a) Lay Vocation to the Apostolate
The apostolic
dimension of the Catholic laity derives from its real and intimate insertion into the mystical body of Jesus Christ, “incorporated… through Baptism and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit through Confirmation, they are assigned to the apostolate by the Lord Himself”[1].
Baptism, by incorporating us into the Mystical Body of Christ, has linked us in such a way to our divine Head and to each one of us among ourselves, so that no one can disregard others without committing an attack, a real crime against the members of That Mystical Body, which inevitably reverberates over its divine Head. These demands are invigorated and reinforced with the sacrament of confirmation, which has made us Soldiers of Christ and gives us the strength to fight the battles of the Lord. The soldier’s mission is to defend the common good. A selfish soldier is a contradiction. Every Christian, every layman, must be an apostle by an intrinsic requirement of his own condition.
“The lay faithful, precisely because they are members of the Church, have the vocation and mission to be proclaimers of the Gospel: they are empowered and committed in this task by the sacraments of Christian initiation and by the gifts of the Holy Spirit”[2]; the Council recalled: “as participants in the office of Christ the priest, prophet and king, the laity have an active part in the life and action of the Church … nourished by the active participation in the liturgical life of their own community, they participate diligently in the apostolic works of the same; They lead the Church to men who perhaps live far from Her; cooperate with determination to communicate the teaching of the catechism; by making their competence available, they make the healing of souls more effective and also the administration of the Church’s goods”[3].
Thanks to this union made with Christ Head, produced and signified by the sacraments of initiation and invigorated by the frequent reception of the divine mysteries and the practice of the Christian life, to the Third Secular Order of the Religious Family of the Incarnate Word he is “imposed the glorious task of working so that the divine message of salvation is known and accepted everywhere by all men”[4]. This is not only a right but an inalienable duty to this institution.
The Third Secular Order, therefore, is aware that the Church is essentially missionary, and that therefore it cannot be alienated from the longing call of the Heart of Jesus Christ before ascending to the Father: go to all the world and proclaim the Gospel to all creation (Mt 16:15); for that reason, it has as an inherent and indissoluble goal, with its reality to bring the Gospel to all men, in such a way that all can live with the new life of grace.
Each member, in seeking to be more intimately united with God, necessarily seeks to unite all men with God, that is, “to make all men share in the redemption of salvation”[5], knowing that the Christian vocation, by its very nature, is vocation to the apostolate [6]. The preaching and the apostolate are in perfect agreement with the end of the Incarnation[7], for this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth (Jn 18:37).
“Zeal is born of love”[8], hence necessarily the love of God must be verified in the zeal for the salvation of the brothers since “there is nothing more dear to God than the salvation of souls”[9]. It is impossible to love God without feeling the fire of the apostolate burn in your own entrails. A love of God that remained indifferent to apostolic concerns would be completely false and illusory. Our eagerness, for all the members of this Order, is that of Saint Theresa: “One thing I desire, to make God loved”.
Thomas Aquinas has beautifully argued that apostolic zeal is an effect of love[10]. When love reaches a great intensity, it tends to spill out. It is impossible to love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength (Lk 10:27) –first commandment of the law, in whose practice Christian perfection consists- without the soul feeling the devouring zeal for the glory of God and the uncontainable longing for apostolate. The apostolate is an inevitable effect of perfection. Anyone who wants to reach holiness and dispenses with the good of others, is a deluded person.
That is why it is the aspiration, desire and obsession of the laity of the Incarnate Word to bring the light of the Gospel to all men, manifesting Christ to the world from his own lay vocation. Bring and carry Christ to the most distant, most hidden places, where priests cannot reach or enter, evangelize cultures from the deepest, from the most intimate, ruling the reality for the Lord, inculturating the Gospel in places most recondite of human life; echoing the Pope’s request “that the lay faithful be present, with the insignia of courage and intellectual creativity, in the privileged positions of culture”[11], with the conviction that “the glad news of Christ constantly renews life and the culture of fallen man, combats and eliminates the errors and evils that come from the permanent seduction of sin, purifies and raises incessantly the moral of the people”[12], since it is necessary, as Pope Blessed Paul VI asked the laity, “make all efforts in favor of a generous evangelization of culture”[13].
Within the broad spectrum of the lay vocation, we want to form apostles who reedit in their lives the example of so many lay people who knew how to survive for the sake of souls.
We pray to God and his Mother to raise up in our generous lay ranks, that they feel that their soul is burned at the stake for the salvation of souls, that they know how to feel with the Church, suffer and enjoy it, “that they are ready to abandon their living environment, -if necessary- their work, their region or homeland, to move to where needed. That Christian marriages are given that, in imitation of Aquila and Priscilla[14] are offering a comforting testimony of passionate love for Christ and the Church, through their active presence in mission lands”[15].
May God grant us the enormous and gratuitous grace that this Third Order of the Religious Family of the Incarnate Word may humbly contribute in helping the Church to take the great step forward that it needs to initiate the new, authentic and effective evangelization of the people.
b) Union with God
As a foundation stone and foundation of all apostolic action, the laity must seek intimate union with God. Between perfection and the apostolate there must be a very close union. The interior life is the soul of every apostolate and the guarantee of its effectiveness. Therefore, the primary and fundamental duty of every lay person must be that each one seeks his own perfection, seeking an intimate and deep union with God. Every apostolate is founded on this truth. It will be futile to spill in external works if this goal is lost sight of: “The fecundity of the secular apostolate depends on the vital union of the laity with Christ … in such a way that they do not separate the union with Christ from their personal life, but that they grow intensely in it, carrying out its tasks according to the will of God … neither family worries nor other temporary businesses should be alien to this spiritual orientation of life, whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father for Him (Col 3:17)”[16].
In this union with God through charity, all apostolic success is counted; the laity “”moved by the charity that comes from Christ, do good to all, especially to their brothers in the faith[17], stripping themselves of all evil and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander (1 Pet 2:1), attracting so to men to Christ. The love of God, which has been poured out in our hearts with the Holy Spirit that has been given to us (Rom 5:5), enables the laity to truly express in their lives the spirit of the beatitudes”[18].
Within the love of God, and also as the basis of all apostolic action, they must stand out for the faithful and perfect fulfillment of the duty of state. It is impossible to build any apostolic work if it is not founded on the first obligations faithfully and legitimately fulfilled. The duties of state should never be omitted, even because of the pain that they can cause us, because it is the first obligation, and for which we must first respond; all our efforts can become useless, but we are faithful to our elementary obligations.
Accurate fulfillment of all the duties of the state itself: this is the absolutely indispensable first stage of our own crucifixion. In the likeness of Christ, who was submissive to his parents, we must achieve a perfect fidelity to our own obligations, before God, family, society and country, despite the difficulties, humiliations and miseries that we may be exposed to. , for being true to duty and truth. Since the laity “following Jesus poor, do not fall for scarcity or embody with wealth; imitating the humble Christ, they do not aspire to vainglory[19], but seek to please God rather than men, always ready to leave everything for Christ [20] y a padecer persecución por la justicia[21], and suffer persecution for justice, remembering the words of the Lord: if anyone wants to come after me, deny yourself, take your cross and follow me (Mt 16:24)”[22].
Fulfillment that should make an authentic testimony of Christian life shine, making clear to the living Christ. “Performing their own profession guided by the evangelical spirit, the laity contribute to the sanctification of the world as from within, as a leaven. And so make Christ manifest before others, primarily through the witness of his life, through the irradiation of faith, hope and love”. All members of this Third
Order must aspire to make their lives a living and burning testimony of the vitality of the Church, to speak and act by example, to be characterized before others by the effective practice of Christian virtues, because they carry Jesus and Mary in their blood, knowing that words move but examples grab. “To the lay faithful… it corresponds to them to witness how the Christian faith constitutes the only fully valid answer to the problems and expectations that life poses to each man and to each society”[23]. “The vital synthesis between the Gospel and the daily duties of life, which the lay faithful will be able to capture, will be the most splendid and convincing testimony that, not fear, but the search and adherence to Christ are the determining factor for Man should live and grow and so that new ways of life are formed that are more in line with human dignity”[24]. The example we give with our life is a very effective means of sanctification and encouragement for others. “The seculars fulfill in the world this mission of the Church, first of all with the concordance between their life and their faith, with which they become the light of the world; with honesty in all business, which attracts everyone to the love of truth and good and finally to Christ and the Church; with fraternal charity, by which, participating in the conditions of life, work, sufferings and aspirations of the brothers, they insensibly dispose the hearts of all towards the action of saving grace, with full awareness of their role in the construction of society, by which they strive to fill their domestic, social and professional activity with Christian magnanimity. In this way, his way of proceeding gradually penetrates the environment of his life and work”[25].
As the most important source of apostolic action, they must aim to be apostles with prayer, since it is the form of every apostolate; that is why the fraternities or movements that promote the genuine apostolate of prayer will always be encouraged, as the first and principal means to continue the propagation of the Gospel, ask and you will be given, seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened. For the one who asks receives, the one who seeks finds and the one who knock, the door will be opened (Mt 7:7-8); whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son; If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it (Jn 14:13-14).
With a disinterested love for God, in a specific way, the lay members of the Incarnate Word will stand out for their help to the priests, men and women religious, who are the representatives of God on earth, those appointed by God to lead the Church. Church, being helpful to always collaborate, so that they always find in these lay hands ready to collaborate in the great enterprise of evangelization.
c) Love of neighbor
True love for God is verified in the love of neighbor: he cannot love God whom he does not see, who does not love his neighbor, whom he sees (1 Jn 4:20), this commandment has been given by God, for those who love God also love their brother (1 Jn 4:21)[26], fraternal charity intensifies charity towards God himself, and love for our brothers and sisters is like a vehicle for love towards God.
Love that in first place is an imperative of our Lord: Be merciful, as your Father is merciful (Lk 6:36); He who loves his brother abides in the light, but he who hates his brother abides in darkness; this is the doctrine that you learned from the beginning: that you love one another (1 Jn 2:10)[27].
Love is the proper precept of the Christian; I give you a new command, that you love one another (Jn 13:34). For in this you will know that you are my disciples: if you have love for one another (Jn 13:35); This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you (Jn 15:12)[28].
From union with God, love of neighbor necessarily follows, “the reason for love of neighbor is God, because what we should love in our neighbor is that it be in God”[29]; for “the very act with which one loves God is with one who loves one’s neighbor; and that is why the habit of charity encompasses not only the love of God, but also the love of neighbor”[30], charity loves God for its own sake, and by reason of love loves all others as soon as they are ordered towards God [31].
In a particular way, this love is fostered and increased by recognizing the presence of Christ in the neighbor; that presence that will be as sublime and mysterious as you want, but which is an incontrovertible fact that is clearly and expressly stated in the divine revelation, I was hungry, and you gave me food (Mt 25:35). St. Paul will say: we are members of his body (Eph 5:30)[32]. Christ says: You did it to me (Mt 25:40).
In every man, particularly if he is unhappy, it is necessary to see by faith the same Christ and to love him exactly with the same considerations, the same respect, the same tenderness, the same generosity that we would experience if we had the happiness of finding Jesus and the privilege of being able to help him. Every man who approaches us, or towards whom we approach, is mystically that Jesus that every Christian must love passionately and divinely. The neighbor is a mystery of God that only faith penetrates. St. Therese had discovered it: “what attracted me to her -a sister of the community that was unbearable- was Jesus hidden in the depths of her soul”.
At the bottom of every human soul, in fact, is Jesus. It is there if that soul is Christian, and the more it is, the more we can find it, admire it and love it. And the less Christian it is and consequently, the more unfortunate the soul is, the more we must work so that the Savior lives in it, since the Savior is impatient to be loved and suffers because he is unknown. We want to love this Jesus, precisely because we cannot suffer his absence in that poor soul.
Preferentially, we should have a love for those that we find most difficult to deal with. Charity consists in loving and doing good to those who hate and do evil to us: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Mt 5:44)[33]. “If someone wishes us bad, we need to love him. If someone harms us, we must love him. If someone harms us, we must return him good for evil, that is how the saints avenged and this is the heavenly revenge that teaches us to practice what St. Paulinus said: ‘return good for evil is heavenly vengeance’”[34], since “nothing It resembles God as much as forgiving enemies”[35]. Man is loved by God! This is the most simple and surprising announcement of which the Church is indebted to the man, the word and the life of each Christian can and should make resound this announcement: God loves you, Christ has come for you; for you Christ is the way, the Truth and the Life (Jn 14:6)!”[36]
Let us praise Don Orione “Oh that the holy love of God may burn in us and open our breasts, that His most inexhaustible charity reign in us, and we will have a spirit of charity towards our brothers and the Lord will easily give us the grace of to be victims of charity on the cross, embraced by Our Lord! Courage, my dear children: may the love of Jesus Christ crucified and fraternal charity strengthen all the children of Divine Providence with an indissoluble knot of sweet charity! Oh how sweet is the charity that unites us and builds in Jesus Christ! Our hearts, my children, must be an altar where the divine fire of charity inextinguishably
burns: loving God and loving our brothers, two flames in a single sacred fire and this fire that should consume us, transform us and make us divine: caritas Christi urget nos”[37].
d) Commitment to the Apostolate
Thus, all our works of apostolate should aim at the conversion of sinners, the frequency of the sacraments, the practice of the spiritual life and the most solicitous exercise of Christian virtues. Any means that does not lead to these ends must be discarded.
The laity of this Third Order as members of the Family of the Incarnate Word want, associated with the first order, to occupy the main points of inflection of culture, to bring the Gospel true and effectively to all manifestations of man, proclaiming the truth and the good news that Christ came to bring. Christian renewal of the temporal order.
Christian Renovation of the Temporal Order
It is the proper office of the laity, which is clear from their priestly function, consecrate, exorcise and sanitize the temporal order from within and order it to God through Jesus Christ. Hence, “Everything that constitutes the temporal order: goods of life and family, culture, economy, arts and professions, institutions of the political community, international relations and other similar realities, as well as its evolution and progress, are not only means for the ultimate goal of man, but also have a proper value placed by God in them”[38]. It is necessary, then, “for the laity to accept as their own obligation to establish the temporal order and to act directly and concretely in that order, directed by the light of the Gospel and the mind of the Church, moved by Christian charity, to cooperate as fellow citizens who belong to others, with their specific expertise and own responsibility, and to seek everywhere and in all the justice of the kingdom of God”[39].
In order to achieve this total conversion of the world to God, the laity of the Incarnate Word will seek to insert themselves in the main points where the culture of men is rooted and those with the greatest influence, since “it is necessary to evangelize -not decoratively, to way of a superficial varnish, but in vital way, in depth and to the roots – the culture and the cultures of man …, it is necessary to make all efforts in favor of a generous evangelization of culture”[40].
“The pleasant news of Christ constantly renews the life and culture of fallen man, combats and eliminates the errors and evils that come from the permanent seduction of sin. It purifies and raises ceaselessly the moral of the people … Thus, the Church, fulfilling its own mission, contributes, by this very fact, to human culture and drives it, and with its activity -even liturgical- educates man in inner freedom”[41]. Every temporal matter must be guided by the Christian conscience, since no human activity must be subtracted from the rule of God.
Social Action
“It is necessary that the laity accept as their own obligation, to establish the temporal order and to act directly and concretely in that order, directed by the light of the Gospel and the mind of the Church and moved by Christian charity; to cooperate as fellow citizens who belong to others, with their specific expertise and own responsibility, and to seek everywhere and in all the justice of the kingdom of God. The temporal order must be established in such a way that, in full respect of its own laws, it conforms to the higher principles of the Christian life and remains adapted to the varied circumstances of place, time and nation. Among the works of this apostolate stands out the Christian social action, which the Holy Council wishes to extend today to the whole temporal scope, including culture”[42].
The apostolate in the social environment, that is, the eagerness to fill the Christian mind with the thought and customs, the laws and the structures of the community in which one lives, is to such a degree the duty and burden of the laity, that it can never be done conveniently without them. That is why we must, according to our possibilities, try to Christianize the different levels of social life, through the foundation of schools, orphanages, hospitals, asylums, the organization of unions, seeking social assistance, etc.
We must make Christ reign in all the world, in all cultures and in the hearts of men; not to err in this very own task we must know, study and deepen the Social Doctrine of the Church that springs from the twice-millennial wisdom of Christianity, “today more than ever it is indispensable that this doctrine be known, assimilated, taken to the social reality in the forms and to the extent that the circumstances permit or demand, an arduous but noble function”[43].
“In order to animate the temporal order in a Christian way, the lay faithful can in no way abdicate their participation in politics; that is to say, of the multiform and varied economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural action, destined to promote organically and institutionally the common good … the lay faithful must promote a capillary educational work, destined to defeat the prevailing culture of selfishness, hatred , of revenge and enmity, and to develop at all levels the culture of solidarity”[44].
It must never be forgotten that reality must be transformed from within, evangelizing culture and not culturing the Gospel; everything that is redeemable must be used for good; that is why all the advances of technology, science and art are useful as long as they can be converted into effective instruments of salvation.
The Dignity of the Person
The Third Order commits its forces to provide and promote the authentic dignity of the human person, defending and protecting man; “Created by God in his image and likeness and redeemed by the precious Blood of Christ, man is called to be ‘son in the Son’ and temple of the Spirit; and he is destined to that eternal life of communion with God that fills him with joy … every violation of the personal dignity of the human being shouts vengeance before God and is configured as an offense to the Creator of man”[45]. That is why we must commit our forces and join the efforts of the Church to defend man, his inalienable and inviolable rights, “the laity are called to it in a particular way”[46] aware that in “the loving and generous acceptance of all human life, especially in the weak or sick, the Church lives today a fundamental moment of its mission, all the more necessary the more dominant a culture of death becomes”[47]. We entrust to God that secular and lay movements that defend mankind, attend to their needs and promote their values arise within this Third Order. For example: welfare works in favor of homeless children, disabled, or any other type of need.
THE PREACHING OF THE WORD
As partakers of the prophetic office of Christ, the tertiaries of the Incarnate Word wish to dedicate themselves to the proclamation of human and divine truth. Go, therefore, instruct all the nations … Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (Mt 27:18).
That is why the Third Order wants to dedicate itself to collaborate in catechesis, the first proclamation and kerygma of truth, making available all competition, making the healing of souls more effective.
Also, in the deepening of all Christian doctrine, particularly the theology of the laity and the social doctrine of the Church.
The proper mission of announcing the Gospel must seek to be on track in the collaboration and realization of the missions, in which the laity plays a role of special importance, being a particular agent of approach of men to the true doctrine and the source of the grace that are the sacraments.
It is also necessary to proclaim this truth loudly, in the most affected environments, binding points with today’s culture, especially in teaching, in primary and secondary schools, in tertiary schools, in universities, trying to enlighten the intelligences, strengthen the will and order the affections. May the lips of the members of this Third Order speak, proclaim and shout to the world the Redemption wrought by Christ, that they announce the Incarnation in all the strata of society: in the most crowded and in the loneliest, in the circles that surround them and in the farthest places, in homes and in squares, in families and in the senates, in towns and nations, that are true spokespersons of their voice and “cries of the Word”[48]. May the Word of God speak through his voice, may the Church sound in the most difficult and recondite places.
Above all, that true professionals of the truth be formed, that with scientific rigor they can understand and explain reality, and that they deepen in the doctrine of the Church, in its philosophical and theological teachings. We must always motivate congresses, study groups, Catholic culture courses and all cultural achievements that lead to this end.
We must always encourage the scientific and serious study of positive sciences, “that come from God and lead to God with the help of grace”[49]; “Everything that is true, it is necessary that it comes from God, all truth that is reached by inquiry of the understanding, the Church recognizes it as a flash of the divine mind”[50]. Trying to illuminate, with revealed doctrine, natural reality, achieving the rapprochement of science to faith, so necessary in our time.
Of inestimable importance and relevant fruit will be all the work that is carried out in the media of social communication, it is in them where the salvation of peoples and nations is played today, “the world of mass media, as a consequence of the accelerated development of innovation and the influence, at the same time planetary and capillary, on the formation of the mentality and customs, it represents a new frontier of the mission of the Church. In particular, the professional responsibility of the lay faithful in this field, exercised either personally, or through initiatives and community institutions, requires recognition in all its value and sustained with the most appropriate material, intellectual and pastoral resources”[51]. Without a laity determined to redeem and convert the media into forces of good, the authentic evangelization of peoples will not be able to exert all its effectiveness.
Among the media, the Catholic press should be highlighted, promoting the publication of newspapers, books, magazines and encyclopedias that are a true testimony of the spread of truth. The importance of the use of this means is capital, as Pope St. Pius X said, “in vain you will build churches, preach missions and build schools; all your good deeds, all your efforts will be destroyed, if you do not know how to handle at the same time the offensive and defensive weapon of the Catholic press loyally and sincerely.”
We must also make use of other media such as radio, cinema, theater, especially television, which Pius XII described as “a luminous conquest of science”, of “innumerable advantages” if it is set at the service of man. At the beginning, Pope Pius XII enthusiastically said: “Who can foresee which and how many new horizons will be opened to the Christian apostolate when the television stations, spread in all parts of the Globe, allow everyone to better contemplate the thriving life of the Church?”[52] We must achieve that the wishes of that Supreme Pontiff, not abandoning these means because of the misuse that is currently being given to them, but promoting their use as privileged instruments of apostolate.
The human person, when he is not recognized and loved in his dignity as a living image of God, is exposed to the most humiliating and aberrant forms of “instrumentalization” that make him miserably the slave of the strongest: “and ‘the strongest’ can assume different names: ideologies, economic power, inhuman political systems, scientific technocracy, subjugation by mass media”[53]. This subjugation consists in considering the human being as object or thing, destroying its sacredness and failing to fulfill, therefore, its vocation as transmitters of Truth, Good and Beauty.
In short, we must take advantage of the most current and most widespread advances and turn them all into instruments of truth: of the world of computers, emails, databases, computer centers, etc. and of everything that in the future can serve for the wider and wider spread of the Gospel.
SERVICE OF THE KINGDOM
“By their membership in Christ, Lord and King of the universe, the lay faithful participate in their royal office and are called by Him to serve the Kingdom of God and spread it throughout history”[54]. The laity of the Third Order Secular must live the Christian reality by surrendering to others, to serve men in justice and in charity, to the same Jesus present in all his brothers, especially in the smallest ones, in the needy, in the poorest, in the sickest and the deprived.
Mercy towards the needy and the sick and the so-called works of charity and mutual help to alleviate all human needs are considered by the Church with singular honor. Charity should be our main hallmark as lay Catholics and members of the Third Order of the Incarnate Word. Hence, we must always encourage all works of mercy, both spiritual and corporal, to help everyone who needs it.
One of the central points of the lay apostolate is to form families that are true apostolic nucleus, that encourage works of charity. The family will fulfill its mission on this earth “if, by the mutual piety of its members and the common prayer addressed to God, it is offered as a domestic sanctuary of the Church; if … they practice the exercise of hospitality and promote justice and other good works at the service of all the brothers”[55]. It is the desire that from this Third Order, families arise who can channel the wide apostolate that can be produced by a Catholic marriage following the guidelines of the Council: “Among the different works of the family apostolate can be mentioned the following: adopt as children abandoned children, welcome with kindness to strangers, to collaborate in the management of schools, to assist young people with advice and economic aid, to help the bride and groom prepare better for marriage, to collaborate in catechesis, to support husbands and families that are in material or moral danger, provide the elderly not only with the indispensable, but also with the just benefits of economic development”[56], etc.
Necessarily, love must shine in our lives, for in this you will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (Jn 13:35).
Bibliography
[1] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 3.
[2] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 33.
[3] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 10.
[4] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 3.
[5] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 2; Cf. PIUS XI, Rerum Ecclesiae: AAS 18 (1926), 65.
[6] Cf. VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 2.
[7] Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologica, III, 42, 2.
[8] ST. AUGUSTINE, In Ps. 118; Sermon 30.
[9] ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, In get. hom 3.
[10] ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologica, I-II, 28, 4.
[11] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 44.
[12] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Gaudium et Spes, 58.
[13] BLESSED PAUL VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 18.
[14] Cf. Acts 18; Rom 16:3ss.
[15] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 35.
[16] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 4.
[17] Cf. Gal 6:10.
[18] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 4.
[19] Cf. Gal 5:26.
[20] Cf. Lk 14:26.
[21] Cf. Mt 5:10.
[22] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 4.
[23] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 34.
[24] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 34.
[25] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 13.
[26] Cf. Mt 22:37-42; Lk 10:27.
[27] Cf. Jn 15:12; 15:17.
[28] Cf. Jn 15:17.
[29] ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologica, II-II, 25, 1.
[30] ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologica, II-II, 25, 1.
[31] Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologica, II-II, 26, 1.2.
[32] Cf. 1 Cor 12:27; Eph 3:6.
[33] Cf. Lk 6:27; 6:35.
[34] ST. PAULINUS, Ep. ad Sever., cited by ST. ALPHONSUS, in Ascetic Works, 894.
[35] ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, cited by ST. ALPHONSUS, in Ascetic Works, 894.
[36] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 34.
[37] ST. LOUIS ORIONE, Letter to the Sons of Providence, July 25, 1936, 149.
[38] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 7.
[39] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 7.
[40] BLESSED PAUL VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 18-20.
[41] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Gaudium et Spes, 58.
[42] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 7; Cf. LEO XIII, Rerum Novarum: AAS 23 (1890-91) 647; PIUS XI Quadragesimo anno: AAS (1931) 190; PIUS XII, Radio message from June 1, 1941: AAS 23 1941), 207.
[43] ST. JOHN XXIII, Mater et Magistra, 68.
[44] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 42.
[45] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 37.
[46] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 38.
[47] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 38.
[48] LITURGY OF THE HOURS, Hymn of Vespers from the Common of Apostles.
[49] PIUS XI, Divini Illius Magistri, 32.
[50] Cf. LEO XIII, Inmortale Dei, 19.
[51] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 44.
[52] PIUS XII, Letter from 03/01/1954, Eccl, n. 653, 65.
[53] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 5.
[54] ST. JOHN PAUL II, Christifideles Laici, 14.
[55] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 11.
[56] VATICAN COUNCIL II, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 11.
