Christ said this of us:
Matthew 5:13-16
Douay-Rheims
13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men.
14 You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house.
16 So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
But, too many Catholics are not being salt or light. The main reason for this is the lack of their own holiness. The mediocre cannot be salt or light.
A second reason has been the clericalization of the laity, a theme on my own blog in 2007 or so. Too many lay people want to be seen being Eucharistic Ministers, or readers.
But, the third reason is more subtle.
The vast majority of the laity are picking up battles which are not theirs to fight. We are not clergy, we do not work in the Vatican or have influence in the chancery offices.
We are not privy to what goes on in the deanery meetings regarding priestly formation.
We are lay.
So what fights are the laity picking up which are not their "business" and what fights should we be fighting?
One, wherever we live or work, our first job is to evangelize or re-evangelize our siblings and co-workers. We should be honest, and defend the Church when we can. We should not be accepting evil. We should be reaching out to the unbelievers.
When I had my own house, no unmarried couples stayed as guests in the same room. That is a decision of a real lay Catholic.
When I had my own house, and it was Friday, only fish or vegetarian dinners were served. That was showing solidarity with the entire Church, and under my watch as the cook.
As a teacher and a tutor, I only spoke the truth. I never inflated grades or compromised the Faith.
That is what we as lay people are called to do. Be salt in the world.
It is not our job to tell bishops or cardinals what to do. Can we pray? Yes.
Example. Too many lay people waste time working on the consecration of Russia. Folks, this is not our business, but the Pope's and the bishops'.
Example. Too many lay people waste time praying for changes in the Church regarding apparitions. Folks, this is not our business, but the bishops' and the Pope's.
They have their area of authority and we have ours.
The fact that the lay men and women in the Church are weak is the fault of the faithful laity.
I see this weekly.
Why are not Catholic men and women talking to others in the congregation about the evils of Common Core and not having kids in the public schools? Why are they not presenting the need for home schooling if there are no independent Catholic schools in the area not using Common Core? Your children's involvement in education is your business, primarily.
Why are Catholic men and women accepting discussions about petitions to Rome on topics the bishops and Pope need to decide, rather than talking about things we can do daily to make the Church strong?
Why are Catholic men and women not supporting pro-life candidates actively? Why are the laity not running for office when some can afford this?
Why are Catholic men and women not steering their peers away from yoga classes, Reiki, chiropractic procedures, certain occult books their children are reading, and so on?
Why are Catholic men and women not telling Catholic home schoolers not to use protestant books, which are slanted against the Church; parents continuing to give money to those publishers which hate the Catholic Church?
Why are men and women not speaking to those in the TLM who are calling Francis a fake Pope, which he is not, but our true Pope?
Why are men and women at the TLM saying that the NO is invalid, when it is not? Why do some not receive Communion at the NO, giving bad example and being holier than Rome?
Why are men and women pretending that members of their own families are not exhibiting evil, those who are living in serious sin, and not just sexual, instead of facing this and dealing with this?
Why are parents not teaching their children the Faith in the home, not disciplining, not forming the children in the virtues?Why are Catholics not boycotting stores like Starbucks or brand names like Pepsi, one of the biggest supporters of PP? Lay people buy things and need to lead in boycotts, not the clergy. One of my TLM priests relied on me to give him boycott details.
Why are so many of the laity not studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or not reading such documents as Jesus Christ, Bearer of the Water of Life?
Why are the laity wasting time with old forms of groups which do not speak to the times and not forming new groups?
To be a lay person is hard.
To not follow Rome is to be a protestant, either on the left or on the right.
To not follow Rome is to be a protestant, either on the left or on the right.
We are the Church Militant, not the Church Pansy.
It is easier to concentrate on things not under our authority than to deal with things that are. But, this is spiritual sloth.
Think about this. If you are not acting like a lay person, not living up to your baptismal vows, even though you are attending the TLM, your own soul may be in danger for not living out your vocation.
The Church is not a democracy, folks. It is a hierarchy. And the lay life is not that of the clerics.
Period.