1. “Created
for the glory
and praise of God.”

2. Catholic Church - Context
 Radical shifts in secular culture
 Rapid change in Western Catholic
culture
 Diversity of expectations for priests
and laity (especially women)
 Decrease in candidates for priesthood

3. Catholic Church - Needs
 New Fire of Jesus the High Priest
 His love
 His vision
 “New Evangelization” (“Year of Faith”)
 New relationships between laity and priests based
on….
 Clear understanding of:
 Identity

4. Roles and Identity (Christifideles Laici)
 Only from inside the Church's mystery of
communion is the "identity" of the lay faithful
made known, and their fundamental dignity
revealed.
 Only within the context of this dignity can their
vocation and mission in the Church and in the
world be defined (and renewed).

5. The need today:
The Holy Spirit continues to renew ...the
...Church and ... has inspired new
aspirations towards holiness and the
participation of so many lay faithful.

6. The Challenge and Approach
Moving from “theory” to “practice”
Aka, “Formation”

7. Formation – What and Why
 What:
A Continual Process of Maturation
 A Comprehensive Integrated Program for
Living an Integrated Life
 Why:
 Discovervocation and mission
 “Renew the face of the earth”

8. Lay Formation
Two Approaches

9. Discovery – Vocation and
Mission
 Legionaries of Christ:
Personal Prayer
Communal Prayer
Vocation
“Apostolate"

10. Discovery - Vocation and Mission
 “I Will give You Shepherds”
Human (You)
Intellectual (You)
Spiritual (You)
Pastoral (Them)

11. Lay Formation
Gifts and
Charisms

12. Gifts and Charisms
 Gifts
 Galatians 5:22-23, Aquinas, Catechism (and
elsewhere)
 Given to us
 Purpose: for our inner transformation
 Charisms:
 Talents
to be given to others
 How God enters world through our consent

13. Gifts and Charisms
 Key:
 An awareness of one’s own ”Spiritual Gifts”
 An awareness of one’s own “Human
Charisms”
 Individual and parish level
 Leads to
 Betterunderstanding of one’s specific
vocation.

14. Lay Faithful (Closing Thought)
 Lay faithful must be formed according to the union
which exists from their being members of the Church
and citizens of human society.
 There cannot be two parallel lives in their existence:
on the one hand, the so-called "spiritual" life, with its
values and demands; and on the other, the so-called
"secular" life, that is, life in a family, at work, in social
relationships, in the responsibilities of public life and in
culture. (Charles Chaput)