1 / 15

Ecclesiology of the Laity

Ecclesiology of the Laity. The insights of Vatican II. The Church of Vatican II. How has your understanding of the church changed as a result of the insights of Vatican II? Discuss at your table…. The Church according to the Council. A new definition

farrah
Download Presentation

Ecclesiology of the Laity

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Ecclesiology of the Laity The insights of Vatican II

  2. The Church of Vatican II • How has your understanding of the church changed as a result of the insights of Vatican II? • Discuss at your table…

  3. The Church according to the Council • A new definition • From authority to communion and mission • Openness to dialogue • New self-understanding of Church

  4. Documents of Vatican II • Self-understanding of Church found in: • Lumen Gentium • Dei Verbum • Sacrosanctum Concilium • Gaudium et Spes • Commitment to Renewal: • Decrees • Dialogue • Declarations

  5. Origin and Goal of Church • Ecclesia: • Community united to hear the Word of God • Koinonia • Communion • Martyria • Witness • Diakonia • service

  6. Church: Sacrament of Communion • Church as sign of Communion with God • Vertical dimension • Church as sign of unity with humanity • Horizontal dimension

  7. Church as Sign of Trinitarian Communion • Church is a people gathered in the unity of • the Father • the Son and • the Holy Spirit

  8. Mission of the Church • That all may become the People of God • We share in the Mission of Christ • To Build the Kingdom of God • To journey beside and with humanity

  9. Identity of the Lay Person New self-understanding of Church leads to new understanding of the Role, Identity and Mission of Laity: By virtue of Baptism we are all Children of God—Clergy, Religious and Lay All share in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly functions of Christ Laity have a special area of competence which must be respected Role of Laity especially in the Secular arena to bring together the Church and the World

  10. Lay People and the Mission of the Church • “By their very vocation, the laity 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 and social life which the very web of their existence is woven” (Lumen Gentium, 31)

  11. Competence of Laity • Laity are competent in the questions of ordinary life: • Marriage, family, culture, politics, economics, art • Church must listen to the insights and respect special skills of Laity

  12. “Their own field of evangelizing activity is the vast and complicated world of politics, society and economics, but also the world of culture, of the sciences and the arts, of international life, of the mass media. It also includes other realities which are open to evangelization, such as human love, the family, the education of children and adolescents, professional work, suffering. The more Gospel-inspired lay people there are engaged in these realities, clearly involved in them, competent to promote them and conscious that they must exercise to the full their Christian powers which are often buried and suffocated, the more these realities will be at the service of the Kingdom of God and therefore of salvation in Jesus Christ.” Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI

  13. Laity and Pastors • Equality in Dignity—Diversity in function • We all belong to Christ • Lay people have right to receive “spiritual goods” of the Church • Lay people have right/duty to give their particular knowledge and competence to Church and must be listened to by hierarchy

  14. Lay Spirituality • Not “borrowed” from Religious • Characterized by service • Christ-like—flowing from sharing in priestly, prophetic and kingly • Charismatic—of the Spirit • Gospel-centered- spirit of Beatitudes • Wisdom—brings together insights of Church and world • No split between life of faith and daily life

More Related