Sr. Dr. Teresa Joseph, FMA
The Laity Sunday brings us a splendid opportunity to reflect on the vocation and role of Laity. Pope Francis has expressed it powerfully in his address to the Laity Council: “We are in need of well-formed laypeople, animated by a pure and fresh faith, whose life has been touched by a personal and merciful encounter with the love of Jesus Christ. We are in need of laypeople who risk, who soil their hands, who are not afraid of erring, who go forward. We are in need of laypeople with vision of the future, not closed in the little things of life. And I have said it to young people: we are in need of laypeople with the taste of experience of life, who dare to dream” (https://zenit.org/articles/popes-address-to-laity-council/).
Lay people who dare to dream and go forward touched and transformed by a personal and merciful encounter with the love of Jesus Christ. Lay people who keep as horizon of reference for their immediate future, an “Outgoing Church — outgoing laity” as proposed by Pope Francis.
In the Archdiocese of Mumbai the Laity Sunday is being celebrated on Sunday, June 24, 2018. Pope Francis with his Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate (The Call to Holiness in today’s world) has offered a very practical handbook on holiness.
A Roadmap on Our Pilgrimage
The Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate is a Roadmap on our Pilgrimage to holiness. It indicates what has to be our personal priorities and lists the ways in which each of us can address the challenges to deepen our faith and to be loving followers of Jesus Christ our Lord and Master. The call to holiness informs us how we can be holy, what is our mission today and how are we best going to accomplish it.
This Apostolic Exhortation gives us a roadmap for today and tomorrow. With a clear knowledge of the data based on the reality of every human person and driven by the Mission of Christ, the Pope has discerned in the light of Jesus how we can be holy. As our Archdiocese is utilizing this timely and precious document to understand the role of laity better, it is opportune to dwell on its pages to capture the spirit that motivates it.
In The Company of Saints
The Saints who encourage and accompany us and the Saints next door are all simple men and women who reach out in love and compassion. Pope Francis makes special reference to woman and affirms the “genius of woman” is seen in feminine styles of holiness, which are an essential means of reflecting God’s holiness in this world… The feminine styles of holiness is exactly that particular way in which a woman endowed with grace and strength lives her ‘yes’ to God often in ways less known to human eyes, consistently working in the shadows and always seeking help from above.
Be Holy
The Pope’s call to holiness awakens us in the most ordinary circumstances of life: whatever be our vocation in life, all that the Pontiff is asking us is to be holy discovering the fullest meaning of our mission in Christ. Are you called to the consecrated life? Be holy by living out your commitment with joy. Are you married? Be holy by loving and caring for your husband or wife, as Christ does for the Church. Do you work for a living? Be holy by labouring with integrity and skill in the service of your brothers and sisters.
In the midst of so much that promise well-being and happiness, Pope Francis is very clear when he affirms: MORE ALIVE, MORE HUMAN: Do not be afraid of holiness. It will take away none of your energy, vitality or joy. Don’t ever miss that gentle warning to be careful of: Contemporary Gnosticism and Contemporary Pelagianism the two subtle enemies of holiness. We have to be ever alert to the working of grace and try not to complicate the Gospel even unconsciously.
In the Light of Jesus the Master
Our role is to be in the Light of Jesus the Master, gradually discovering the portrait of the Master in the Beatitudes and to reflect it in our daily lives. This requires going against the flow, well aware that the cross is an essential part of our lives, that persecution is not just a reality only of yesterday that even today we experience them. In the midst of so much that is happening what is the great criterion to be put into effect? In every person whom we encounter to see a “human being with a dignity identical to my own, a creature infinitely loved by the Father, an image of God, a brother or sister redeemed by Jesus Christ” and to respond to him/her with faith and charity.
Let Holiness Abound
You and I have a particular role to play to add to the signs of holiness that are blossoming around us with perseverance, patience, meekness, joy and sense of humour, boldness and passion, making the Risen Lord present in our families, communities and places of meeting paying utmost attention to the little details of love, caring and sharing for each other. In constant prayer meeting Jesus in the Scriptures leads us to the Eucharist “where the written word attains its greatest efficacy, for there the living Word is truly present.”
Spiritual combat, vigilance and discernment are much necessary to proclaim the Gospel and to fight against the temptations of the devil. In the midst of an ocean of words, all we need do is to whisper, time and time again: “Hail Mary…” The marvellous theme of holiness cuts across all barriers and embraces the heart of every man and woman without boundaries.
Conclusion
Like a multi-faceted gem, our lay people with their gifts and charisms continually echo that genuine search for God and true concern to grow in holiness in the daily realities of life. As all parishes will publicly commission all the Heads of Cells and Associations working in the parish, and contributing to its pastoral growth, during the main Mass on Laity Sunday, we whisper: Hail Mary, accompany us as we strive to be holy as the Lord is holy and give us courage to dream, dreams flavoured with Holiness.
In the Church of Pope Francis, holiness is what is essential for us at this particular time in history. The Lord is working miracles in our lives and exciting things are happening in our parishes and we look forward to the best to come as we responsibly embrace our journey in holiness.
With St. Ignatius of Loyola we pray may the call to holiness help us to “know Jesus more intimately, to love Him more intensely and to follow Him more closely every day of our life.” Lord make us holy as You are Holy