Living Out Our Baptismal Call

Written by Rick Lentz

As baptized Christians, we are called to profess our faith and share in the Church's mission of evangelization.¹

Here are some examples of what recent popes have said about that mission:

Pope Paul VI states in Evangelii Nuntiandi, ".... the person who has been evangelized goes on to evangelize others. Here lies the test of truth, the touchstone of evangelization: it is unthinkable that a person should accept the Word and give himself to the kingdom without becoming a person who bears witness to it and proclaims it in his turn."²

Likewise, in Christifideles Laici, Pope John Paul II comments on the parable of the laborers and the vineyard in Matthew 20:1-7. "From that distant day the call of the Lord Jesus 'You go into my vineyard too' never fails to resound in the course of history: it is addressed to every person who comes into this world. [...] The call is a concern not only of Pastors, clergy, and men and women religious. The call is addressed to everyone: lay people as well are personally called by the Lord, from whom they receive a mission on behalf of the Church and the world."³

An example of on-on-one ministry is Pope John Paul II. As a young priest, Karol Wojtyla considered himself a disciple of Christ and as such, he was called to lead others to Christ. His goal was to help these new followers of Christ to share the gospel with others by living out the gospel message in their daily lives. To do this, he developed the pastoral strategy of the ministry of "accompaniment" where he would walk with young adults by being present with them in the world and by living through their problems with them.⁴

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