Laity’s peculiarity

TO get to know someone it pays to be able to set him or her apart from others. I relearned this truth from two identical twins, named Gino and Geo, both altar boys in Brgy Locsoon. Believe me, even their own mother tells me to this day that she can’t distinguish one from the other because they look and behave so much alike. But I found a way one day when, before Mass, I noticed a tiny scar on the left temple of one of the boys and then, out of the blue, I let out a guess: “You must be Gino, right?” He nodded his head like I caught him with his hand inside an utap jar. From then on I have been ninety-nine percent able to distinguish the one from the other. Gino’s peculiarity was, for me, the key.

So how do you distinguish the laity from the other members of the Church? The key is the laity’s peculiarity. I was reading the book of Genesis and it struck me that Judah’s peculiarity among his brothers earns him the greatest blessing from their father Jacob or Israel. “Judah,” says Jacob in a prophetic state, “your brothers will praise you…Your father’s sons shall bow before you. Judah, a young lion! You return from the prey, my son! Like a lion he stoops and crouches, and like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?” (Gen 49:8-10). His peculiarity is his leadership among his brothers; it is also out of him that a royal figure will soon emerge to lead God’s people to greatness. Without Judah’s knowledge of his peculiarity the history of Israel would have turned out different. Because so many of our lay people—pardon my saying so—are out of sync with their peculiarity, need we wonder why the Church and the country are where they are today?

In the words of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: “Their secular character is proper and peculiar to the laity…[But] by reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God’s will” (LG 31).

Now doesn’t this feel like a strong punch, somewhat akin to a Pacman jab? If secularity distinguishes the laity as ‘their’ peculiarity, what constitutes secularity? ‘Saeculum’ which means ‘world’ offers a window to an answer and the document confirms our suspicions when it refers to the lay faithful as those who are “engaging in temporal affairs”. As a rule (which is not to say there are no exceptions), it is they, and not the clergy or the religious, who become politicians, business people, scientists, lawyers, doctors, nurses, farmers, soldiers, accountants, engineers, etc. That is to say, activities and states that more directly tie people to the things of this world are the lay faithful’s field of competence, and not the clergy’s nor the religious’. I would leave it to the reader to draw his or her conclusions (not simply the likes of ”Oh, so that’s why it feels something is not right when Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion dress themselves like priests and when priests call themselves ‘Engineer’ or ‘Attorney’”).

But, and here’s the catch, secularity does not exhaust the laity’s peculiarity. The Vatican II fathers hastened to add to the laity’s act of “engaging in temporal affairs” the complementary phrase “and directing them according to God’s will”. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if some would react to this with, “And how do I know God’s will or whether or not I’m directing my own affairs according to God’s will?” Naturally to that it wouldn’t be difficult to say, “That is exactly why the Scriptures and the Catechism of the Catholic Church are there, why the Church’s teaching authority, as exercised by popes, bishops and to a degree by priests, exists.” The point is, the document strongly instructs all lay faithful to allow the light of faith to guide them in the way they conduct their responsibilities in the world. In a word, it is not enough for the laity to know they “are in the world” and that the world is their field of expertise; they must likewise never stifle the voice of the Savior who reminds them: “But you are not of the world since I have chosen you from the world” (Jn 15:19).

To me what follows staggers the imagination. When true to their identity, the lay persons engage directly in something unspiritual but do so under the guidance of the Spirit who speaks through the Church and, therefore, in that sense they bring spirituality into the unspiritual. For instance, when a lawyer puts his law practice in the service of a true search for justice, and not just for money or profit, he becomes faithful to his vocation. A doctor who cares for his patients not only out of professionalism but especially because he wants to concretely express love towards those who suffer as persons in whom Jesus Christ is present similarly carries out his Christian discipleship. A politician who listens not simply to the voices of his own party or ideology but, most of all, to the highest demands of morality, when crafting decisions and putting them into action, completes his peculiarity.

Remember the first chapter of the gospel of Matthew that deals with the genealogy of Jesus? Remember how he takes pains to mention names of women among those of men, i.e., “Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba with whom David committed adultery)” (Mt 1:3-6)? While a case could be made for the holiness of Ruth, Tamar, Rahab and the wife of Uriah are known to be women who engaged in illicit unions. As Scripture experts tell us, the point of Matthew is to make us, first of all, realize that Jesus truly became a human being because he became a member of a human family, with members that were both heroic and cowardly, saintly and sinful. The evangelist makes it clear what he means by saying that Jesus is truly the “Emmanuel” or the “God-with-us” because he is with both saints and sinners in his own family, so as to save all.

And how is this relevant to our reflection of the laity’s peculiarity?

Again the answer should not be too difficult to see. It is Jesus who brings to the world of real human beings and real human families the kingdom of God and of heaven. This action by the Savior goes to the heart of the laity’s peculiarity. They are to bring the world of politics, economics, culture, sports, business, entertainment—worldly or temporal affairs—to God’s rule so as to put them within the sphere of God’s saving action.

The president used to say to Filipinos: “Kayo ang Boss ko (You are my Boss).” Pardon me but I think that is not exactly expressive of the real definition of the true lay person according to Vatican II. Filipino Catholic Laity are such because they are answerable not only to human bosses or employers but especially and, above all, to the Supreme Master of all, God who reveals himself through Jesus Christ in the Spirit. If any politician were to be a true Catholic lay person, he or she should rather address his constituents: “Kayo ang Boss ko, pangalawa sa Dios na Boss nating lahat (You are my Boss after God who is the Boss of us all).

Defining the Laity: “Saintly heroes”?

PORK barrel scam. Bungled disaster response. Leadership fiasco. Bunkhouse controversy. Who are involved? Mostly Filipino Catholic laity. So when I first read the CBCP document basically challenging the Filipino Catholic laity to bear in mind that they are “called to be saints” and “sent forth as heroes”, I said to myself: “No statement could be truer, but no order could be taller! How does one make saintly heroes out of so many who may be inclined otherwise?” To Abraham Lincoln’s remark that “God must love the common man; he made lots of them”, I also say that God must likewise love the laity since he made them the most numerous in the Church. Still, I submit that for these most numerous members of the Church to find fulfillment as “saintly heroes” they must heed the advice of the ancient Greeks: “Know thyself; be thyself; be thy best self.”

One very tragic thing that happened during Super Typhoon Yolanda’s disastrous visit was that many people abandoned responsible behavior because they did not know what a “storm surge” was or what a good parent should be. A mayor in a town called Hernani, south of Eastern Samar’s center, which is Borongan, told me that a father of a family refused to move his family to a safe location, continued a drinking spree, and dismissed the warnings of “storm surges”. He died and his whole family died with him. Might we not also say that the tragedy behind the Filipino Catholic laity counting corrupt politicians among them who are responsible for the endless scams in the country partly comes from them ignoring or being ignorant of who they are?

So then we must heed the first ancient Greek advice. We ask: “Who are the Laity?” In answer the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church or Lumen Gentium (The Light of the Nations) teaches us: “The term ‘laity’ is…understood to mean all the faithful except those in Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious state approved by the Church. That is, the faithful who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ, are placed in the People of God, and in their own way share the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Christ, and to the best of their ability carry on the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world.” It is important for the laity to know their identity because it makes clear to them the things that pertain to or not pertain to who they are.

What pertains to who the laity are?

First, it is having faith in God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ. That is why Lumen Gentium speaks of the laity as “all the faithful” who are neither ordained (they are not bishops, priests and deacons) nor consecrated (they are not religious priests, brothers and nuns). But their having “the faith” is distinguished from other members of the Church in that expressing this faith is not coursed through the Sacrament of Holy Orders and religious consecration. A lay person, a priest and a nun have the same faith. But the lay person is not required to express his faith by presiding over Mass and the Sacraments and preaching the Word, as an ordained priest is. Nor is he required to strictly follow the evangelical counsels of chastity, obedience and poverty, as nuns or religious priests and brothers are.

Second, the laity’s faith is inseparable from their having received the Sacrament of Baptism. Faith in Jesus Christ leads to Baptism. Baptism seals one’s faith in Jesus Christ,  incorporating him into his Body, that is, making him a vital part of Jesus the Christ. The document Filipino Catholic Laity: Called to be Saints…Sent Forth as Heroes declares: “When you were baptized, the Holy Spirit united you with our Lord Jesus the Son of God, and thus you became true sons and daughters of God, partakers of the divine nature” (FCL, 1).

Third, because Baptism makes the laity (and all Christians) members of Christ’s Body, they also become sharers in Christ’s threefold mission: Priest,  Prophet and King. We need to reflect separately on these three. Suffice it to say that somewhat akin to an aide of a politician eventually sharing that politician’s vision and mission, defining his way of thinking, seeing and acting, so the laity and all the baptized share in Jesus Christ’s threefold mission and, consequently, must think, see and act the way he thinks, sees and acts.

Isaiah once told God’s People that they must be like their saving God by the way they live, that is to say, by the way they think, see and act. “Thus says the Lord: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice about to be revealed. Happy is the man who does this, the son of man who holds to it, who keeps the Sabbath free from profanation, and his hand from any evildoing” (Is 56:1-2). This God who is just, holy and saving is revealed to us in his Son Jesus Christ.

And how does Jesus the Son reveal himself?

            Jesus answers this question himself in the gospel of John in a way that brings each of us to the core challenge of the laity. He reveals himself by his works, by what he does. Jesus does not excuse himself from the burden of giving testimony. If humans ordinarily play the blame game and buck-passing where a responsibility is at issue, Jesus does not and neither must we Christians, especially the laity who are “incorporated” to (i.e., “in corpore” or “in the body of”) Jesus Christ. “Yet I have testimony greater than John’s, namely, the works the Father has given me to accomplish. These very works which I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me” (Jn 5:36). We all know Jesus preached and preached forcefully, not to say powerfully too. But we know even better that Jesus practiced what he preached. He spoke of love of enemy; he forgave them from the cross. He spoke of himself as the Resurrection and the Life; he showed it when he raised dead people to life. He spoke of love; he practiced it when he died for us “while we were still sinners” (Rom 5:8).

            I know some very heroic priests who refused to leave their posts when Super Typhoon Yolanda came and unleashed massive devastation on our land. But I have been struck by so many lay people who, without fanfare and publicity, continue to volunteer to repack food and relief goods, guard them, transport them and make sure they reach their intended destinations, the victims. They show they are the true laity not so much in words as in their deeds. Like Jesus.