The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Is There a Laity Shortage? Part 2

Episode Date: October 7, 2022

What sort of responsibility do lay people have when it comes to evangelization? This week, Jeff continues his deep dive into the role of lay people in the Church. Jeff shares with us the wisdom of St. John Paul II from his document Christifideles Laici. Snippet from the Show “Be holy as I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16) 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 Kaven show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together and living as activated disciples. This is show 291. Is There a laity shortage, part two? Well, we had a wonderful time last week, I think, talking about is there a laity shortage? and appreciate all of your participation. Thank you for going to Apple, Spotify, wherever, and just giving it a thumbs up the show, making some comments, sharing it with other people. I really believe that God has allowed us

the privilege of using some of this technology for the greater good for his kingdom. And you and I together are a team. I mean, some of, I know some of you have been with me from the beginning. That's 291 shows together. that's a lot of time together isn't it so thank you i really really appreciate it hey if you do want the show notes and you are just picking up on this episode 291 is there a laity shortage part two i do encourage you to go back and listen to part one last week and if you would like the show notes all

you got to do is send my name one word jeff kavens texted to the number three three seven seven seven my comments today about the is there a laity shortage as I was pretty strong last week you know about that I want you to know that it's in love and I care and I moved in my heart I moved in my heart to press on and to encourage people and challenge people and you know maybe I maybe I'll make uncomfortable the comfortable but this is what I feel the Lord is telling me in my heart is to really, really challenge the lay faithful to be Christ in the world. And last week, when we were together, I was talking to you about the fact that in the parable of the vineyard where the men come at different times of the day, and they're all paid the same, the Lord in this parable sees a guy

that is just standing around idle. He says, what are you doing? Standing around idle in my vineyard. You know, in this vineyard, he says, well, nobody put me to work. He says, I'll put you to work. And that's Jesus in the church today. You know, there is no room for just standing around idle. And I made quite a big deal out of that statement where John Paul II said, he said the lack of commitment is always unacceptable when it comes to being a witness. It's always unacceptable, a lack of commitment. And then he also said that it is not permissible for anyone to run.

remain idle. So if you are Catholic, you've been baptized and you are a Catholic today, and you have gone by the name Catholic, by that title in your life, then the Lord would say to you, lack of commitment is always unacceptable when it comes to being a witness, and it's not permissible for anyone to remain idle. By the way, I'm getting a lot of this. I'm going to share more with you today from this amazing document from St. John Paul the Great, the second. Christopher Fidelis Leici. It's a post-synid apostolic exhortation of his, and it's called the lay members of Christ's faithful people. You can get it at Pauline, book, and media. We'll put that in the show notes for you, but I recommend you get it and just digest it. It is so

good. I'm only talking about, what is this? I'm only talking about 40 pages or so in this tremendous book of his, and it has moved me clearly. It has moved me. It has moved. me. And I said last week that I wanted to share with you a little bit about the lay faithful and their participation with Christ in a threefold mission. And that's what I'd like to start off with this week is that we are one with Christ and we are so much one with Christ that he is in us and he gives himself to us every time we go to Mass in the Eucharist. He gives us the greatest source of grace, the greatest source of power in the world. And we are, are so close to him and so one with him that he actually has a name for us. Well, there's several

names. We're the bride, right? But we are the body of Christ. The body of Christ. That's amazing. The image just came from my mind, you know, of all of my friends who are quadriplegic that have been coming to my Bible studies, paraplegic, quadriplegic. And I remember one man, and he was completely paralyzed from the neck down. And he had someone as his assistant 24-7. And whatever he wanted to do, the assistant had to do it. The help around him had to accomplish the things that he needed, the things he wanted done. And in the same way as the body of Christ, we have to ask ourselves, are we paralyzed? Do we say we're the body of Christ, but in effect we're paralyzed? We're we really don't even move much?

That's one of the problems. And what Jesus is calling us to is a participation in his threefold ministry. That's what he's calling us to do. And so as lay people, we share this mission with Christ. And I mentioned it. It's priest, prophet, and king. And John Paul II says that the lay faithful are sharers in the the priestly mission. Remember, priest, prophet, king. Jesus is the high priest, prophet, and the

king of kings, right? In the Old Testament, we just have two anointings, really. You've got priest and king, but you and I are anointed to share in his priestly and prophetic and kingling ministry. We are anointed. We've been confirmed. That's a great thing. That's a beautiful thing. The lay faithful are sharers in the priestly mission for which Jesus offered himself on cross and continues to be offered in the celebration of the Eucharist for the glory of God and the salvation of humanity. He goes on and says, incorporated in Jesus Christ, the baptized, are united to him and to his sacrifice in the offering they make of themselves and their daily activities. Now, this is humongous, big, wow. What John Paul II is saying is that you,

and me, but you share in Jesus' priestly mission for which Jesus offered himself on the cross. As his priestly mission, he offered himself. You know Father, Father's at church, and Father offers the Eucharistic prayer. He offers the Mass. Jesus, he offered himself on the cross as the priest and continues to be offered in the celebration of the Eucharist. If you went to church last week, you were a witness of this. or a participant of this. And that is really, that's an amazing thing. But then I love what he says when he says, incorporated in Jesus Christ, the baptized are united to him and to his sacrifice

in the offering they make of themselves and their daily activities. So how are you participating in the priestly mission of Jesus? Well, he offered himself on the cross, and guess what you're going to do? You're going to offer yourself in daily activity. You're going to offer yourself in sacrifice. You're going to offer yourself in sacrifice to Jesus in all of your activities, in all of your activities. That's what you're going to do. And so he's giving you an opportunity to literally work with him. I love that. It reminds me of what Paul said in Romans chapter 1.

Paul said, I appeal to you, brethren, by the mercies of God. to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. That's your spiritual service. Offer up your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable. Holy and acceptable. That is so good. Holy and acceptable to God. Now, that means that when you go to work, you're offering yourself up as a holy sacrifice. sacrifice, you're joining in his priestly mission. When you go to work, when you drop the kids off at the daycare, when you stay at home, wherever you work, you are operating in his priestly mission. How? By offering your sacrifice in your daily activity. Your daily activity is important. What you say and what you do at work is important. You are part of the lay faithful. Is there a lay shortage at your work? Is there a lay shortage where you go to school? Fill the gap. John Paul II says, then second of all, the prophetic mission, we just talked about the

priestly mission, but the prophetic mission, he says, through their participation, that's you, through their participation in the prophetic mission of Christ, who proclaimed the kingdom of his father by the testimony of his life and by the power of his word, the lay faith. faithful are given the ability and responsibility to accept the gospel in faith and to proclaim it in word and deed without hesitating to courageously identify and denounce evil. Man, oh man. He goes on and says they are also called to allow the newness in the power of the gospel to shine out every day in their family and social life, as well as to

express patiently and courageously in the contradictions of the present age, their hope of future glory, even through the framework of their secular life. That's the prophetic mission of Jesus. That's what you are doing. You're sharing in his prophetic mission. How? Well, what you are doing is you are accepting the responsibility to, the responsibility to, to, to, the responsibility to proclaim in word and deed, the faith. The faith. I got a question for you. Are you doing it? Yes or no. Are you doing it? There's two ways we can express, two ways we can express his kingdom and faith. Two ways. One is word and one is deed. I think the deed is sort of the default, isn't it from a lot of people? I think that's kind of the way it is. They think, well, yeah, I mean, you know, they're going to watch me make those burgers and give their life.

to God, you know? Not being a little facetious there, but it's the way we live our life. What we do, not just the making of the burger, but it's everything that goes with it testifies that you are the body of Christ and Jesus is the king and he's the Messiah. He's the one who loves those people around you and he has a plan for their life. It's sin that screwed up the plan in those people's lives around you, but the good news is Jesus came and he died for their sins. in the world are they going to know it? Well, take the responsibility to accept the gospel and faith and proclaim it in word. Proclaim it in word. Again, go back to my podcast on the K-E-R-Y-G-M-A, K-E-R-Y-G-M-A, The Proclamation of the Gospel. I have a lot of teachings

in my podcast about how to start up a conversation, how to share Christ with other people. If you do this, it's all part of the prophetic mission of Jesus. And you are called to participate. in that. You're called to participate in it. And again, I'll tell you what John Paul has said, which I thought was so, so good. Do you remember that? He talked about that the lack of commitment is always unacceptable. And it is not permissible for anyone to remain idle. And that goes for us. When we come back from the break, I'm going to get into the kingly mission of Jesus and how we participate with Jesus as the body of Christ. Again, I would ask you, is there a laity shortage?

Is there one at your church? Is there one in your neighborhood? Is there one where you work? A laity shortage. And what are we going to do about it? You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. What if you could see that the infinite God is present in your life? What if it was as simple as stopping, opening your heart, and allowing yourself

to be found. I'm Danielle Bean, an author, speaker, and host of the Girlfriend's podcast. In my new book, Whisper, Finding God in the Every Day, I share wisdom from the saints, real-life experiences, and prayer practices that help you to see, know, and grow closer to God in your everyday life, no matter how busy you are. If you've ever been inspired by stories of great saints but wondered where that leaves the rest of us, this book is for you. In it, we explore how we meet God in joy, pain, other people. people, prayer, and in the awesome gift of the sacraments. Join me on this journey of letting go, being still, and allowing God to meet us right here, right now, right where we are.

Order your copy of Whisper, Finding God in the Every Day at ascensionpress.com. Here we are back talking about, is there a laity shortage? I guess there is. I know there is. And you and I can do something about that. We can walk faithfully in our calling as lay members of Christ's faithful people. We're drawing from Christa Fidelis Lechi, mouthful, which was a post-sended apostolic exhortation of John Paul II, and you talk about a book that will change lay members in your parish. To my priest friends, I'd say, you know what,

you might want to gather around yourself six to 12 people and disciple them. Give them all a copy of this. Give them all a copy of it saying, I want you guys to put this into practice in our local parish here. That would be a good seed to plant. Before the break, we were talking about priestly mission and prophetic mission of Christ and our participation in that. In that priestly mission, we ourselves are offering up our lives as a sacrifice on a daily basis in our daily activities. And the prophetic mission, the prophetic mission is that.

We will proclaim the word of God, the kingdom of God, the message of Jesus, the good news. We will proclaim it in word and deed, just like God revealed himself in scripture in words and deeds. He didn't just do it in words. He did it in deeds, and the two speak to each other. They should in our life, too. Now, the third one is the kingly mission. And John Paul II said, because the lay faithful belonged to Christ, Lord and King of the Universe, they share in his kingly mission and are called by him to spread the kingdom in history.

They exercise their kingship as Christians above all in the spiritual combat in which they seek to overcome in themselves the kingdom of sin, and then to make a gift of themselves so as to serve in justice and in charity. Isn't that beautiful? So if you are going to share in the kingly mission, of Jesus, then you're going to enter into spiritual combat in which you will seek to overcome in your own life the kingdom of sin. That is how we overcome sin in our life is we participate in Jesus' kingly mission and what he has for us and the authority that he has given us and the power from confirmation and we can overcome sin. I don't care whether it's gossip or

or whether it is jealousy or, you know, I don't care if it's pornography or theft or sexual sin or whatever it might be. It can be overcome. And the battle that rages inside of you, that spiritual combat, you can be victorious over that sin as you walk in the kingly mission of Jesus. John Paul goes on and says the participation of the lay faithful in the threefold mission of Christ as priest, prophet, and king. finds its source in the anointing of baptism, confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist.

You are called to participate. Now, what are those three? Those are called the sacraments of initiation. Those people that stand up in white on the Easter vigil are people who have enrolled in the catacuminent, and they have been studying, they have been preparing for full communion with Jesus and the church. and that night they will receive baptism. They'll be baptized. Original sin will be dealt with.

And they will be brought into membership in the church. So baptism is a complete identification with Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection. And that's part of the kingly mission in how we overcome. The book of Revelation says we overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. blood of the lamb, the Eucharist, and the word of our testimony, the word of God that is read in the mass, those two aspects of the mass. That's key if you want to walk in his kingly ministry. The participation of the lay faithful in the threefold mission of Christ as priest, prophet, and king find its source in the anointing of baptism confirmation.

And holy Eucharist. My friend, you've been empowered. You've been changed. There's indelible marks on your heart. and you now can walk in the kingly mission of Jesus and overcome the kingdom of sin in your life. I like what St. Peter said. He clearly teaches when he defines the baptized as a chosen race.

1. Peter 2.9. You're a chosen race. You're a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people. And so that lays it down at our feet, you know? In what we shared last week and what we've shared thus far today, man, there's a lot, there's a lot given to us. To whom much is given, much is required. There's a lot.

We have a responsibility. And John Paul II says something about this in paragraph 15 of Christa Fidelis Laichi. He says that the lay faithful share responsibility for the church's mission. The church, in fact, lives in the world, even if she is not. of the world. We live in the world. We're not of the world. That famous quote comes from John 1716. She is sent, she being the church, is sent to continue the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, which by its very nature concerns the salvation of humanity, all humanity, and also

involves the renewal of the whole temporal order. He goes on and says, in fact, the counsel in describing the lay faithful's situation in the secular world, points to it. it above all as the place in which they receive their call from God. They, there they are called by God is it is in the world that we are called. Live in the world. That is, in every one of the secular professions and occupations, we live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life from which the very fabric of our existence is woven. So God manifests his plan and communicates to our particular vocation of seeking the kingdom of God

by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God. All of this comes from John Paul II in Christophidelius Leachie. Oh, it's a good one. And so let's kind of wind, start to wind this down just a little bit. So much more still to say. but in short we can we could say as the lay faithful who are sharing in the threefold mission of Jesus and are walking in his authority that you and I are called to holiness we are we're called to holiness we come to a full sense of the dignity of the lay faithful if if if if we come to a full

sense of the dignity of the lay faithful if we consider the prime and fundamental vocation that the Father assigns to each of us in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, the vocation to holiness. So that's what we are walking in, the vocation to holiness. That is the perfection of charity. So holiness is the greatest testimony of the dignity conferred on a disciple of Christ. Holiness. Holiness is what we're called to.

I teach a course at the seminary called the School of Discipleship. If you're parishes at all ever interested in that, you can go to c.is student.com. And the seminary runs that course out of the catechetical institute there. And in there, I am constantly talking about the life of a disciple. And in a disciple's life, there is a call to holiness. and that holiness is the greatest testimony of the dignity conferred on a disciple of Christ. So holiness is our goal. But in that school of discipleship, I make a big deal out of the Book of Leviticus because

as the nation of Israel was coming out of bondage, 400 years worth, it's quite a hunk of bondage. As they were coming out, God met them at Mount Sinai, stayed with them for a year there, and then they broke camp and headed north. God was in the midst of them, and he said to them in the book of Leviticus, he said that I want you to be holy as I am holy. In fact, he said it six times, be holy as I am holy. And then he said, I want you to be able to discern between the good and the bad between that which is holy and that which is not holy or profane. And that's what we're called to. That's the call to holiness. In John Paul says it's not just a simple moral exhortation, but an undeniable requirement arising from the

mystery of the church. She is the choice vine, whose branches live and grow with the same holy and life-giving energies that come from Christ. She is the mystical body, the church, whose members share in the same life of holiness of the head who is Christ. We share in the same life of holiness of the head who is Christ and get this John Paul II says that is the same spirit the spirit that sanctified

the human nature of Jesus and Mary's virginal womb is the same spirit that is abiding and working in the church you to communicate to the world the holiness of the son of God

I guess that answers the question why did John Paul the 2nd why did he canonize more saints than anyone before him? Why? Well, because men and women's saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult circumstances in church history. And today we have the greatest need of saints that we have ever had in the church's history. And we need saints that we can communicate with in heaven to be sure and ask for their intercession. My friend, we need saints at your work. We need saints at your hospital. We need saints in your classroom. We need saints in that bus that you drive. We need saints in the

military that you wake up every day and say, yes, sir. We need saints. We need saints in the vineyard in the world. The entire people of God and the lay faithful in particular and find at this moment new models of holiness in the saints and new witnesses of heroic virtue lived in ordinary everyday circumstances of human existence. That's why. That's why he canonized so many people. And he said that we have the ability to manifest the holiness of God and we have the responsibility to bear witness to it in all that we do. I absolutely love that. It is so good. St. Leo the Great comes to mind, John Paul says, and he said, acknowledge, O Christian, your digged. your dignity. All the baptized are invited to hear once again the words of St. Augustine,

let us rejoice and give thanks. We have not only become Christians, but Christ himself. Stand in awe and rejoice. We have become Christ. We have a position of dignity as laity. That is the message. That is so powerful. It is dignity which brings demands. The dignity of laborers called by the Lord to work in his vineyard upon all the lay faithful then rest the exalted duty of working to assure that each day the divine plan of salvation is further extended to every person where you work at of every era in every part of the earth. My friend, there may be a shortage of priest, but I would suggest to you that there's a serious, serious shortage of laity. Would you join with me and pray about this?

And again, you know, last week I know I'm coming out strong on this. I know it, and I cannot say it any other way than to be expedient, you know, and to take this so seriously. our call as they lay faithful. We don't need more of just everybody staring at the priest and him begging for volunteers. We need to step up as the lay faithful. You and I can be the beginning of that in our parishes.

We can. We can. You're equipped. You have dignity. You are the body of Christ. Let's pray. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, thank you. today for calling us to be your mouthpiece, to be your arms, to acknowledge the truth and

proclaim the truth in word indeed, wherever we are planted. Lord, we are in the world, but we know we're not of the world. But as long as we're in the world, we'll be fruitful. As Paul said, to be with you, Lord, is the great thing. But if we're going to stay here on earth, we're going to be fruitful. And we're going to be the true presence of you in the world. Lord, help us to overcome, help us to overcome, I pray, oh, Lord, that sense that we have that I can't do this. This isn't for me. I don't have that gift. Help us, oh God, I pray, that you would help us in our lack of commitment. as we know that it is unacceptable. We know, Lord, that to remain idle is not permissible in your kingdom.

And that you are saying to us, as you said in Matthew 20, in the parable of the vineyard, you're saying to us, why are you standing here idle? Because, Lord, we didn't know that we were supposed to be working in your vineyard. But now we clearly hear you, come to work. come to work thank you lord for anointing the anointing you've given us in baptism and confirmation and the eucharist thank you lord as we go forth and we lift up right now all of the people in our sphere of influence oh lord god in my family in my neighborhood at work and those that i meet at the store lord remind me that i'm i'm a witness remind me that you are walking with me and

give me opportunities to do good deeds, but as well, speak if necessary. Speak if I get the opportunity. Thank you for allowing that, oh God. Change us, mold us, shape us. We want to become more like you. In Jesus' name, amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. God bless you.

I love you and I love being with you and I just wish we could stay here all week and talk together. But you know what? There's work to be done in the vineyard. We'll talk to you next week.