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We’ve hit a new low!
The President of the United States recently used the sign of the cross (As an invocation for the Holy Trinity’s protection) while a fellow politician was criticizing Florida’s pro-life laws. This was a sign of the state of the Church and the world.
We have now gotten to where our pro-abortion, self-described “Catholic,” president feels so comfortable with the contradiction he represents that he can publicly invoke the Holy Trinity to defend a pro-abortion agenda from good pro-life legislation.
All this, while pro-life battles are being wagged out in most states in the nation.
Thankfully, I don’t need to go in depth to explain what is wrong with this "presidential" picture to the audience of The Catholic Professional. I only wish to point out this incident as another example of why we need faithful and committed—authentic—and well-formed Catholics in civic leadership.
Friends, I won’t tire of saying, this I the hour of the laity!
If you have been measuring the pulse of the world, in and outside the Church, over the past few decades, you know we have problems. So many problems, in fact, it’s hard to know where to begin. One thing is clear, Archbishop Fulton Sheen was prophetic when he said:
Who's going to save our Church? It's not our bishops, it's not our priests and it is not the religious. It is up to you, the (lay) people. You have the minds, the eyes and the ears to save the Church.
Is there a reason why the world shouldn’t have authentic Catholic leaders in secular society? Is there a reason why our educational institutions cannot have authentic Catholic educators? Is there a reason why we cannot have more faithful and committed Catholics in finance, business, law, health care, technology, politics and EVERY board room?
We have been living in our Catholic bubbles for too long!
I have respect for those who choose the Benedict Option, setting themselves apart from the world to guard their souls and the souls of their families. Some, a few, lay people may have that calling authentically, but, friends, that can’t be the option for most of the laity!
If most lay Catholics are not out in the world, inserting ourselves in every area of secular life, seeking to become influential (you read it right) leaders, then we are not being faithful to our baptismal promises.
I know many lay Catholics struggle to see themselves as leaders. We know we are called to be humble. We are supposed to be followers of Christ. My response is: precisely because we are followers of Christ, we must be leading others to Christ.
For the second year in a row, this November seventh to the ninth Tepeyac Leadership will host The Hour of the Laity conference (THL2024) at Christ Cathedral, in Orange County, California. This year’s theme is Lumen Gentium. This Vatican II document provides the background for our conference because TLI’s mission is rooted in the important calling from the Council Fathers to the laity.
Dear friends, if God has blessed us with a college education, with a professional career, often with abundant resources, and extensive professional networks, none of these things are a coincidence! The world is our mission territory! We must find ourselves seating at every table where decisions are made, today more than ever.
Pray for the Church, pray for our country, and pray for the world. Let’s us pray that God helps us discover the mission of leadership he has prepared for us.
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