The Role of the Laity in the Catholic Church By definition, the term laity means the body of the

faithful, outside the ranks of the clergy. The laity is a member of this society who remains where they were placed by baptism. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order. According to paragraph 31 of Lumen Gentium, one of the Second Vatican Council documents, The term laity is here understood to mean all the faithful except those in holy orders and those in the state of religious life specially approved by the Church. These faithful are by baptism made one body with Christ and are constituted among the People of God; they are in their own way made sharers in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly functions of Christ; and they carry out for their own part the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world. These people are baptized and considered one of the sons and daughters of God, whom also the brother and sister of Christ. The laity are being united with the ordinary people through baptism, faith and oneness in the Lord. We should avoid a clerical mentality, noting that one is bound to get the role of the laity wrong if it is defined in clerical terms. the proper role of the laity, according to the Vatican II, is not to try to "take over" clerical functions by aiming for "power" in the Church, but to get out into the world - both to sanctify one's own secular job there, doing it out of love for God and to the best of one's human abilities, as well as to sanctify the world itself, drawing people to Christ by example: human honesty, integrity and hard work, sincere friendship, married and family life lived faithfully. In general terms, to become a laity is to enter onseself into a vocation, wherein one adapts to its ways, roles and assumption predestined by God; once chosen, one has no way to break its ways, roles and functions, but merely to embrace and live with it to exhibit the role of the laity. Building upon what has been examined so far, the role of the laity can be summarized in a three-part statement: The laity are called to the vocation of holiness for the purpose of renewing the temporal order by means of evangelization. The Second Vatican Council put emphasis on laitys function or role as to sanctify the created world by directing it to become more Christian in its system and structure. For the Church provide the full role of sanctification, whom the laity took part of it as considered full members of the Church, to be of inner union with God acting with freedom and personal responsibility. According to Paragraph 7 of Lumen Gentium, In that Body the life of Christ is poured into the believers who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ who suffered and was glorified. Through Baptism we are formed in the likeness of Christ: "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body". In this sacred rite a oneness with Christ's death and resurrection is both symbolized and brought about: "For we were buried with Him by means of Baptism into death"; and if "we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall be so in the likeness of His resurrection also". Really partaking of the body of the Lord in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another. "Because the bread is one, we though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread". In this way all of us are made members of His Body, "but severally members one of another. As all the members of the human body, plentiful they may be but together form one body, so also are the faithful in Christ. They will serve as building blocks for the establishment of Christs body wherein various members have their own functions and part to play. As they promote and encourage unity among Churchs members, as part of the greater body, through His power and inner joining of the members, the same Spirit outpours and encourages love among His believers. It seems like a scalar chain which has a domino effect, that if one member of the body endures anything, all the members do endure with him, and if one member being paid a tribute, all the members will shout for rejoicing. Furthermore, according to paragraph 31 of the Lumen Gentium, But the laity, by their very vocation, seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God. They live in the world, that is, in each and in all of the secular professions and occupations. They live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of their existence is woven. They are called there by God

that by exercising their proper function and led by the spirit of the Gospel they may work for the sanctification of the world from within as a leaven. In this way they may make Christ known to others, especially by the testimony of a life resplendent in faith, hope and charity. Therefore, since they are tightly bound up in all types of temporal affairs it is their special task to order and to throw light upon these affairs in such a way that they may come into being and then continually increase according to Christ to the praise of the Creator and the Redeemer. The laity serve as guide for those members of the Church, to guide them on their way to a more Christian way of living, even though given this unique and profound responsibility, they will interact to the physical world, to the presenting reality, to live in ordinary circumstances in social life. But, even given these conditions, their life are being led by the Gospel, whom shall they live and work for the sanctification of the world. Through hem Christ will be known to all worldly beings, being witness and guide to serve the platter of testimonies of Christs wonders and power in resemblance to love, faith and charity. They will serve as light to other members, whom guided by their own predestined and chosen vocation, to live accordingly to Christs way of being, as people who were molded in the image and likeness of God, for the greater glory of His name. For according to paragraph 37 of the Lumen Gentium, The laity should, as all Christians, promptly accept in Christian obedience decisions of their spiritual shepherds, since they are representatives of Christ as well as teachers and rulers in the Church. Paragraph 35 of the Lumen Gentium states that, Consequently, even when preoccupied with temporal cares, the laity can and must perform a work of great value for the evangelization of the world. For even if some of them have to fulfill their religious duties on their own, when there are no sacred ministers or in times of persecution; and even if many of them devote all their energies to apostolic work; still it remains for each one of them to cooperate in the external spread and the dynamic growth of the Kingdom of Christ in the world. Therefore, let the laity devotedly strive to acquire a more profound grasp of revealed truth, and let them insistently beg of God the gift of wisdom. Even if the laity dwells with the ordinary circumstances of an earthly being, the laity is given the option yet a responsibility to work for greater value for evangelization of the world. Even if they are to perform their religious expression according to their own will, yet there still remains within them the need to cooperate to devotedly strive to spread and share the forceful growth of the Kingdom of God yet encourage them to strive for acquisition of revealed truth and continue to beg for the gift of wisdom from God. Nowadays, to be part of the laity and to exhibit their own pre-designated role and function of sanctifying the community is a big challenge. With the evidence of vast improvement in the technological aspect of the society, with the rampant invasion and availability of impurities and temptation that will try to influence and somewhat affect the main objective of sanctification, in which deeper faith in God should be a profound foundation in so that the goal of sanctification of humanity will be achieve. To live in a physical earthly world, together with the sources of present impurities that would dilute the pure intention and inner need of the humanity for sanctification, the laity should really be faced in a great challenge. As what aforementioned paragraph would tell, they are supposed to live in the world, dwell in the physical society, but they should live in a more Christian way, and bring God to them, let God be known to humanity and be serve as an example to live life in a more Christian way. Specifically, the laity can also share in ecclesial forgiveness through fraternal correction - the baptized in the exercise of their kingly role are called to correct one another; our natural desire for friendship and peace should cede to the Christian duty of fraternal correction; forbearance the baptized are called to a deliberate unwillingness to judge harshly even when provoked to do so; tears the baptized are called to shed tears for their own sins and for the sins of the community; and intercessory prayer the baptized are called to constant intercessory prayer. Through this way, not only laity can perform this additional role of the laity in the Catholic Church, but also enables the members of the church, the presenting humanity, to mend as they embrace more deeply the forgiving grace and glory of God and able to share with one another and extend it to the whole humanity as a great sign of hope and salvation to the whole world.

The mission of the Church is fulfilled through the exercise of various ministries and services. For once said, the fundamental law is that "all the ministries not only aim to create communion but are endowed for communion, communion in the exercise of multiple and varied ministries." In other words, all those who fulfill a service must carry it out as ministers in communion with Christ and among themselves for the good of all the Christian community. In the light of the ecclesiology of Vatican II, all the members of the People of God are ministers or servants of the word of salvation, though not all in the same way. The diversity arises from the varied participation of each in the prophetical office of Christ. Baptism, because it consecrates and unites us to Christ, constitutes the first title to participation. The laity receives from Christ the right and duty to announce his Gospel. The prophecy of the laity assumes its own noble form. The Christian family which piously listens to and faithfully proclaims in deeds and words the divine message, is the living force, the inner core of the people of God. The Catholic Churchs consistent call to evangelization did not come out of a blue - it is a reverberation of the Council's repeated call for the same. Paragraph 33 of the Lumen Gentium states that the laity "have the exalted duty of working for the ever greater spread of the divine plan of salvation to all men, of every epoch and all over the earth. Therefore may the way be clear for them to share diligently in the salvific work of the Church according to their ability and the needs of the times". Baptized into Christ, we are filled with his life and are called to be little christs - "anointed ones" - who, being fed by the Eucharist, go into the world and make the Church visible. This is very challenging and forces us to leave our comfort zones. Since the role of the laity in the Catholic church mainly focuses on evangelization in their own way, this work of evangelization requires formation and training, time and effort; the laity must be specially formed to engage in conversation with others, believers, or non-believers, in order to manifest Christ's message to all men. It takes many forms, from the silent witness of one's actions to the use of modern media to the ordinary conversations of daily living. Whatever the means, lay people are to announce Christ, explain and spread His teaching in accordance with one's status and ability, and faithfully profess it. Looking at the documents of the Second Vatican Council that the laity possess a specific and unique vocation that they must pursue and fulfill in order for the Church to grow and to permeate the world. This vocation is rooted in the holiness infused into us at baptism and nourished in the Eucharist; it shows us that we are members of the Body of Christ, the Church, and that we belong to the Head of the Body, Jesus Christ. And so while the laity are ought to be lower the clergy in the hierarchical perspective of the Church system and are often called to help the ordained in various ways within the Church, the central focus of the laity must be the temporal world, the culture and society they live in, of which they are an integral part. If the laity are not changing the kingdom of man, they are failing the kingdom of God: "Therefore, I have maintained that a faith that does not affect a person's culture is a faith not fully embraced, not entirely thought out, not faithfully lived" (CL 59).