The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Is There a Laity Shortage? Part 1

Episode Date: September 30, 2022

How are lay people called to serve the Lord? In this episode, Jeff dives into answering this question by walking through some of the wisdom from St. John Paul II’s document Christifideles Laici. Snippet from the Show We are all called to work in the Lord’s vineyard. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kavens show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together and living as activated disciples. This is show 290. Is there a laity shortage? And thanks again for joining me. I'm Jeff Kavans, and I am so glad that you chose to be with me this week. and hopefully every week where we talk about things related to being a witness for Jesus, being a disciple, Bible study, learning how to share the good news of the Lord all around the world. Or as I like to say, sharing Christ anywhere to anybody, any day, any time. And I really do believe that we need to be equipped to do exactly that. Well, today I'm going to talk about something that you really don't hear much about, to be honest.

and that is a certain kind of shortage in the church. When I say that, if I were to ask you the question, what kind of shortage do we have in the church today? Most people would say, well, there's a priest shortage. And that's really what people talk about. There is a priest shortage, and they're talking about consolidating parishes, closing parishes, one pastor receiving five churches in the country,

and on and on. there's a lot of discussion about it. But I'd like to turn that slightly today, and I'd like to ask you a question, and that is, is it possible that there is a laity shortage? A laity shortage. Now, right away, people might say, well, Jeff, I've been to church every week, you know, for the last 25 years, and the place is at least three quarters full. I don't think we have a laity shortage, but I'm not talking about people simply

attending church, what I'm talking about is effectiveness and Catholics doing what God has called them to do and walking in their baptismal promises and in the power of the Holy Spirit that they received at confirmation. So I truly believe our needs, our voice needs to be heard not only at the parish level, but in every walk of life throughout the world. Doctors, engineers, and teachers, and butchers and civil engineers and funeral homes. They can go on and on. Our voice, the voice of the kingdom, needs to be heard. And I would argue that there is a laity shortage.

And what I'd like to do today is I'd like to introduce you to a little bit of John Paul II, the great, the saint. And I was going through my library, and I have an entire section on John Paul the second, and I have all of his encyclicals, all of his, you know, pastoral letters and so forth, everything. And I've got to tell you, all the people are talking about these days, for me to go back and read John Paul II is a real treat. And in fact, I'm going to do a show coming up here on some of the writings of John Paul II. And I was reading one of his post-Sinid apostolic exhortation on the lay members of Christ's faithful people.

Christa Fidelis Leici is the name of this writing, Christopher Fidelis Leichie. And I was reading that over again, and a lot of my writings of John Paul II are well marked up with notes in the margin. And I only got to paragraph 17 as I was reading in the last few days, taking notes and so forth. And I thought, man, I've got a message here that I want to share with you about. about a possible laity shortage.

By the way, if you do want the notes from the show today and all shows coming up in the future, all you have to do is send my name, Jeff Kavens, one word. Jeff Kavins, and you just text my name to the number 33773.3377. And we'll get you on the mailing list. So let's look at this just for a second. just to kind of illustrate what I'm talking about with a laity shortage. And then I want to share with you some really good stuff from Christa Fidelis

Laichi, and that is the lay members of Christ's faithful people. I'm looking at it right now. It's about three quarters of an inch thick. That's a pretty good piece of writing of John Paul II. On this one topic of your involvement in the church, the place of the laity in the kingdom of God. So the movement, when we talk about church life, typically, the movement of activity is definitely in the direction of from the priest to the people rather than the people to the world. And so when we go to church and we look at the activity of the church, there certainly is a lot of activity from the clergy to the people, ministering to the people, caring for the flock, listening to confession, celebrating the Eucharist, attending. funerals, counseling and going to school and board meetings and so forth. Our priests are really,

really, for the most part, working very hard. I say for the most part because I don't know all priests, but are the ones I do know, wow, they're workhorses. And they have a lot on their plate. And so let me just pause there and say to all the priests who are listening to this podcast, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. for the sacrifice that you have made in your life and with your life for us and the kingdom. What I would suggest here, and Father, you're listening, you'd probably say amen to it, is that I think there needs to be equal, equal energy and equal activity in the area of the laity, not only within the church, but outside of the church in the world, in the

Vineyard, as John Paul II calls the world, our activity in the world is so needed. Easter Vigil, 3,500 families, and three people come forward at the Easter Vigil, there's a laity shortage. Getting volunteers to teach confirmation or CCD, begging in the announcements, no experience necessary. There's a laity shortage. Many people can't get spiritual direction in the church or serious counseling. There is a laity shortage. There is a laity shortage. Very few politicians who will boldly stand up for the kingdom of God. There's a laity shortage. Small percentage of well-formed teachers in public schools. There's a laity shortage. If they're there, we're not hearing about it. The inner cities of America are largely untouched other than

Catholic charities, yay, and they do a good job. There is a laity shortage. Drug and alcohol addiction is for the most part of government concern, we expect them to do something about it. There's a laity shortage when the vast majority of those who attend Catholic Church will go their entire life and not bring one person into the kingdom of God outside of their own family. There is a laity shortage. The day after many elections, oh boy, let's just say we have a laity shortage. Now, I'm not saying we have a shortage in terms of numbers, but certainly activity and doing what the laity are supposed to do in the kingdom of God, I do think there is a shortage. So let's take a look at Christophidelis Leichy, which is the post-syned apostolic exhortation, dealing with lay members of the Catholic Church.

Now, in this marvelous work, John Paul II talks about the world that we are called to in the vineyard. And he uses a couple of parables, a couple of points of the gospel to begin his discussion about this whole issue of the laity in the world. Matthew chapter 20 talks about various people who were hired at different times of the day. It kind of goes like this, 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. That's the important phrase right there.

Take note of that. Into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. There's a message right there. They're standing idle in the workplace, in the marketplace. And to them, he said,

you go into the vineyard too. And whatever is right, I'll give you. So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, oh, this is such a good message when we talk about Catholics in the workplace. Why do you stand here idle all day?

Why do you stand here idle all day? And they said to him, because no one has hired us. He said to them, you go into the vineyard too. And I love that, Matthew chapter 20. That's verses 1 through 7. and I'll put it in the show notes for you. And I really like that because it gives us an example of what is really going on, I think, in the church among the laity, and that is that we are called to work in his vineyard.

We're called to work in his vineyard. The gospel parables sets before our eyes the Lord's vast vineyard and the multitude of persons, both women and men, who are called and sent forth by him to labor in. it. Now, the vineyard is the whole world, which is to be transformed according to the plan of God in view of the final coming of the kingdom of God. Now, I'm going to be quoting a lot from this marvelous book, Christa Fidelis Lachchi, and I hope you get a copy of it and read it. So using this parable in Matthew chapter 20, we see that the Lord wants us to go and work in his vineyard, which his vineyard is the world. And he wants us to go in there and he wants

this place, that place that you work to be transformed according to the plan of God and in view of the final coming of the kingdom. So we see that the laity are sent out into the world as, and I love this what John Paul II says, get a load of it, write it down. The laity are sent out into the world at work, at school, in the government, in manufacturing, sent out into the world as the universal sacrament of salvation. Oh, that's what you are. That's what you are. I think it's worthy of putting that on the back of a t-shirt.

I'm the universal sacrament of salvation, if I don't say so myself. But that's what John Paul II said, we, the faithful laity, are when we go out into the workplace where the universal sacrament of salvation now a sacrament is an encounter with with jesus and so we could say here seriously that when we as catholics when we go to work and we let that light shine in word and deed that people are encountering jesus and the question i have for you my dear friend who i love so much my my my question for you and you know I've been pushing on this lately is are we truly acting like a universal sacrament of salvation or do we turn the the spigot off when we go to work and then back on

when we leave work saying well I know that's not my business to do this or that and so forth when it actually is St. Gregory the Great recalls this fact and comments on the parables of the laborers in the vineyard. He says keep watch. And this is from John Paul's work. Keep watch over your manner of life, dear people. And make sure that you are indeed the Lord's laborers. Each person should take into account what he does and consider if he is laboring in the vineyard of the Lord.

That's so good. That's St. Gregory the Great. He's talking about being a laborer in the vineyard. Keep watch over your manner of life. dear people, and make sure that you are indeed the Lord's laborers. See, the Lord worked with his followers. He sends them into every town and every place. And Luke chapter 10, I'll put it in the notes for you, Luke chapter 10 tells us that

that he sent his believers, he sent his disciples ahead of him to the places where he was going to come and where he was going to go. And so we see that they are working with him. there. Another thing that John Paul II says is that there's a lack of commitment. A lack of commitment is always unacceptable when it comes to being a witness and the present time renders it even more so. It is, and he goes on and he says, and listen to this, this is so different than what we typically might hear in a homily or a teaching or a study of some kind. John Paul II says lack of commitment is always unacceptable for the disciple of the Lord, for the modern Christian, for the activated disciple.

He says it is not permissible for anyone to remain idle. Just as it said in Matthew 20 there, 1 through 7, comes up to a guy, what are you doing? Why are you remaining idle in the streets here? Well, nobody put me to work. I'm going to put you to work, says Jesus. there should be no one idle in the Catholic Church. It's not permissible, John Paul says. It's not permissible.

We continue in our reading of the gospel parable, and it says, and about the 11th hour he went out and found others standing, and he said to them, why do you stand here idle all day? And they said to him, because no one has hired us. And he said to them, I'll say it again, you go into the vineyard too. You go into the vineyard, too. I want to continue with this theme of the laity. And is there a laity shortage, not in numbers, but in activity and doing the work of the kingdom?

I think that there is. That's what we're addressing today. I'm Jeff Kavins. We'll be right back. Hi there. I'm Mark Hart. And I want to share with you an exciting new series called Venture, the Bible timeline for high school. Now, let's be honest.

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Thanks for coming back. We're looking today at Christa Fidelis Leachie, which is a post-synid apostolic exhortation of John Paul II. By the way, you can get this. I'll put it in the show notes. You can get this at Pauline Books and Media. And I think you can just go to Vatican, too. you can go to va and you can download the document for for yourself we're talking today about

the involvement of the laity in the kingdom of god in the world today and john paul the second is basically telling us there there is not it is not permissible for anyone to remain idle in the catholic church and a lack of commitment is always in the words of a saint unacceptable Can you imagine pastors standing up in the, you know, in mass and saying to the people, if you are not involved in the kingdom of God, this is unacceptable. It's not permissible. Wow, you shake people up. Well, John Paul II goes on, and he talks about the world that we live in,

and he says that it is necessary than to keep a watchful eye on this our world with its problems and values, its unrest and hopes, its defeats, and triumphs, a world whose economic, social, political, and cultural affairs pose problems and grave, grave difficulties. This then is the vineyard. This is the field in which the faithful are called to fulfill their mission. When I was a kid, if somebody said to me, you think you'll ever be a missionary someday? Well, my answer would have been, and quite possibly your answer might have been, I'm not going to go to Africa. I'm not going to go to China. I'm not going to go to Eastern Europe.

And that's what we thought when we talked about missions. We talked about leaving the United States and going to a country that we thought was worse off than ourselves. But what we are discovering in the United States is that we are, in the words of John Paul the 2nd, we are really in the vineyard right now. This is the field in which the faithful are called to fulfill their mission. We're in it right now. You are. But, Jeff, I'm a doctor.

Yes, that's the field. But I'm a public school teacher, Jeff. Yes, that's the field. I build highways, Jeff. Yes, that's the field that Jesus sent you to as a lay member of the kingdom of God. Jesus wants them as he wants all his disciples to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Matthew Chapter 5. But what is the actual state of affairs of the earth and the world for which Christians ought to be salt and light?

well it's problematic there's a great sense of anxiety in society today depression desperation confusion people are spiraling and you and i have been put out into the world to share the good news with people look up my all my shows on the corigma i try to teach people how to share christ with others there's a listen there is a laity shortage right now in america john paul the second says we furthermore call to mind the violations to which the human person is subjected today when the individual is not recognized and loved in the person's dignity as the living image of god human being is exposed to more humiliating and degrading forms of manipulation that most assuredly reduce the individual to a slavery to those who are stronger, those who are stronger.

Those who are stronger can take a variety of names, an ideology, economic power, political and inhuman systems, scientific technocracy, or the intrusiveness of the mass media. This is what the field looks like that we've been dropped down into. I remember my friend We went to Vietnam years ago Daniel, he passed away last year And he was a reconnaissance scout in Vietnam And I remember him telling me

That he went from the suburbs of Dallas and Texas there Rockwall, Texas To suddenly being dropped down in the middle of Vietnam And he said he went through just a shock to his system That he was in Vietnam I would suggest to you that for many of us who are doctors and teachers and lawyers and so forth and civil engineers and cooks and chefs and waiters and waitresses, being dropped down into this culture today

is kind of like my friend Daniel being dropped down into the middle of Vietnam. It was a shock. John Paul II says once again, but with proportions enormously widespread, diverse sectors of humanity today, wishing to show their omnipotence, renew the futile experience of constructing the Tower of Babel, which spreads confusion, struggle, disintegration, and depression. The human family is thus in itself dramatically convulsed and wounded. that's the field we've been dropped into. And if people think, well, I'm just going to let my works shine

and that people are going to get it and then life's going to be straightened out, man, are we kidding ourselves? We not only have to live the faith in this culture, in this vineyard that God dropped us down into, but we have to learn to speak. And I'm like John Paul II there. lack of commitment is always unacceptable it is not permissible for anyone to remain idle and i would just add in my small little encyclical might be a paragraph i would say it is not permissible for

anyone to remain silent we have to share the good news you see the laity are critically important in changing the world you are important you are important you are important You have a certain influence around you at school, your family, the neighborhood. And yes, your children for sure. But we're talking about more than just in our own home. And I do hope you're doing well in your own home. I really do. But the laity are critically important outside of your home.

The church knows that she is sent forth by him, John Paul says, as sign and instrument of intimate union with God. That's beautiful. Listen to that. Listen to that again. The church knows that she is sent forth by Him, God, as sign and instrument of intimate union with God and the unity of all the human race. You see, you are a sign. You are an instrument of intimate union with God and the unity of all the human race. And people need you. They need you. As people who are going out into the vineyard, it's important to remember that we are one with Christ, that we are not separate from Christ. He is the head. We are the body. Amen to that. But we are one with Christ. And if Christ is going to go out in that vineyard and he's going to affect the people in the vineyard, and he is going to change their lives and they're going to experience conversion, well then that is going to be through us because we are the body of Christ.

St. John Paul II said, through baptism, the lay faithful are made one body with Christ and are established among the people of God. They are in their own way made sharers in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ. Remember those three things, my dear friend. We are sharers in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ. And we carry out our own part in the mission of the whole Christian people with respect to the church in the world. And Pius X the 12th, Pius XIus the 12th once said, the faithful, more precisely the lay faithful, find themselves on the front lines of the church's life.

For them, the church is the animating principle for human society. society. Nice word, pious the 12th. And so it's no exaggeration to say that the entire existence of the lay faithful has as its purpose to lead a person to knowledge of the radical newness of the Christian life that comes from baptism. Comes from baptism. I love it. The Holy Spirit anoints the baptized. John Paul II is saying a lot of what I'm sharing with you right here is exactly his thought. The Holy Spirit anoints the baptized, sealing each with an indelible character and constituting each as a spiritual temple. That is, he fills this temple with the holy presence of God as a result of each person being united and likened to Jesus Christ.

that's you that's you that is oh wow that's powerful that is you that is filled with the presence of god in this temple of yours as they would say back in jesus day a mikdashmaat a small temple you are a small temple of the holy spirit and the holy spirit anoints the baptized you are an anointed individual filled with power and good news. Because the Holy Spirit anoints us, we can repeat in individual way the words of Jesus. Do you remember what he said in Luke chapter 4 when he was in Nazareth? He said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are opposed or oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. I'll put that in the show notes too. Thus, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in baptism and confirmation, the baptized share in the same exact mission of Jesus as the Christ, the Savior. This just gets inside of me, you know, so much to know what Jesus did. and then to look at our lives today and that it seems to be, and I'm not judging. I'm not judging. I'm just telling you what my basic thought here is, is that there's far more studying the faith

than there is doing the faith, and there's far more not studying or doing the faith. And we've got to wake up. Referring to the baptized as newborn babes, the Apostle Peter writes, come to me. Come to me to that living stone rejected by men, but in God's sight, chosen and precious. And like living stones, be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. You are a chosen race. Just say that right now. You're in the car with me, or riding your bike or running. Say it right now. I am part of the chosen race. I am part of the royal priesthood.

And I am part of the holy nation. God's own people that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Did you get that? That you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Just let me ask you this. Has He changed your life? Has Jesus changed your life? I know he has.

I know he has. And we need as a laity to recognize that we are anointed and that we have been filled with the Holy Spirit. We share a common mission with Jesus. We are not students alone of Jesus. We are not spectators or fans. We are so connected. to him, that we are called to be one with him. In fact, we are called the body of Christ. Now, if you could take just that phrase, I am the body of Christ, and meditate on that for a week.

Just that phrase right there, I am the body of Christ, and start to look out for every opportunity throughout the week where the body of Christ, or Christ is needed in the situation, his wisdom, his power, his deliverance, his consolation and peace is needed. Lord, through me, bring your message to the world. Now, what I'm going to do is I'm going to break for today, and I've got all these notes for you, but what I'm going to do is next week, I'm going to continue on with this, and I want to show you exactly how we, you and me, share in the threefold mission of Christ. as priest, prophet, and king, the lay faithful participation.

That's what we're going to look at next week. Now, as we end this week, I do hope you have a tremendous week. I do. And please know that I'm praying for you. We have meetings at Ascension Press, Ascension Presents. We have meetings quite frequently. I tell the entire staff about you and ask everyone to pray for you. And I'm here for you.

You are my brother. You are my sister. and together we are getting closer to the mark we are becoming more faithful than ever before and more bold and loving than we've ever been before and that's what we want to do with this weekly podcast do me a favor would you go and just give it a like or make a comment on the show share the show with some of your friends for me those that you know maybe aren't going to stumble upon this. Maybe they're not doing the Google search, but you know that they would be interested in the topics that we're talking about. Just share it with two or three people this

week. And I really appreciate that. Okay, I'm going to give you the show notes. Got a lot of good scriptures there. But let me close in prayer with you. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Lord, thank you for moving our hearts and thank you for motivating us with your love. I pray Jesus that we as the lay faithful would begin to focus on this shortage and that we ourselves would fill the gap. We would fill the breach and the wall and we would walk in faithfulness. We, the lay faithful, will be heard in the public square. We will be seen in television and radio. We will have a voice and that voice, O Lord, is your. help us Lord help us we pray this in your name in the name of Jesus amen I love you my friend

God bless you look forward to talking to you next week