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Chapter Two

What Is Our Purpose?

Lay Catholics of a certain age grew up thinking their purpose in the Church, and perhaps in life, was to “pray, pay, and obey.” However, Jesus had a much larger role in mind for us. So did many of our Church leaders down through the ages. We might not have heard about their vision for us in childhood catechism classes because it concerns how we function as adults. But since we are now adults, we should consider it.

At Vatican II, the council fathers addressed this issue as soon as they addressed the meaning of baptism. Quoting 1 Peter 2:9, they wrote that baptism makes us part of Jesus’ own body and consecrates us “into a kingly priesthood and a holy nation” where we are called to “witness to Christ all the world over.”⁴ Makes us sound important, doesn’t it? But perhaps it also sounds a little too idealistic to fit the reality of our everyday lives. Elsewhere in the documents of Vatican II, the council fathers offered a more down-to-earth description of the role of all baptized persons:

By reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God’s will. They live in the world, that is, they are engaged in each and every work and business of the earth and in the ordinary circumstances of social and family life which, as it were, constitute their very existence. There they are called by God that, being led by the spirit to the Gospel, they may contribute to the sanctification of the world, as from within like leaven, by fulfilling their own particular duties. Thus, especially by the witness of their life, resplendent in faith, hope and charity they must manifest Christ to others. It pertains to them in a special way so to illuminate and order all temporal things with which they are so closely associated that these may be effected and grow according to Christ and may be to the glory of the Creator and Redeemer.⁵

Here we are presented with a clear call to lead like Jesus in our everyday lives at home, at work, and in our communities. To summarize:

• What are the laity called by Christ to do? To work for the “sanctification of the world.”

• How are we to do it? By “the witness of [our] life, resplendent in faith, hope and charity.” (Clearly, it is much more a matter of what we do than what we say.)

A few years after the Second Vatican Council ended, Pope Paul VI added a note of urgency regarding the laity’s special mission in the world. He issued an “insistent call to action” for us to “infuse a Christian spirit” into the world around us — noting that we should not wait passively “for orders and directives.”⁶

What Is Sanctification?

If the vocation of every baptized Catholic is to “sanctify the world,” it’s only fair to ask: What is sanctification? Perhaps the best definition is found in Vatican II’s call “to infuse the Christian spirit into the mentality and behavior, laws and structures of the community in which one lives.”⁷ This isn’t the only time we’ve been told that it’s our job. Pope John Paul II said basically the same thing to lay people when he visited the United States in 1987:

As lay men and women actively engaged in this temporal order, you are being called by Christ to sanctify the world and to transform it. This is true of all work, however exalted or humble, but it is especially urgent for those whom circumstances and special talent have placed in positions of leadership or influence: men and women in public service, education, business, science, social communications, and the arts.⁸

Notice that the pope said that the call “to sanctify the world and to transform it” applies to “all work, however exalted or humble.”

A Warning About Preaching

“Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head.”

St. Charles Borromeo

But obviously, he was also aware of what had happened to American Catholics as a people since the end of World War II. Thanks to the GI Bill and a booming economy, in one generation Catholicism in the United States moved from a church of the urban working poor to a church of suburban, upper-middle-class leaders and managers. So the pope said that the work of sanctifying and transforming the world is “especially urgent for those whom circumstances and special talent have placed in positions of leadership or influence.”

Clearly, all of us who are baptized share a calling to “sanctify the world.” It’s “especially urgent” that those of us with leadership positions in the world respond to that calling. But if we conclude that this calling is limited only to our roles in the work world, we miss the point entirely. A poster that was popular a few decades ago got it exactly right: “Bloom where you are planted.” As Church leaders have consistently made clear over the ages, our vocation to sanctify the world involves all our roles — and most especially those of spouse, parent, and citizen.

In his remarks to some U.S. bishops on their ad limina visits to Rome on May 28, 2004, Pope John Paul II put it this way:

Now is above all the hour of the lay faithful, who, by their specific vocation to shape the secular world in accordance with the Gospel, are called to carry forward the Church’s prophetic mission by evangelizing the various spheres of family, social, professional and cultural life.

Did He Say “Evangelizing”?

Many lay Catholics are not used to hearing the words “evangelizing” and “evangelization.” Even less are we accustomed to hearing that our role is to “evangelize” anyone. But the pope whom many call Pope John Paul the Great said that the laity’s responsibility includes “evangelizing.” Like it or not, he deserves a fair hearing.

Many of us associate “evangelizing” with something freelance preachers once did on street corners and under tents, but now do on television and radio. If evangelizing is preaching, most Catholics are pretty sure they want nothing to do with it. We’re relieved to learn that preaching is a job that’s reserved for bishops, priests, and deacons, and we’re only too happy to let them do it — unless, of course, they drone on for very long.

But if we aren’t expected to preach, how can we be expected to evangelize? When Pope John Paul II, his predecessors, and his successor talk about evangelization, they have in mind something much broader — and frankly, with more lasting impact — than standing on a street corner, in a pulpit, or on a stage preaching. Instead, their perspective recalls the advice of St. Francis of Assisi, who told his followers, “Go and preach the Gospel, and if you must, use words.”

IN THE FAMILY

Prove It to Yourself in Just a Minute

To confirm that actions speak louder than words, try a little experiment. It takes just a minute. During this minute you should close your eyes, sit back, and relax. But first, read the next paragraph.

Here’s how to spend your minute: Think about your relationship with your parent who has had the greatest influence on your life. If both have had an equal influence, pick one arbitrarily. Imagine yourself with that parent. Where are you? What are you doing? Mentally envision the scene. What do you notice? Describe the sights, smells, and sounds. What do you remember most about this parent? What do you appreciate most? What really stands out? Think about his or her lasting impact on you. What matters most about him or her?

Now close your eyes for about a minute and begin the exercise. You can have someone time you, set a timer, or just estimate the time. When you are done, open your eyes and read the next paragraph.

Now ask yourself: Was I thinking about things my parent said to me or things my parent did? Did I recall things he or she told me or the sacrifices that were made, the cheerfulness that was displayed, the affection that was shared, the focus he or she had, the pies or cookies that were baked, the love that was given me, the confidence he or she showed in me? After you have thought about this, read on.

I have been conducting this experiment for years, and except for two very special cases, the answer has always been the same: We remember what our parents did. We remember how they lived.

Isn’t that surprising? After all, good parents are giving directions constantly. “Do this! Don’t to that! Yada, yada, yada.” Yet what sticks and continues to shape our lives long after our parents are gone is not so much what they said, but what they did. (In fact, if what they said contradicted what they did, we rejected their advice as hypocritical.)

If you are a parent who fears that your children don’t listen to a thing you say, this new awareness may give you some consolation and reason to hope for the future. It’s not your words so much as your deeds that matter to your children.

Of course, if your behavior needs improvement, there’s no better time to work on it than right now — before it does further harm shaping your children’s long-term development.

Words are important. We use them to share the meaning of events with one another. But we’ve always known that deeds speak louder than words, especially when it comes to shaping human lives.

Our Greatest Power

Our greatest power to have lasting influence on the people around us is rooted in our everyday behavior, not in the words we use to tell others what to do. That’s true in all our relationships. And that’s how we can evangelize (or scandalize) without using words. In fact, that’s how we can sometimes evangelize (or scandalize) without even being aware of what we are doing.

For all Christians (including clergy, but most especially for lay Christians), evangelization is not nearly so much about talking the talk as it is about walking the walk. Of course, this has always been true. Way back about A.D. 200, a priest and theologian by the name of Tertullian noted that the deeds of love among his fellow Christians had led non-Christians “to put a brand on us” — expressed in the phrase “see how they love one another.”⁹ That had to be particularly gratifying to Christians of that time because their leader, Jesus, had told them: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (Jn 13:34).

IN THE CHURCH

Everyday Actions Influence Hundreds of Thousands

It’s clear that actions speak louder than words — and that we evangelize without words — when we look at the success of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) in our Church. Every year thousands of adults freely join the Church after a long process of study, reflection, and discussion in parish RCIA programs.

What got them started down this path to becoming Catholic?

Over the years I’ve had a chance to talk with many of them, and I always like to ask them what drew them to the Church. Many are drawn to the Church by a spouse or other family member, which speaks of the power that our close relationships have to shape our lives and even, on occasion, turn them in a new direction. Nearly always, the others I meet who have gone through the RCIA process share stories about the impact a Catholic friend or neighbor had on them in the course of their everyday lives. Here are the kinds of things I hear:

“They just seemed to have their act together.”

“They were such a healthy, happy family.”

“They were so nice to us when we moved in, and kept on being nice.”

“The woman next door checked in on me when I was ill.”

“The man down the street was always pleasant. When my lawnmower broke, he came over and cut my grass.”

“They just seemed to have something I was missing.”

“I wanted to be more like them.”

“I wanted to have what I saw they had.”

Typically, they will add: “At some point we just started talking.” So yes, words are important. But nearly always the seed is planted when someone notices that a lay Catholic person, couple, or family seems to be endowed with something that makes them a little happier or considerate. Their lives seem more purposeful or satisfying.

It’s what we do that matters most. In fact, it’s what we do that prompts others to inquire about what we have to say. Only when our lives reflect a Christian dimension do our words have the power to attract instead of to repel.

As we consider our individual and collective purpose as Christians today — and our impact on the world — we have to ask ourselves several questions:

• Is love still Christianity’s primary “brand” today?

• If not, why not?

• Is our love the first thing that others notice about us as Christians?

• Or are there other things in our behavior that brand us in other ways? (Gandhi once observed: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. If Christians really lived according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.” At another time, he was reputedly asked if he would ever consider being a Christian. He said he would if he could find one.)

• What can I do to make that brand — how Christians love one another — the hallmark of my faith as people see me living it?

When we talk about being Christian but then don’t live consistently with our profession of faith, we drive people away from Christianity. It turns out that some people leave the Church for much the same reason that other people come to the Church: the behavior of Church members.

I served for many years as a Church spokesman in the media, so I am publicly associated with Christianity. That role provided me with many opportunities to meet people who have abandoned church participation. I’m always willing to listen to their stories, and in nearly every case it turns out that they don’t go to church at least in part because of someone who does. That tells us Christians that how we act shapes the brand that Christianity has in people’s hearts and minds today.

This is a particular burden for clergy because they can almost never escape being associated with the Church. Everything they are seen doing and saying reflects on people’s view of Christianity, and often people expect them to be perfect. But it is a burden for the rest of us, too. Whenever anyone knows we are Christian, whatever we do and whatever we fail to do can reflect on all Christians and on Christianity itself. Perhaps that’s why many of us are happy to leave all talk of religion outside of the public arena, especially outside our place of work, and why some of us even drift away from religious practice. If no one knows we’re Christian, at least we can’t be accused of giving Christianity a bad name.

But Jesus set the bar higher than that. He says our role is to live in such a way that we help the Gospel take root everywhere. Catholic bishops in the United States affirmed Jesus’ teaching in their 1998 pastoral letter Everyday Christianity: To Hunger and Thirst for Justice:

Followers of the Lord Jesus live their discipleship as spouses and parents, single adults and youth, employers and employees, consumers and investors, citizens and neighbors. We renew the warning of the Second Vatican Council that the “split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age.” By our Baptism and Confirmation every member of our community is called to live his or her faith in the world.

Many of us hunger to integrate our faith with our everyday lives. We want to avoid the unfortunate split between faith and life mentioned by the council fathers and the nation’s bishops. Fortunately, we are given a good place to start with the opportunity to learn to lead like Jesus.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

• Does my everyday behavior contribute to my purpose as a Christian to sanctify the world?

• Where and where not?

• Why or why not?

• What might I do in one of my relationships or in one of my roles to help sanctify the world?