters a Servant Centred Spirituality, is Christ Himself.

Ministry and Mission are central to the life of the Christian because Jesus commissioned a ministry to his followers. At the commissioning of his disciples Jesus says: “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you” {Jn.20:21}. This is understood as a Servant Spirituality with Jesus as the model.

This ministry passes to the New People of God, those who are disciples. It can be described as a royal priesthood and the vocational call of all the baptised. The importance of the Vatican Two documents, “The Church Today” and the “Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity” is to stress that there is a ministry which the Church must give to the world {if it is to be faithful to its mission}. This exhortation is to the lay man and lay woman to play their part in building up the Body of Christ.

“It is clear that from the very origins of Christianity, the laity-as individuals, families and entire communities-shared in spreading the faith”. {“Redemptoris Missio” John Paul 11 1990}.