Lay spirituality

THERE are yet many obstacles to be hurdled, yet many things to be done before we in general can have a good understanding, let alone live the very important role the laity plays in the Church and in the world.

At the moment, we don’t have to look far to see how gravely misunderstood the lay people are. They are largely seen as second-rate citizens if not pariahs in the Church, unavoidably immersed in the dirty mundane things of the world.

They are also regarded as some kind of accessories to the clergy. It would seem that their status only acquires a whiff of dignity when they act as assistants and servers to bishops and priests.

For them to have some semblance of goodness and holiness, they are expected to keep distance from the world as much as possible, if not to hate it. They are pressured to fit into a certain religious mentality, doing churchy chores, that tends to suffocate their true lay and secular character.

Whatever may be the causes of this sad phenomenon, the fact is crystal clear that we are still light-years away from the ideal insofar as the role of the laity in the Church and in the world is concerned.

The laity is supposed to be an integral and essential part of the Church. As such, they, like the bishops, priests, religious men and women, have the same calling to sanctity and to the apostolate in ways proper to their condition.

They should not feel nor should they be treated as if they are just a baggage in the Church, or merely a resource to be taken advantage of, as in being used as source for money, or treated as the clergy’s long arm.

They are as much the Church as bishops, priests and the religious are. They
are not merely in the Church, but the Church herself together with the clergy and the religious, lifted to her supernatural nature and intrinsically involved in her mission.

Another thing that should be made clear is that the Church is not just some human social structure. The Church is the people of God, the mystical body of Christ, communion with Christ and everybody else in Christ.

This sublime nature of the Church has to be understood and consciously and freely lived by all of us, depending on what role we play, whether as clergy, religious or lay.

In this tricky matter, we with God’s grace have to help one another. We should not reduce the Church as a social phenomenon, though it certainly has social manifestations. Its supernatural character should always be upheld and defended.

Though everyone has different duties, everyone should also realize, whether clergy, religious or lay, that he forms an indivisibly organic unity with everybody else with Christ as head in the Holy Spirit.

We just have to learn to relate with one another properly, knowing how to keep the mutual need for one another, while avoiding confusion as in clericalizing the laity or laicizing the clergy.

There unfortunately are indications these irregularities are taking place in some areas. The Popes and the Vatican in general have issued guidelines in this regard. These should be religiously followed to avoid perverting the Church.

But what is most important is to vigorously promote what may be called as lay spirituality. This is the authentic lay empowerment many people are talking about. This equips lay people with the correct knowledge and appropriate ways to live their role in the Church and the world properly.

This lay spirituality can mean many things. For one it can mean having a right theology about the world in general, a right understanding of freedom and respect for the autonomy of temporal affairs, etc.

The link from the earthly to the sublime, the material to the spiritual, the temporal to the eternal, should be shown to be very practicable. Everyone, especially the lay people, should be assured of this reality.

The Church’s social doctrine and the more basic Christian anthropology are
indispensable in developing a true lay spirituality. There has to be massive and continuing catechesis about these truths.