Lay Life in a Year
52 Reflections on JPII's vision for the Laity
Discover the Lay Vocation
What does it actually mean to be a lay person in the world? How are we to serve God, His Church, and His world? How are we to reach holiness?
A lot of the answers we hear can be boiled down to one of two misguided views:
Mistake 1: “The laity can just sit back and do the bare minimum. Most of the work is for the bishops, priests, and religious.”
OR
Mistake 2: “The laity needs more authority and power and we really don’t need these bishops and priests telling us what to do.”
The issue? Neither of these takes are what the Church actually teaches. For years, there has been extreme confusion about what it means to be a lay person, which is why Pope St. John Paul II wrote Christifideles Laici.
52 Weekly Reflections
This is his Apostolic Exhortation on the Mission and Vocation of the Lay Faithful and it has gone largely unread! In it, he shows how the lay life is central to God’s plan for the world and how it is meant to lead us to the height of holiness.
The lay life, like priestly and religious life, is designed to make us saints who transform the world and renew the Church.
Here at reCatholic, discovering Christifideles Laici has lit a fire in our hearts and transformed how we live out our lay vocation to help serve Jesus. And we want to make this treasure accessible for you too.
Sign up to discover the lay life in a year as we break open John Paul II’s vision for the laity in 52 short, weekly reflections.
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Read Past Reflections
Week 7: The World’s Hunger For Truth
When you look at those who don’t follow Jesus or engage with Catholics who don’t take their Faith seriously, what do you see? Do you see an enemy? A problem to be dealt with? An annoyance to be ignored or side-stepped? Or do you see someone who is secretly miserable,...
Week 6: Secularism In The Church
The Church itself is not immune from secularism. All of us are tempted to fall into cultural Catholicism. We continually try to create a way to keep our Catholic card but live like the rest of the culture. But to be Catholic is to be countercultural. To follow Jesus...
Week 5: The Urgent Issue of Secularism
Everyday life is filled with extreme challenges and temptations. Our culture is surrounded by sexual exploitation, unhealthy lies about how to live, and everywhere there is rage, anxiety, and despair. This is the reality of secularism. But the laity is called to more...
Week 4: Why Do You Stand Here Idle?
“Why do you stand here idle all day?” (Mt. 20:6) The world needs you. The Church needs you. Christ is calling you. So why do you stand here idle? Is it because the brokenness of the world feels too overwhelming? Is it because it is easier to spend life doing things we...
Week 3: Real Holiness
For thirty years, Jesus grew up in Nazareth living a quiet, ordinary life. But it was an ordinary life of extreme holiness. He learned a trade, helped around the house, and spent time growing in wisdom and favor with God and man (Lk. 2:52). Jesus didn’t limit holiness...
Week 2: You Too Are Called to Holiness
The Church teaches that everyone is called to holiness. But many of us make the mistake of thinking, “Really the ones who are supposed to be holy are priests and religious. Deep prayer and evangelization—that falls under their job description, not mine.” “Maybe” we...