Pope: Lay Faithful Called to Evangelize the World

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Michie

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Asia News (www.asianews.it/)
On visit to Sardinia, Holy Father Challenges the Lay Faithful to go into the world of work, economics and politics.

CAGLIARI (AsiaNews) -
Just before the celebration of the birth of Mary, Benedict XVI asked that her example and her support "make you capable of evangelizing the world of work, the economy, politics, which requires a new generation of committed Christian laypeople capable of seeking with competency and moral rigor solutions of sustainable development".

The pope's visit to Sardinia was dedicated to Mary and to her role in the work of Redemption. The visit was motivated by the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the shrine of Our Lady of Bonaria, near Cagliari. It was a brief visit, beginning this morning and ending in the afternoon, and had its central moment in the Mass that Benedict XVI celebrated in the square of the shrine church. There, before the recitation of the Angelus, he addressed a thought to the mothers of the whole world: "those who, together with their husbands, raise their children in a harmonious family context, and those who, for so many reasons, find themselves facing this difficult task alone. May all of them carry out their daily service in the family, the Church, and society with dedication and fidelity. May the Virgin Mary be support, comfort, and hope for all!".

Almost 100,000 faithful came to listen to him, some of them participating in the celebration from the sea, where many boats full of sailors and fishermen gathered.On the eve of the feast of the birth of Mary, which has been observed on September 8 for centuries, the pope emphasized at the Angelus how "this event constitutes a fundamental step for the Family of Nazareth, the cradle of our redemption; it is an event that concerns all of us, because every gift that God granted to Her, the Mother, was granted with us, Her children, in mind as well".

Continued- http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=29151
 

QuantaCura

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Yeah, the Second Vatican Council even declared us useless if we don't (a bit indicting for me at least!):

2. The Church was founded for the purpose of spreading the kingdom of Christ throughout the earth for the glory of God the Father, to enable all men to share in His saving redemption,(1) and that through them the whole world might enter into a relationship with Christ. All activity of the Mystical Body directed to the attainment of this goal is called the apostolate, which the Church carries on in various ways through all her members. For the Christian vocation by its very nature is also a vocation to the apostolate. No part of the structure of a living body is merely passive but has a share in the functions as well as life of the body: so, too, in the body of Christ, which is the Church, "the whole body . . . in keeping with the proper activity of each part, derives its increase from its own internal development" (Eph. 4:16).


Indeed, the organic union in this body and the structure of the members are so compact that the member who fails to make his proper contribution to the development of the Church must be said to be useful neither to the Church nor to himself.


In the Church there is a diversity of ministry but a oneness of mission. Christ conferred on the Apostles and their successors the duty of teaching, sanctifying, and ruling in His name and power. But the laity likewise share in the priestly, prophetic, and royal office of Christ and therefore have their own share in the mission of the whole people of God in the Church and in the world.(2)


They exercise the apostolate in fact by their activity directed to the evangelization and sanctification of men and to the penetrating and perfecting of the temporal order through the spirit of the Gospel. In this way, their temporal activity openly bears witness to Christ and promotes the salvation of men. Since the laity, in accordance with their state of life, live in the midst of the world and its concerns, they are called by God to exercise their apostolate in the world like leaven, with the ardor of the spirit of Christ.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_...ree_19651118_apostolicam-actuositatem_en.html
 
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