But I’m quite happy turning up to Sunday Mass and putting my bit in the collection bag; isn’t that enough?

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Well, actually, no. “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more” [Luke 12:48]. The documents of Vatican II include a fuller version: “He is not saved, however, who, though part of the body of the Church, does not persevere in charity. He remains in the the bosom of the Church, but, as it were, only in a ‘bodily’ manner and not ‘in his heart’. All the Church’s children should remember that their exalted status is to be attributed not to their own merits but to the special grace of Christ. If they fail moreover to respond to that grace in thought, word and deed, not only shall they not be saved but they will be the more severely judged.” [Lumen Gentium (“The Light of Nations”) n.14]

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In short, through Baptism, each of us takes on the responsibility of doing our bit for evangelisation – and every Easter, we renew our Baptismal promises (which may originally have been made on our behalf by parents and god-parents) to affirm our commitment to answering that Baptismal calling.

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Wow! So if I don’t play my part in the Mission, I don’t get to heaven?

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Well I wouldn’t put it quite like that! The boundless mercy of Jesus Christ means there is always grace to help us and always another chance.

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But does it mean, that, essentially, we’ve all got to be able – and willing – to proclaim the Gospel, to explain our faith, to unpack the details of Catholic beliefs and explain, even argue for them?

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Well, since you put it that way, yes and no! There is a lot of guidance in the documents of Vatican II and elsewhere on what the role of us – “the lay faithful” – is in the Mission of the Church. For now, let’s just focus on two ideas:

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① We all have a unique contribution to make. We have all been given gifts that we can use for the Church’s mission: 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] This does not mean that everyone has to be able to ‘preach’ or argue points of doctrine and the Church has always valued the fact that everybody has their own gifts: as St Peter wrote to early Christians, “Each one of you has received a special grace, so, like good stewards responsible for all these different graces of God, put yourself at the service of others. If you are a speaker, speak in words which seem to come from God; if you are a helper, help as though every action was done on God's orders; so that in everything God may receive the glory, through Jesus Christ, since to him alone belong all glory and power for ever and ever. Amen." [1 Peter 4:10-11] Most important is that whatever we do, however we put our own special gifts to work for the Church in our communities should seem to come from God.

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② As laity, we have our own specific role in evangelisation. The call of the lay faithful is about our role in the secular world we live in – to bring the Good News of salvation for all into our every-day circumstances, where we work, where we interact with our neighbours; in short, into every part of our lives. In December 1988, Pope Saint John Paul II issued what the Church calls an ‘Apostolic Exhortation’, Christifideles Laici (“On the Vocation and the Mission of The Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World”), which spelt out the role that we need to play in the Church’s mission. In this document, we are reminded that:

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• Baptism makes all Christians children of God, members of Christ’s body and temples of the Holy Spirit and all baptised Christians are called to holiness: formation is a lifelong process and a priority for the Church;

  • in our Focus on Formation (newsletter #4, Autumn 2025), we discussed how each of us, every day, should be working to make ourselves better able, individually and collectively, to witness to Christ in our lives; 

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• every baptised member of the Church is called by Christ to “work in his vineyard”, meaning active participation in the Church’s mission in the world: we are all front-line participants in evangelisation;

  • as noted above, we all have different gifts and as a result “every member … offers a totally unique contribution on behalf of the whole body” of the Church; [Ch.II, n.20]

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• there are various ministries for the laity to fulfil, including catechesis, local leadership roles, participation in the Eucharist and many practical activities, but there is a clear distinction between the role of the laity and the role of ordained ministers and people who do not take on such roles still have an important part to play;

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• most importantly, the laity has a unique role in taking the Church’s mission into our everyday lives, where we must witness to Christ in a world that is constantly changing.

 

Our job, as The Lay Faithful, is to take Christ’s message – salvation for everyone – into the world by the way we live our Christian lives. In an age of increasing secularisation, widespread indifference to organised religion and underlying cultural shifts in attitude that make it more challenging to live according to the Gospel, it is more important than ever that we, The Lay Faithful, witness to Christ in (every part of) our daily life and that we contribute actively to formation of Christian communities that can be beacons of light to the world. Being a missionary for the Church does not have to mean going to far-off lands: our role is to be missionaries in our world, our circumstances, where we live, where we work, amongst the people we know and others we meet.

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This is what our diocesan Pastoral Plan is about; this is what our Mission is about. The Call to Mission in the Plan invites “everyone in the Diocese – lay faithful and religious, deacons and priests – to join in forging our parishes into communities of saints, into strong, lively and welcoming schools of discipleship. May they be communities where the Lord is known and loved; where the liturgy is experienced as an encounter with the wonder of heaven; where daily prayer is a natural part of life; communities of healing, where all are welcomed, their dignity as children of God always recognised; where young people grow in deep love for the Gospel, for the sacramental life of the Church and for prayer; where all know the riches of the Faith and seek to share it with others.” [Pastoral Plan, 1.5]

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As we renew our Baptismal Promises this Easter, we are committing ourselves anew to the mission of the Church, carrying to the world the message of salvation for the whole world. As we do so, we can remind ourselves that Jesus promised “I am with you always, to the end of the age”. So, every morning, as we ask ourselves whether we will live and behave this day so that what we say “seems to come from God” and what we do will be “as though every action was done on God’s orders”, perhaps we should model our answer on one given by someone about to be ordained priest:

“I will, with the help of God”.

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Further scriptural and other quotes about Mission can be found on the deanery website ‘resource hub’: www.epsomdeanery.com/churchmission

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The full text of Christifideles Laici is available on the Vatican website:

https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_30121988_christifideles-laici.html