Our Q and A with Msgr. Vincent Gartland on the meaning and value of the lay vocation.Before his retirement from active ministry in 2014, Msgr. Gartland had served for 19 years as pastor of St. Ann Parish, Lawrenceville.
How would you best describe the gifts and responsibility of a lay vocation and how this vocation impacts the Church and her people?
We often forget that the primary Sacrament is Baptism. It is through the Sacrament of Baptism that we receive our call to follow Jesus and work to establish the reign of God in our time. Each one of us does this in our own unique way with the gifts and talents we have and the situations in which we find ourselves. A few choose to do this through vowed religious life in community and a few choose to do this by seeking ordination in the Church as deacons, priest or bishops; however the vast majority of the Church, the largest part of the body of Christ, is made up of lay women and men. It is important to keep this fact in mind as we speak of vocations in the Church.
The Vatican Council made it quite clear in chapter five of The Constitution on the Church regarding the Universal Call to Holiness:
“The Lord Jesus, the divine Teacher and Model of all perfection, preached holiness of life to each and every one of his disciples, regardless of their situation (LG 40).” There are no degrees of holiness. The butcher, the baker, the parents and teacher are called to be as holy as the priest or the nun in the cloister. “One and the same holiness is cultivated by all (LG41).”Each one of us in our own unique way moves toward the holiness that we are called to as a follower of Christ. This is our spiritual journey and the Church accompanies us throughout this journey.
Pope Francis recently reminded us, “What we need are men and women, laity and consecrated people who are passionate, set afire by their encounter with God, redeemed in their humanity, and capable of proclaiming in their lives the happiness born of their vocation (June 6, 2019 Congress for Pastoral Care of Vocations).”
The Vatican Council’sfoundational documents Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes made it clear that the laity are not members of a “second order” at the service of the hierarchy and simple executors of higher orders, but as disciples of Christ, by virtue of their Baptism and of their position “in the world” are called to animate every environment, every activity, every human relation according to the spirit of the Gospel. (LG 31)
This is an exciting and challenging vocation and it the responsibility of all the baptized.
Our prayers for vocation then should always include prayers for those who have chosen, marriage and the single life. Their presence and action in the world will have a great effect on the preaching of the Gospel in word and in deed.
What are some of the key ways that laymen and laywomen can live out their vocation in meaningful and impactful ways?
Most members of the laity choose to live out their vocation in the loving and supportive relationship of Marriage.No relationship is more central to our society as the family. It is where we learn about moral principles and where we learn to act on them and begin to realize our dignity and rights in relationship to others. Our Catholic tradition teaches that human beings grow and achieve fulfillment in community. The work of family life is an important and very challenging way that laywomen and men live out their vocation in a most meaningful and impactful way.
The growing number of lay women and men theologians and teachers also demonstrates an important contribution to the growth of the Church. And those who are taking their rightful place in the celebration of the Eucharist and in parish life and administration are bringing an essential element to the growth and vitality of the Church. In places where the laity are encouraged and welcomed as real collaborators, the Church is alive and flourishing; where there gifts are ignored or denied, the Church stagnates.
How have you, your parish or the Church overall worked to empower the laity to serve as part of their call from God?
We empower the laity by taking them seriously and giving them a rightful place in the decision making of the local parish. They must work collaboratively with the ordained and vowed members of the Church otherwise their gifts are seen as secondary or nice, but not necessary.
Prayers for Vocations should always include prayers for those living the Sacrament of Marriage and those who are seeking full time service in the Church. The Mass for the Laity should be said from time to time.
Recruitment to serve in the various parish ministries and activities should be present not so much as “volunteer opportunities,” but as invitations to live out your Baptismal call to life and service in the Church.