Martina Vintrová
In the recent issues of the Karmel magazine, several articles have appeared about the laity, the apostolate of the laity (this was, after all, also the theme of the International Congress of Carmelite Laity in 2011). This topic and the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council have long been an inspiration for me to reflect and pray. It seems to me that the great potential hidden in Christians is still waiting for its full realization. Or where it manifests, it is not fully appreciated. Perhaps this is because, in the mission of the laity, it is usually not about effect, but about real hard work, which society mostly does not appreciate, or certainly not at first glance.
“The specific and special characteristic of the laity is their secular nature. (...) From the very vocation of the laity arises the task of seeking God's kingdom by engaging with temporal things and arranging them according to God. They live in the world, meaning in all secular vocations and activities, and in the ordinary conditions of family and social life, from which their existence is almost woven. There, God calls them to fulfill their own tasks in the spirit of the Gospel and, as leaven, contribute to the sanctification of the world somehow from within, primarily by the example of their lives, by faith, hope, and love, proclaiming Christ to others. Therefore, they have a particular mission to permeate and order all temporal affairs with which they are closely connected, so that they may always be carried out and developed according to Christ and serve for the praise of the Creator and the Redeemer.”
(Dogmatic Constitution of the Second Vatican Council Lumen Gentium, No. 31.)
This description of the role of the laity in the Church has long disturbed and even offended me, a layperson. I understood it this way: the laity are to deal with temporal matters, which means that those "proper" spiritual matters are only for priests and religious; we do not have access to them and are being pushed away from them. Our spiritual experiences cannot be trusted and are not as important as those "priestly and religious". We do not spiritually uplift the world. I felt inferior. However, after years of various experiences, I came to realize that this view of mine is foolishness and a great misunderstanding.
In fact, it is not at all easy to “permeate and arrange all temporal affairs.” That our lives point to Christ and that the world operates according to His order sometimes requires hard work, even martyrdom, demanding great faith, love, hope, and other virtues.
I can wrongly perceive my spiritual life as a layperson if I proclaim my faith but do not live according to it, or if I live a distorted version of it. For example, someone may be a known Catholic, but their elderly grandmother is driven to church by strangers. Sometimes, a devout activist mother may take care of many people and things, but her own children feel neglected and that they are always second. I might find it gratifying to gossip under the guise of caring while hiding my self-satisfaction from my neighbors, spreading slander, and quietly showcasing my virtues. I do not even realize that something is not aligning with the Gospel here... I wear a large cross or medal around my neck and fill my mouth with love for people, but I do not bother to simply thank them, I fail to appreciate the work of my neighbor, or I even disrupt it with slander. Even though such behavior may have deeper roots that need healing, it certainly significantly marks our actions. Thus, it is ultimately not true that from our lives, to use the words of the council, the light of faith shines and organizes temporal affairs and develops them according to Christ.
All those qualities mentioned by St. Paul (cf. 1 Cor 13:4–6): being honest and truthful, not envying, not boasting or being arrogant, not acting dishonestly, not getting easily provoked, not counting wrongs, not rejoicing at others' misfortunes, avoiding constant swearing, being kind, forgiving, having hope, noticing the little needs of people, not slandering, not suspecting others of bad intentions, not envying and being just, not humiliating others, not acting out of selfish motives, respecting people and acknowledging their good work, devoting one's time not just to oneself and one’s affairs but to others, perhaps just listening to them, accepting and not judging them, in short, engaging in a personal struggle with oneself in these matters, and striving externally to realize various good Christian things and attitudes where I live, even if it seems my sphere of influence is tiny, can sometimes be very challenging. It is only possible with God's grace and requires knowledge of God, a good understanding of His word, and living in close contact with Him, sometimes to the extent of living as a mystic. However, when we strive for this, it becomes a great witness, and believe me, the surroundings clearly notice it. And then no one can excuse themselves by claiming that living according to the faith is only for priests and religious, but for normal people it is not, because in everyday life, what the Church proclaims simply cannot be maintained... When we change ourselves into the image of God, we can then also change the world into a better, more pleasant, and calmer place. And keeping God's commandments, especially the commandment of love, leads to that.
Let us not superficially assume that the mission to “arrange temporal matters according to God” is a matter only for educated people, or those who have reached a certain position and with it influence over others. For years, it has occasionally come to my mind (in hospitals, on trains, but also in church institutions and elsewhere) that one of the most important callings is that of cleaners. And what about cooks and good craftsmen? Or parents! Of course, we immediately realize that others are in the same situation: artists, entrepreneurs, salespeople, scientists, clerks, doctors, farmers, retirees, neighbors, friends... All of them can (and should) contribute, each with their own – even if at first glance unnoticeable – work to ensure that life around them has the order, peace, dignity, and beauty that God desires. Then even the most ordinary things and activities reveal what God wants and what He is like, and they can be accompanied by simple joy and love for Him.
The Second Vatican Council wisely teaches us that all Christians, not just priests or religious, have a share in Christ’s mission and in the mission that God has entrusted to His Church to fulfill in the world. No Christian has an unimportant or negligible task. Let us look at our life’s mission and our current life situation from this perspective; let us take it seriously! Pope Francis said: “Being Christians means living and witnessing faith in prayer, in acts of love, advocating for justice, and doing good.” Our Carmelite vocation leads us directly to this, for our charism is to pray, to know God, and to see the world through His eyes. And from that, everything else follows...
