Given that the vast majority of the Church is the laity, it seems appropriate that Vatican II dedicated at least one decree, Apostolicam Actuositatem, to them. Of note is that the decree is on the apostolate of the laity—the Council fathers clearly setting the frame for the “call to holiness” for them. I found it helpful to see “apostolate” clearly defined: “The Church was founded for the purpose of spreading the kingdom of Christ throughout the earth for the glory of God the Father, to enable all men to share in His saving redemption, and that through them the whole world might enter into a relationship with Christ. All activity of the Mystical Body directed to the attainment of this goal is called the apostolate …” (Apostolicam Actuositatem, Section 2). The apostolate of the laity is not passive in the least and requires grounding in the love of Christ as well as an outward focus: “…laymen are called by God to exercise their apostolate in the world like leaven, with the ardor of the spirit of Christ” (Ibid.). In short, it is not possible for the laity to participate in this apostolate without actively developing one’s relationship with the Holy Spirit.
This mission could seem daunting at first. One great help is to remember that Our Lady is our model for this apostolate; studying and meditating on her life and witness provides a clear path: “The perfect example of this type of spiritual and apostolic life is the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Apostles, who while leading the life common to all here on earth, one filled with family concerns and labors, was always intimately united with her Son and in an entirely unique way cooperated in the work of the Savior.” (Ibid., Section 4). After all, she lived an ordinary life as a mother and a wife, bearing many ordinary and some extraordinary trials during her lifetime and is an example to us.
Indeed, the apostolate of the laity is an ordinary one, if you will, taking place in mundane and quiet ways and accomplished by ordinary people. The Council points out that “young people” have a much increased “social importance” which allows them to “become the first apostles of the young, in direct contact with them, exercising the apostolate by themselves among themselves, taking account of their social environment” (Ibid., Section 12). Married couples as well have an apostolate, to themselves, their children, and those in their social sphere. In the overdeveloped West, the simple fact of having children and involving them in the love of God through Christ is a radical witness. The family itself gives witness to Christ in its very existence as well as corporal works such as fostering and adopting children, providing welcome and hospitality to children as well as adults who live with brokenness and loneliness.
And the apostolate is active in the “world” as well. Contrary to current examples of scandal by politicianswho profess the Catholic faith, the apostolate includes Catholics in government making “…the weight of their convictions so influential that as a result civil authority will be justly exercised and laws will accord with the moral precepts and the common good…. they can work for the common good and at the same time prepare the way for the Gospel.” (Ibid., Section 14). This mission to influence the governing of the common good is part of a larger duty to work in harmony with others to “renew the temporal order and make it increasingly more perfect” (Ibid., Section 7). Since the “temporal order” is part of the cosmos redeemed by Christ: “the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:21). While not necessarily proclaiming Integralism the Council fathers still clearly state: “It is the work of the entire Church to fashion men able to establish the proper scale of values on the temporal order and direct it towards God through Christ” (Apostolicam Actuositatem, Section 7).
