Growing the Church: Lay Ministry

In the Gospel of Matthew, the Church calls “the great commission,” given to the Apostles and to every baptized Catholic to go out and preach the message of the Gospel and bring all souls to Christ. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matthew 28:19)

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 74), it states God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth;” that is, of course, the truth of Christ Jesus. Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth.

We have seen an extraordinary number of lay people in the church proclaiming the message of the Gospel and doing so with boldness and conviction. This is not something new to the church; St. Paul went to many cities and established communities of believers so the Gospel could be spread all over the world. We are doing the same thing today; except now we have the benefits of modern technology.

Pope Francis has established the lay ministry of catechists in the Catholic Church. “The history of evangelization over the past two millennia shows the effectiveness of the mission of catechist,” Pope Francis said, among whom were “countless lay men and women,” including many “saints and martyrs.”

Lay ministry in no way takes away from the mission of the bishop who is the primary catechist in his diocese. But it gives recognition to the men and women who feel called by virtue of their baptism to cooperate in the work of preaching the Gospel.

This work of lay ministry is not something that we do of our own accord - we are very receptive to the call of the Holy Spirit and follow his guidance as we discern what gift is given to us. “And God has appointed in the Church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various kinds of tongues.” (1 Cor 12:28)

Many Catholics feel that the job of evangelization is for the clergy only, and we should leave it up to them because they have the education and formation that is needed to carry out that mission. But when I was reading Scripture and I came across a passage about Peter and John when they were preaching and healing in Jerusalem, it struck me that was the core of evangelization. Anyone can do it. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they wondered, and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

We don’t need degrees in theology to preach the Gospel, all we need is love for Jesus and the fire of the Holy Spirit. We do need some type of formation to make sure the truth is being proclaimed. As Pope Francis says, “Those called to the ministry of catechist should be men and women of deep faith and human maturity, active participants in the life of the Christian community, capable of welcoming others, being generous, and living a life of fraternal communion.” In addition, they should receive suitable academic, pastoral, and pedagogical formation “to be competent communicators of the truth of the faith” and should also have “some prior experience of catechesis.”

Without lay ministry, the Gospel (“Good News”) would not have been able to spread all across the world like it has been doing for the past two thousand years. Preaching the Gospel is at the heart of evangelization and the core of lay ministry.

Remember, God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.

Jeff Kassab is a lay minister, dedicated evangelist, and teacher of the faith who works with the Eastern Catholic Re-Evangelization Center. He holds a

degree in Pastoral Theology and writes a blog titled, “The Journey to Heaven.”

Jeff Kassab