Our Baptismal Calling
"The call to be missionary disciples is a consequence of our Baptism. It is a responsibility that is placed on every Christian."
[The Word Who is Life, 3.3.ii]
'They are called, each according to his or her particular condition, to exercise the mission which God entrusted to the Church to fulfil in the world.' [Code of Canon Law, c.204]
"All the baptised, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelisation, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of evangelisation to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful would simply be passive recipients. The new evangelisation calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptised." ["Evangelii Gaudium" ("The Joy of the Gospel"), n.120 - Pope Francis, 2013]
The missionary mandate. 'Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be "the universal sacrament of salvation", the Church, in obedience to the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all men'.(Mark 16:15) [Catechism of the Catholic Church, 849]
"At that time: Jesus appeared to the Eleven and he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved.'" [Mark 16:15]
"Thus it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity; by this holiness as such a more human manner of living is promoted in this earthly society. In order that the faithful may reach this perfection, they must use their strength accordingly as they have received it, as a gift from Christ. They must follow in His footsteps and conform themselves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all things. They must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of their neighbour."
["Lumen Gentium" ("The Light of the Nations") , n.40 - Pope Paul VI, 1964 ] ​​
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Sacrament of Baptism
1215 This sacrament is also called 'the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit', for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one 'can enter the kingdom of God'. (Titus 3:5; John 3:5).
Baptism is God's most beautiful and magnificent gift ... We call it a gift, grace, anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal and most precious gift. It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; grace since it is given even to the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in the water; anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed; enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God's Lordship. (St Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 40).
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​1226 From the very day of Pentecost the Church has celebrated and administered holy Baptism. Indeed St Peter declares to the crowd astounded by his preaching: 'Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' (Acts 2:38)
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1267 Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ: 'Therefore... we are members one of another. (Ephesians 4:25) Baptism incorporates us into the Church. From the baptismal fonts is born the one People of God of the New Covenant, which transcends all the natural or human limits of nations, cultures, races and sexes: 'For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body'. (1 Corinthians 12:13)​
1270 'Reborn as sons of God, [the baptised] must profess before men the faith they have received from God through the Church' and participate in the apostolic and missionary activity of the People of God. (see Lumen Gentium 11; 17 ).
[extracts from Catechism of the Catholic Church, English translation for the UK, © Burns & Oates - Libreria Editrice Vaticana]
You can access the full Catechism at the Vatican archive:
​Evangelii Gaudium ("The Joy of the Gospel")
Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today's World - Pope Francis, 2013
​© The Holy See
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The joy of the Gospel
1 The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew.
A joy ever new, a joy which is shared
3 I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.[Apostolic Exhortation "Gaudete in Domino" ("Rejoice in the Lord") - Paul VI, 9 May 1975] The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms.
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The new evangelization for the transmission of the faith
14 Attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit who helps us together to read the signs of the times, the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops gathered from 7-28 October 2012 to discuss the theme: The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith. The Synod reaffirmed that the new evangelization is a summons addressed to all and that it is carried out in three principal settings.
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In first place, we can mention the area of ordinary pastoral ministry, which is “animated by the fire of the Spirit, so as to inflame the hearts of the faithful who regularly take part in community worship and gather on the Lord’s day to be nourished by his word and by the bread of eternal life”.[Benedict XVI, Homily at Mass for the Conclusion of the Synod of Bishops (28 October 2012)]
In this category we can also include those members of faithful who preserve a deep and sincere faith, expressing it in different ways, but seldom taking part in worship. Ordinary pastoral ministry seeks to help believers to grow spiritually so that they can respond to God’s love ever more fully in their lives.
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A second area is that of “the baptized whose lives do not reflect the demands of Baptism”,[Benedict XVI, Homily as cited above] who lack a meaningful relationship to the Church and no longer experience the consolation born of faith. The Church, in her maternal concern, tries to help them experience a conversion which will restore the joy of faith to their hearts and inspire a commitment to the Gospel.
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Lastly, we cannot forget that evangelization is first and foremost about preaching the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him. Many of them are quietly seeking God, led by a yearning to see his face, even in countries of ancient Christian tradition. All of them have a right to receive the Gospel. Christians have the duty to proclaim the Gospel without excluding anyone. Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, they should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet. It is not by proselytizing that the Church grows, but “by attraction”.[Benedict XVI, Homily at Mass for the Opening of the Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops (13 May 2007)]
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CHAPTER THREE - THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL
The entire people of God proclaims the Gospel
111 Evangelization is the task of the Church. The Church, as the agent of evangelization, is more than an organic and hierarchical institution; she is first and foremost a people advancing on its pilgrim way towards God. She is certainly a mystery rooted in the Trinity, yet she exists concretely in history as a people of pilgrims and evangelizers, transcending any institutional expression, however necessary. I would like to dwell briefly on this way of understanding the Church, whose ultimate foundation is in the free and gracious initiative of God.
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We are all missionary disciples
119 In all the baptized, from first to last, the sanctifying power of the Spirit is at work, impelling us to evangelization. The people of God is holy thanks to this anointing, which makes it infallible in credendo ("in believing"). This means that it does not err in faith, even though it may not find words to explain that faith. The Spirit guides it in truth and leads it to salvation.["Lumen Gentium", 12 ]
As part of his mysterious love for humanity, God furnishes the totality of the faithful with an instinct of faith – sensus fidei – which helps them to discern what is truly of God. The presence of the Spirit gives Christians a certain connaturality with divine realities, and a wisdom which enables them to grasp those realities intuitively, even when they lack the wherewithal to give them precise expression.
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120 In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples (cf. Matthew 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of evangelization to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful would simply be passive recipients. The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized.
Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love. Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are “disciples” and “missionaries”, but rather that we are always “missionary disciples”.
If we are not convinced, let us look at those first disciples, who, immediately after encountering the gaze of Jesus, went forth to proclaim him joyfully: “We have found the Messiah!” (John 1:41). The Samaritan woman became a missionary immediately after speaking with Jesus and many Samaritans come to believe in him “because of the woman’s testimony” (John 4:39). So too, Saint Paul, after his encounter with Jesus Christ, “immediately proclaimed Jesus” (Acts 9:20; cf. 22:6-21). So what are we waiting for?
Person to person
127 Today, as the Church seeks to experience a profound missionary renewal, there is a kind of preaching which falls to each of us as a daily responsibility. It has to do with bringing the Gospel to the people we meet, whether they be our neighbours or complete strangers. This is the informal preaching which takes place in the middle of a conversation, something along the lines of what a missionary does when visiting a home. Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey.​
You can access the full Exhortation on the Vatican website:
​Lumen gentium ("The Light of Nations")
Dogmatic Constitution on the Nature of the Church, from the Second Vatican Council
​© The Holy See
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CHAPTER II - ON THE PEOPLE OF GOD
10 Christ the Lord, High Priest taken from among men,(cf. Hebrews 5:1-5) made the new people "a kingdom and priests to God the Father".(cf. Revelation 6:1) The baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, in order that through all those works which are those of the Christian man they may offer spiritual sacrifices and proclaim the power of Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvellous light.(1 Peter 2:4-10) Therefore all the disciples of Christ, persevering in prayer and praising God,(Acts 2:42-47) should present themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.(Romans 12:1) Everywhere on earth they must bear witness to Christ and give an answer to those who seek an account of that hope of eternal life which is in them.(1 Peter 3:15)
11 It is through the sacraments and the exercise of the virtues that the sacred nature and organic structure of the priestly community is brought into operation. Incorporated in the Church through baptism, the faithful are destined by the baptismal character for the worship of the Christian religion; reborn as sons of God they must confess before men the faith which they have received from God through the Church (cf. St Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Theologica" ("Summary of Theology"), part III q.63, a,2).
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​​​​12 The holy people of God shares also in Christ's prophetic office; it spreads abroad a living witness to Him, especially by means of a life of faith and charity and by offering to God a sacrifice of praise, the tribute of lips which give praise to His name.(cf. Hebrews 13:15)
17 As the Son was sent by the Father,(cf. John 20:21) so He too sent the Apostles...(cf. Matthew 28:19-20) The Church has received this solemn mandate of Christ to proclaim the saving truth from the apostles and must carry it out to the very ends of the earth.(cf. Acts 1:8) For the Church is compelled by the Holy Spirit to do her part that God's plan may be fully realized, The obligation of spreading the faith is imposed on every disciple of Christ, according to his state (see note)... the Church both prays and labours in order that the entire world may become the People of God, the Body of the Lord and the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and that in Christ, the Head of all, all honour and glory may be rendered to the Creator and Father of the Universe.
Note: Cf. various papal works:
Apostolic Letter "Maximum illud" ("That Momentous [and holy] Charge") - Benedict XV (1919)
Encyclical Letter "Rerum Ecclesiae" ("Church Matters") on Catholic Missions - St Pius XI (1926)
Encyclical Letter "Fidei Donum" ("The Gift of Faith") on the condition of Catholic missions - Pius XII (1957)
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CHAPTER IV - THE LAITY
36 The Lord wishes to spread His kingdom also by means of the laity, namely, 'a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace' (from the Preface for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe). In this kingdom creation itself will be delivered from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God.(cf. Romans 8:21) Clearly then a great promise and a great trust is committed to the disciples: "All things are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's".(cf. 1 Corinthians 3:23)
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The faithful, therefore, must learn the deepest meaning and the value of all creation, as well as its role in the harmonious praise of God. They must assist each other to live holier lives even in their daily occupations. In this way the world may be permeated by the spirit of Christ and it may more effectively fulfill its purpose in justice, charity and peace. The laity have the principal role in the overall fulfillment of this duty. Therefore, by their competence in secular training and by their activity, elevated from within by the grace of Christ, let them vigorously contribute their effort, so that created goods may be perfected by human labor, technical skill and civic culture for the benefit of all men according to the design of the Creator and the light of His Word.
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CHAPTER V - THE UNIVERSAL CALL TO HOLINESS IN THE CHURCH
40 The Lord Jesus, the divine Teacher and Model of all perfection, preached holiness of life to each and everyone of His disciples of every condition. He Himself stands as the author and consumator of this holiness of life: "Be you therefore perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect".(Matthew 5:48) Indeed He sent the Holy Spirit upon all men that He might move them inwardly to love God with their whole heart and their whole soul, with all their mind and all their strength(cf. Mark 12:30) and that they might love each other as Christ loves them.(cf. John 13:34, 15:12) The followers of Christ are called by God, not because of their works, but according to His own purpose and grace. They are justified in the Lord Jesus, because in the baptism of faith they truly become sons of God and sharers in the divine nature. In this way they are really made holy.
Then too, by God's gift, they must hold on to and complete in their lives this holiness they have received. They are warned by the Apostle to live "as becomes saints",(Ephesians 5:3) and to put on "as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience",(Colossians 3:12) and to possess the fruit of the Spirit in holiness.(cf. Galatians 5:22; Romans 6:22) Since truly we all offend in many things (cf. James 3:2) we all need God's mercies continually and we all must daily pray: "Forgive us our debts".(Matthew 6:12)
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Thus it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity; by this holiness as such a more human manner of living is promoted in this earthly society. In order that the faithful may reach this perfection, they must use their strength accordingly as they have received it, as a gift from Christ. They must follow in his footsteps and conform themselves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all things. They must follow in His footsteps and conform themselves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all things. They must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of their neighbour. In this way, the holiness of the People of God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the life of so many saints in Church history.