The Church has outlined at least three basic elements of lay formation:
1. Spiritual Formation
Spiritual formation nurtures an intimate relationship with God and love of others. (The Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful, 60)
Prayer and Spiritual life
Lay Movements/Communities/Third Orders
2. Intellectual Formation
Intellectual formation includes the doctrine and teaching of the Church. For lay Catholics, the Church's social teaching is especially important because it contains principles for discerning real world situations and responding as an apostle. (The Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful, 60)
3. Development of Skills
"The more Gospel-inspired lay people there are engaged in these realities, clearly involved in them, competent to promote them and conscious that they must exercise to the full their Christian powers which are often buried and suffocated, the more these realities will be at the service of the kingdom of God and therefore of salvation in Jesus Christ." (Evangelization in the Modern World, 70)
Becoming a well-formed apostle requires developing one's abilities to the full and acquiring a wide variety of spiritual and personal skills.
The single most critical personal and spiritual skill for a lay apostle is discernment. Lay Christians frequently have to sort through complex and ambiguous situations and ask, "Where is God present in this situation? What is God doing? What is God asking of me? What is God asking of us as a family or community? What decisions or actions would lead to the best outcome for everyone in this situation?"
Whether we are seeking to determine whom to marry, how to live out our faith in a difficult working environment, or how to bring peace and healing to a broken relationship, we will need to master the basics of discernment. The Church teaches that lay Christians need to learn to discern:
- The talents and spiritual gifts (charisms) that God has given them
- Their personal call/vocation
- How to recognize the leading of the Holy Spirit
- The meaning and value of temporal things
- How to creatively apply Church teaching in specific situations
For more information on discernment:
Back to Top
Previous