Current challenges of the lay vocation
Despite this universal vocation, many baptized people have not yet become fully aware of their belonging to the Church. Many consider themselves Catholic, but do not experience the Church as a home that transforms their life and surroundings. This creates situations where Christian values are seen as something “optional” or cultural, rather than being the foundation of their identity.
As a result:
-
Professional, political, economic, scientific, artistic and media life is not always guided by evangelical criteria.
-
There is an incoherence between the professed faith and real commitment in everyday life.
-
Laypeople do not always receive adequate accompaniment from pastors, which makes it difficult to discover and mature their vocation.
Obstacles in lay formation and action
Some challenges arise from attitudes internal to the Church:
-
Persistence of a clerical mentality, which limits the initiative of laypeople in evangelizing action.
-
Preferential dedication of many laypeople to intra-ecclesial tasks, without projecting their faith toward society.
-
Deficiencies in integral formation, which prevent responding effectively to the current challenges of society.
These factors make a profound rediscovery of the lay vocation necessary. Being Christian is not just performing religious practices: it is having a vocation, and being lay means ordering all social life from within, from the depths of present reality, with the light of the Gospel.