Catholic Action
1. Catholic action is the participation of the laity, or more correctly
their cooperation, in the hierarchical apostolate of the Church. It is
not really an innovation. It is as old as the Church herself, although
it is only on account of the peculiar circumstances of our times that it
has come to be organised in a special manner. From the beginning of
Christianity, the laity of both sexes
worked energetically alongside the Apostles for the expansion of the
Kingdom of God. When St. Paul was writing to the Philippians he urged
them to assist those Christian women who had done so much to spread the
Gospel, as well as Clement and his other fellow-workers. "Help them, for
they have toiled with me in the Gospel, as have Clement and the rest of
my fellow-workers whose names are in the book of life." It is evident
that even at that time there were laymen and women working in
cooperation with the apostolic hierarchy. Every Christian, moreover,
should feel the need to do this. Anyone who has the true faith and is on
fire with the love of God and of his neighbour cannot but exert himself
so that all men may reach the truth and live in accordance with it,
that is, in accordance with the precepts of the Gospel. Anyone who is
not motivated by this desire cannot claim to be a genuine and
enthusiastic Christian.
2. The need for a lay apostolate has
grown tremendously in our day. The scarcity of priests is not the only
reason for this. It is true that their numbers are entirely inadequate
in many places to meet the spiritual needs of the people. But there is
the additional factor that certain spheres cannot easily be penetrated
by the clergy. There are many people who never even enter a church. They
never have any contact with the priest, who finds it difficult to
approach them. He needs a "long arm" which will bear the light where he
cannot carry it himself. The lay apostolate can be this "long arm."
Catholic workmen can do an amount of good among their fellow workers by
word and by example. So can teachers, clerks, doctors, journalists, and
the rest. This kind of environmental apostolate is very valuable today.
It must be built up into a system of blood-vessels which will carry the
stream of Christian life from its heart, which is the priesthood, to the
farther extremities of society. Let Christian laymen recognise that
this is an honourable vocation which they have received, for it is a
participation in the priestly office. Everyone should feel summoned to
do everything possible in his own environment to lead souls to Christ.
3. Spiritual formation is necessary for this task. The layman must be a
sincere and earnest Christian. Otherwise, he will not be able to
transmit to others what he has not got himself. He must live the life of
the Church and help it to fulfil its saving mission. To say that he
must cooperate with the priest is the same as saying that he must
cooperate with Christ, for the priest must be another Christ. So it is a
high honour which the layman assumes when he dedicates himself to the
aposotlate and he will enjoy many consolations.
If anyone
deliberately refuses to undertake this apostolate, his faith is neither
alive nor active. If our faith is to be sincere and effective, we must
first of all undergo a strenuous spiritual training, nourished by prayer
and by divine grace. As a consequence, we shall work generously to
bring about the triumph of the life of Christ in others souls also.
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