THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

MISSION OF THE TRINITY

To spread the Kingdom of Christ
over the Earth.

Ad Gentes

Mt 28:18-20 All authority in heaven

and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore...
 THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

• Announce the message

of salvation
• Administer sacraments
• Bring holiness to
others
• Prayer
 THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

• TRIA MUNERA (THREE GIFTS):

• 1. SANCTIFYING (Sacraments)
• 2. TEACHING. Magisterium. Ordinary
and Extraordinary.
• 3. GOVERNING. Pope, College of
Bishops. Priests: (Presbyterorum ordinis 10).
– Role of the lay faithful
 THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

• Juan Pablo II, Letter Novo incipiente 3,

8.April.1979:
• “It is more a triple dimension of service
and the mission of Christ , rather than
three different functions”.
Apostolicam actuositatem 2: “In the Church
we have diversity of ministries, but unity
in the only mission of Jesus Christ.”
 THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

• Temporal order:
• The Church also has material aspects (She
works with men and for men), but the end is
supernatural. The church does not have
power over temporal uses.
• Regulations in temporal matters: Code
Canon Law.
THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

• Laity’s mission is not

just cooperation in
clerical’s mission:
There is a proper
mission
 HOLINESS
• 16. We come to a full sense of the dignity
of the lay faithful if we consider the prime
and fundamental vocation that the Father
assigns to each of them in Jesus Christ
through the Holy Spirit: the vocation to
holiness, that is, the perfection of charity.
• Chistifideles Laici.
 ..."to be holy in all conduct"
(1 Pt 1:15).

• Men and women saints have always been the

source and origin of renewal in the most
difficult circumstances in the Church's
history. Today we have the greatest need of
saints whom we must assiduously beg God to
raise up"(42).
 Within the lay state diverse
"vocations" are given.

• There are different paths in the spiritual life

and the apostolate which are taken by
individual members of the lay faithful
• The flourishing of diverse forms of secular
institutes that have developed recently in the
Church.
• Movements
• Prelatures
 The Life of Holiness in the World

• 17. The vocation of the lay faithful to

holiness implies that life according to the
Spirit expresses itself in a particular way in
their involvement in temporal affairs and in
their participation in earthly activities. Once
again the apostle admonishes us: "Whatever
you do, in word or deed, do everything in the
name of the Lord Jesus... (Col 3:17).
 LAY PEOPLE: FOUNDATIONS
OF THE CHURCH

• 17. ...the vocation to holiness is intimately

connected to mission and to the
responsibility entrusted to the lay faithful in
the Church and in the world. In fact, that
same holiness ... represents their first and
fundamental contribution to the building of
the Church herself.
 Wonderful scene

• 17. ...that of a countless number of lay

people, both women and men, busy at work
in their daily life and activity, oftentimes far
from view and quite unacclaimed by the
world, unknown to the world's great
personages but nonetheless looked upon in
love by the Father, untiring labourers who
work in the Lord's vineyard.
 Mission in the Church and in the
World
• In speaking about participation in the
apostolic mission of the Church, there is no
doubt that in virtue of Baptism and
Confirmation, a woman-as well as a man-is
made a sharer in the threefold mission of
Jesus Christ, Priest, Prophet and King, and is
thereby charged and given the ability to fulfill
the fundamental apostolate of the Church:
evangelization.
Features of the lay faithful according to Vatican II:

Called by God in the world and to live in

1 the world

2 Sanctify the world from within:

Christifideles laici 16

they are engaged in each and every work and

3 business of the earth and in the ordinary
circumstances of social and family life which, as it
were, constitute their very existence.
 MISSION ON EARTH
MISSION OF THE LAY FAIETHFUL

A
Mission comes from Baptism

B They do not have the “sacra potestas” to act in persona

Christi capitis, but they share in the Office of Christ,
thanks to their common priesthood.

C Secular condition.
 MISSION ON EARTH

Sanctifying office

Sanctify work
and
all ordinary realities
 MISSION ON EARTH

(Lumen gentium 34)

“For all their works, prayers and

apostolic undertakings, family and
married life, daily work, relaxation of
mind and body, if they are
accomplished in the Spirit–indeed even
the hardships of life if patiently borne–
all these become spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ
(cf. Pet. 2:5)”.
 MISSION ON EARTH
Mission: teaching

Apostolate: right and duty

1. Adquire formation in Catholic Doctrine

2. The light of the faith should be seen in works
and decissions
3. To work so that the divine message of salvation
reach all environments (Apostolicam actuositatem 3).